I found Pongo on my local shelter’s person to person adoptions. He’s neutered and micro chipped and is such a good and kind of goofy bunny. We soon added Narvi, who I found on Craigslist. Her family’s new apartment wouldn’t allow them to keep her, so I let them know they could bring her here to live with Pongo. Pongo has been overjoyed ever since. They have built a warren together and spend hours snuggling and grooming one another.

When I built this bunny tractor I didn’t yet know that they would be able to free range all day, but it’s still useful at night. We lock them up and keep them safe, and they can still snack and sleep on natural ground. The bunnies make excellent lawn mowers and have had no health problems. They also get plenty of hay. Our “lawn” is not really a lawn. It’s the natural vegetation, or “weeds” that grow naturally here like dandelion and mallow. Even the actual, invasive weeds I have identified are rabbit friendly, like henbit, with it’s pretty purple flowers.

I built the rabbit tractor out of materials I already had on hand. The only things I bought were hinges and hardware cloth. You need to use hardware cloth (with half inch holes) and a quality staple gun with very long staples to protect the bunnies or chickens from raccoons. Raccoons are incredibly strong and dexterous.

Constructing the Rabbit Tractor

I spent some time studying the materials I had on hand and thinking about my project. The night before I began, I made this sketch. Some things change during building. I decided to put 2 canvas frame doors on the top, rather than one on the side.

First, I attached long 2x4s to a sturdy old redwood drawer using screws. Those canvas stretcher bars on top of the drawer here will make the doors.

Here, the tractor is on its side, and I have filled out the frame with 4 long pieces of wood. One piece wasn’t quite long enough, so I extended it with a metal plate I had on hand (bottom right).

Next, I stapled on the hardware cloth and screwed boards over the top and sides to extend the sheltered area. The shelter is a few inches above the ground to protect the bunnies during rainy time, but also, to provide a small roost should I ever get to use it as a chicken tractor.

I attached my son’s old training wheel with some unnecessarily strong braces that came with IKEA curtain rods.

I covered the bottom with larger fencing so the grass can still come through the bottom. The hutch is on its side and Pongo is inspecting it. Bunnies like to inspect whatever we work on.

Narvi inspects the new tractor handles.

When they want to go home, they hop down the ramp inside the tractor. It took a few weeks, but now we are settled into a routine. Around 5pm, the bunnies tell me they want to go home by sniffing around their hutch. I lure them in by giving them rabbit crunchies and fresh hay, fresh water and litter box. The little box isn’t necessary, but they like it, and it makes it easy to collect and apply the fresh fertilizer they make.

If you look closely, you will see that we put Pongo’s house inside the little protected area of the rabbit tractor. And we built a ramp so the bunnies can climb up the doors and step down the ramp to go home at night. We lure them with rabbit crunchies and fresh hay and are usually successful.

They still have room to hop around in there, and it’s much larger than the cage many rabbits spend their lives in. Besides, it’s only for the evening.

During the day, they have the whole yard and their warren.

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Day 1

It was only a few minutes after I deactivated my account that I found myself back at facebook.com. My brain and fingers had auto-typed it, as they often did, between tasks on the computer. I was met with the Facebook login page. My info does not autofill, so it really feels like a barrier. My first response? A sigh of relief. My shoulders relaxed. I would not be falling into a pit of voyeuristic co-dependency. I opened a document to start writing this. It is the first I have written in many months. 

Day 2

I frequently typed in fb.com in my address bar and found myself back at the log in page. I developed a headache with sound and light sensitivity. I’ve been irritable. Could this all be from cutting social media?

But another thing has begun to happen. My home is cleaner. I am cooking more good food. We planted plants the day we bought them. I planted seeds in the garden.

Day 3

I don’t want to go back to social media. Part of the reason I stopped is I realized I reached a point in life where I could not take on anything more, much less handle everything I had on my plate. Social media was a significant portion of my time pie. I saw it as the only chunk I could remove to gain hours of time with minimal loss.

I felt blue today, and for the past couple of days I have had a slight headache with light and sound sensitivity, though it is better today. I wondered, could this be a withdrawal from the decrease in the little dopamine jolts social media gave me? I consulted my search engine and found that many people feel blue after quitting social media. I used to feel surrounded by hundreds of voices, and suddenly, I’m alone. It takes some time to balance. It feels a lot like quitting alcohol. The sense of calm alone makes it worth it.

In place of social media I began searching for local stoves. Ours is too big for our space, and we worry about bumping into the knobs. Is quitting social media going to save my life? I also began frequenting pet finder to research dogs. Does leaving social media mean I have the time and presence for a new best friend?

I looked up a recipe on the computer today, and then I closed the computer and executed it. It was perhaps the first time in years that opening the computer didn’t cause me to fall into an abyss of scrolling. The pull of what people say has a much stronger hold than pictures of second hand stoves.

Day 4 

Something still craves the state scrolling through social media gave me. A few times a day I seem to seek the blast of numbing overwhelm dipping into hundreds of voices gave me. When I stop to think about the reality of it, it feels overwhelming to “hear” all of those voice again. I am grateful not to be dealing with my stressors by absorbing more stress.

My blues have subsided and my home becomes tidier. I completed work that I normally put off long after I should. I continue to try new recipes in the kitchen- and keep it clean. The days don’t feel like they are thundering past me faster than I can keep up. 

I’m not sure if this is connected, but my play with my child has gotten better. When I pretend with the stuffed animals, I am fully present as I enjoy the narrative that flows through me naturally. My child laughed and said “You’re really good at this!” 

My headache is much better. It seems to be gone, but the heightened sensitivity remains, though it’s getting better too.

Day 5

I went down to my old dentist at about 8 am to demand they send the files I have been asking them to send me for 3 weeks. Later, I purchased a fan to fit the hole in our kitchen ceiling. I seem to have shifted my mindless scrolling to Offer Up and Craigslist, but they aren’t as hypnotizing as social media. And, I’m getting stuff done. Social media would sort of erase my memory of what I had intended to do before I logged in.

Day 6

No headache. Not irritable. Still occasionally auto-typing the facebook link. I got an air fryer from a neighbor on Offer Up and I’m off to try to make fried pickles.

2 weeks later

I recently stopped autotyping “facebook.com” into the address bar. I notice that I still crave something more from my phone or computer. For a while I channeled that into shopping apps, but that has calmed and I have been able to recognize and let go of the drive to scroll. Perusing OfferUp just isn’t as addictive as social media. It has been a good way to transition. My home continues to get more tidy and my piles of things to be addressed have mostly been addressed. What I really notice now that I’ve had some time to adjust is an emotional evenness and calm I did not have when I used to doom scroll social media. I feel less overwhelmed and I’m taking more time to do little things that I enjoy. This started as a plan to pause social media over the holidays, but I don’t see myself returning after the holidays have passed.

The post How I felt after I deactivated my Facebook account and quit social media. A diary. appeared first on Diana Kohne.

Shampoo

Baking soda. Mix a couple of tablespoons into a cup of water. No need to be exact. Mix it up in the shower before applying. Pour over scalp from temple to temple, rub and run fingers through. Rinse thoroughly.

I’ve use baking soda as shampoo for a decade. You can read else where about the sadly named “no poo method”. Basically, your scalp is used to store bought shampoos so your hair gets greasy faster because your body is working harder to replace the grease it lost. To convert to baking soda as shampoo, you must endure a couple of greasy months while the scalp learns to stop panicking and overproducing grease. After this point, the baking soda becomes enough to clean your hair. In my case, my hair stayed clean longer, and I only have to shampoo weekly.

Moisturizer

Avocado oil or grapeseed oil.

Wet face, hands and neck (or any area to be moisturized). Apply 2+ drops to hands and rub into skin, rub and pat onto neck and face.

Avocado oil and grapeseed oil are light and noncomedogenic, which is why they are often touted on the little plastic bottles in stores. I skip the preservatives and keep a dainty glass jar of oil in the medicine cabinet. Pouring it into the palm means you aren’t putting your fingers into a jar and introducing bacteria. When I visit family, I don’t pack my avocado oil. I’ll substitute with an oil from their kitchen instead for a day or two.

Exfoliant

Coffee grounds or baking soda.

I find coffee grounds more moisturizing and baking soda more drying. So I adjust depending on how my skin is behaving. Since I stopped using goop, I don’t find I need to exfoliate much. There just isn’t the same build up.

Toothpaste

Baking soda.

I use this for travel, but recommend diluting baking soda into a mixture for daily use. many natural pastes combine with Castille soap and other ingredients.

I use baking soda for toothpaste when I visit family so I don’t have to pack much, but for daily use, you’ll want to use something less abrasive.

Deoderant

Baking soda, vinegar, fresh lemon or lime wedge.

Apply baking soda to dampened pits. Or allow vinegar or citrus to dry before dressing.

For years I used baking soda as deoderant and really liked it. No more marks on clothing, and I didn’t need to wait for it to dry. One day my skin became sensitive to it, so I had to switch. My area has so many citrus trees, it’s easy to keep a lemon or lime on hand. However, you must wait until your underarms dry when using citrus or vinegar because they can bleach your clothing.

Honorable Mentions

Studies show green tea has sun healing properties. I like to drink it and apply it to my skin when I know I will be in the sun. I can’t recommend it because I am not a scientist, but I believe it helps. Also, this may not be in your kitchen, but I never set foot out the door without a big hat.

I continually return to these body care products in the kitchen because they take the DIY out of body care alternatives. I prefer not to spend my time mixing up special batches of lotions and salves with a short shelf life. These solutions last a long time, and without preservatives, dyes, or manufactured perfumes. What are your favorite goop alternatives?

The post Simple Body Care Products in the Kitchen appeared first on Diana Kohne.

Clothes Washer

Our mini washer from our apartment days still works, and it even looks cute on the patio, hooked up to our spigot there. Plus, the patio provides easy access to our solar clothes dryer. The laundry line cost only a few dollars, and has held up for more than 2 years. Free of large laundry machines, our laundry room instead functions an office.

Move the washer to the back patio and hook it up to a hose (as pictured) or place it near a window or door outside. Wedge a hose into the grey line that comes out of the machine. Direct it outside to your trees and garden. I directed the hose to run through a large pipe toward my garden. It doesn’t water it directly, but it adds to the water table underneath while nourishing the orange tree. Our oranges went from mediocre to praiseworthy! Eventually, I hope to find an old hose to poke holes in where it passes my garden plants to create a sort of greywater drip system. In the meantime, I dug a hole near the end of the hose to fit my trough. This way, I can I aim the laundry runoff to it and dip my watering can in there to water my garden.

An Ounce of Prevention!

Turn the washer water off when not in use. When you do things the DIY way, you have to take more care.

Homes with a crawl spaces will find it much easier to divert greywater lines under tubs and sinks to a hose running to the yard. It is important in these cases that the yard slope downward, and to keep an eye out for leaks under the house. Renegade waterers need to be vigilant.

Simple Ways to Capture and Use DIY Greywater

Maybe you rent your home or you don’t have access to a yard. Maybe you want to save every drop like a good environmentalist! You can still capture greywater to water houseplants and even flush your toilet. I keep a tub in my sink to capture water from dish rinsing, vegetable and hand washing. I then carry the tub to the patio to water all of my outdoor plants. If you rent, you can water the landscaping this way, sending water back into the ground and therefore into the water table- just make sure things don’t get overwatered. You can also pour the water into a vessel for watering your guerilla plantings on your daily walks. It important to note that greywater must be utilized within 24 hours.

Operate your Toilet for Free

In the book Extreme Simplicity, by Christopher and Delores Nyerges, they outline turning off the water to the toilet and using shower water to refill the tank. The tops can be cut off of old detergent bottles to create a manageabe water catching vessel with a handle that can live in the shower and easily pour into the back of the toilet. However, any old way your imagination can devise to capture water and pour it into the toilet tank will work.

Detergent and Soap Safety

Although we should not see such a separation between the water that goes down the drain or the recycled water that feeds our own garden, when we put the runoff in our own yards, we awaken our uncertainty about what exactly we’re putting into our soil. This is justified. The lab created polymers in every plastic bottle of shampoo purchased from corporate chains seem ok when they’re adding shine to our hair and going into the sewer system, but do we want that Polypropylene Glycol in our garden? No, probably not. I recommend using soap nuts as laundry “detergent” and treating stains with Castille soap and sunlight. And always wash cold. This is the greener option, and it doesn’t set stains, giving us more opportunities to save our clothing.

I recommend switching any liquid dish washing soaps for the vegan Dish Washing Block by No Tox Life. I do not have a dishwasher, so I have not researched soaps for dishwashers. Feel free to share any garden safe options in the comments!

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