{"title":"Systems Guides","description":"\u003cp\u003ePractical guides to the systems that make an off-grid home work: water, power, food, sanitation and shelter. Each numbered guide takes one off-grid system and shows you how it works, sizes it with real numbers, prices three builds part by part and walks you through building and running it, with every fact sourced and checked. Listed in series order, followed by a few standalone field guides made the same way.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"systems-solar-power","title":"Off-grid solar: Panels, batteries and inverters · Alt Ordo Systems Guide","description":"\u003cp\u003eSolar is the hub of an off-grid home's power, and this guide starts small on purpose: a power station and two folding panels on the porch, then a 24 V battery board for a cabin, then a 48 V bank with room to grow. Each step keeps its value when you move up. It is plain about the two hard parts, sizing for winter sun and fusing the battery side so it can never start a fire, and clear about which jobs belong to a licensed electrician.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis guide helps you size, buy, wire and run a small off-grid solar system for a tiny home or cabin, from a power station on the porch to a 48 V battery bank, and know which parts you should hand to an electrician.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat's inside.\u003c\/strong\u003e 24 pages in 9 chapters (At a glance, Where it works, How it works, Size it, Parts and cost, Build it, Run it, Rules and permits, How it connects), then the sources and a notes page. 11 numbered figures drawn for this guide, including a fit map of every US county. You also get a worked example with a fill-in worksheet, 12 numbered steps, a year-round calendar, and a troubleshooting table.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThree builds, costed line by line\u003c\/strong\u003e (typical US prices, October 2026):\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBare-bones: $949–$1,497\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eStandard: $5,223–$6,565\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eComfortable: $8,142–$11,444\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSourced and fact-checked.\u003c\/strong\u003e Facts and figures are cited to the 32 sources listed at the back, and the whole guide was fact-checked before release. General guidance, not engineering advice: your county and a qualified pro have the last word on your site.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePairs with\u003c\/strong\u003e other Alt Ordo Systems Guides: Portable power stations; Wood stoves; Roof rainwater catchment. For your county's permits and rules, see our county and state guides.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInstant PDF download.\u003c\/strong\u003e After checkout you get a download link by email. Letter-size pages, made to read on screen or print at home.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alt Ordo","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48361120891051,"sku":"AO26-SYS-01","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0615\/4718\/4299\/files\/AO26-SYS-01.jpg?v=1792839812"},{"product_id":"systems-rainwater-catchment","title":"Roof rainwater catchment: Gutters, first flush and cisterns · Alt Ordo Systems Guide","description":"\u003cp\u003eA roof is a free water collector. Gutters gather what falls on it, a first-flush diverter throws away the dirtiest first gallons, and a covered tank stores the rest for dry weeks. A clean system gives you garden, washing and livestock water with no pump at all. With filtration and disinfection it can be your drinking water. The real design work is sizing the tank for your dry season, and keeping the water clean from the roof to the tap.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis guide helps you work out how much rain your roof can give you and how much tank you need for the dry season, then build a clean catchment from gutter to tap: leaf screens, a first-flush diverter, a calmed inlet, a guarded overflow and a floating outlet.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat's inside.\u003c\/strong\u003e 25 pages in 9 chapters (At a glance, Where it works, How it works, Size it, Parts and cost, Build it, Run it, Rules and permits, How it connects), then the sources and a notes page. 12 numbered figures drawn for this guide, including a fit map of every US county. You also get a worked example with a fill-in worksheet, 12 numbered steps, a year-round calendar, and a troubleshooting table.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThree builds, costed line by line\u003c\/strong\u003e (typical US prices, October 2026):\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBare-bones: $780–$1,440\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eStandard: $2,040–$2,650\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eComfortable: $4,810–$5,980\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSourced and fact-checked.\u003c\/strong\u003e Facts and figures are cited to the 17 sources listed at the back, and the whole guide was fact-checked before release. General guidance, not engineering advice: your county and a qualified pro have the last word on your site.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePairs with\u003c\/strong\u003e other Alt Ordo Systems Guides: Safe drinking water; Off-grid solar; Water storage and off-grid plumbing; Wells and hand pumps; The off-grid vegetable garden. For your county's permits and rules, see our county and state guides.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInstant PDF download.\u003c\/strong\u003e After checkout you get a download link by email. Letter-size pages, made to read on screen or print at home.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alt Ordo","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48361168437419,"sku":"AO26-SYS-02","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0615\/4718\/4299\/files\/AO26-SYS-02.jpg?v=1792839813"},{"product_id":"systems-composting-toilets","title":"Composting toilets: Dry toilets that make soil, not sewage · Alt Ordo Systems Guide","description":"\u003cp\u003eA composting toilet is a toilet with no water and no sewer. You cover what you leave with a dry, carbon-rich material, keep air moving, and move the contents to a compost bay where they become soil over about a year. Done well, there is no sewage smell, no septic tank and no flush water. The toilet is the easy part. The real system is the bay out back, and the habit of tending it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis guide helps you choose, size, install and run a dry toilet for a tiny home, cabin or bathhouse, build the compost bays that finish the job, and know what the finished compost is safe to feed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat's inside.\u003c\/strong\u003e 17 pages in 9 chapters (At a glance, Where it works, How it works, Size it, Parts and cost, Set it up, Run it, Rules and permits, How it connects), then the sources and a notes page. 7 numbered figures drawn for this guide. You also get a worked example with a fill-in worksheet, 8 numbered steps, a year-round calendar, and a troubleshooting table.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThree builds, costed line by line\u003c\/strong\u003e (typical US prices, October 2026):\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBare-bones: $90–$110\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eStandard: $1,010–$1,060\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eComfortable: $2,800–$5,680\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSourced and fact-checked.\u003c\/strong\u003e Facts and figures are cited to the 20 sources listed at the back, and the whole guide was fact-checked before release. General guidance, not engineering advice: your county and a qualified pro have the last word on your site.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePairs with\u003c\/strong\u003e other Alt Ordo Systems Guides: Composting; Food forests; Portable power stations. For your county's permits and rules, see our county and state guides.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInstant PDF download.\u003c\/strong\u003e After checkout you get a download link by email. Letter-size pages, made to read on screen or print at home.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alt Ordo","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48361169027243,"sku":"AO26-SYS-07","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0615\/4718\/4299\/files\/AO26-SYS-07.jpg?v=1792839814"},{"product_id":"systems-food-preservation","title":"Canning and food preservation: Water bath, pressure, drying, fermenting and more · Alt Ordo Systems Guide","description":"\u003cp\u003eFood preservation turns one summer's harvest into a year of meals. There are five main tools: canning in a boiling-water or pressure canner, fermenting, drying, freezing and cool storage. Each one stops spoilage a different way, and each food suits some methods and not others. The rule that matters most is simple and strict: low-acid foods such as green beans, corn and meat must be pressure canned, using a tested recipe, the right pressure for your altitude, and the full time. Get that right and the rest is practice.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis guide helps you pick the right method for each food, size a year of jars for your household, and can, ferment, dry and freeze the harvest on an off-grid kitchen, following tested USDA methods to the letter.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat's inside.\u003c\/strong\u003e 18 pages in 9 chapters (At a glance, Where it works, How it works, Size it, Parts and cost, Set it up and can, Run it, Rules and permits, How it connects), then the sources and a notes page. 8 numbered figures drawn for this guide. You also get a worked example with a fill-in worksheet, 10 numbered steps, a year-round calendar, and a troubleshooting table.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThree builds, costed line by line\u003c\/strong\u003e (typical US prices, October 2026):\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBare-bones: $148–$227\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eStandard: $731–$1,074\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eComfortable: $3,591–$4,594\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSourced and fact-checked.\u003c\/strong\u003e Facts and figures are cited to the 27 sources listed at the back, and the whole guide was fact-checked before release. General guidance, not engineering advice: your county and a qualified pro have the last word on your site.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePairs with\u003c\/strong\u003e other Alt Ordo Systems Guides: The off-grid vegetable garden; Root cellars; Generators, propane and fuel; Off-grid solar; Food forests; Backyard chickens. For your county's permits and rules, see our county and state guides.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInstant PDF download.\u003c\/strong\u003e After checkout you get a download link by email. Letter-size pages, made to read on screen or print at home.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alt Ordo","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48361169617067,"sku":"AO26-SYS-09","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0615\/4718\/4299\/files\/AO26-SYS-09.jpg?v=1792839815"},{"product_id":"systems-wells-hand-pumps","title":"Wells and hand pumps: Hand pumps and solar well pumps · Alt Ordo Systems Guide","description":"\u003cp\u003eA well taps groundwater: water held in the pores and cracks of soil and rock below the water table. A pump lifts it to you. Off-grid, the pump is the hard part, because an ordinary well pump wants 240 V and a big surge to start. This guide covers the three off-grid answers: a pitcher pump on a shallow well, a deep-well hand pump that needs no power at all, and a solar submersible that fills a tank while the sun shines. Most homesteads end up with two of them in the same well.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis guide helps you read a well log, choose between a pitcher pump, a deep-well hand pump and a solar submersible, size the pump and the tank with real numbers, and keep your well water safe to drink, with or without power.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat's inside.\u003c\/strong\u003e 18 pages in 9 chapters (At a glance, Where it works, How it works, Size it, Parts and cost, Build it, Run it, Rules and permits, How it connects), then the sources and a notes page. 8 numbered figures drawn for this guide. You also get a worked example with a fill-in worksheet, 10 numbered steps, a year-round calendar, and a troubleshooting table.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThree builds, costed line by line\u003c\/strong\u003e (typical US prices, October 2026):\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBare-bones: $620–$2,090\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eStandard: $6,340–$11,650\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eComfortable: $11,640–$23,040\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSourced and fact-checked.\u003c\/strong\u003e Facts and figures are cited to the 24 sources listed at the back, and the whole guide was fact-checked before release. General guidance, not engineering advice: your county and a qualified pro have the last word on your site.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePairs with\u003c\/strong\u003e other Alt Ordo Systems Guides: Roof rainwater catchment; Safe drinking water; Water storage and off-grid plumbing; Off-grid solar; Generators, propane and fuel; Septic and its alternatives; Finding off-grid land. For your county's permits and rules, see our county and state guides.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInstant PDF download.\u003c\/strong\u003e After checkout you get a download link by email. Letter-size pages, made to read on screen or print at home.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alt Ordo","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48361169649835,"sku":"AO26-SYS-06","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0615\/4718\/4299\/files\/AO26-SYS-06.jpg?v=1792839816"},{"product_id":"systems-off-grid-land","title":"Finding off-grid land: Where to look, what to check, how to buy · Alt Ordo Systems Guide","description":"\u003cp\u003eLand is the one off-grid system you cannot fix later. Panels, tanks and toilets can be moved or upgraded. A parcel with no legal road, soil that fails a septic test, no water underground or zoning that bans small homes stays that way. This guide shows you how to choose a region, read a county, check a parcel on paper and on foot, and buy it with conditions in the contract that let you walk away if it fails. It takes months of homework and almost no tools.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis guide helps you pick a region and a county that suit off-grid living, find a parcel, check the access, soil, water, zoning and title before you sign, and buy it on terms you can pay off.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat's inside.\u003c\/strong\u003e 18 pages in 9 chapters (At a glance, Where it works, How it works, Size it, Parts and cost, Buy it, Run it, Rules and permits, How it connects), then the sources and a notes page. 7 numbered figures drawn for this guide. You also get a worked example with a fill-in worksheet, 12 numbered steps, a year-round calendar, and a troubleshooting table.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThree builds, costed line by line\u003c\/strong\u003e (typical US prices, October 2026):\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBare-bones: $9,119–$16,547\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eStandard: $30,873–$53,175\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eComfortable: $83,222–$132,944\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSourced and fact-checked.\u003c\/strong\u003e Facts and figures are cited to the 29 sources listed at the back, and the whole guide was fact-checked before release. General guidance, not engineering advice: your county and a qualified pro have the last word on your site.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePairs with\u003c\/strong\u003e other Alt Ordo Systems Guides: Wells and hand pumps; Septic and its alternatives; Roof rainwater catchment; Composting toilets; Off-grid solar; The micro cabin; Tiny homes, RVs and skoolies. For your county's permits and rules, see our county and state guides.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInstant PDF download.\u003c\/strong\u003e After checkout you get a download link by email. Letter-size pages, made to read on screen or print at home.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alt Ordo","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48361170239659,"sku":"AO26-SYS-05","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0615\/4718\/4299\/files\/AO26-SYS-05.jpg?v=1792839817"},{"product_id":"systems-wood-stoves","title":"Wood stoves: Safe, efficient heat for a small home · Alt Ordo Systems Guide","description":"\u003cp\u003eA wood stove is a closed steel or cast-iron firebox that burns wood slowly and cleanly, warms the room by radiation and moving air, and sends its smoke up a chimney built for the job. Off the grid it is the cheapest way to heat: a solar system big enough to run electric heaters would be \"wildly expensive and impractical\" (The Acorn Off-Grid Home (2023), §25). The stove is the easy part. Safety lives in three places: the clearances around it, the chimney above it, and the dryness of the wood you feed it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis guide helps you size, choose, install and run a certified wood stove that heats a small off-grid home safely, feed it dry wood, and know which jobs belong to the inspector and the chimney sweep.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat's inside.\u003c\/strong\u003e 20 pages in 9 chapters (At a glance, Where it works, How it works, Size it, Parts and cost, Install it, Run it, Rules and permits, How it connects), then the sources and a notes page. 8 numbered figures drawn for this guide. You also get a worked example with a fill-in worksheet, 10 numbered steps, a year-round calendar, and a troubleshooting table.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThree builds, costed line by line\u003c\/strong\u003e (typical US prices, October 2026):\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBare-bones: $1,580–$2,220\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eStandard: $2,720–$3,580\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eComfortable: $6,180–$7,720\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSourced and fact-checked.\u003c\/strong\u003e Facts and figures are cited to the 27 sources listed at the back, and the whole guide was fact-checked before release. General guidance, not engineering advice: your county and a qualified pro have the last word on your site.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePairs with\u003c\/strong\u003e other Alt Ordo Systems Guides: Firewood; Off-grid solar; The micro cabin. For your county's permits and rules, see our county and state guides.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInstant PDF download.\u003c\/strong\u003e After checkout you get a download link by email. Letter-size pages, made to read on screen or print at home.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alt Ordo","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48361170272427,"sku":"AO26-SYS-08","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0615\/4718\/4299\/files\/AO26-SYS-08.jpg?v=1792839818"},{"product_id":"systems-vegetable-garden","title":"The off-grid vegetable garden: Beds, soil and a year of food · Alt Ordo Systems Guide","description":"\u003cp\u003eA vegetable garden is the friendliest system on an off-grid homestead: it needs no power, few tools and no permit in most places. What it does need is sun, steady water, good soil, a fence, and someone who walks out to it most days. This guide builds narrow raised beds you never step on, fills them with a measured topsoil and compost mix, waters them by gravity from a rain tank, and plants them on a calendar keyed to your frost dates. Be honest with yourself about one thing from the start: a garden gives you vitamins, flavor and savings, not most of your calories. Chapter 4 shows why.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis guide helps you choose a sunny spot, test the soil, fence it, build and fill raised beds, water them by gravity from a rain tank, and plant a calendar of crops that keeps two people in fresh vegetables from early spring to the first hard frost.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat's inside.\u003c\/strong\u003e 25 pages in 9 chapters (At a glance, Where it works, How it works, Size it, Parts and cost, Build it, Run it, Rules and permits, How it connects), then the sources and a notes page. 12 numbered figures drawn for this guide, including a fit map of every US county. You also get a worked example with a fill-in worksheet, 11 numbered steps, a year-round calendar, and a troubleshooting table.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThree builds, costed line by line\u003c\/strong\u003e (typical US prices, October 2026):\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBare-bones: $380–$510\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eStandard: $1,570–$2,360\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eComfortable: $5,140–$5,710\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSourced and fact-checked.\u003c\/strong\u003e Facts and figures are cited to the 17 sources listed at the back, and the whole guide was fact-checked before release. General guidance, not engineering advice: your county and a qualified pro have the last word on your site.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePairs with\u003c\/strong\u003e other Alt Ordo Systems Guides: Roof rainwater catchment; Composting; Backyard chickens; Hoop greenhouses; Canning and food preservation; Root cellars. For your county's permits and rules, see our county and state guides.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInstant PDF download.\u003c\/strong\u003e After checkout you get a download link by email. Letter-size pages, made to read on screen or print at home.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alt Ordo","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48361170862251,"sku":"AO26-SYS-04","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0615\/4718\/4299\/files\/AO26-SYS-04.jpg?v=1792839819"},{"product_id":"systems-drinking-water","title":"Safe drinking water: Filters, treatment and testing · Alt Ordo Systems Guide","description":"\u003cp\u003eOff-grid, nobody treats or tests your water but you. The good news is that the methods are simple and cheap: a lab test tells you what is in the water, a filter catches what is big enough to catch, and a disinfectant or a UV lamp kills what slips through. The art is matching the treatment to the test, choosing gear that is certified to do what it claims, and keeping it maintained. This guide covers all three, from a bucket and a bottle of bleach to a pumped system with a UV lamp.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis guide helps you test your rain, well, spring or creek water, choose the filters and disinfection that match what the test finds, size them for your household and your power budget, and keep them working through the year.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat's inside.\u003c\/strong\u003e 19 pages in 9 chapters (At a glance, Where it works, How it works, Size it, Parts and cost, Set it up, Run it, Rules and permits, How it connects), then the sources and a notes page. 7 numbered figures drawn for this guide. 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It has two moving parts and needs no electricity, fuel or panels. The trade is that most of the water flows back to the creek, and a ram can only run where water falls to it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis guide helps you measure your creek's fall and flow, work out how much water a ram will lift to your tank, then build, install and tune a 1¼ in ram from hardware-store fittings that pumps day and night with no power at all.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat's inside.\u003c\/strong\u003e 27 pages in 9 chapters (At a glance, Where it works, How it works, Size it, Parts and cost, Build it, Run it, Rules and permits, How it connects), then the sources and a notes page. 12 numbered figures drawn for this guide, including a fit map of every US county. 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Letter-size pages, made to read on screen or print at home.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alt Ordo","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48373638889643,"sku":"AO26-SYS-48","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0615\/4718\/4299\/files\/AO26-SYS-48.jpg?v=1792843518"},{"product_id":"systems-biogas","title":"Backyard Biogas Digester: A DIY IBC-tote methane digester: gas to cook on, fertilizer for the garden · Alt Ordo Systems Guide","description":"\u003cp\u003eA biogas digester is a mechanical stomach. You feed it manure once and kitchen scraps every day, microbes digest them in a sealed tank with no oxygen, and the gas they give off is about 50–75% methane: the same fuel that comes out of a natural-gas line. What the microbes cannot turn into gas flows out the other side as a liquid fertilizer. 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Letter-size pages, made to read on screen or print at home.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alt Ordo","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48373639151787,"sku":"AO26-SYS-44","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0615\/4718\/4299\/files\/AO26-SYS-44.jpg?v=1792843704"},{"product_id":"systems-microgreens","title":"Microgreens on a Shelf: Grow restaurant-ready greens indoors and sell them · Alt Ordo Systems Guide","description":"\u003cp\u003eMicrogreens are vegetable and herb seedlings cut when they are one to four weeks old, just as the first true leaves appear. They are tiny, colorful and strongly flavored, and chefs pay real money for them. You grow them in shallow trays of potting mix or coir on a wire shelf under LED strips, in any season, in a spare room, a cabin corner or a closet. The growing is easy to learn. The business is in the weighing, the cleanliness, the cold chain and showing up with the same greens every week.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis guide helps you build a shelf farm under LED lights, grow a dozen crops from seed to harvest in one to four weeks, keep them safe and cold, and sell them to chefs and neighbors with honest numbers on cost, power and profit.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat's inside.\u003c\/strong\u003e 19 pages in 10 chapters (At a glance, Where it works, How it works, Size it, Parts and cost, Build and grow, Run it, Sell it, Rules and permits, How it connects), then the sources and a notes page. 7 numbered figures drawn for this guide. You also get a worked example with a fill-in worksheet, 12 numbered steps, a year-round calendar, and a troubleshooting table.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSourced and fact-checked.\u003c\/strong\u003e Facts and figures are cited to the 28 sources listed at the back, and the whole guide was fact-checked before release. General guidance, not engineering advice: your county and a qualified pro have the last word on your site.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePairs with\u003c\/strong\u003e other Alt Ordo Systems Guides: Portable power stations; Off-grid solar; Composting; DIY Worm Tower Plans; Backyard chickens; The off-grid vegetable garden; Hoop greenhouses; Safe drinking water. For your county's permits and rules, see our county and state guides.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInstant PDF download.\u003c\/strong\u003e After checkout you get a download link by email. Letter-size pages, made to read on screen or print at home.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alt Ordo","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48373643051179,"sku":"AO26-SYS-102","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0615\/4718\/4299\/files\/AO26-SYS-102.jpg?v=1792844376"},{"product_id":"systems-oyster-mushrooms","title":"Bucket Oyster Mushrooms: Grow and sell oyster mushrooms from straw in a 5-gallon bucket · Alt Ordo Systems Guide","description":"\u003cp\u003eOyster mushrooms are the easiest gourmet mushroom to grow. They need no soil and no direct sun, and they eat wheat straw that farmers sell by the bale. You knock back the straw's own molds with hot water or a lime bath, mix in spawn, pack it into a drilled 5-gallon bucket and wait about three weeks in the dark. Then fresh air, light and humidity make clusters push out of every hole within ten days. A few buckets feed a household. 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Letter-size pages, made to read on screen or print at home.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alt Ordo","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48373644755115,"sku":"AO26-SYS-101","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0615\/4718\/4299\/files\/AO26-SYS-101.jpg?v=1792844837"},{"product_id":"systems-fig-cuttings","title":"Fig Trees From Sticks: Root fig and elderberry cuttings, grow trees, sell them · Alt Ordo Systems Guide","description":"\u003cp\u003eA fig cutting is a pencil-to-thumb-thick piece of last year's wood, cut in winter while the tree is bare. Push it halfway into warm, airy, barely damp mix and it grows roots from its buried buds in three to six weeks. Figs are one of the easiest fruit trees to grow this way: no seed, no grafting and usually no rooting powder. American elderberry, grape, pomegranate and currant root the same way. 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You also get a worked example with a fill-in worksheet, 23 numbered steps, a year-round calendar, and a troubleshooting table.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSourced and fact-checked.\u003c\/strong\u003e Facts and figures are cited to the 36 sources listed at the back, and the whole guide was fact-checked before release. General guidance, not engineering advice: your county and a qualified pro have the last word on your site.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePairs with\u003c\/strong\u003e other Alt Ordo Systems Guides: Food forests; The off-grid vegetable garden; Hoop greenhouses; Composting; Portable power stations; Microgreens on a Shelf; Roof rainwater catchment. For your county's permits and rules, see our county and state guides.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInstant PDF download.\u003c\/strong\u003e After checkout you get a download link by email. Letter-size pages, made to read on screen or print at home.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alt Ordo","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48373654323371,"sku":"AO26-SYS-103","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0615\/4718\/4299\/files\/AO26-SYS-103.jpg?v=1792845241"},{"product_id":"systems-pumpkin-loop","title":"The Pumpkin Loop: Turn Halloween pumpkins into eggs, fuel and soil · Alt Ordo Systems Guide","description":"\u003cp\u003eA jack-o'-lantern is not trash on November 1st. It is about 92% water wrapped around sugar, fiber and seeds, and every part of it is somebody's food. This Primer shows you how to sort a pumpkin by its condition, then send it down the routes that fit: seeds to the oven, flesh to the hens, soft pulp to black soldier fly larvae or a digester, and everything else into the soil with November's leaves. 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Letter-size pages, made to read on screen or print at home.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alt Ordo","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48373665857707,"sku":"AO26-SYS-105","price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0615\/4718\/4299\/files\/AO26-SYS-105.jpg?v=1792846139"},{"product_id":"systems-broadfork","title":"The Broadfork Guide: History, the Fork Fit workout and two shop-ready build plans · Alt Ordo Systems Guide","description":"\u003cp\u003eA broadfork is a steel crossbar with a row of long tines and two tall handles. You step on the bar to sink the tines, then lean back on the handles. The soil cracks open and lifts a little, but the layers stay where they were. It loosens beds 8–12 in deep without an engine, without fuel and without scrambling the soil life near the surface (NRCS). This guide covers where the tool came from, how and when to use it, the Fork Fit workout, and two designs a local welder can build to your height: the AO-5 with straight round-bar tines and the AO-5C with curved plate tines cut from our DXF file. There is also a bolted version for anyone without a welder.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis guide helps you loosen deep beds without a tiller, train your whole body while you do it, and have a broadfork built to your height from our drawings and CAD files, or bolt one together with hand tools.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat's inside.\u003c\/strong\u003e 19 pages in 10 chapters (At a glance, Where it works, How it works, Size it, Parts and cost, Build it, Run it, The Fork Fit workout, Rules and permits, How it connects), then the sources and a notes page. 9 numbered figures drawn for this guide. 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