Foraging: Collecting and Cooking Milkweed
Foraging is an important skill to learn for preparedness, thrifty living, and self sufficiency. Please use a reliable field guide to edible wild plants when you search for wild foods. Also stop by...
View ArticleMason Bee House
Bee Keeper Wannabe For quite some time now I’ve been wanting to start bee keeping. Each year I add up the costs of starting a bee hive and I get discouraged. I’m not the most handy person when it comes...
View ArticleRenewable Energy for Self-Sufficiency
by Dr. Tom Lombardo Ask a few homeowners about renewable energy and they’ll probably talk about solar panels and rooftop wind turbines. They might even use the term “off-grid.” In reality, there...
View ArticleHarvesting New Potatoes
You might also like to read about my First Green Onions of the Season. New Potatoes from Our Garden Our potato plants are doing very well this year and I’ve already spied a few flowers. Once a potato...
View ArticleFreezing Lambs Quarters
Lambs Quarters for the Freezer We have a lot of lambs quarters growing in our garden. I weeded much of it out to make way for my regular garden vegetables, but I keep a small patch here and there to...
View ArticleFresh from the Garden
Fresh Veggies from Our Garden! When we returned from our trip to New York, I was dismayed to see how the weeds had taken over the garden. Fortunately there are still plenty of veggies thriving too....
View ArticleBrine Cured Dilly Beans
Read my post How to Make Brine Cured Pickles for more brine cured pickle recipes. Brine Curing Dilly Beans Last year my Mom gave us some quart jars of canned Dilly Bean Pickles and they were awesome! I...
View ArticleForaging for Tiger Lilies
Eating Tiger Lilies Tiger lilies are a wild variety of day lily (Hemerocallis) that often grows in naturalized clumps along ditches and roadsides. They are easy to spot and identify and, best of all,...
View ArticleEnergy Conservation at Home – Part 1
by Dr. Tom Lombardo Ben Franklin said, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” Adjusted for inflation we might say that a hundred dollars saved is a hundred dollars earned. Actually it’s more than that;...
View ArticleEnergy Conservation at Home – Part 2
by Dr. Tom Lombardo Part 1 of this series looked at electrical efficiency. In this installment, we’ll discuss ways to save money on your heating and cooling. Water Heating Just like refrigerators, old...
View ArticleEgg Production Slowing Down?
Fewer Eggs in Autumn? As the days get shorter you are likely to notice lower egg production in your laying hens. It’s one of those facts of life to take into account when deciding to keep chickens...
View ArticleHow to Pressure Can Meat, Poultry, and Fish
Preserving The Bounty Preserving the bounty from your homestead is an important skill to learn. Not only will it save money and provide healthy food for your family but it also helps you prepare for...
View ArticleToo Many Chickens? Make Soup!
Not Enough Eggs? Nothing puts a damper on keeping chickens like a high feed bill, too many aggressive roosters, and a flock of unproductive hens. Yet many chicken enthusiasts find themselves faced with...
View ArticlePassive Solar Heating, Cooling, and Lighting
by Dr. Tom Lombardo Passive solar is one of the oldest solar technologies known to mankind. Archeologists have found evidence of passive solar homes dating back to ancient Mesopotamia, thousands of...
View ArticleHatching Chicks in Autumn
For complete instructions on hatching eggs, see my post How to Hatch Chicken Eggs in an Incubator Hatching in Spring vs Fall Most people think of cute little chicks hatching in the spring, right...
View ArticleBush Craft 101 by Dave Canterbury
Bush Craft 101: A Field Guide to the Art of Wilderness Survival by Dave Canterbury I spent quite a bit of time leafing through my Dad’s Army survival guide when I was a kid and I loved soaking up the...
View ArticleSolar Electricity at Home
by Dr. Tom Lombardo Generating electricity from sunlight is more practical than you might think. Germany is one of the world leaders in solar power production, and it gets less sunlight than most...
View ArticleHarvesting and Using Horseradish
Homemade Horseradish Sauce Having your own horseradish plants is a great way to save a little money and spice up your meals. Homemade horseradish is much stronger than storebought, so a little will...
View ArticleAre Chickens Vegetarians?
Do Chickens Eat Meat? By nature, chickens are omnivores. This means they will consume vegetable matter and animal flesh if given the opportunity. With all of the different chicken feeds made with...
View ArticleButchering a Cornish Rock Hen
See also Can You Keep a Cornish X as a Laying Hen? Butchering a Cornish Meat Hen at One & A Half Years Old I wouldn’t normally recommend keeping a Cornish X meat bird past the normal butcher age of...
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