Welcome to GeoPathfinder
Earth-Centered Resources for Sustainable Living (and beyond)
About Us:
We are Larisa Walk and Bob Dahse, homesteaders living in the rolling hills of southeastern Minnesota. Since getting together in 1982, we have continually experimented with things to make our lives more sustainable, stable and survivable. We are seeking a better path for ourselves on this planet, a “Geo-Path” if you will. Our journey has focused on appropriate technology, a human-scale approach that is not easily categorized as low-tech, high-tech, prepper, traditional, pre or post industrial. Perhaps “transitional” says it best in that we work judiciously, with what is currently widely available, to design a minimal impact way of life. We have set about these goals while living mostly by subsistence with little motivation for wages beyond the poverty level, preferring to do more with less.
In these pages we will share what we've accomplished and learned in our decades of living off-grid in our owner-built strawbale home, warmed by the sun and a masonry stove, water harvested from above, and feeding ourselves year-round from our organic, home-grown foods. We can't tell you what to do, but we can show you what we've done and why. We mostly hope to inspire you to be less fearful and to take the leap to do SOMETHING, not someday, but NOW!
Products & Services
Yes, we do offer some stuff for sale, specifically stainless steel food dryer screens and self-published how-to books.
Stainless Steel Dryer Screens
For really quick ordering within the continental United States, just use one of these E-Bay links:
Or we will give you the cheapest possible quote to your address:
We can sell screens for $3.00/ square foot, or $12.00 per 2-by-2 foot dryer screen, plus actual shipping costs to your locale. To get a shipping quote,
- simply send or e-mail us
your postal Zip Code and,
- the number of screens you would like.
Buying Screens from GeoPathfinder
Once you have received your shipping quote,
- If you wish to proceed with an order using PayPal (which accepts all major credit cards, checking accounts, and e-checks), we can either send you a PayPal invoice or you can pay the total with shipping either to our account on GMail.com, listed as "bobdowser".
- Or, if you dislike paying online and are not in a big hurry, just send a check to:
30319 Wiscoy Ridge Road
Winona, MN 55987
We ship via USPS using either the slower, cheaper Standard Post or the faster, more expensive Priority Mail. Standard Post orders ship on Fridays, when we take a weekly trip to town. Priority Mail orders can ship on any regular business day since USPS picks these up from our home.
When you receive your screens we recommend washing them in warm, soapy water. Factories ship them covered with a light coating of petroleum-based lubricating oil that is used in the weaving process. It is best to get that off before mounting them in a frame and using them with food.
Books & Literature For Sale
Buying Hard Copies of our books using PayPal
- Buy a copy of "Feeding Ourselves - The Four-Season Pantry from Plant to Plate"
- Buy a copy of "Planetary Patterns - A Dowser's Survey of Earth Energies"
- Buy a copy of "Peoples' Power Primer - Renewable Energy for the Technically Timid"
- Buy a download of "Feeding Ourselves", Second Edition
- Buy a download of "Planetary Patterns"
- Buy a download of our 50-page Soil Management Information Packet
- Buy a download of our 6-page Geopathic Remediation Techniques document
- Buy a download of our Electrical Unit conversion chart and spreadsheet
Connecting with Us
The Site-Wide Link Listing
- Free Adobe Reader download to read our many PDF (Portable Document Format) files
- Free Apple Quicktime video player to play some of our video downloads
- Contact Us on our secure GMail e-mail account
- The link to our PayPal donation button, in case you feel inspired to help further our work
- The link to our blog site, if you would like to see what we are currently doing
Food & Nutrition
PDF Downloads
- Download the "Feeding Ourselves" Second Edition covers and table of contents
- Download our MREF Root Cellaring Workshop handout
- Download our 2011 Solar Food Dryer Building Workshop
- Download our MREF Solar Food Dryer handout
- Download our comparison table of Omega-3 to Omega-6 fatty acid ratios
- Download our MREF "Alliums Year-Round" Planning Guide
- Download our Sorghum Threshing Guide
- See our YouTube video of sorghum threshing by hand
- Download our Amaranth Winnowing Guide
- See our YouTube video of amaranth winnowing
- Download our 18-page "Soil Dynamics in a Nutshell" presentation
- E-Bay link to buy 2 stainless steel, 24" by 24" dryer screens
- E-Bay link to buy 4 stainless steel, 24" by 24" dryer screens
- E-Bay link to buy 6 stainless steel, 24" by 24" dryer screens
- E-Bay link to buy 8 stainless steel, 24" by 24" dryer screens
- Research showing nutrient loss in uncovered sun-dried foods
Homesteading & Homemaking
PDF Downloads
- Our rainwater collection system
- Our insulating window shutters for our large, south-facing windows
- Our masonry wood-stove details
- Our composting toilet system
- Our neighbor's "tiny house" project
- The Arbor Day Foundation's map of plant hardiness zone changes
- The "World Clock" showing real-time changes in population, energy, etc.
- BuildItSolar.com - a great site for design ideas if you're building anything solar-powered
- Sue & Steve in the U.P. of Michigan - fellow homesteaders in an even more severe climate
Home-Grown Power
PDF Downloads
- Our solar electric system - 30 years of evolution
- Our household electrical loads, all solar powered
- An electrical consumption worksheet to help you see where your power goes
- Our logical flow chart showing how we plan a renewable energy system
- The Midwest Renewable Energy Association - workshops, publications, etc.
- A solar system sizing calculator for off-Grid systems
- A solar system size calculator for Grid-based systems
- Solar system details with great graphics
- U.S. Solar Radiation Resources Maps, by month or annually
- NABCEP Installer's Guide for those who want to get it right the first time
- Compare most PV panel specifications thanks to SolarDesignTool.com
- U.S. map of Annual Cloudy Days per Year, for estimating PV system sizes
The Wheel Deal - Transportation & Other Moving Things
PDF Downloads
- Our Quicktime video of Larisa riding her hybrid electric tricycle conversion
- Our electric hybrid trike conversion photo details
- Our "Lithium Lounger" trike conversion handout from the MREF Clean Energy Car Show
- Our "Lithium Lounger" trike conversion project details
- Our story of how we found and rebuilt a salvaged 2001 Toyota Prius
- Our photos of the 1972 G.E. Elek-Trac tractor we rebuilt and its 36-volt Tripp-Lite inverter
- A site which allows you to compute your electric vehicle's range
- Comparison of lithium battery types from IEEE
- A comparison of the three types of lead-acid batteries
- Lead-acid gels and AGM battery specifications
- Frontal areas and drag coefficients
- Tire rolling resistance comparison
- Electric Cars Are For Girls - a terrific website covering all aspects of electric vehicles
- The EVAlbum listing for our "Lithium Lounger" trike conversions
- A computation site to compare your fuel mileage to hybrids or other cars
- An informational graphic showing our current transportation energy usage
Payment Links