Chop Wood Carry Water Plant Seeds is a blog about Self-Sufficient Homesteading. How can we live by creating a sustainable bio-diverse world, instead of by consuming and destroying the only one we have? What kind of teaching have you got if you exclude nature?

Monday, February 6, 2012

Three Solar Food Dehydrators



The first solar dehydrator is shown by robert and marina at dell artimus farm. The solar heat comes from a heated panel at the bottom, and there is a black chimney at the top that creates a draw. They use a stainless steel screen. The dryer is a year and a half old. They have dried beans, flowers, cherries, grapes (raisins), kale, walnuts and apples. They tried some tomatoes, but those ended up as pig food.

Matt at feral farm shows a "down draft solar dehydrator." The solar heat enters at the top and then goes down. Because as it gathers moisture, the solar heated air gets heavier. He has nettles in there.

Mark Vander Meer, of wildland conservation service in Missoula, Montana shows off his solar food dehydrator still loaded with dried plums. Those plums have been in there all fall, winter and most of the spring. He talks about trying to dry fruit with electric food dehydrators and how expensive that was. This solar dehydrator also uses the down draft technique. He says plums take three days and apples take a day and a half.

These are all passive systems. There are no fans.

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