I Tech designs
Appropriate Technology for Small and Subsistence Farms
PO Box 413, Veneta, OR 97487, USA
http://members.efn.org/~itech/

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All I Tech designs are public domain, a gift to humanity

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Designs
Food dryer:   Farm-scale food dehydrator. (143 kb, 11/1998 updated 11/2009)       .pdf
Food dryer:   Solar tunnel food dryer.  DIY*: plans for a solar tunnel food dryer,  a modified Hohenheim design, optimized using the Penman-Monteith evapotranspiration equation.  Solar radiation is the primary contributor to evapotranspiration, hence the solar dryer maximizes the exposure of products to sunlight with unobstructed air flow to remove water vapor (it does not maximize temperature inside the dryer).
(383 kb,3/2008, revised 11/2009)  
   .pdf
Garlic:  Hand operated garlic trimmer. (58 kb, 8/1999)
   .pdf
Grain huller:  Grain huller for rice, spelt wheat, quinoa and millet.  DIY: plans for converting a hand mill to a grain huller (71 kb, 8/1989)    .pdf
Grain huller: Centrifugal huller for sunflower and naked barley seeds.  DIY: convert a kitchen sink garbage disposer into a grain huller  (120 kb, 1/2010)     .pdf
Grain thresher:  Conversion of a leaf shredder/wood chipper to a grain thresher.  DIY: plans for a grain thresher suitable for amaranth, bean,oat, rice, wheat etc.(180 kb, 8/1994 updated 11/2009)      .pdf
Grain thresher: DIY Make a corn (maize) sheller/thresher using a leaf shredder.  Plans for modifying a leaf shredder into a corn sheller/thresher to reduce kernel damage during shelling (373 kb, 5/2020)       .pdf
Insulation: Skylight insulation:  3 ways to increase the insulation of home skylights (73 kb, 6/2005)    .pdf
Pests:   Enhanced electronic black light bug zapper. (77 kb, 11/2000, updated 11/2009)    .pdf
Pests:   Mouse guard: a non climb barriers against mice.  Revisions: added photos of locations where mice breach metal building (130 kb, 3/2007b, updated 5/2020)   revised    .pdf
Pests:   Protecting trees from nutria  (54 kb, 6/2005)    .pdf
Seed cleaner:   Hand operated screen seed cleaner.  DIY: plans for a shaker screen seed cleaner.  Machine is easy to clean, between change of seed type or seed lot   (130 kb, 3/2014)     .pdf
Seed cleaner:   Farm scale electric winnower: DIY: seed cleaner using air to separate seeds from chaff (142kb,12/2005)   .pdf
Seed cleaner:   Hand operated winnower, added a larger version (438 kb, 2/1986, updated 4/2016)      .pdf
Seed cleaner:     Small electric winnower (66kb, 2/1986)   .pdf
Seed storage:    Hand operated vacuum packing system for seed storage (15 kb, 11/1989)    .pdf
Weed control:   Flex tine cultivator conversion: DIY: convert a spike tooth harrow to a tine cultivator (233 kb, 1/2007)    .pdf
Weed control:   Propane flame weed burners (163 kb, 2/1997, updated 11/2009)    .pdf
Weed control:   DIY Make a narrow strip rotary hoe cultivator (412 kb, 6/2020)      .pdf
Weed control:   Serrated hand hoe and mower blades (62 kb, 8/1991)    .pdf
Weed control:   Weeding spade (47 kb, 2/1996)    .pdf
Weed control:  DIY Make your own weeding hoe (using scrap steel with high carbon content) (555kb, 3/2022)   recent addition    .pdf
    
Oregon Farm (USA)
Bean: Growing organic black beans in Veneta, Oregon: (western Oregon, 17 miles west of Eugene)  Planting dates, fertilizer, weed cultivations, harvest and post harvest (295 kb, 10/2009b)   .pdf
Canada thistle: Canada thistle control with mechanical cultivation using sweeps (618 kb, 1/2018, revised 12/2020)  revised   .pdf
Dry farming: Vegetable and field crop rooting depths and lateral root distances:  data compiled from JE Weaver and WE Bruner, 1927. Root Development of Vegetable Crops. McGraw-Hill Book Co. and from JE Weaver, 1926.  Development of Field Crops .  Revisions: added root drawings from Weaver and Bruner; estimate crop root surface area at 56 days after planting; and arrange crops according to root growth rate, crops with fast root growth rate are better suited for dry farming  (290 kb, 6/2016, revised 1/2021) revised   .pdf
Cool storage room/walk-in cooler: How to modify a window air conditioner to cool a storage room below 60F (16C) (474 kb, 1/2022)  recent addition   .pdf
* DIY:  "Do it yourself", make your own equipment
Something else
Koans, part 1: selections mostly from The Gateless Gate, book of 48 koans collected by Mumon (1183-1260). Comments on selected koans by student t (218  kb, 1/2019, revised 3/2023) .pdf
Koans, part 2: selections from The Blue Cliff Record, book of 100 koans collected by Yuan-wu (1063-1135).  Coments on selected koans by student t (431 kb, 4/2019, revised 3/2023) .pdf
Koans, part 3: selections from The Book of Equanimity (also called Book of Serenity and Shoyoroku), book of 100 koans collected by Wanshi Shogaku (1091-1157). Coments on selected koans by student t (441 kb, 4/2020, revised 3/2023)   .pdf
Koans, part 4, selections from The True Dharma Eye, book of 300 koans collected by Zen master Dogen (1200-1253).  Comments on selected koans by student t (576 kb, 4/2023)   .pdf