Recipes and what-we-must-buy

Started by Herwìna, January 21, 2011, 10:31:48 AM

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Herwìna

I thought we should start to think what things we can make in the village and what we must buy. The most important things are probably ingredients for everyday hygiene stuff like toothpaste, soap and shampoo, ingredients for food, and fabrics for making clothes. I would love it if we would be able to make our own fabrics, grow linen and maybe have sheep, but to be realistic, that won't be possible, at least not for the few first years, later maybe.
I have been looking around the net a bit and found some recipes for how to make lye for soap, and soap itself of course. If we want to go fancy we will need to buy scents and oils, but if not, all we will need is the lye made out of ash, and to make soap we will need to add bones into it. Sounds yummy, huh, but think about it, we will have bones lying around because we will hunt animals for food, and we really don't have anything else to do with them, right?
A simple tooth powder can be done with baking soda and salt. Those two things we will need to have a supply of.

Now, if you know any recipes for stuff we will need, how to make as much things as possible at the village, things we will need to buy, or you think there is something everyone interested in moving to the village could and should learn, not depending on where they live and their age, just post down there!  8)
Siyevop nga nìzawnong ayukmì, vaykrr oengeyä mefya'o ultxaräpun fìtsap nìmun.

Oe zawng
nga zawng
nìwotx awnga zawng
fte oeti zeykivawng

Ngal yamom fì'ut srak?!

Tonbogiri

A good idea. What would be ideal would be to look for natural solutions to these problems - for example, certain types of coral excrete a natural sunscreen - great when you're stuck on a desert island.

It will depend of course on the plants present at the location. Your recipe for soap sounds fun! Scents and oils, again from local plants - but remember: hunting, soap is a bad thing. You want to smell like your environment - even if you are downwind, smelling like roses will alert your target to your presence.

Trying to think of toothpaste. I don't know if there is even a natural form - people just used water in the past, but that didn't help much!

Question - We are talking about the tribe here, right? The eco-village used to be called "the village" until recently, when they kind of merged - just to make sure I am contributing correctly.


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Na'viru san LearnNaviyä sìk oel olo'txepit nerekx siveiyi talun
    lì'fyari leNa'vi 'Rrtamì, vay set 'almong a fra'u zera'u ta ngrrpong...

Herwìna

Tribe, yes.  :) I think that tooth powder thing is pretty much as natural as it can go (just dip a wet toothbrush in the powder and brush like you would normally do), but I guess just brushing with water might do the trick. About that soap, you are right... But hunters probably won't wash themselves too much, at least if they go for longer hunting trips.
Actually I was thinking that we might be able to make soaps and sell them, that's what the more fancy stuff would be for. People love to buy natural stuff, it makes them feel real ecological!  ;D
Siyevop nga nìzawnong ayukmì, vaykrr oengeyä mefya'o ultxaräpun fìtsap nìmun.

Oe zawng
nga zawng
nìwotx awnga zawng
fte oeti zeykivawng

Ngal yamom fì'ut srak?!

Key'ìl Nekxetse

#3
Hmm, there are a number of sources of soaps, including plants with a high saponin content. These include soapwort and horse-chestnut. They might be a better solution to the problem.
Bones are useful as tools, stock and fertiliser.
I've seen woodash recommended as toothpaste, but without any evidence of how effective it is.

As has been said before, all survival skills are extremely important.
Key'ìl Nekxetse on "The Revolutionists"
~$ life --help
The program life received signal SIGSEV. Core dumped.

Tonbogiri

Had a thought on food. In order to avoid making huge dents in local wildlife population, we may only be able to make regular hunting trips, as opposed to constant butchering. This means making meat last - any tips for preserving meat, especially in hot weather?

We will of course have to find some kind of starchy thing to eat in the meantime - various porridges can be made from root plants, seeds and even the pith of some trees.


old gallery link?id=2051[/img]

Na'viru san LearnNaviyä sìk oel olo'txepit nerekx siveiyi talun
    lì'fyari leNa'vi 'Rrtamì, vay set 'almong a fra'u zera'u ta ngrrpong...

Txura Rolyu

I know smoking stuff is a really good idea. It just gets old after a while unless you can find some spices to add to it. I wish we could all meet somewhere online or IRL and do a whole run down of things. Would be a great plan to just have everythign kinda covered to see how we are doing.
Quote from: Ekirä on March 30, 2011, 04:45:34 PMNeytiri: Now you choose your woman. This you must feel inside. If she also chooses you, move quick like I showed.
Jake: How will I know if she chooses me?
Neytiri: She will try to kill you.
Jake: Outstanding. *takes out an ikran-catcher and walks through hometree looking for women*

Key'ìl Nekxetse

Smoking, salting, curing, anything else?
Key'ìl Nekxetse on "The Revolutionists"
~$ life --help
The program life received signal SIGSEV. Core dumped.

Txura Rolyu

Quote from: Ekirä on March 30, 2011, 04:45:34 PMNeytiri: Now you choose your woman. This you must feel inside. If she also chooses you, move quick like I showed.
Jake: How will I know if she chooses me?
Neytiri: She will try to kill you.
Jake: Outstanding. *takes out an ikran-catcher and walks through hometree looking for women*

guest2859

I'm going to be working up to a cook at my job during the summer, so I should have a few tricks down. Mahi, anyone?

Herwìna

Mayhaps waking up the topic again. After not using shampoo, soap, toothpaste or "normal" deodorant in eight months, I am rather amused reading my first message. Water truly is quite enough for all the washing, and for a deodorant I use a 'Salt of the Earth - Totally Natural Deodorant' which is made out of some kind of salt... Ammonium Potassium if I remember correctly. I wash my teeth with a toothbrush and rub my skin with a luffa glove kind of thing when in shower, and I have to say, mechanical cleansing is quite as effective as chemical cleansing - just kinder for the nature.
I use soapnuts, lemon, vinegar, salt and baking soda for all my house cleaning, and soap nuts and sodium percarbonate for washing laundry. I need to buy a gall soap so I can get rid of a few more stubborn stains though.
And aye, I have not washed my hair with a shampoo at all in eight months aside for the visit to a salon. I sometimes rinse my hair with watered down lemon juice though, because my scalp likes it.

What I am saying is, this is not very far from what I think we should have at the tribe. I also think that everyone should at least try to get rid of the unnecessary detergents, and deodorants that cause aluminium to collect into one's body. From this type of cleansing habits it would be a lot easier for both the body and the mind to go into a possibly even lower level of cleansing. Seeing as it is quite possible that at the tribe a bath would equal a quick swim with no detergents or soaps or even mechanical cleansing, and possibly deodorant would not be used either. And with the right kind of clothing that would not even pose as a threat for our oh-so-well-cultivated olfactory nerves.

On account of plants with saponin... I looked into it and apparently soapwort's saponin content is higher that that of soap nuts. I am planning on growing soapwort on my balcony, but that is a future project seeing as winters here are quite cold... Tee-hee.
Quite possibly growing plants with saponin at the tribe would be a very good idea.
Siyevop nga nìzawnong ayukmì, vaykrr oengeyä mefya'o ultxaräpun fìtsap nìmun.

Oe zawng
nga zawng
nìwotx awnga zawng
fte oeti zeykivawng

Ngal yamom fì'ut srak?!

Tsmuktengan

Hmm, honestly I am not sure. Hygiene is a crucial thing, wherever you are. And water definitely does not keep one clean outside of appearances. It won't prevent anyone from even smelling a bit for obvious reasons. This is the point that, I have to admit, worries me.

This is up to each one of us, but I would be reassured if some natural product can be made and used to remain perfectly clean without causing any harm to the surrounding eco system. I have to read some pages about this.

Your experience is interesting, but I am personally cautious about this. It is among the most important criteria for having a decent quality of life and to make sure this does not bother anyone. 


Herwìna

#11
Well... When I used these lovely detergents (oh, SLS, the main ingredient aside water in shampoos, soaps and dish washing detergent...) and antiperspirant... Let me make a list.
- hair looked greasy if not washed every day
- scalp was itchy
- dandruff
- got split ends when my favourite conditioner's production stopped
- my dad complained that I smelled. Almost always when we met. Everyone else was too shameful to complain. Oh, and the mother of the family I worked for complained sometimes too.
I threw the detergents and the deodorant out the window (so to speak) around the same time, and even though at first my hair went all greasy, after some time - maybe a week or so - it got better. The dandruff is not even close as bad a problem as it used to be, and my hair does not get greasy looking at all (unless I put too much oil in it... Oops).
The deodorant on the other hand, it has a few problems. It does not work in a "whoops I smell well I'll just put on deodorant" -way. One's got to wash oneself (or just the armpits, whatever's one's cup of tea at the time in case) and then rub the deodorant all over the armpit. That really means all over.
But it keeps the smells away pretty nicely. Does not remove the sweat, sadly. But it is natural and more body-friendly.

In any case, I feel a lot better about myself after throwing out the detergents and conventional deodorants and all the other s***. And I know that I smell a lot less. I'm not saying I don't smell at all because that would be LIES! seeing as even the people that do use detergents and conventional deodorant don't manage to not smell at all, but I am saying that my hair does not smell at all and when I sweat I don't smell any more than the next person.

So, uh... Try it? If you are going to read, include some no 'poo pages to your reading.
On the note of natural cleaning products, a solution can be made out of soap nuts that can be used as a shampoo/soap. I would not know how well is works since I haven't tried but soap nuts seem to clean my clothes well enough, tee-hee.

But seriously, just try to ditch the detergents and replace everything with more natural stuff. I'm not saying "water cleans everything" - it just happens to be quite enough for me. I know that for some people ditching shampoo totally causes blemishes on the scalp and other crap. In that case, just try to find something that works better. Some people wash with a sulphate- and silicone free conditioner only and it works for them (for me it cleaned too much and made my hair feel like bloody straw). Some people wash with soap nut solution, some people wash with baking soda and vinegar (or lemon juice), some people use only the vinegar (or lemon). Some people use sulphate- and silicone free shampoo and conditioner, blah, blah, blah. It's just about finding what works. At first I used baking soda and vinegar every time I washed my hair because I just had the feeling that I could not be clean unless I used something. Nowadays I just brush my hair quickly before shower and then give my scalp a good rub when in the shower, that removes any dead skin cells that need to be removed. And that is all I need. *shrug*
Siyevop nga nìzawnong ayukmì, vaykrr oengeyä mefya'o ultxaräpun fìtsap nìmun.

Oe zawng
nga zawng
nìwotx awnga zawng
fte oeti zeykivawng

Ngal yamom fì'ut srak?!

Amaya

Just a little correction on the "how to make soap" thing at the beginning of this (because it's something I have direct experience with)  Lye soap is made with, yes, lye from ashes, but NOT with bones.  Bones have nothing to do with it.  Soap comes from mixing lye with rendered fat or oil.

If anyone is actually interested in doing this I can add a copy of my great-grandmother's recipe for lye soap (not with homemade lye, of course, but with the storebought stuff)  It really works, and makes solid soap that can be easily cut into cakes and smells like, well, >.> basically just smells like its ingredients, so it smells like nothing.

Herwìna

#13
Yeah I had a 'little' misunderstanding there, if I remember correctly it was just throwing whatever animal based scrap like intestines and fat and stuff into the mixture and it'd become soap, or something. That would include bones and be a good riddance of things like that if they had no better uses. However there are less, ehm, ugly soap recipes with store bought lye and some oil (one of the coolest was soap made out of bear fat. Awesome) and maybe some scenting and whatnot, generally just lye + oil. Earlier I was mainly thinking about how to make things with as little bought things as possible. *shrug*
Finding soap recipes with store bought ingredients is fairly easy. And those kinds of soaps are on my to-do list. x)
Siyevop nga nìzawnong ayukmì, vaykrr oengeyä mefya'o ultxaräpun fìtsap nìmun.

Oe zawng
nga zawng
nìwotx awnga zawng
fte oeti zeykivawng

Ngal yamom fì'ut srak?!

Tsmuktengan

Ah, now I understand.

We no longer use strong detergents when we clean ourselves here (although it is still industrial), and only take products that do have natural ingredients, that are environment friendly. And I avoid using deodorants because this is just not the way (but being very active and moving a lot, I sometimes don't have much choice).

All this is very interesting. Although I won't be able to try using only natural stuff right now, for many reasons, this is really great.

QuoteSo, uh... Try it? If you are going to read, include some no 'poo pages to your reading.
I did not understand that part, sorry.

QuoteSome people wash with a sulphate- and silicone free conditioner only and it works for them.
This is what I use. But there are of course other solutions that are certainly more appropriate for living close to nature.