Autonopedia

Hello and welcome to another of the occasional Autonopedia newsletters.
There are a number of new articles that have been published as we make the most of the gloomy winter months in the UK to start wading through all of the info we have collected over the last year (or so!) and links to these can be found further down the page.
As more and more cuts are taking place and more job losses forecast, many people are wondering how they are going to survive or get by. We are seeing more of the disastrous impacts of the environmental damage that has been inflicted on our planet which is bringing more problems to communities in many parts of the world and this is no longer confined to far away places . It is becoming quite obvious to more and more people that a) we cannot continue to live in such a wasteful manner and b) we cannot trust those in power to make the right decisions to help us out of this impasse.
The concept behind Autonopedia is now coming more important as we need to start taking responsibility for our own lives and not rely any longer for others to sort out the problems. There are many ways to help save money and make your lives more sustainable, healthier and more environmentally friendly and Autonopedia will continue to research and publish practical ideas and information related to this and self-empowerment in general.
Perhaps it is going to take extreme situations before the masses understand this and actually get up and start to take control of their own lives and communities, but it only needs a few people to start to show the way. Whether it is starting to grow your own food, use alternative cleaning methods, natural healing or even just reviving some of the crafts that the older generations used to use on a regular basis, there are many ways to start bringing about change and making life more meaningful and productive.
At the beginning of December we applied Google Analytics to our pages and this has produced some interesting results, before this we had no idea of  who were accessing the site and where. since then we are pleased to note that so far since then, Autonopedia has been accessed in 163 different countries on a wide range of subjects even though many people must have to understand the English language or rely on on-line translation engines.
The top ten countries so far from 1-10 are United States, United Kingdom, India, Canada, Philippines, Australia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Ireland, Indonesia. The longest average time spent on the site are visitors from Kenya followed by those from Romania. It is also clear that most people are coming to the site looking for one particular thing after finding the link in a search engine such as Google of via another site. This makes sense as a reference source but it would be nice to encourage people to explore more often as it is full of gems which are not so obvious until you have done some exploring.
We are in the process of evaluating suitable search software to put on the site which will make it easier to find information and hopefully an open source solution will fill the role rather than having to buy a commercial solution.
Now we come to the new articles:
Maybe you grow your own produce, or would like to stock up with food but either don't want to rely on (or even have) a fridge or freezer then one of the best ways to preserve food is drying. This is an excellent way to preserve fruit and vegetables and is not very difficult to do so here we have a comprehensive guide to doing so;
Drying Fruits And Vegetables
Of course to do so you will need to have some means of doing so so what better way is there than making your own dryer. For a really simple electric dryer to try out the concept without spending much then check out the really simple dryer that you can make very quickly and cheaply indeed:
Simple Food Dehydrator

For a more permanent and more effective solution then this article will show you how:
How To Build An Electric Food Dehydrator
For those who would prefer a non-electric solution, particularly where or when there is plenty of sunshine then build a solar dryer:
A Cookbook For Building A Solar Dryer
While we are on the subject of food many of you will find this article useful when it comes to cooking:
Culinary Herbs
And although spring is some way off yet it is still a good time to contemplate on some of the good wild and free food that you will start to find in the coming months, so to complement our wild food section here is an article on delicious wild salads you can look forward to:
Wild Salads
Moving on to the Healing section we have a couple of wonderful new pages on a simple but effective healing system known as Accupressure. These pages have disappeared from their original location on the net and we are proud to be able to host this excellent system on Autonopedia:
Accupoints
Everyone needs to wash their clothes but the washing detergents in the shops are full of chemicals and not only bad for the environment but also tend to bad for the skin and the safe environmentally friendly ones tend to be much more expensive so why not make your own?
Eco-Friendly Laundry Detergent
There are some tools that, although in the wrong hands can be destructive, can also be a tremendous boon to those living alternative lifestyles and homesteading etc. One of these the the venerable chainsaw. Knowing how to safely use one of these machines, how to maintain it and fix it can be of immense help to anyone who has to rely on wood for fuel and or construction purposes. This section is based on a book published in the late '70's but is surprisingly useful even today as chainsaws have changed little over the years since then and it contains a mine of important and useful info that all chainsaw owners and users will find invaluable:
Chainsaw Guide
Whilst we already have a section on Blacksmithing this is a very useful art in the community and we considered this latest addition to be a very useful compliment to the existing ones:
Blacksmith Manual Illustrated
For those who prefer the use of somewhat gentler machinery the sewing machine has long been regarded as an essential item for making and repairing clothing and household requirements. Although there is probably little one can do to service and maintain modern computerised machines there is still a place for the older type of sewing machine. They are incredibly reliable and can cover the vast majority of all sewing duties, are easy to maintain and can often be found very cheaply (in-fact can often simply be found!). They are also still very commonly used in many parts of the world so a comprehensive manual on their upkeep and repair is still very appropriate:
Basic Sewing Machine Repair
Keeping warm on a budget and maybe in the countryside in a small cottage, bender or even a caravan is something that often comes up, so a basic article on haw to make a simple wood burner from an old gas bottle should be popular for some people:
Making a Gas Bottle Stove
Many people who are running diesel motor vehicles or generators may be aware of the possibilities of running them on straight vegetable oil (SVO) and although there is an article in Autonopedia on this already it does not cover the practical aspects too well. This article hopes to change this and gives an insight into one of the ways it can be done, based on practical experience of converting two different vehicles:
SVO Conversions&
Finally, this is the time of year when many gardeners are starting to plan for the growing seasons and although there is a large section gardening there is still room for more and various aspects are missing here and there. Two pages appropriate to this time of year will surely be welcomed:
Cold Frames and Cloches
Building A Cold Frame
Well that must be our longest newsletter yet, and the largest influx of new articles in a long time. There is so much more data that we have it is often difficult to know what to publish next and there will be many more pages over the coming months. If there is anything that you would like to see then email us at here or use the contact page to let us know. We appreciate your input and will do our best to come up with appropriate and useful information. The chances are we have it all in our research database already.
Until next time
The Autonopedia Team