manual grain grinder
hand-powered eggbeater
hand-squeezed LED flashlight
wooden laundry drying rack
my grandmother's toasting fork
eco-fan for the woodstove

I'm looking for good small ideas for going non-electric.
Thanks!

I use it to help insulate the inside of windows.

~Tom

Along the same lines, I like a can opener. I'm surprised at the number of people who have electric can openers. It's one thing if you have a medical problem and cannot use manual tools, but if you can use them, you should.

A whisk. I should add that I am guilty on this one - using egg beaters when I can use a whisk. I used a whisk last night to make pudding for my kids, but only because I was too lazy to wash the egg beaters which were in the dishwasher. I'll have to be more conscious of this one.

A rake and/or broom. It drives me insane when my neighbor pulls out his leaf-blower (one of his many yard toys) to blow off his 8x10 deck. Come on! My husband can't understand why I prefer to rake our acre with it's fifty oaks rather than rent a monster leaf-blower.

A shovel. Again, my husband doesn't understand why I go out and shovel our 80-foot driveway instead of buying a snowblower.

Hand-held grass shears. Not as fast as a weed-whacker, obviously, but I prefer it. Of course, I have a fear of power tools, lol, especially ones that can cut off a body part.

:)
Dee

Clothes line for sure.

Shovel - I just LOVE shoveling snow. I was given a snow blower years ago and only used it a couple of times. Shoveling snow is just so relaxing and quiet.

Reel mower also. I sold the gas one I had.

Salad spinner - Why pay more for prewashed greens when you can wash your own for less? Less packaging to throw away too.

Kevin

dishpan of water in front of the blower of the furnace or woodstove to humidify the house (no moving parts!)

nifty butter/cheese dish made of a marble base (stays cold by itself) and a heavy glass bell top to keep dairy at table temps.

I do a lot of slowcooking by bringing a pot of food to a boil, covering it, and wrapping the whole thing in a couple of towels. Come back in a few hours, and it is cooked!

Salad spinners also work well for doing "hand wash" laundry.

A fork & hoe instead of a roto-tiller.

Dee, I also HATE leaf blowers. They use one where I work to clear the steps. A person with a broom could do it in a fraction of the time and quietly too. Same applies to my neighbours power mower for his pocket size lawn. Ridiculous.

If you have a fireplace or plan to bake in a woodstove, cast iron dutch ovens, with or without feet, are a wonderful tool. You can cook soups and such like any kettle, but can also use them to bake breads or cakes. On my grandmother's summer farm we had a huge woodstove, and we even heated flat irons to do the ironing on the woodstove. One set up the ironing board next to the stove, and then picked up the hot flatiron with a special handle, ironed until it cooled, then put it back on the stove and picked up another flatiron. That is how I learned to iron!

A pressure cooker,or several in different sizes, really saves time for cooking, and is the only way to safely can meat and fish. I can a couple of cases of salmon every summer, it's easy.

I can think of a few pretty quickly. My clothesline is the biggest. I even hang clothes in winter in my greenhouses. I keep a washboard under my pump and sometimes if I need just a few things done, get it out and use it. My pitcher pump is another one I use daily. We have spring water and it's pumped to the household by electric. When the power is out, so is the water source, unless you want to walk to the springhead with a bucket. So, when we remodled the kitchen, back in went a hand powered water pump. It's the same water as from the system, only it comes out faster.

My whisk, I hate electic mixers. I use a knife steel and stone too. I don't own an electric can opener. I use a broom and mop, not a vacuum or swifter. We also open and shut windows and blinds to let in light/cool air. No air conditioner. When the weather is not severe, we turn on an old fashioned gas grate in the kitchen and it heats just the part of the house where we are most of the time, and not the unused rooms.

I seldom use a gas tiller for my food gardens. I have an old push cultivator and unless I get very behind in my weeding, it works just great.

I use a flock of chickens and a compost pile instead of a garbage disposal.

I don't use a hair dryer, either.

I even have a treadle sewing machine and butter churn. Both of which get used. Now, if I could only figure out how to power my puter with a treadle.

*Clothesline (this is a popular one and for good reason!)
*Whisk
*Several large trays I move all kinds of stuff around on
*A push cart that was hand built and is low to the ground - great for moving all sorts of things when doing yard work!
*My handed down from my grandmother - well seasoned cast
iron skillet
*salad spinner - although sometimes I just lay my greens (from my garden) out on a tea towel and lay another on top to soak up extra moisture after washing.
*Hardware cloth - I use this everywhere- I make a circle and grow snow peas on the sides - fence in delicate perennial seedlings to keep my cats away from them and use in a bunch of other ways. I have several 6 foot or so pieces and it stays outside all year and dosen't rust.
* Grass shears - someone else mentioned these. I just got a pair last autumn (on clearance :) and I love to use them around flower beds to keep anyone using the weed eater from getting close enough to chop off my plants - the weed eater is my enemy! I hate them! LOL!
*Pruners - both my small clippers for perennial trimming and my bigger ones for cutting branches - I use these a lot every Spring!
*Some that others mentioned that I like also are the rake - (grass & rock rake), broom and dustpan, shovel, and my hand held can opener (If I would name names I would have to say the "Swing Away" brand seems to be the best).
Karen

Baskets, all kinds of baskets.They hang from the beams of the kitchen ceiling. Used for berry picking, veggie picking, for serving things on the table, as gift 'boxes', keeping jar tops in, etc. etc.

Flat basket weave trays- for drying foods, herbs, teas and flowers.

my set of recycled artichoke heart jars- about 1/2 gallon size (Costco kind) to keep beans and grains in. Since we started keeping these jars on the back of the kitchen counter, both DH and I cook much more with these foods- because we can see them!

Gamma lids on 5-gallon plastic buckets. Gamma lids seal really well, keep out the bugs, and are easy to open. Just turn- and they make this nice whoosh sound like submarine hatches in movies! Great for animal foods and human grains, beans, etc. Make great bug-out food containers also.

No list is complete without my little carpet sweeper- quiet, easy to empty, non elec.

SR

Marshall

Fire-place insert: this device of steel, fire-brick and tempered glass increased the heating efficiency of our fireplace several fold. Still allows us to see the fire. Has an electric fan but will function without it. Important alteration to our house as it keeps us warm even if there is a power failure. Reduces the wood fuel that we burn.

Long-handled "spade" shovel
Multi-tip screwdriver (has hexagonal bits, which can be used in an electric drill too for power driving)
Vice-grip pliers
Flat pry bar (Wonder Bar is one brand)
Tree-pruner’s long-handled loppers
Pole pruner

Propane camp stove
Small wood-fired barebecue

Good question, Seraphima... kinda fun.

Joel

I wish a reel mower would handle what I have to offer it but I simply mow what grows when code enforcement says I have to and a reel mower would not be up to an acre of that challenge.

I want to learn more about that food mill mentioned.

Also, anyone have ideas for chipping/shredding/grinding stuff without petrol or electric power?

What is an applesauce maker ? I also use whisks, don't own an electric can opener :)

Here's a couple more:

wooden laundry drying rack

handkerchiefs (uses no trees, endlessly washable and renewable)

I would not be without my dolly- hand truck- for moving pots and all sorts of heavy garden stuff. Also for moving wood for splitting.

Wheelbarrow- especially with the solid rubber tires that never deflate- available most hardware type stores.

Ohiomom, I think the applesauce maker may be a large funnel with holes, set into a round wire stand, (put over a bowl)then you put in the cooked apples and mash them through with a large funnel-shaped wooden pestle.

I just got a like-new Husqvarna reel mower at a garage sale and I am thrilled!

Last but not least, my neighbor is using a regular meat grinder to grind up pink salmon and make salmon sausages! Wow!

And if the logs are too big to fit in the splitter, we've got a wedge and a mallet to split them.

:)
Dee

I did look up vintage applesauce makers, that is exactly what they are a wire funnel and paddle. Cool !

I don't own a tiller. I use a hoe to break up dirt. I also own a manual reel mower, and I have a favorite short-handled garden spade that I use.

One of my handiest devices is a shopping cart. I don't own a car (how green is that? :-) ), so if I have to haul soil or groceries home, I use my cart.

I also like my solar garden lights.