Back To Basics
Latest in Back To Basics
Guinea Fowl Advantages Vs Chickens And Why We Prefer Guineas
Guinea Fowl Advantages Vs Chickens And Why We Prefer Guineas We have both guineas and chickens on our homestead. Both are free ranging on 2 acres of land. But we prefer guineas because they are more multi purpose birds than chickens.Harvesting And Processing Honey Mushrooms For Long Term Storage
Harvesting And Processing Honey Mushrooms For Long Term Storage The three of us went out to harvest some honey mushrooms that had sprung up in abundance. We filled up a large paper bag and two plastic shOld Fashioned Soap Made On The Wood Stove
I made a batch of old fashioned homemade soap on the wood stove in a cast iron pot. This homemade soap is easy to make and a lot less work than other processes. I made a triple batch of soap using my tried and true recipe which you can find here:How To Make Crock Pot Hot Process Soap For Immediate Use
How To Make Crock Pot Soap I have been experimenting with fresh herbs in my soap recently but that requires the cold process method which needs 6 to 8 weeks to cure before you can use it. But with the hot process soap making method the soap is readyMaking All Natural Soap With Fresh Herbal Tea
Homemade Soap With Fresh Spearmint I made another batch of soap but this time I wanted to use some fresh herbs from our own garden instead of using essential oil. Essential oils are expensive and in order to have any lasting benefit in soap you need an entire bottle for aBoiling Maple Sap Into Syrup & Restoring An Old Macbook For Work
Its all hands on deck this week with the maple sap flowing like water faucets from the trees now. We are into late February and the maple trees are waking up. The 70 taps that I have out there are producing heavily. Chris is here boiling the sap down for me each day. He worBuilding A Wood Stove Boiler System For Greenhouse Heating
I am building a wood stove water boiler heating system for our off grid winter greenhouse using an antique wood stove water boiler and two 55 gallon steel barrels. This will work using the thermosiphon effect and will have no moving parts and no outside power source to run it.Still working on a newer and better Hydrogen Booster for my old Honda
July 8th, 2011 With the cost of gas prices soaring, I have been stressing about not using a hydrogen booster in my car so far this summer. I pulled it out to rework the design. I have been working like crazy in the shop on a new design for my H2O boosChicory, coffee substitute and medicine
I have been studying the common roadside weed, chicory. This plant is actually quite amazing and will always be kept in my pantry from now on. Chicory root roasting in the oven leaves an incredible smell something like chocolate combined with a woody scent. The whole room smells good.Low Cost Homemade Laundry Detergent Goes A Long Way
This is a simple old fashioned homemade laundry detergent which will last you a very long time. The cost of this homemade soap is very low compared to commercially purchased laundry detergents on the market. For only about ten dollars of raw ingredients you will have years of laundry detergent usMake A Chainsaw Sawbuck From Scrap Materials
We are clearing about an acre and a half on our 56 acre land to make space for our off grid homestead. We are cutting a lot of trees and I needed an easier way to cut them with the chainsaw so I made a sawbuck using all scrap materials. We are buying this land and trying toWorld Famous Simple Granola Cookie Recipe
This is my now World famous simple survival cookie recipe. I used to make these cookies for survival and camping trips but one time after sharing with friends they became so popular that I had to make them all the time. This is a very simple and easy recipe using few ingredients.Repaired Broken Tumbling Composter Even Stronger & Better
I got a tumbling composting bin that had broken off legs and built a new stand using all free pallet wood. The new stand is rugged and way stronger than the original wobbly tube stand that it came with. My new composting bin should last a lifetime. A friend of mine gave meWintergreen A Year Round Natural Treat & Medicine
Wintergreen is a low growing ground cover plant with tiny red berries in the fall. It is an evergreen shrub so you can always find its green leaves, even in winter. Most people know wintergreen from chewing gum or toothpaste but it has many other uses. Wintergreen is a tasty treat iHow I beat the allergy season this year so far
I used to get sick all the time when I was younger. I was allergic to almost everything. Just about all palnts and animals and most fresh fruits and vegetables. Through the years I started to realize that I can change this myself through healthy eating and living. Here is my story.Raw Maple Sap - The Health Benefits of Drinking Maple Water
When you are making your preparations for a more self-sufficient lifestyle, don’t forget about the things you have available in your own yard. You can plant a garden, of course, but there are also greens, not-so-fondly known as weeds, that provide natural nutrition and health benefitsHow to tap maple trees to make your own maple syrup Pg2
This is page two of the article. If you missed the first plage, please read it here: How to tap maple trees to make your own syrup Trees should be taHow to tap maple trees to make your own maple syrup
More and more people are trying their hands at homesteading and self-sufficient lifestyles. Rather than depend primarily on grocery stores, the idea is to grow, or raise, one's own food. Whether you choose to do this to save money, or due to a desire to eat more organically, thoHow To Make A Simple Solar Food Dehydrator Pg 2
This is part two of the project. If you are visiting this page from outside, please see Page 1 first. How To Make A Simple Solar Food Dehydrator Pt 2 CoHow To Make A Simple Solar Food Dehydrator
This is a very simple solar food dehydrator that uses the energy of the sun to dry food for long term storage. This solar dehydrator costs very little to make and can dry large batches of food in one to two days of full sun. A solar food dryer is valuable in case of a powerCutting And Shaping Homemade Soap
Once you have made a batch of homemade soap, you need to remove it from the form and cut it into soap bars. This is very easy and can make some professional looking bars of soap. Here is a demonstration: First, if you have never made soap before, have a look at our homemadeHow to make soap using the Hot Process for immediately usable soap
The hot process of making soap is the act of fully cooking the soap until the saponification process is completed. This means that all the lye has been used up converting the oil into soap. When soap is made using the hot process it will be immediately usable. Cold process soap on the other handAncient wind/solar clothes dryer that still works
Why is it that movie producers who devote much time to every tiny detail, makeup and costumes, fail to get it right when showing a routine task such as washing clothes by hand? In a recent popula100-year-old way to filter rainwater in a barrel
During our boiling, broiling, blistering drought last summer here in the Missouri Ozarks, water was a topic of conversation wherever we went. Creeks and ponds dried up (some never recovered) and the water table dropped, forcing some neighbors to have their well pumps lowered or to even to have aHow to make soap at home using all natural ingredients
Most people do not know it but the products we use every day for washing, bathing, laundry and house keeping contain a lot of harmful artificial ingredients. When you use soap for bathing, the chemicals in the soap are absorbed through your skin. By using all natural soap you avoid any dangerousCamping Advice To Make Your Next Journey Great
Use old recipe books as a resource when going camping. Campers often find that they grow weary of hot dogs and hamburgers. Try to mix up what you eat. Print out recipes that are amenable to outdoor preparation to prevent your meals from being boring. Be sure to bring any spices or seasonings youBest Dollar Store Solar Battery Charger
You can get a solar AA or AAA battery charger for just $1 at the dollar store. At the most, you may pay $3 for such a charger at a normal store, but it sure beats the normal $20 retail price for a "real" solar battery charger. This is a simple dollar store solar path lightUsing Fruit Smoothies For Arthritis
We all know that arthritis can have a debilitating effect on you. It can literally keep you up at night and zap the energy out of you each and every day. That can leave you feeling exhausted and frustrated. It can even stop you from doing your favorite activities on a daily basis. And altSnacking on a Diet - Pretzels as an Alternative to Chips
Can't have snacks when you are dieting? Actually there are several low calorie snacks to help with those cravings and keep you focused on your diet goals. Make your own Trail Mix A home made mixture of nuts, chocolate and raisins has the sweetness and fat taste to help keep your sJuice Recipes To Help You With Your Weight Loss Efforts
A new fad in the health industry is fasting and or detoxifications of some sort. Most of the reasons behinds these fasts are to detoxify your body from toxins and other harmful things you have ingested by eating processed foods for so many years. A lot of the detoxifying fasts are with the use ofHow To Dehydrate Fruits And Vegetables
It is quite easy to dry your own fruits and vegetables at home and have the satisfaction of enjoying your harvest through the winter months. All you need to dehydrate your own fruits and vegetables is a food dehydrator. These are affordable, ranging from $30 on up. The bettHow To Salt Preserve A Deer Hide With Fur On
Often after the hunt you may want to tan your own deer hide but do not have time on that day. If you want to keep your deer skin for later tanning, a simple process of salt curing the deer hide will save it for later. After you salt cure your deer hide you can put it away aPage Navigation: 1 2 3 (All)
