Hi Ramjack, I am new to gardening and agriculture here in the Philippines but I've made some good contacts. If you're interested in Permaculture or Biodynamics I can connect you some great folks here in the Philippines. In the mean time check out http://www.idepfoundation.org/permaculture.html

Hi Saipul, I am just north here in Manila, Philippines. Good luck in your endeavors. Check out http://www.idepfoundation.org/permaculture.html They have great information on permaculture including stuff on small scale gardening and best of all they have it in Indonesian & English! Good Luck.

a better link for rocket stoves http://www.pyroenergen.com/articles08/eco-rocket-stove.htm

I hope he is doing well and that he survived the winter. I was homeless once on the streets of San Francisco. A couple ideas came to mind - one is a rocket stove - http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=797446823830833401# we use a much simpler one her in the Philippines for everyday cooking. Also rammed earth buildings - if you can find the film garbage warrior to get some ideas. Earth is a great insulator for next winter. Also a search for Appropriate Technologies will help you find a number of other ideas that he can implement. Good luck!

Surprised no one mentioned banana chips. Just slice them up and dehydrate them. They are wonderful when crisp. You will have to experiment with the variety you have. Often they are also fried. It depends on how much nutrition you want to retain and what kind of taste you are going for. They can be super yummy and addictive like potato chips :) http://www.indobase.com/recipes/details/banana-chips.php or try http://lecktorhannibal.wordpress.com/2006/10/30/making-dehydrated-banana-chips-ftw/