TL;DR:  We do interesting things on the Peoplenomics side of the house.  Like an August 2025 article on Food Reactors.  Not all of it is shared here, but enough so you’ll get the idea of what they are and how to play along on your own shop time.

What’s a Food Reactor?

Two ways this can be answered:

• Along the road to finishing my book Downsizing, I came up with a used dishwasher. These can be damn-fine grow containers, way I looked at it.
• The second version of “what” is a wild systems-view way to both recycle old appliances and at the same time reduce land fill size demands while turning industrial waste into productive second-life for consumer goods.

Picture and Old Appliance – for Reactor 1?  A 30-year old dishwasher.

Figure out a growing scheme based on that.  Next, you’ll take the outputs of that reactor (rinse water from growing sprouts) and run it into the next “reactor” down the line.  Might be mushrooms, microgreens, hydroponics, and maybe even aquaponics.

The key point:  Sequences of used appliances.  As I wrote back in August?

Next Steps

For us, there are several moving pieces here.

First, we had laid out the idea and the core concepts in this full Peoplenomics report — the “why” and “how” behind Food Reactors as a serious healthspan and efficiency play. This is where we walk readers through the big picture, the engineering logic, and the economics of skipping the nutrient-loss pipeline.

Then, we’ll roll out the first physical piece of the project — a one-chamber sprout reactor — as an UrbanSurvival ShopTalk Sunday DIY build. No theory, no vaporware — just an honest, working proof-of-concept you can make in a weekend from the bones of an old dishwasher.

After that, we open the door. We’ll invite readers to pitch their own “next chamber” design ideas — mushrooms, leafy greens, maybe something exotic. If the interest is there, we’ll even consider a “build-along-at-home” event where everyone constructs their own chamber in real time and shares results. Maybe an old (non-working fridge) could be integrated. Has anyone ever built a “potato chamber?”

The endgame? A modular, cascading Food Reactor system anyone can replicate, tuned to deliver peak-nutrition food on a schedule your body — and your taste buds — will thank you for.

Parts Collection

The basic idea for the project is simple enough.  You start with a used dishwasher. Slightly dirtied from being outside…

When you open the inside ot it, you’ll see it’s clean and a whistle…

A close inspection reveals that I’ll have room for about 8 sprouting racks inside – four on the top rack and 4 on the bottom.  Obviously a little time with a cutoff wheel to get rid of the pegs inside the racks – and a dollop of Liquid Plastic to keep water off the metal.

The outside is easy.  My friend OilMan2 tipped me off to what a great thing spray cans of pickup bed liner are for things around the shop.  (I was always more of a gray primer spray fellow, but I’ve seen the light now).

It’s not too expensive BUT the two cans from Amazon didn’t quite get here right…

This, you see, is why we always have 3-6 projects in various stages of completion.  You plan the hell out of it, order parts, and then discover what either a) didn’t make it to your place intact (as above) or b) the weather isn’t really right yet – like my deck building projects.

While I wait for the second-attempt at bedliner shipment, a few words about mung bean sprouts if you haven’t gotten into them.  For me?  My first experience with great sprouts was Benihana in Seattle – with a kind of sweet and sour dressing on them in lieu of a conventional dressing.  Oh, boy!  And from there I was into a pound of bean sprouts and an 8-ounce sirloin because it just doesn’t get much better – if you sprinkle on some Kikkoman (lite) while the sprouts are grilled.

Nutritional Glory of Mung Bean Sprouts

Mung bean sprouts are among the most nutrient-dense fresh foods you can grow, and they reach peak vitality within days of germination. Each sprout is a living enzyme factory—low in calories yet loaded with bioavailable vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Freshly sprouted mung beans are rich in vitamins C, K, and several B-complex factors that weren’t present in the dry seed. During sprouting, stored starches convert into simple sugars, and proteins partially hydrolyze into amino acids, making the nutrition easier for the body to absorb and use.

Core Nutritional Profile

A one-cup serving of raw mung sprouts provides about 30 calories, three grams of protein, and two grams of fiber, with virtually no fat. They’re high in folate, manganese, magnesium, and potassium while offering a solid supply of iron and zinc in a plant-based form. Vitamin C content rises dramatically during sprouting, sometimes exceeding that of oranges by weight. The live enzymes assist in digestion and nutrient uptake, giving sprouts their signature lightness and clean metabolic burn.

Health and Longevity Factors

Another driver of bean sprouting is our odometer readings.  I will be turning over 77 and Elaine 83 next year.  Sprouts figure in big-time because they’re enzymatically active and alkaline-forming. Mung bean sprouts help balance gut flora and support detoxification. The combination of fiber and antioxidants can reduce LDL cholesterol and regulate blood sugar. The folate content supports cardiovascular and cognitive function, and the amino acids aid in cellular repair—an elegant fuel for longevity. Sprouts also contain small amounts of plant estrogens that may benefit hormone balance in aging adults.

Dishwasher Food Reactor Advantage

When grown in a temperature-controlled environment such as our envisioned dishwasher-style food reactor, mung sprouts can achieve consistent moisture, warmth, and airflow—ideal for uniform germination without mold risk. The closed chamber keeps contaminants out and allows easy rinse cycles to wash away metabolic byproducts. In such a setup, you could harvest fresh trays every two to three days, ensuring a continual supply of living nutrition at the peak of enzymatic potency—essentially a perpetual vitamin machine operating right in our greenhouse/lean-to so we don’t have to deal with water in the house.

Still debating inside the greenhouse, or out.  If I get the electro-mechanical’s right, it might run on the still working pump and a thermostat on the 110v heating element.  Otherwise, outside the greenhouse where the hose can easily reach.  Open door, pressure wash without lighting, and close the door again.  Only problem with that?

Well, it gets cold and I don’t relish rinsing bean sprouts when it’s 20 F out.  So here’s the lay of that problem:m  Mung bean’s ideal sprouting range is 75–90 °F (24–32 °C). At that temperature, they usually show roots within 24 hours and are ready for harvest in 3–4 days.

They will sprout slowly down to about 60 °F (16 °C), though progress can double or triple in time—often taking a full week or more. Below 55 °F (13 °C), germination becomes sluggish, uneven, and may stall completely if conditions remain cool or overly damp.

But that’s OK, because the parts (including R-5 foam foil insulation rolls) are on hand for the wall rebuild of the lean-to.  That and a $99 diesel heater?  Yeah, baby…year round sprouts.  Every old appliance deserves a second act — preferably one that feeds you. OK, us then.

Off to the Diesel Dept.

Do I look like a gen-u-ine farmer now, or what?

My new 30 gallon tractor filler tank wouldn’t still be in the truck bed except for the fact that this little puce of shit stopped working right this week:

Near as I can figure it, after dumping in water absorber and putting one of those “water pig:” things in the tank for a couple of days and a new fuel oil filter (which, coop-dweller, is that whazzit above).

Still a bit sketchy, but should be able to get the diesel off the truck so I can use it for more supply (or dump) runs.

Feral Cats Depart

Down on the west 10 acre part there are wild rabbits.  So despite the cutoff of food sourcing from those mean humans (mainly me after discovering we had purchased and handed out $2,459 worth of dry cat kibble through the end of August) they don’t seem to be starving to death.

Still, they seem to have a real attachment to my deck and in order to BBQ (and keep them from launching onto the roof) here’s the perfect tool!

It will go through about 3 of those water storage tanks on a single (rechargeable) sitting.  Even if the feral cats don’t get hit with spray, they are now running at the faintest sound of the “Clack! Clack! Clack!”

That was very hard on Elaine – who is a wonderful and loving woman at heart.  But when I explained “It’s like the federal budget, dear.  Give the cats a hand out for a month ot two and suddenly it’s And Entitlement. “We don’t serve cats.”

The kibble shutdown continues.  The moving targets keep the eye dialed in.  No cats were injured in the withdrawal of free lunches in our area.

Write when you catch mice,

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