I am really excited about the improvements people have been making on rocket stove ovens and thermal mass rocket stove heaters. All you need do is go to YouTube and do a search for rocket stoves and you will quickly see dozens of really great videos. With winter approaching, keeping warm and cooking efficiently is foremost on my mind.
This one is one of my favorites, I want to make a rocket stove oven like this
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This is the 3rd in a series on raising rabbits for meat and fur. Some look at the cute bunnies and can’t imagine eating them, I would suggest looking into where your meat comes from, unfortunately today’s generation tends to be so separated and isolated from the reality where their meat products come from.
Rabbits are good for homesteaders and off-gridders, they are fairly easy to raise, they are quiet (think stealth!), they aren’t going to draw a lot of attention of close by neighbors like chickens or other livestock, don’t require a lot of space, they grow fast and breed readily, their meat is good and they have fur and hide.…
I ran across a book and an article all about making your own root cellar, this being the end of the summer, beginning of fall, having a cheap and easy to put together root cellar is the thing to have, both for budding homesteaders to seasoned off-gridders.…
Your pantry is only useful if you can make tasty, filling meals from it. It is vital that you purchase “ingredients” rather than meals, so that you can make a wide variety of foods. Not only is this healthier, but it is also a much more cost-effective way to build a stockpile.
The ingredients that you buy or preserve are the basis of your future health should a situation arise in which you must rely on your pantry. It is imperative that you have the ability to cook from scratch if you intend to use a pantry full of ingredients, so brush up on your skills by using these items now, and not just storing them away.…
The lower your income is, the more difficult it is to be particular about what you feed your family.
This probably isn’t an earth-shattering revelation to anyone, but if you feel like experimenting, try to buy a week’s worth of healthy food for a family on a budget of, say, $50-75. Food manufacturers that target lower income shoppers with more affordable products tend to include more GMOs and toxic ingredients in their offerings.…
Many of the same guidelines apply for fall gardening as spring gardening. The site for the garden needs to have a water source, full sun and well-drained soil.
The timing of the planting is important: Use a garden guide that is based on the first average killing frost date – ours is Nov. 16. Based on days to maturity, you can calculate back to when a vegetable needs to be planted.
Some of our vegetables have cold tolerance and will survive even if the temperature drops below 32 degrees. These frost-tolerant vegetables include beet, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, chard, collard, garlic, kale, lettuce, mustard, onion, parsley, spinach and turnip.…
This is one method of dispatching and butchering a chicken, I noticed he said “sorry” to the chicken before starting the procedure… it’s what I would do too.
He uses a killing cone, a plucker, I will say that I think he needs to sharpen his knives, he does a good job but I noticed a couple of times he had to saw more than I thought he should have to cut through… this is part one of two…
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Growing vegetables in a small space, like a roof-terrace or a backyard has different rules and skills (and work-rate) compared to a larger piece of land. Firstly – expect a lower amount of produce. That said, it still amazes folks how much you can get out of a tiny space.
Some people mix edibles with ornamentals, that might seem the permaculture way, but there are advantages to keeping them separate — like its easier, and you can be more focused while looking good too.
Depending on how much space you have, build between one and three raised beds. These measure approximately 90cm by 120cm. Pretty much any receptacle that will drain freely and hold compost will work. There are plenty of books to help you along – here is one example.…
It’s hot, hot hot, those of us with gardens are in full swing… now it’s time to start your fall gardens. Things like greens, spinach, lettuces, garlic… honestly in the past, I haven’t given much thought to fall gardens, I have gardened so hard all summer that I’m pretty worn out for thinking about planing more things. But this is not the mindset of a good homesteader or off-gridder, especially if you are relying on that garden to supplement your food.
So let’s keep that excitement we had during the late winter and spring and get that fall garden started!…
Making a trip to the grocery store these days is like running a gauntlet. From one side you are assaulted by food-like substances in brightly labeled packages, some even touting exaggerated health benefits from the toxins within. From the other side, you are gouged and poked by cleverly marketed “natural” foods that are 4 times the price of conventional foods. When you change directions to avoid one onslaught, you are immediately attacked by the other.
We’re at war and the grocery store is the battlefield.…
Living more frugally can mean growing your own food, that can include more than just plants, it can mean meat. Many people who live in more rural areas grow chickens for eggs and meat, it’s just as easy to grow rabbits, this is something that has appealed to me ever since I moved off-grid, I would have no problems eating them, but it would be difficult, at least in the beginning, to dispatch one, I’m sure after it’s dead I would be able to skin it, gut it and prepare it… I did see a video of a man who invented a method of humanly dispatching the rabbit, here is the video…
IF you don’t already grow your own veg, now is the time to convert – and you could be reaping the benefit by October – or even sooner.
In the past, it was widely accepted and widely practised. If you had a bit of garden or an allotment in then you would almost certainly have grown some of your own food.
What goes around comes around – it was a necessity for people back then has now become a trend that is increasingly important in times of austerity. When you sow your first beans or plant out your potatoes you are joining a tradition that goes back to the earliest days of civilisation.…
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