Jammin' on the Biogas Stove.

Weighing in the contenders.

Sometimes we have an abundance of crops, and then you might wonder: How do I use it all without wasting any.. answer is simple actually, you make jam, or you pickle, or you just eat extra of x, y or z.

Now this season we seem to have gotten the Tomato seeds mixed, and  ended up with an abundance of cherry tomatoes, which I have been harvesting for the past couple of months for salads, and sauces and to add to oven dishes. And then we had a week of glorious sunshine, and it seemed like they all just went red all at once.

So I harvested that too not to waste any of them, because they really are good, sweet and fleshy. That saying: Homegrown is best, actually is true. Nothing beats the flavour of a homegrown tomato, except maybe another one.. hahaha..

Anyway so I always weigh the amount of crop I have for jam before I start cooking it. Reason? Simple - to get the sugar ratio just right, and even here I have a rule, one which I have used ever since I started jammin', and that is half the weight of the fruit in sugar... so with these tomatoes I had harvested 1,8kg, therefore the sugar added will be about 900g. I have found that this gives a much better flavour in the jam, and with some fruit its actually nicer to be able to still taste the fruit rather that just sweetness.

Tomatoes gone potty!

Having added the tomatoes to a pot, with a squeeze of water, I place them on the stove and start cooking, stirring now and again to ensure that it does not burn. I chose the Biogas stove for this jammin' session because I wanted to be able to say that the Jam is organic (we don't use any chemical pesticides), and because the bag in which the gas is generated was very full. :-)

Once the tomatoes are boiling and bursting from their skins, I add the sugar, and cook for a further
5-15 minutes, sometimes longer depending on the amount of water, or runnyness of the jam.

Cooking away happily.

I add a teaspoon and a half of pectin powder which is mixed with a tablespoon of sugar (the pectin powder I get from overseas, but locally one can add lemon juice, or rind, or even an apple or so). The pectin helps the jam to gel. Once the pectin has been added I turn the heat down to a low flame, this allows the jam to cook slowly for a while.

I let it simmer for another 5 minutes or so, while I skim the foam off the top. The foam is usually impurities which were on the skins of the fruit etc. And while it simmers, I boil some water to sterilize my bottles with. I like using jars that have the pop lids... you know the lids with the raised thingy in the middle which pops when you open the jar. Well they work in reverse as well, and I have found that if I bottle my jam while its still hot, and put the lid on straight afterwards, then the heat of the jam creates a vacuum on cooling, which sucks this pop thingy in thereby creating a very good seal. Of course I also have some Consol jars, but like to recycle as well. :-)

Jars of Jam - Tomato Jam.

With the jam bottles and sealed it can be stored in the cupboard till we decide to eat it. Jammin' and pickling is very rewarding as it allows you to enjoy your crop and harvest for an extended period of time. If one is a smallholder like we are, it makes perfect sense to do that, otherwise we could just as well live in the city and buy all our jams etc.. We have not bought any jam since December, as we have more than enough now to last us a good while.

Doesn't that just look yummy?

We do however still buy beetroot pickle and gherkins as those are our favourite pickles, but this will also change as soon as we are able to produce enough beetroot to pickle ourselves, and grow gherkins to pickle as well...  :-) So there you have it, making your own jam is easy-peasy, and cheaper than buying!

Little porky, does not give lots of Gaaassss!!!

The digester bag... almost full!!

So far the summer heat has been good for the digester.. extra sunshine, and hot days = more gas production!...

Unless of course your animals get a thrill out of chasing each other round the garden... This was the case last weekend, and what happens then? Well dogs plus cats most often spell disaster, and since ours have a very love/hate relationship, the dogs chased the cats under the plastic which we use to cover the digester, and then.. Pffftttttt!!!!! Someone misses their footing, and punctures the bag. Luckily we found the hole, and managed to patch it. :)

Have gas - will cook!

Jan was not impressed at all though, and we have decided to close the sides, and top of the digester as well.. We don't mind that our beloved pets create extra work and hassle for us.. :-P

Anyways, we fed it a little more cow manure, dog poo, and grass clippings, and by the next evening the gas production was well underway again. :) Now we just need to actually close the top and sides so that it does not happen again.. The gas has come in very handy over the past 2weeks.. our oven is on the blink, it has a loose wire, and we need to have that fixed.. so as it was tripping the power all the time we had to switch of the entire oven/stove. The guy who was supposed to come and fix it for us, hurt his knee, and was therefore delayed... but he was very concerned that we couldn't cook, so Jan told him not to worry as we produced our own gas! LOL!!!! this statement led to a myriad of questions as you can well imagine, but the short version is that we have been cooking solely off the biogas for the past 2weeks and counting (the even/stove is still not fixed), and even tried baking bread in the solar cooker!

Kevin Bacon... heh.

Other news is that our piglet, Kevin, is getting big now.. well big in organic pork terms.. heh. He gets broken mielies, and kitchen scraps, and for a treat we give him some of our fallen pears now.. He LOVES apples and pears.. and we were talking about what our plans were for him..

We have decided that going the piglet/breeding route will be to intensive for us, and logistically we are just not ready, and may never be.. so for now we will raise him to slaughter weight, and then do him chop chop.. lol. And this will be how we do pigs from now on. We will get two, raise them and slaughter when they are the right size. It will probably be a very sad day once he has to go, as one does get attached to the livestock on ones smallholding, but that's life! And like with our chickens, we raise them consciously, and with a knowledge that they are 100% organic. They have a good life, and that way the circle is complete. I have a lot of respect for our friends who actually farm intensively with pigs and can manage to keep their farms organic... its lots of hard work, and takes a lot of thought! But at the end of the day its more rewarding, and at least you know that the meat you get, is pure... no antibiotics or hormones, no GM feed, and so on. :) And that my friends is what makes it all worthwhile in the long run!!

Rub my snout...?

Things are blowing up!!

The bag starting to blow up.. hehe

Some progress on the biogas!

Come December, we had enough gas to be able to cook 2-3 days of the week on the biogas stove. This is awesome actually, and because of that we are obviously saving on LPG usage for the regular stove.

The gas production is dependent on our own black water from one toilet, the dog poop from both of our dogs, so they also contribute..lol, and a 20 l bucket of cow manure slurry every 2nd week or so. The cow manure we are picking up in the street, but as soon as Kevin our pig starts to produce larger amounts of poop, I am sure we can cut out the cow manure.

Feel the burn...hehe

The flame from the biogas is actually so effective that we can cook a kettle of water for coffee in half the time it would usually take on the LPG stove.. Isn't that amazing??

But for this post we were cooking a stir-fry. And even this was cooked in less time. Jan is truly amazed every time we use the biogas, and its such a satisfaction knowing that is a green solution, and that it has not cost us anything to produce this gas.

Amazing stuff!

We have also acquired two biogas lantern/lamps, and a small generator. Our plan is to use all of these things for demonstration purposes as well as personal use. So in the mudroom extension will be like a second kitchen as well, but we will set it up in such a way that all the biogas utilities/tools are in the same place.. There will be a counter top for the two-plate stove, and above that the two lamps. Having the biogas is an integral part of greening up our home, and it will be great once we have completed this space, as we will be able to host open days for all and sundry..lol.

We have already had an enquiry from Permaculture South Africa, which is run by Hazel Mugford, for a biogas reactor at their home, which they will be able to use personally as well as for course purposes. This is an exciting development for Jan, seeing as he might be able to host the course, and also be able to expand his services that way.. It will be the first permaculture offering of its kind, in the world!!

Isn't the blue flame pretty?

So in a manner of speaking we are pioneers in this area in South Africa, which is such an awesome achievement! Watch this space people!!

September 2011 - Biogas reactor Building day

Jan and Jan measuring the size of the hole

Stage two in the Biogas reactor project happened by chance, otherwise we would probably still not have finished it. We had gone to Uniondale for the monthly market, and went to say hi to Rico who owns the Little Theatre Cafe.. anyways, who do we meet there? Jan and Anel Burger from the Kammanassie. Now we had met them before, and we had told Rico about the Biogas project thing, and he had sort of spread the word fare and wide in the meantime..

Discussing plans

That being said, we ended up standing in Rico's kitchen discussing the reactor with them all, when Anel quickly decided that they needed to come and learn more. So a date was set, and she would bring a picnic and two extra workers. We just had to explain how it works etc.. lol. So on the 20th September 2011 they arrived at our place early in the morning, and very quickly everyone was working except Anel and myself who are both pregnant.. :)

Mixing cement

The dimensions of the hole for the reactor was measured, we had acquired a whole bakkie load of hob-house bricks, sand, cement and gravel, and the men set to work on building the walls of the reactor (the actual pit that the bag would go into). Very shortly after that, the two extra workers had started to mix the cement for the walls. I don't think I have ever seen cement mixed so quickly.. :) Benson and his friend were super efficient!

Jan and Jan trying their hand at mixing cement

In fact they made it look so easy that Jan and Jan wanted to try.. It was mixed in large batches, and shovelled into the wheelbarrow, and then tipped into the pit, trying to get as much as possible into the open cavities of the bricks.. I think they all had lots of fun doing this... kind of like little boys playing in the mud. hehehehe.... Anel and I in the meantime got some refreshments ready while we chatted.

Eish!! Is heavy...

But carting cement like that in a wheelbarrow can be hard work on the arms, and trying to aim into the right place even harder.

Jan and Jan would continuously check that everything was level as they went along, although with the pit consisting mainly of clay and it being rather difficult to do anything about the uneven edges they had to make do in some places.

How we work in South Africa .. 

The bricks were laid thick and fast, and while Jan and Jan were checking levels, Benson and friend would supervise.. lol.

Happy chappy!

Positioning of the outlet.. or the inlet.. :-|

They somehow managed just fine though, and within a couple of hours the walls were done and the bricks were finished.. Of course the actual height of the reactor walls were short a couple of rows, but since we ran out of bricks they had to just finish what they could.  Then it was time to cast the floor of the reactor. Concrete was mixed continuously, and poured into the pit, after which Jan and Jan would spread it evenly and level it.

Leveling the floor of the reactor

By the time they were done with that they were very pleased with the work done, and we all broke for lunch. Anel had really packed a wonderful basket of goodies, so Thank You Anel for that. <3

Admiring their work :)

We all enjoyed what was given to us, and for the light conversation. It was such a lovely day actually, cause not only did they help us with something that had been a headache for a while, but it was an opportunity to get to know them better, which was great for us as well.

Late that afternoon, they packed their bakkie, their worker and off they went the experience richer, and us .. well we stayed but just so an experience richer.

So next time we will be at their farm in the Kammanassie, and then I am sure we can return the favour. :)

The pit as far as it would be completed this time round.

So till then - 

Thanks Anel and Jan for being so determined to learn, and contribute even though you hardly knew us from a bar of soap at the time. It really was an awesome experience for us, so thanks for giving us the opportunity to get to know you both better as well. <3

We have since completed the reactor pit, and placed the bag in, and connected it to the one toilet. We have also added manure, and dog poop, and grass clippings.. so we just wait now for the little bugs to actually realise that there is plenty of food for them now so they can start producing gas. We have already got small pockets of gas, and have just recently tested it using a special two plate stove... but more on that another time.. hehe.

July 2011 - First dig for the digester

Marking out the pit for the Bio-Digester

Trying to live a sustainable life comes with ups and downs, trials and tribulations. It comes with a host of decisions to be made about which practice would be a "green" one, and which solutions one should implement in order to have as little impact on the environment as possible. Since we have always had an interest in doing the "green" thing, it seemed logical to get a bio-digester for our own black water, and animal waste and other waste which would be good for this purpose.

Just checking the measurements..

Finding a location for the digester was quite a contentious issue, with many discussions, and pro's and con's etc, but we eventually settled on a central spot just beyond our Apricot trees. Jan diligently started marking out the size, and location of where the pit should go, and Rene, who is always short of pocket money, decided that he would do the ground break. So both set to work early in the morning, and the situation soon turned into a worker/foreman relationship...hahaha

Rene happy to work..

But nevertheless, the digging started, and Rene was very gung-ho to actually do a good bit of work. And he actually did a good initial trench which was about half a meter wide by half a meter deep... Good job!! He could not finish though, as Sunday rolled on, and it was back to hostel, and work of a different nature. :-) But he dig the initial dig, and created a good  start to the worker who came during the week to finish the hole.

Rene digging for China.. hehehe