Sadly, this simple remedy composed of four herbs made into a tea, which should have been available to all, was virtually shut down by the Canadian government. Popular belief says it was because cancer is a disease that makes millions of dollars for health institutes whose desire is to control cancer, not to cure it.

Always interested in herbal medicine, Rene Caisse began collecting herbs and making herbal remedies in her own kitchen while working as a nurse in a Canadian hospital. But the remedy she became best known for was Essiac, which is her last name spelled backwards. Born in Bracebridge, Ontario, Canada, Rene’s use of Essiac over the years earned her the title of Canada’s cancer nurse.

She stumbled upon the formula for the tea quite by accident through a patient at the hospital in which she was working. This patient told her the story of how she had been cured of cancer using a mixture of herbs from an Ojibway Indian herbalist. Rene learned about the herbs in the formula and began growing them herself.

Rene continued working as a nurse, but eventually gave up her career and devoted her time completely to administering the Essiac cure to people suffering from cancer. She freely administered the special Essiac tea to anyone who requested it for over 40 years. Beginning in 1922, she ran a clinic and gave Essiac to people into the late 1970’s.

The news of Essiac cancer-cures spread far and wide as grateful patients and their families got the word out. It was at this point that the Canadian Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Parliament got involved and tried to stop her activities. Petitions were circulated in an effort to legalize Essiac so that Rene could administer it without interference from authorities. Rene ultimately lost the battle, and when she died in 1978, the Canadian Ministry of Health and Welfare burned all the information and documents pertaining to Essiac that recorded and certified cure rates. Thus this valuable information was lost to us forever.

Her record of lives saved was astounding for the time she lived in, the 1920’s, when cures for cancer were almost unheard of. Many of the people she treated had been told by their doctors that their cancer was incurable; and they came to Rene with letters from their doctors stating as much. The herbs that went into the tea were given both orally and by injection, and for many of her patients, the tea was their last hope.

Not all of her patients lived, especially those whose cancer had progressed so far that their internal organs were damaged. But even these people lived longer than expected, and they lived without pain. Of the patients whose cancer was not so far advanced, they were cured and lived long, full lives.

Essiac was said to be a natural cure for cancer, but the Canadian government didn’t want that information to get out. Though there are no extensive clinical studies that would give us conclusive evidence that Rene Caisse’s herbal formula alleviates, cures or prevents any disease, there are many people who either drank the tea or took it by injection who swore to its effectiveness. It also has been said to cure the common cold because it elevates the immune system.

The four herbs used to make the original Essiac are burdock root, sheep sorrel, slippery elm bark, and Indian rhubarb root, sometimes substituted by Turkey rhubarb. The tea is sold in the United States, Europe, Australia, Asia, and Africa. Though widely available, beware of substitutions in the formula; using anything but the original herbs will greatly reduce the formula’s effectiveness.

Burdock Root: This herb is a blood purifier and the key ingredient in the tea. Burdock root neutralizes toxins in the blood and stimulates liver secretions thus helping the liver eliminate toxic build-up. It’s high in chromium, iron, magnesium, silicon, and thiamine. Niacin, riboflavin, vitamin A and vitamin C are also found in this herb. It was also used traditionally to help maintain a healthy gastrointestinal tract and stimulate a healthy immune response. The herb yellow dock has been used as a substitute but is not as effective.

Sheep Sorrel: Sheep sorrel is the herb that destroys cancer cells. It looks like a common weed, but has been in use as an herbal medicine for centuries; every part of this superstar herb can be used medicinally. High in vitamins C, E, beta-carotene, and other carotenoids, it’s known as one of the most potent antioxidant herbs on the planet. Traditionally, it was used to cool the body through sweating and detoxification through the skin. It’s a powerful diuretic herb and supports healthy kidney and urinary functions.

Slippery Elm Bark: The inner bark is rich in calcium, magnesium, and vitamins A, B, C, and K. It has large amounts of tannins and mucilages that are thought to help dissolve mucus deposits in tissue glands and nerve channels. It nourishes and soothes organs, tissues, and mucous membranes, and supports lung health. It also helps normalize digestion and is a blood purifier.

Indian Rhubarb Root: (sometimes substituted by Turkey Rhubarb) Used traditionally in small amounts, this herb helps purge the liver of toxic build-up and waste; it’s also a blood purifier. This herb purges the wide array of toxins that we take in from our air, water, and food.

Even people without cancer can use it for its overall health benefits. The tea is safe for long-term use; it can also be used for those on chemotherapy and is safe for children and pets. Pregnant or nursing women should not use Essiac in any of its forms; liquid, capsule, or powder.

Essiac tea is good for more than just cancer; it can be used for a number of ailments as well as for overall health. In known use since 1922, this non-toxic formula has blood purifying, liver cleansing properties and can also soothe irritations and inflammations. Mainstream medications for the treatment of cancer many times fail to provide the body the nutrients it needs to help its own immune system fight back. Essiac tea does provide these nutrients to the body, and this is a big part of the reason for its success.

If you want to brew a batch of Essiac tea, you’ll need a scale to weigh out the proper amounts of each herb as follows:

• 1.7 oz Burdock Root
• 1.3 oz Sheep Sorrell
• 0.2 oz Turkey Rhubarb
• 0.4 oz Slippery Elm

Get the above-listed herbs in powder form. Follow the procedure for brewing the tea as outlined below. The recipe will make 2 gallons, and it can last for up to 2 weeks. You need to drink 2-4 cups of the tea a day for general health maintenance, 3-4 times a day for more serious conditions. Simply mix 2 ounces of the tea with 2 ounces of fresh water; you can drink it either hot or cold. If you have any of the tea left after 2 weeks you can reheat your mixture one more time and continue drinking it for another 2 weeks. If there is any left after that, throw it out and make a fresh batch.

Here’s all you’ll need to make a batch of your own:

• A large stainless steel or enamel canning pot with a lid; never use aluminum because of the various health risks associated with it, such as it having been linked to Alzheimer’s disease. This link has not been officially established, but there are other health concerns with aluminum. Some believe it may produce hydroxide poison which neutralizes digestive juices, thus causing stomach and gastrointestinal trouble like stomach ulcers and colitis. Aluminum is a toxic metal that can build up over time, so it makes sense to avoid it.
• A second large pot with a lid to pour hot liquid into while you strain the tea. Use Pyrex or stainless steel for both of the pots.
• Mesh strainer made of stainless steel
• Long handled spoon
• Spatula
• Funnel or glass measuring cup
• Tongs
• 32-ounce amber-glass bottles. You’ll need six bottles for a full batch, 3 bottles for a half batch. Amber bottles will help keep light out, but if you only have clear bottles to use, wrap them in foil or brown paper to keep as much light out as possible.
• Lids and rings for the jars
• Jar labels

Procedure to Make Your Tea:

Your first step should be to sterilize your glass jars by either boiling them in water or putting them in a 200-degree oven for ten minutes. Carefully remove the jars and lids with the tongs and put them out on the counter upside down and on a clean towel.

For a two-gallon recipe, mix all four of the herbs together. If you want to cut the recipe in half to make just one gallon, halve each of the herbs first and then mix them together.

To make the full two-gallon recipe, first, bring two gallons of distilled or spring water to a boil; or one gallon if making only half the recipe. As soon as the water begins to boil, stir in your herbs, cover the pot and continue boiling for ten minutes.

After ten minutes, turn off the stove, scrape down the sides with your spatula, mix well and let the pot sit with the lid on for twelve hours. This time is necessary for the steeping and extraction process.

When twelve hours are up, reheat your mixture to almost boiling; this should take about ten minutes. Then let it cool for a few minutes and start your straining process to separate the sludge from the tea. You can strain the tea as many times as you like, but a little herb left in the liquid won’t hurt you in any way. The straining process is where you’ll need your second pot to catch the hot tea as you strain it.

Once you’ve got it strained into the second pot, reheat your tea once again, this time for 2-3 minutes only. This reheating will kill any bacteria that may have gotten into the mixture and help keep the tea from spoiling too soon.

Next, using your funnel or glass measuring cup, pour the hot tea into your sterilized glass jars. Put the lids on, let the tea cool for a while and place the jars in the refrigerator.

The tea is good for two weeks, so be sure to label the jars the day you make the tea and the day it expires. If you have any left after two weeks, it can be reheated and used for another two weeks, but after that you have to discard it.

If you boil the tea too long or leave it sitting for more than twelve hours, it’s still good. Just be sure to boil it for an extra 10-15 minutes to make sure there are no bacteria in it. Use this formula for your own personal use and experimentation; most people have found it to be safe and non-toxic, even with long-term use.

Directions for Use:

Mix 2 oz. of the tea with 2 oz. of hot water. Don’t heat the water in a microwave as this will destroy the tea’s health-giving properties. The tea should be drunk on an empty stomach 10-20 minutes before a meal, if possible. This will allow for better absorption of all its goodness, but you’ll still get the benefits even if you don’t drink it on an empty stomach. The herbs in the tea will stimulate your body to throw off toxins, so be sure to drink plenty of water and have regular bowel movements.

For cancer and other serious ailments, drink the tea 3-4 times a day. For chronic ailments drink it twice a day, and for general maintenance and gentle detoxification drink it once a day. Chronic conditions include such things as asthma, hypertension, osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, etc.

Don’t substitute tinctured formula for the original recipe; it’s not as effective. Some people add alcohol to the formula to preserve it, but this will interfere with the potency of the formula.

When you make up the tea, it may seem like it’s very thick; this thickness comes from the slippery elm bark. This herb is a demulcent, and creates a slimy consistency, but is very effective in healing inflamed tissue and stomach ulcers.

After filtering your tea, there will be a significant amount of sludge left over; don’t throw it away. It can be used as a poultice on cancer-type wounds. There are also some folks who drink the tea while taking chemotherapy and have not suffered the side effects that go along with the chemo, but there are no studies to back up these claims.

There have been very few negative side effects from using the tea. Just be sure you drink plenty of water to flush the toxins that the tea will pull out of your organs. Some people have given the tea to pets and children as well; if you do this scale the dose down by weight.

Use this formula for your own personal use and experimentation; most people have found it to be safe and non-toxic, even with long-term use. The tea has a mild, pleasant taste; you can sweeten it with honey to further enjoy its health benefits.

The post Essiac Tea: Hope in a Cup appeared first on Homestead.org.

Ancient people watched the Moon disappear and reappear in the sky, and they came to structure their world around its phases; they planted and harvested by her and even made her the center of their religious ceremonies.  To ancient people, the full Moon became a symbol of fertility, ovulation, and birth, and it’s a widely held belief even today that more births occur near a full moon than at any other time of the month.  The Moon affects every aspect of life here on Earth; its gravitational pull even moves the fluids in our own bodies; some physicians won’t even perform surgery during a full Moon, claiming the risk of increased bleeding is too great.

The Moon’s effect on Earth’s water was known even in the days of the Romans.  Plutarch, the Roman historian (c. 46 -120 AD) said, “The moon showeth her power most evidently in those bodies which have neither sense nor lively breath; for carpenters reject the timber of trees fallen in the full moon as being soft and tender, subject also to the worm and putrefaction, and that quickly by means of excessive moisture.”

Lunar Gardening Logic

The first Indian tribes that roamed the plains of America kept track of the seasons by giving every recurring full moon a special name, one for each month.  The Moon When Eyes Are Sore from Bright Snow was for February, The Fish Spoils Easily Moon was for June, and The Moon When the Wolves Run Together was for December. August was the Sturgeon Moon and November the Beaver Moon.

Black Elk, a famous Oglala Sioux medicine man, arranged a treaty signing with the United States during the Moon of the Falling Leaves (also November), and meetings of all the Lakota tribes took place during the Moon of the Changing Season (October).  The Indians saw the moon as a symbol for fate and time, and as the great Earth Mother.

People of old farmed, hunted, and shepherded according to the rhythms of the earth and moon; understanding how the two worked together was critical to their survival.  The moon in the night sky fascinated them, so they watched it, studied it, and learned how it coincided with their own environment.  They observed that during the full moon, tides, lakes, and rivers rose, then there was more water in the ground, planting during these times produced greater crop yields, and they surmised that the increased water content in the ground was the reason why.

If you desire to produce a garden that is in total harmony with Mother Nature and the cycles of life, one that won’t further pollute and offend our great Mother Earth, then you should consider lunar gardening.

Begin your study of the Moon by watching it:

The New Moon always rises at sunrise.

The 1st quarter rises at noon.

The Full Moon always rises at sunset.

The last quarter rises at midnight.

The cycle from one new moon to the next is about 29 ½ days long.  When you look up in the night sky and see the right side of the moon shining brightly, the moon is waxing, or growing in light; when you see the left side of the moon shining brightly, it’s waning, or decreasing in light.

To understand lunar gardening, a lot of sources must be considered; much of this information is obscured by the annals of history, and some is cloaked in myth.  Because of this, skepticism and doubt have been the scourge of this tried and true, yet ancient, system of gardening.

Following only the Sun in brightness, our Moon is the second-largest moon in the solar system.  Reflected sunlight is what makes the moon shine, and the moon’s phases are caused by the different angles from which we see the sunlit side of the moon.

The moon can come as close to Earth as 218,000 miles, causing reactions in our atmosphere, oceans, and Earth’s surface.  You have witnessed the moon’s most famous influence, the tides, as it pulls them to and fro.  As the moon orbits the Earth, it causes the tides to rise and fall, affects our air currents, and is a major factor in causing thunderstorms.  Not only are the tides pulled from side to side during the moon’s phases, but all water on the earth is put in motion; tides in rivers and lakes rise, the water that is on the earth’s surface, even the water in the cells of plants and in our own bodies, is affected.

Water absorption in the Earth is highest during a full moon when its gravitational pull is the greatest, and there’s a definite decline in the water on Earth during the new moon.  Even the cells in our own bodies have been shown to respond to the pull of the moon, and some surgeons won’t schedule surgeries during this time because the moon’s pull causes excess bleeding.

The Waxing and Waning Moon

The two basic lunar activities that you need to be concerned with if you want to garden by the moon are its waxing and waning, which are the two activities that make up the lunar month.

Both waxing and waning are designated by the new and full moon.  The moon is waxing, or growing in light, when it’s in the first and second quarters; you’ll know the moon is waxing when you see its right side lit up.

The moon is waning, or decreasing in light, when it’s in the third and fourth quarters; you’ll know the moon is waning when you see its left side lit up.

Also consider this: tides reach their highest point every 14.6 days, or twice a month.  Rainfall cycles mirror the tide cycles in response to the position of the moon, therefore you can look forward to the highest rainfall just after a new or full moon.  Take advantage of this when planning your garden.

The position of the moon in the sky is another factor to consider when planting by the moon, and there are two terms you need to know: Perigee and apogee.  When the moon is at perigee, it’s closest to the earth, and the tides are pulled 30% higher than they are when the moon is at apogee, or farthest from the earth.  If the tides are pulled higher, we can assume that the entire water table of the Earth is affected more strongly as well.

How the Moon Influences the Earth and Why Lunar Gardening Makes Sense

“We may achieve climate, but weather is thrust upon us.”  O’Henry.

When the moon is waxing, its gravitational pull on Earth’s water is greater, and there is more water to be had for plants.  When the moon is waning, Earth’s water is receding, and there is less of it for plants to take up into their root systems.  Any fruit or vegetable meant to be eaten immediately is best if harvested during a waxing moon, when water content is at its highest, and many farmers have found that crops harvested and stored during a waning moon, when the earth’s water content is lowest, keep better and for longer periods of time.

How to Take Advantage of the Waxing Moon

• Sow your lawn during a waxing moon, also plant wheat and grains.
• Sow leafy vegetables and flowers; they produce their yield above ground and don’t rely on extensive root development.
• If you want flowers that are beautiful and smell good, plant them in the first quarter of the waxing moon.
• Raspberries, blackberries, and gooseberries should be planted in the second quarter of the waxing moon.
• If the area where you live is in a drought, sow seeds when the moon is waxing, as close to the full moon as possible.
• Grafting should be done in the first or second quarter of the waxing moon, as well as transplanting and repotting of houseplants.
• Water your plants during a full moon.
• Harvest grapes that you plan to use in winemaking.
• Gather herbs that you intend to use for essential oils now; their oil content will be more concentrated.
• Water your compost heap.

How to Take Advantage of the Waning Moon

• Now is the time to sow crops that produce their yield below ground.  Root vegetables like beets, carrots, and potatoes are among these.
• Plant trees and saplings in the third quarter of the waning moon; this will encourage a strong root system.
• Kill weeds and thin out any plants that you need to now.  This is also a good time to prune.
• Perennials should be divided in the third or fourth quarter of a waning moon.
• Fertilize with potassium at the waning moon; this is when potassium absorption is at its peak.
• Harvest all crops that will need long-term storage, like cabbage, potatoes, and apples.
• Fruit trees should always be sprayed during the fourth quarter of a waning moon.
• Harvest flowers and seeds now that you plan to store until next year, dig herb roots, leaves, and bark that will be used for medicinal purposes as well.
• All drying activities should be done now, as well as spreading and turning compost.

Lunar gardening encompasses both the phases of the moon and the signs of the zodiac; many lunar gardeners simply study the moon and plant according to its phases.  But if you want to incorporate the signs into your planting, you need to know which phase the moon is in as well as which sign it’s passing through before you decide to plant.

For instance, if you’re planting crops that produce their yield above the ground, like okra and tomatoes, plant them when the Moon is in the first or second quarter and also when it is passing through a fruitful sign such as Cancer, Scorpio, or Pisces.  The Moon moves through the zodiac signs, and each sign is associated with one of the four elements: fire, earth, water, or air.  Plants are believed to favor certain signs; for instance, flowers prefer air signs like Libra, Gemini, and Aquarius. The fire signs of Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius are dry and barren, and are a good time to do your weeding.  Annual plants like the fertile water signs of Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces.

Of the twelve zodiac signs, all the fruitful and semi-fruitful signs are feminine, except Libra.  Libra is the exception to the rule; it’s a masculine air sign and is considered semi-fruitful.  You should consider planting in Libra when your goal is to produce beautiful plants.  The fruitful signs include Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces; the semi-fruitful signs include Taurus, Libra, and Capricorn.

The barren signs of the zodiac are all male signs, and they include Aries, Gemini, Leo, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Aquarius.  Virgo is the exception to the rule here; its symbol is the virgin, and a virgin is a non-producer, so it makes sense that it would be barren.  Libra, whose symbol is the scales, could be neutral, and this is why it’s not a good producer of anything except flowers and other ornamentals.  Libra is also good for seeds and things that produce seeds, like grain.

The Four-season Garden

The post Gardening by the Moon appeared first on Homestead.org.

Scandinavian Seafaring Warriors

I was enthralled when I saw an example of a Viking longship. They were works of art. They were built for speed and allowed the Vikings to get to many of their destinations, thus conquering far distant regions and peoples. They sailed much of the North Atlantic, traveling as far North as Africa and as far East as Russia. That’s a lot of the world to cover, but the Vikings were not intimidated. 

“Odin gave his eye to acquire knowledge. But I would give far more.”  It is not known who said this, but it shows their quest for knowledge and their ambition.

The Viking Sunstone

Among their numerous seafaring skills, they used spar, which is a type of calcite, also known as Viking sunstone. It was their secret navigational weapon. Calcite, being a crystal, could polarize light. When held up to the sky, light was refracted through the sunstone. This let them determine the direction of the sun on cloudy days and even when the sun was below the horizon.

 Sheild Maidens

I never thought of Viking women taking to the battlefield and fighting beside their men. But some did, and they held their own on the battlefield.

These Viking women were known as “shield maidens.” They wielded weapons and wore armor. They reached the pinnacle of success when they were written into Viking poems and songs.

Lagertha was a famous shield maiden of the Viking era. Legends written about her tell us that she was a Danish noblewoman. Lagertha went into battle with her husband and fought against the Swedes.

Her husband was killed in the battle, but she carried on, leading her troops to victory. She was a legendary warrior of her time and later became Queen of Denmark.

Freydis Eiriksdottir. She sailed with her brothers to Vinland in the 11^th Century, the cape of Newfoundland, Canada, also known as L’Anse aux Meadows. Her brothers were killed in battle, but she fought on. When it was over, she had earned the respect of the locals.

They Were Raiders

As prolific seafarers and raiders, people of the North Atlantic regions never knew where the Vikings would turn up. But they soon learned to keep a sharp eye out for them. The Vikings were not to be taken for granted; their attacks were legendary. And the longships made it much easier to pull off their raids. These boats were brilliantly crafted for speed. 

Viking Proverb “Sa’ vinnur sit ma’l, sem praaastur er.” Translation: “He who is most stubborn will win.”

Could this be the modern equivalent of, “He who dies with the most toys wins?”

A favorite target of the Vikings was the monasteries of England, Scotland, and Wales. Monasteries weren’t well fortified in those days, and they held many gold and silver treasures that parishioners had gifted to them.

Monasteries were soft targets since they were far away from the bigger towns, and it could also be that, besides the priceless loot available, they were seeking revenge against the invasion of Christianity that was spreading in Scandinavia.

The Beginning of the Viking Age

The raid at the monastery on Lindisfarne in 793 AD marked the beginning of the Viking Age. The Vikings continued their raids along the rivers of France, Eastern Europe, and Byzantium, an ancient Greek city.

They raided and plundered all through Spain, the Mediterranean, the North Atlantic, and North America. It seems there wasn’t any region that didn’t know the wrath of the Vikings.

Dane Law

After the Vikings invaded and conquered parts of England, they subjugated the people there to their laws. They laid down the law, and the people followed. This was the “Danelaw,” and it referred to the parts of England the Vikings controlled. 

To be Viking was to be Pagan

Religion was a big part of Viking life. They practiced Norse Paganism; their main gods were Odin and Thor. They worshipped goddesses, too; they influenced very specialized areas. 

Frigg: Wife of Odin and goddess of marriage and motherhood. It was believed she would intervene in all matters concerning children. She may have been a bit psychic, and it was thought she could see the past and the future. She was humble about her talents, which I’m sure was part of her charm. Frigg didn’t often reveal what she knew.

Frigg was a true earth mother, and, in many ways, she held the Norse clans together with her all-knowing and selfless ways. Our English word Friday is derived from her name, securing her place in cultural influence for all time. 

Odin: Known as the All-Father, he was associated with war, wisdom, death, poetry, and magic. That’s a lot of areas to cover and be responsible for. Odin had one eye and a long beard and rode an eight-legged horse. He lost his eye by sacrificing it in exchange for matchless wisdom. Odin also had two ravens that flew across the world gathering information to bring to him. It was like having his own mobile hotspot wherever he went. That must have been nice.

Thor: God of thunder and lightning, he is an iconic figure in Norse mythology. He was the son of Odin and was thought to be the protector of Midgard, the realm of humans. He summoned lightning by wielding a huge hammer, and he rode through the sky on a chariot pulled by goats, wearing a magical belt that increased his strength. Marvel’s creation of Thor wasn’t far from the real guy.

Skadi: Goddess of winter, mountains, and hunting, she was responsible for bringing winter each year. Her beauty tempered her vengeance; she could charm and even kill other gods. She even rid the Vikings of Loki, the shapeshifter and trickster.

Valhalla: Also known as “Hall of the Slain.” It’s the afterlife for warriors who died bravely in battle. The Valkyries, the warrior maidens, had the duty of bringing the slain warriors to Valhalla. Odin presided over Valhalla. It had five possible realms the soul could travel to after death.

Slain warriors looked forward to going there after death, believing there was nothing more glorious than death in battle.

Viking Sagas

Viking sagas were stories told and passed down orally. They originated in medieval Iceland around the 12^th to 15^th Centuries, and the 13^th Century is thought to be the golden age of sagas. They started orally but were eventually written down. These stories blended fact and fiction and were told about heroes, mythical creatures, and major events in Viking culture. The Vikings loved to sit around the fire at night and share their stories.

Two Kinds of Viking Poetry

Poetry was of the utmost importance to the Vikings. Spoken by Vikings known as skalds, their poetry was considered a gift from Odin. Two types of poetry existed in the world of the Vikings. It was a revered art offering wisdom and insights into life. The poetry was passed down orally through generations. There were two kinds of poetry in Viking culture. Viking poetry preserved their history and passed along their values. Bold yet poetic, civilized yet feared— this describes this part of Viking life.

Eddic poetry was mythological and heroic and was written about gods, heroes, and cosmic events. Their authorship is unknown, and they were in the period of AD 800-1100. Norway claims to be the birthplace of Eddic poetry, and that makes sense because many Vikings hail from Norway as well.

Skaldic poetry is more complex than Eddic poetry. It makes use of alliteration, which is simply the use of the same sound at the beginning of words in a line or verse. An example of alliteration is “baa, baa black sheep.” Skaldic poetry was spoken by well-known poets to praise kings and nobles of the day.

“Odin watches, wisdom’s keen eye, upon Sleipnir, he ventures high. With Huginn and Muninn, ravens bold, He seeks the truths the runes unfold.” —Viking poem

The Importance of Beards in Viking Culture

I have never seen a picture of a beardless Viking. A Viking without a beard was a Viking who could suffer being mocked by his fellows. These mockings were even written into their sagas. Vikings wore their beards proudly as a symbol of their manhood and their warrior status. Would you believe that insulting a fellow Vikings’ beard could have a deadly outcome and even cause a feud between families?

According to the Journal of Physical Anthropology, Scandinavians today tend to have heavier beard growth due to their genetic link to the Vikings.

Some Vikings were keen on dying their locks blonde. They used a strong lye soap to bleach their hair. Why? It wasn’t because they wanted to have more fun; it had a much more practical reason. It was to make the lice in their hair easier to see and pick off. That’s a pretty clever solution to an age-old problem.

They were cleaner and more steadfast about their appearance than many people of the time. It is not known why they found cleanliness so important, but it shows wisdom and pride on their part. 

Vikings Valued Hygiene

Vikings were not dirty people as some stereotypes of them suggest. They were steadfastly clean and hygienic, despite having to battle lice in their hair. They bathed in nearby rivers at least once a week, whether they needed it or not. Combs, razors, and other implements of cleaning and grooming have been found in Viking graves by archaeologists. Vikings crafted animal bones into tools they used to groom their hair and beards, and to clean their teeth.

Board Games

Vikings played board games. The games sharpened their thinking, making them better seafarers and warriors. It also gave them something to do when there was nothing to pillage or plunder. 

Hnefatafl was a game of wits, also known as “The King’s Table”, and was played on a board with 11×11 squares. Players had to get their king piece to a corner of the board before their opponent could capture it by surrounding it on all four sides. Could the video games of today be inspired by Viking board games? Viking children played wrestling games to help develop their agility. They also carved boats and dolls out of wood.

Magical Mead

The Viking drink of choice was Mead. Known as “honey wine,” mead is an ancient alcoholic drink. Not just fermented honey with added water, fruits, veggies, and herbs could be added to enhance the flavor of mead. Drink it and become wise, the Vikings believed. Mead was thought to have magical powers and endowed poets with their glib tongues.

They Ate to Win

A Viking diet was a varied diet. Again, we see the Viking wisdom and practicality. After all, they could not go into battle having indulged in an inadequate diet. They ate to win.

Of course, they loved meat, usually boar, but they included veggies, fruits, and dairy products in their diet as well. Cows were kept for dairy, and farming provided fruits and vegetables. And hunting provided the boar meat they loved.The Vikings have an illustrious history; the way they lived their lives still holds fascination for us today. To a Viking warrior, bravery and honor in battle were of the highest priority. They will be remembered for their raiding and plundering, and sadly not as much for their artistry and spirituality.

Their prowess in battle and in life is what attracts and fascinates most of us, but when we look closer, we see their softer side. They wrote poetry, and they believed in family, loyalty, and honor. They were more than warriors; they were also creators and craftsmen and family men. They have left us a legacy that is still with us today. 

The post Life Beyond The Longships: Viking Culture appeared first on Homestead.org.

Baskets made work and play possible in villages and towns; these handmade appliances were used to carry everything from food to water.  By using resources found in their homeland, the ancients let Mother Nature know of their respect for her.  Vital connections were thus strengthened.  When you fashion a basket, you embrace the past of all humankind and you encourage its future.  You are letting the forces-that-be know that you won’t give up on the beauty of nature.  You will be writing your name in Mother Nature’s book of life.  I guarantee it’s worth the effort.

Unfortunately, the amazing natural materials that our ancestors used in styling their baskets decayed with age; the very thing that makes baskets so endearing and special is the reason not many baskets from the days of yore survive.  But don’t worry, most of those very same materials are available to you today, so we can continue to carry on the grand tradition of weaving a basket.

Baskets have served humankind in uncountable ways.  They were used to transport carrier pigeons during both of the World Wars.  Planes dropped baskets of much-needed supplies to troops in the field, and during the Industrial Revolution, factories used baskets in deliveries of important supplies and tools.

Old-timers and ancients made baskets from many kinds of materials, including oak, hickory, and willow.  Today, we basket-weavers can make our baskets from the natural materials around us, or from reeds and vines bought at the store.  These sturdy, pliable materials come in lots of different shapes and sizes to meet all of our basket-making needs; we’re only limited by our imagination.

What kind of basket do you want to make?   Let the style you choose determine the kind of material you use; your options are almost limitless.  Most of all, let your personality and imagination flow into your basket, whatever material and style you choose.

Today, basket reed, also called rattan, has largely replaced the vines and grasses used long ago; willow, oak, and cattails are not used nearly as often.  But you, as a basketmaker can still fashion your baskets of these natural materials, it just takes a bit more work and skill.  Lots of people today choose to make their baskets from kits bought online or at hobby stores.  Basketmakers today are even fashioning baskets out of unusual materials like plastic and yarn.

The main parts of a basket are the base, the walls, and the rim.  You can, of course, add a handle, a lid, and other embellishments, like variations in design and different “ear” styles.  An ear is a form of lashing used on ribbed baskets.  The lashing covers the intersecting points of the frame, securing them in place.  You can fashion an ear as a three-, four-, or five-point lashing; some basket ears are very elegant and add greatly to the design of your basket.  One four-point lashing is called the braided, or woven, God’s eye; another is called the bow knot.

How Baskets are Named

Down through the centuries, the names of baskets have gone through many changes.  Mostly, they were—and still are—named for their intended use, the people who made them, where they were made, and/or what the basket resembled.  Baskets in the mountainous regions of the southeastern United States had a gizzard-shaped bottom for holding eggs, so they were called “egg baskets”.

In some areas of the world, potatoes were gathered in round baskets with handles on one or both sides.  These became very popular and known as potato baskets since they served that purpose so well.  Flowers seemed to go best in a shallow basket with a tall handle, hence the name “flower basket”.  Sometimes, basket names caught on and lasted through the generations, sometimes not.  When you create your basket, name it what you will; it’s your creation.

Basket Terminology

Stakes: Pieces of the woven mat, or base, which are upsett and become the upright elements of your basket.

Spokes: The skeleton of your basket, they are the same as a stake but laid circularly as spokes in a wheel.

Weaver: The reed that is used as the weft that moves over and under the stakes, spokes, or ribs (warp).

Ear: Weaving or lashing done at the intersection point of the rim and handle that holds the two pieces securely together.  Ribs can be inserted into an ear.  An ear can also be loops that join a swing handle to a basket.

Hoop: A ring or piece of wood shaped into a circle, machine- or handmade, that is used in ribbed baskets.

Lasher or Lacer: The piece of reed that wraps around and secures all the rim pieces together.

Rib: The round or oval pieces that extend from one side of the basket to the other and form the basic skeleton.

Upsett or Upskate: To bend the stakes up and over upon themselves, toward the base, creating a crease in the base of the stake.

Basket-making Tools and Supplies

• Reed cutters or pruning shears for cutting reeds and vines
• Utility knife or box cutter
• Awl, or a sharp pointed tool like an icepick, to manipulate reeds
• Clothespins to hold parts of your basket together while you work
• Pencils
• Pencil sharpener to sharpen ends of round reeds 
• Bread ties
• Cable clips
• Yardstick
• Ruler 

Three Types of Basket Weaves

The Basic Weave: This type of weave starts with a sturdy base from which to work.  This can be cut from a single piece of wood, but is usually woven using the same materials as the rest of your basket.  The basic weave is done by weaving with rigid stakes or spokes, and weavers.  The weavers wrap around the stakes in an over-one-under-one pattern.  You can change the pattern by changing the number of over and under weavers.

Twining: Also known as pairing, is the method used in wickerwork, and it’s one of the more advanced basket-making techniques.  It involves two pieces of round reed being twisted around a rigid spoke.  The twining method involves weaving two materials in different directions.   When basket makers twine, they put one reed behind the spoke and one in front of the spoke, with a twist in between.  Twining makes beautiful baskets and was probably used thousands of years ago to make animal traps and fishing nets.

Coiling: In this type of basket weaving, coils of reeds or grasses, or even pine needles are stitched together one atop another.  You need softer basket making materials in order to be able to build the walls of this type of basket.  Coiling will produce a very tight and rigid basket, and is a favorite technique of the Native Americans of the Southwest.  Plant fibers like willow twigs, sweet grass, and pine needles all make uniquely beautiful coiled baskets.  You will need strong string or fishing line to sew the coils together.

Basket Reeds

Basket-weaving reed comes in shapes of flat, flat oval, half-round oval, and round; you can buy it by the foot and also in one pound coils.  Flat reed will need to be soaked in warm water for as long as your pattern calls for, but don’t over-soak it or it gets mushy, and can become permanently discolored as well.  Soaking makes basket reed flexible enough to work with.  Round, flat oval, and half-round reed will need to be soaked a bit longer; your pattern will let you know how long to soak each type.  Remember never to store your reeds in plastic as it doesn’t breathe and will result in moldy reeds.

Be sure you let your reed dry out completely before you store it, as excess moisture will also cause mold.  If you do find yourself with moldy reed, just soak it again in a gallon of water with 1/4 cup bleach added.

Dyeing Your Reed

Use enamel, Pyrex, or stainless steel vessels to dye your reed as these types of pots won’t react with the dye.  You can also use plastic buckets or trashcans that have been thoroughly cleaned.  Soak the reed for about an hour and rinse it well.  Next, dissolve your dye in about a quart of boiling water, adding one tablespoon of salt per packet of dye.  Pour enough boiling water to cover the reed into your pot and then pour in your dye mixture.  Mix it well and then add your presoaked reed.  Don’t put too much reed in at once, otherwise, it won’t all get completely dyed.  Now let it soak from one hour to overnight, depending on how dark or light you want the color to be.

When you take the reed out, rinse it well with cold water and hang it do dry.  Again, make sure it is completely dry before you store it.  When you soak the dyed reed before making your basket, you should soak each color separately; expect the colors to bleed a little.

Making the Base of Your Basket 

Making a base for your basket involves laying out your reeds or spokes, using whatever material you choose or whichever material you choose, in pieces parallel to one another.  Leave a bit of space between each one.  Now begin weaving reeds in a perpendicular direction to your first ones in an over-under pattern.  The piece you’ll use to do this is called your weaver.  These first reeds that you place are called the spokes and will form the skeleton of your basket.

Making the Basket Walls

Now you must bend the spokes extending from the base, upward to form the walls.  This bending action is called “upsetting”.  You are in effect, setting the spokes in an upright position.  These upsett reeds will serve as the upright elements of your basket.  You’ll weave the rest of your basket in an over-under pattern through these.

Making the Rim

To make the rim, take one of your longer reeds and wrap it around the top row of your basket.  Hold it in place with a clothespin or a cable clip.  Now weave the bottom end of this long reed into the top few rows inside the basket.  Bring the reed up and over the top row of your basket over and over again, working all around the circumference of the basket.  Secure the end of the reed inside the basket either with glue or by weaving it into the basket.

Handles and Hoops

The handles and hoops you can put on your baskets are as diverse as the baskets themselves.  The one guiding principle to know is that you should use the handle your basket pattern calls for; the overall look and functionality of your basket will be much better if the handle fits the basket style.  Some of the more popular handle styles are swing handles, round notched handles, “U” handles and “D” handles.  Always put the handle of your basket on the outside of the rim.  This will ensure that your handle is held firmly in place because the diameter of the handle hoop will be decreased.

A basket hoop, which is only used in a ribbed basket, can be circular, oval or square, depending on your pattern.  The purpose of the hoop is to form the foundation of your basket; you will weave ribs around the hoop to form the shape of your basket.

Determining the Size of Your Basket

Here are formulas you can use to give you the length measurements of your basket stakes that will form the base of your basket.

Say you are making a staked basket that measures 10″ wide by 16″ long by 6″ deep.  To get a length measurement you add the base length of 16″ and each side depth of 6″ on each side, (or 12″), and then add 6″, (or 3″ on each side) to tuck in at the top.  So your formula would be 16″ plus 12″ (2 sides), plus 6″ (for tucking) = 34″.

To get the width measurement, add the base width of 10″ and each side-depth of 6″ and the same 6″ for tucking.  The formula is 10″ plus 12″ plus 6″ = 28″.

How to Shape, or Reshape, Your Basket

If, while weaving, your basket isn’t shaping up as you’d like, there is a very simple solution.  Just re-moisten the entire basket by misting it lightly with water.  Do this carefully so that you don’t get the handle of your basket too wet.  After re-moistening your basket, all you have to do is use your hands to remold it into the shape you want.

To hold the shape in place, you’ll need to place some kind of heavy object inside the basket to level it.  Let the basket sit this way until the reeds are completely dry and then continue weaving.

How to True the Base of Your Basket

You will true the base of your basket to make sure it’s even on all sides.  First, measure all four sides of the base and make any adjustments needed.  When you are sure all sides are the same length, use a pencil to mark the adjacent corners on all four sides of your basket base.  This way, when you start weaving, you’ll know when anything starts shifting because your corner marks will be out of alignment.

Sharpening Ribs for a Ribbed Basket

You may need to sharpen your basket ribs to make them fit better into the overall shape of your basket.  Ribs are the round or oval pieces that go from one side to the other of the basket and form its basic skeleton.  A pencil sharpener, either electric or the old-fashioned hand-crank kind, will work to sharpen the ribs.  However, your best bet is to use your utility knife or a special basket knife made for this purpose.

The Quality of Your Reed

There are a lot of different kinds of reed out there, and they aren’t all of the highest quality.  Poor-quality reed will shred and split and even break when you bend it in the making of your basket.  Reed can be thick or thin, depending on your basket’s intended use.  But if the reed you use is too splintery and brittle, your basket will never attain the heights of beauty and usefulness that it otherwise could have.

Flat reed has two sides; a smooth one and a rough, “hairy”, one.  You’ll want to construct your basket so that the smooth side is on the outside.  By bending a piece of reed over your finger into a U-shape, you can usually determine which side is which.  But don’t worry if you can’t tell the difference, that just means your reed is of excellent quality.  When shopping for reed, look for the reed that has a light, creamy color; this means it’s of superior quality.  The darker the reed, the poorer the quality.

Various Basket-weaving Materials

Kudzu: This vine is also known as Japanese Arrowroot, and is native to certain parts of Asia.  Kudzu is known as a very invasive species of vine, but is also highly prized as a basket weaving material due to its strength and pliability.  It can be used green or dried out and rehydrated.

Grapevine: This vine comes in many varieties.  You will find it growing wild in fields and you can also purchase it from hobby and craft stores.  Grapevine doesn’t typically need soaking as it stays pliable for weeks after it’s cut.

Wisteria: A woody, climbing vine with clusters of beautiful lavender colored blooms, wisteria is hardy and fast-growing.  It has long runners that are great for basket making.  Growing wild in many areas, it’s considered a nuisance plant by many.  For best results in your baskets, harvest wisteria in the wintertime.

Willow: Willow has long, slender branches that are very good for weaving baskets.  You should harvest it in the fall or early spring before any leaves appear on the branches.  The branches will be the most pliable at that time.

Seagrasses: These are long, narrow leaves that are very pliable for basket making.  You can get seagrass as a twisted, grass rope or a flat-surfaced reed.  It starts out green and will turn tan as it ages.

Baleen: Baleen is a substance that comes from inside the mouth of the bowhead whale; its purpose is to filter their food.  Alaskan natives have been using baleen to weave sturdy baskets for many years.

White-oak splits: Splits are a traditional material used in the mountains for caning chairs and making all sorts of baskets.  A White Oak sapling about 4-6 inches in diameter is chosen and a 6-9 foot section of the trunk is removed.  The trunk is then divided into quarters and then split into strips to use in making the basket.

Pine needles: Pine needles have long been used by Native Americans to make amazingly beautiful coiled baskets.  In areas of the country where pine trees grow, it’s a simple matter of making a trip outside to collect the needles off the forest floor.  They should be soaked in warm water to remove sticky tree sap, but they will stay pliable for a long time.

If you want to be daring, and if you like to recycle, try making an eco-friendly and durable basket from one of these:

• Plastic bags
• Plastic bottles
• Yarn
• Paper in just about all of its forms
• Old blue jeans
• Old T-shirts
• Telephone wire
• Plastic or cotton clothesline

The post Basket-making Basics appeared first on Homestead.org.

Cro-Magnon people survived and thrived on hunting and gathering techniques; it was a tough hand-to-mouth existence.  Cro-Magnon man and woman were constantly on the hunt for sustainable edibles to keep them alive.  It must have been an exhausting and somewhat discouraging existence.  When they weren’t gathering wild plant foods, they were hunting wild game of all kinds with the use of their hands and crude tools.  This grueling routine was a daily one and I wonder if they ever sat in their caves at night, after a long day of barely surviving, scratching their heads and thinking, “There must be a better way.”

A Metamorphosis for Mankind 

In another part of the world, known as the Fertile Crescent, the dawn of agriculture had begun.  The Fertile Crescent had rich soil and at least three important rivers, the Nile, the Tigris, and the Euphrates.  Nomadic peoples found the area well suited to settling down; the pasturing of their flocks and the growing of food thus began.  Wheat, barley, peas, and lentils began sprouting from the rich soil.  The metamorphosis of mankind was underway and the lifestyle of hunting and gathering was fading fast.

The Secret’s in the Sludge

The Nile River flooded the land of the Fertile Crescent and was the water the Egyptians who lived there needed to grow their crops.  After the river subsided, it left behind a layer of silt that nourished the plants.  The silt carried nutrients from different regions as well as sand particles and clay, and deposited them in the land of the Fertile Crescent; this silt played a huge part in the fertility of the soil that grew some of the first crops known to mankind.

Silt, or sludge as it was also known, was composed of particles of irregular size and shape that allowed for good aeration of the soil.  The clay particles helped hold on to water and the sandy parts helped the soil drain; these properties combined to store plant nutrients and make for a very productive soil.  The silt deposited in the Fertile Crescent had probably been fermenting for millions of years; what a windfall for the ancient farmers.

The Egyptian Shaduf

Taming the Nile River was a challenge; the Egyptians in the Fertile Crescent had water but needed a way to move it from one place to another.  They used something called a shaduf.  It was a see-saw like device that had a leather container at one end that farmers filled with water; at the other end was a large stone used as a counterweight.  All the farmers had to do was pull down on a rope attached to the long end of the shaduf to lower the bucket into the water.  The counterweight raised the bucket back up, and the water was then poured on the thirsty crops. This simple yet efficient device could lift as many as 2500 liters of water a day.

The farmers made reservoirs, also called canals, out of sun-baked bricks.  When the Nile River flooded its banks, the water flowed into the canals.  The shaduf was then used to keep the canals full by removing water, one bucket at a time, from a well and into the canals.  As the canals were filled, the water was then channeled to the crops that sustained the people.  Through their ingenious methods of irrigation, they tamed the rivers of the Fertile Crescent and turned an arid land into bountiful farmland.

Chinampas: The Floating Gardens of the Ancient World

One of the most ingenious farming systems of all time was the Chinampa.  Also known as raised-field agriculture and/or floating gardens, the Chinampas were the superstars of the Aztec world.  These “floating gardens” came into use as far back as the tenth century, and are still in use today in regions of Mexico.  Chinampas (meaning “man-made islands”), were simply crops grown in lake mud.

It was the “one-stop shop” of the ancient farming community.  Crop yields were high using this method because it took advantage of all that nature had to offer in one place.  The Aztecs created their manmade islands by fencing in an area of shallow lake-bed.  Inside this enclosure they built up layers of lake mud and decaying vegetation in which to plant their crops.  The decomposed material was the result of countless years of the buildup of composted nutrients that had settled to the bottom of the lake beds; it providing a super rich mixture of plant nutrients.  It was the Miracle Gro of its day.  What plant wouldn’t like that?

The Aztecs farmers grew maize, squash, tomatoes, beans, amaranth, and chili peppers, among other things.  When it was time to harvest the crops, it was simply a matter of plucking the ripe fruits and veggies and placing them into their boats as they paddled around the gardens.  

Why the Floating Gardens Worked:

• The gardens provided a micro-climate that prevented frost damage.
• The soil was super productive due to eons of nature’s nutrients being deposited on the bottom of the lake.
• The lake provided a self-watering system; water trickled in from the sides of the floating garden and moisture evaporated from the surface.
• Plants and fish could be grown and harvested in the same area.
• A drainage system of dams, sluice gates, and canals were put in place to manage flood control in the rainy season.

Ancient farmers even built arching trellises over the Chinampas to grow more fruits and vegetables.  Chinampas were many ecosystems working together and were possibly the most productive system of farming ever created by mankind.

The Treasure of Sichuan

Twenty-two hundred years ago in ancient China, a marvel of engineering created the only non-dam irrigation system the world has ever known; it’s still in operation today.  The Dujiangyan provides water to 668,700 hectares of farmland.  One hectare is the equivalent of 2.47 acres or 10,000 square meters.

In ancient times, a tributary of the Yangtze River used to flood the entire area where the Dujiangyan now stands.  The farmers in the area could have solved the problem by simply building a dam, but the waterway needed to be kept open for the passage of military vessels and also to supply troops.  Their solution was to split the river by redirecting part of the water with an artificial levee and another part to the dry Chengdu plain by cutting a channel through a nearby

The people wove oblong baskets of bamboo, known as Zhulong, and filled them with stones to create the levee and prevent the overflow of the river.  The baskets were held in place by wooden tripods called Macha.  Making use of the natural topographic features of the land, farmers were able to have water for irrigation and their farms prospered.  Once the mountain had been hollowed out, the water flowed through to the Chengdu plain allowing the Chinese farmers to grow lots of food.  They invented row planting so that they could walk down every row and harvest every single plant.  The part of the river that the levee protected would be the part kept open for military purposes, thus meeting the needs of the military.  The ancient farmers solved two problems in a very ingenious way.

The area no longer flooded and the irrigation provided the farmers with the most productive agricultural place in China up to this very day.  The project is now called the “Treasure of Sichuan” because water is allowed to flow through naturally so that all ecosystems and wildlife can subsist in harmony; and flooding was no longer a problem. Now they could grow more of their staple crop, rice.  Other crops grown included wheat, millet, and sorghum; fruits included citrons and peaches.  

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

The Hanging Gardens may not have been in Babylon (modern-day Iraq), and they probably didn’t hang in mid-air.  According to historians, the gardens may have been in the city of Nineveh and were probably built in a stair-step fashion; thus giving the effect of hanging.  But wherever and whatever they actually were, they were an amazing agricultural achievement for their time, which was approximately 600 BC.

One of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the hanging gardens were built to please the wife of King Nebuchadnezzar, so the story goes.  Queen Amyitis, the daughter of the king of the Medes (the Medes were an ancient Iranian people), was married to King Nebuchadnezzar in order to create an alliance between the two nations.  She grew up in a land with very lush and thriving landscape; it was green and full of trees.  But the land of her husband was flat and dry.  This depressed her to no end, and so her husband built the hanging gardens to help her feel more at home in her new land.  He was obviously a man who believed in the saying, “Happy wife, happy life.”

The gardens were a set of vaulted terraces, sort of like stadium bleachers; they were supported by cube-shaped pillars.  The hollow pillars were filled with dirt and had large trees planted in them, and the terraces were made of baked brick and bitumen, an early version of asphalt.  Trees and bushes with all kinds of edibles were grown along the terraces. They probably grew fruit trees and olives for olive oil, a staple of the ancient world; golden apples, known as quince; pears and figs.  Crops like almonds, dates, and grapes (a symbol of fertility) were likely also grown.

Laborers were put to work bringing water from the Euphrates River to the top of the gardens in the watering system that had been created for the hanging gardens.  This was no easy task.  The water was lifted to the highest level and then flowed down each consecutive level watering all the plants as it went.  There were no engines or pressure pumps to help fifth century ancients in this process and it’s thought that they might have used a chain pump to move the water.

A chain pump looks kind of like a double Ferris wheel; it had two large wheels connected by a chain and buckets were attached to the chain every few feet.  At the bottom of the wheel is a water source and as the wheels turn, the buckets pick up water, lift it to the upper wheel and are then dumped into an upper pool.  The process then repeated itself and was kept going by a worker, or workers, at the bottom of the pump who continually turned a handle.

Because the gardens were constantly exposed to water and the bricks that made up the gardens were composed of clay and straw, they had a tendency to dissolve.  The solution was to cover the bricks with reeds, bitumen, and tiles.  The ancients made use of a naturally occurring substance known as bitumen, (used in modern day asphalt).  It was a black, gooey byproduct of decomposed organic materials.  Its waterproofing qualities made the perfect sealant for the hanging gardens.  Gated channels were likely constructed to let the water in and direct it to the plants.

Some estimates say the gardens could have been as much as 400 feet wide by 400 feet long and may have stood as high as 80 feet.  They were truly a sight to behold and no small irrigation feat.  When finished, the hanging gardens were a breathtaking spot of green in an otherwise arid world.  I’m sure Queen Amyitis spent many long hours gazing at them and her soul must have been refreshed by this bright spot in her world.

The Digging Stick

All the tools the ancient farmer used were simple and crude and made the job of farming difficult and exhausting.  But in due course, improvements came along.  The first “plow”— if you want to call it that—was no more than a digging stick.  Ancient farmers walked through their fields simply making grooves and holes in a straight line as they went.  Someone else came along behind them and dropped in the seeds, covering them loosely with dirt.  Later, farmers added a stone, bronze, or iron tip to make the digging easier.  Some farmers even made sickles out of a donkey’s lower jaw.

Eventually, the plow was invented; pulled by oxen and donkeys.  Then came the harrow, a wooden board attached to the plow that made it much easier to turn over the dirt and plant the seeds.  At harvest time, sickles made of bone and flint were used to cut the grain.  A major breakthrough came when bronze and iron sickles came into use.  Farming still had a long way to go, and many improvements lay ahead.  The ingenuity and inventiveness of ancient farmers caused change to happen, leading the way to the modern agriculture of our day.

The post How the Ancients Farmed appeared first on Homestead.org.

The spring and autumn harvests are sacred. These seasons bring peak bee activity and the most potent honey. The Gurungs see the ritual as a spiritual connection to nature and their ancestors, despite the danger.

Good Vibrations

Inside the hives, bees headbutt each other—a vibrational “stop signal” warning of intruders. They release alarm pheromones and flap their wings rapidly to alert the colony. When they sting, a potent chemical, isopentyl acetate, intensifies their defense.

Still, the hunters climb. Bees swarm, stinging hands and faces, but the men press on. The hives, sometimes holding up to 130 pounds of honey, are fiercely guarded. Yet the hunters manage to secure their prize.

They pray to Rangkemi, god of the bees and revered ancestor, for protection. By middle age, Gurung men perform the task with fearless confidence, proving their courage and commitment to the village. Life in the village is deeply spiritual, guided by elders and rooted in Buddhism and Animism.

Where It Begins

The journey starts with a three-hour trek along rugged trails—paths walked for generations. These trails symbolize the Gurungs’ bond with nature. Once at the cliffs, the hunters build a smoky fire to calm the bees. Though soothed, the bees still prepare to defend their hives.

Job Security

Apis Laboriosa, the Himalayan giant honeybee, is the world’s largest—and most aggressive. The bees form protective curtains around their hives and attack intruders without hesitation. The hunters accept this as part of the job.

After the fire dies down, they construct bamboo ladders and sacrifice a chicken to appease the gods. Then, they scale the cliffs, risking their lives for honey known for its psychoactive effects.

Some Don’t Make It Home

Despite prayers and rituals, some hunters fall. Their names are carved into the cliffs, and Gurung death ceremonies—Pae or Anghum—guide their spirits to the ancestral realm, ensuring lifelong protection for their families.

Mad honey is more than tradition. It’s consumed for health, sold globally, and known for its hallucinogenic and aphrodisiac properties.

The Secret Ingredient

What makes mad honey mad? Rhododendron flowers, which grow wild in the Himalayan mountains, produce a toxic substance called grayanotoxin. Bees drink the nectar and carry it back to the hive, secreting it into the honeycomb cells. This toxin is what gives mad honey its hallucinogenic—and sometimes dangerous—qualities.

Holistic Honey? I Don’t Think So

All it takes is a spoonful to feel the effects—good and bad. Trendy wellness circles tout mad honey as a holistic cure-all. But holistic healing treats the entire body in a positive way, including mood, behavior, and well-being. That’s not the case here.

True believers claim it can erase problems, pain, and even emotional baggage. That’s a tall order with no scientific backing. One spoonful might bring calm—or it might bring nausea, hallucinations, a drop in blood pressure, or worse.

Nepalese villagers have consumed it for generations and may have built up immunity. Westerners? Not so much. The toxin levels vary wildly, making health claims hard to verify. And while it’s legal in many places, sellers may not be upfront about the risks.

So don’t go in blind. “Look before you leap” applies here. Too many chase a psychedelic experience without understanding the cost.

Dosage Facts

Low doses: May create a sense of calm and mild euphoria
Higher doses: May cause nausea, dizziness, unconsciousness

Medicinal Uses

Has been used to treat high blood pressure, diabetes, and pain

Some History

Greek soldiers in 401 BC took in too much of the honey and had bad trips. They had to quit their mission and lie down for days until the vomiting stopped.

Fun Facts

• Mad honey does not taste like regular honey. It has a slightly bitter, earthy taste.
• Mad honey is available on the open market and costs from $6.00 to $50.00 an ounce
• Its effects vary depending on where and how it was harvested
• The honey is legal in the USA, but has been banned in South Korea, Australia, and Brazil.
• Many users say the negative effects outweigh the positive effects, so be sure of your source when purchasing it online.

The Shiver Dance

This is a quick vibration that the bees do with their short wings. It prepares the other bees in a hive to prepare to defend the hive and the queen, or to retreat.

Prepping For The Honey Hunt

Before any hunting begins, the people dance, feast, and make offerings to their gods. This is how they make sure things will go well and the hunters will return safely.

Gurung Witches

In some villages, there are sometimes older women who are thought to be witches. They are respected for their powers but are also shunned to some extent since they are capable of evil. They may be exiled from the village, but not as often these days, because it is now illegal to brand someone as a witch.

Gurung Tourism

The Gurung Tourism Entrepreneurs’ Association promotes tourism that is sustainable and works to preserve the culture of not just the Gurungs, but of all the indigenous peoples of the area. Annual festivals are held, and homestays are growing in popularity.

During a homestay, tourists can enjoy the native foods, experience the rituals performed, and even help with chores.

The people are friendly, and the mountains and scenery are unmatched. This keeps tourists coming back and is a huge boon to the economy.

A Sensory Pilgrimage

Many come just to watch the honey hunters. They are offered a taste of the honey and learn of its history and meaning.

Sacred springs, cliffside shrines, and shamanic rituals are also part of any trip to the Gurung villages. Some say the entire adventure induces a trance-like atmosphere. That’s because life there is a mix of ritual and reality and gives a taste of another way of living so different from that of westerners. It’s the magic of the Himalayans, which are known for their mystical qualities.

There are many reasons to visit Nepal—the majestic mountains, the spiritual culture, and, of course, to see one of the last, great, breathtaking feats of courage and skill of the mad honey hunters.

The post Mad Honey, Anyone? Inside The Hives Of Apis Laboriosa appeared first on Homestead.org.

Jobs are few and far between out in the sticks, and in this economy,  your move to the backwoods has to be proceeded by some thoughtful considerations on the subject of income.  Do the math: a slow economy plus our desire for a good, country lifestyle equals you coming up short on cash if you’re not careful.

The days of a totally self-sustainable country lifestyle are likely all but gone; the days of manufactured products, must-haves, and can’t-do-without possessions are here to stay.  There aren’t very many of us that won’t need money at some time to maintain our homestead, clothe and feed ourselves and our children, and have a few of the finer things in life we’ve all come to expect.  This is where the outside, gainful employment comes in: you’ll probably have to locate some.  Either find a job or create a business.

At this point, you may find yourself getting a little discouraged, but don’t.  The key is to make the most of where you are and who you are; remember the old adage “Use it up, wear it out, make it last, or do without.”  Apply the same philosophy to figure out how you’ll make it beyond the sidewalks.

Jobs in the country are not as easy to find and they will pay you less, so if we can’t survive on one, and many times we can’t, even living way under our means, then it’s time to think about creating our own source of income.  The possibilities are endless, and you don’t have to count on just one income stream; several folks in my county do more than one job, or they mix an outside job with a work-at-home skill they’ve developed.  Begin by thinking about what you already do—what is your hobby and can you make it into a profitable business?  Can you find a niche and create a need or product to fill that niche?  Look around you at the inventiveness of your neighbors and get inspired.

Homestead Gig 1: Doggy Daycare and Pet Sitting

As I look around the area of the country where I live, I see that this one area of interest has spawned dozens of businesses that seem to fit in great with the country lifestyle.  One of the reasons a lot of us move to the country is our love of animals and to have enough room to raise them.

Doggy daycare is a huge business, our pets are our children and no one wants to leave them home alone all day.  You may be going out of town for a day or a week, but you want your dog or cat to be happy and well cared for, so doggy daycare—for a day or a month—is a great solution, and this business fits in nicely for someone who has a few acres for the dogs to roam on.  You may need to build a few kennels and invest in some portable dog houses, but your investment for this business doesn’t have to be huge.  Start small and build to include grooming and training as well.  Maybe even pet photography—who wouldn’t want a picture of Fido or Mimi sitting atop a hay bale?

If you’re going to board dogs, you’ll need space for dog runs and kennels, and having a few acres in the country should provide you with this space.  A small pool and various dog and cat toys will go a long way in keeping your animals happy.

Other aspects of animal care to consider:

• Pet Sitting
• Pet Grooming
• Pet Photography

Homestead Gig 2: Income Tax Service

Tax preparation is one of the least expensive start-up businesses, and one that lots of consumers will find helpful.  If you’re sure you know what you’re doing before you get into this business, you can turn a good profit.  It does require that you do your homework in preparation; Uncle Sam is adamant and particular about laws and regulations.  Educate yourself on the Internal Revenue Service and the state tax laws by taking courses at your local community college or on the Internet.  Also, H&R Block offers courses in tax preparation each year before tax season.

Choose a special, dedicated area of your home for your business; you’ll need a place away from family noise and distraction to be a success at this business.  Your office also needs a separate phone line for incoming business calls, a computer, printer, fax machine, and copier.  Place a small ad in your local paper or online and attract the folks that don’t want to pay high city prices for getting their tax returns done.

You can start your business completely solo, or be part of a franchise—there are companies that will let you use their name for a fee.  Set up your home office and get to work, and remember to claim the home-office deduction on your own taxes.

Homestead Gig 3: Seamstress (Alterations, Sewing, & Reweaving)

Anyone who knows how to sew and enjoys it can put their knowledge and abilities to work.  There are many opportunities available to start a seamstress and alteration home-business.  Include things like simple mending of clothes, sewing on military patches, altering school uniforms, and reweaving.  Also known as invisible mending, reweaving dates back over 200 years and is the method of repairing damaged cloth by taking threads from a concealed part of the garment and reweaving them over the damaged area.  Reweaving is an art that has seen better days but is now enjoying something of a comeback.

Country people are more likely to appreciate and value the frugality involved in mending and altering clothes.

A sewing business can be a profitable full or part-time business, and you should start out by first assessing your skills.  Can you honestly call yourself a seamstress? Can you make a wedding dress or tailor a man’s suit, or are you more of the crafty type who makes aprons and Christmas stockings?  Invest in the best sewing machine you can afford,  at the very least a machine with a straight stitch, a zigzag stitch, and a buttonhole stitch.  You’ll also need a serger to finish seams, a table for cutting, and an iron.  You should have a room set aside just for sewing with storage for all your supplies.

Homestead Gig 4: Junk Haul Off – Have Pick-up, Will Travel. 

Everyone has it: junk!

This is a business I’ve seen work very well in the country; it’s a green business that you can start with no more than your pick-up truck, a place to dump the stuff, and a small ad in your local paper.  You’ll be hauling things away that regular trash services can’t deal with, therefore it can be a very lucrative business; we’re a society of consumers with lots of junk and no way to get rid of it ourselves.

Haul off appliances, carpet, tires, furniture, and all the rubbish that adds up so quickly out here beyond the sidewalks.  This business will help you keep your neighborhood clean by recycling, you can even make side money by fixing up some of the junk you haul off—it’s a homestead gig with a side business built-in.

Find your local recycling centers and what they’ll accept.  Help the hoarders.  It seems that since people in the country tend to have more room to spread out on, they tend to have more junk—you could find yourself in junk heaven.

Homestead Gig 5: Bees, Honey, and Beeswax

I’ve always been fascinated with bees and the process of making honey; I’ve sometimes fantasized about beekeeping.  Well, through the study of the art, I found it wasn’t that complicated.  Contrary to what I thought, starting a beekeeping business isn’t that challenging and doesn’t require expert knowledge or skill, and best of all, not a lot of money.

Through my research, I uncovered a cardinal rule for beginner beekeepers: don’t buy used equipment.  The hives may contain a virus that could not only harm the bees but cause them not to even want to go near the hive.  At this point, you need to talk to local beekeepers and find out what kind of hives they use for the area in which you live.

When you’ve decided on the type of hive you want, then decide how you’ll add the bees, with a nucleus, a package, or a swarm.

Nucleus:  The nucleus means you buy a 3 by 5 frame and a hive with a brood and a laying queen.

Package:  These bees come by the pound and include a laying queen, you’ll also get a sugar feeder for the bees.

Swarms:  These are swarms caught by beekeepers and used to supplement their own hives, the danger here is of the bees having a virus known as Tracheal Mites or Varroa.

Raising your own bees can provide you with a great hobby, a source of fresh honey and beeswax, and an interesting way to earn money.  You don’t need expert knowledge or skill to start this business; many people in the country keep their own bees for fun and profit.  Basic beginning supplies are a hive, a smoker, a protective suit, and feeders which can be a heavy-duty plastic bag or plastic container.

Homestead Gig 6: Food Vending

This is another one of those great businesses to start out of your home because it’s low-cost and you can work it either part or full-time; the added bonus is being able to attend all the festivals and country fairs in your area.  Since it’s a cash business, the licensing requirements aren’t as stringent—another plus.  However, it’s a competitive business and you’ll often be learning on the fly.

Think about all the great festival food you’ve eaten; what stands out in your mind?  Was it the Coney dog, the hot dog, the funnel cake, the ice cream, the curly fries?  Basic advice from seasoned food vendors is to go with what you love.  Rent or buy your food cart by going to auctions, checking out the classifieds and online sites, and message boards.  The equipment you’ll need to make your chosen food can be found used.  Remember to buy all required licenses so you’ll be in compliance with the health department.  Check online for good deals on hot dog carts, trailers, and concession trucks, and visit restaurant supply stores for items like coffee makers, microwave ovens, and pots and pans.

Homestead Gig 7: Chimney Sweeping

This is a career you really need to be committed to since you’ll spend most of your time on a roof or wedged into the small space of a chimney, you’ll get very dirty, but you’ll be performing a valuable service in keeping chimneys safe and healthy.  Get certified through the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA), where you’ll learn to inspect and service all kinds of chimneys, and other heating devices like pellet and wood stoves, which are popular in country homes as well.

Some equipment you’ll need as a chimney sweep: chimney brushes, chimney brush rods or a rope and pull rings, fireplace cover, protective coverings for furniture and rugs, metal bucket, shovel and broom, vacuum cleaner, and a powerful flashlight.

Homestead Gig 8: Cobbler (Shoe/boot Repair and Shine)

A shoe repair business makes a lot of sense in these tough economic times, but to repair shoes so that your customers can actually get a few more years wear out to them does take some skill.  Shoe repair isn’t as common a trade as it used to be, so if you want to learn this trade, you might start out as an apprentice, learn from someone already in the business by working for them for as long as it takes.

Join the Shoe Service Institute of America (SSIA). On their website, you’ll find updates on industry news, contact information for wholesalers and suppliers, ads for equipment sales, and business opportunities.

To repair shoes and boots you’ll need hammers, shoe nails, heel savers, adhesives, and screwdrivers, to name a few.

Homestead Gig 9: Farrier

Being a farrier is a dangerous job and one you need to be dedicated to in order to be successful.  But if you love horses, you’ll find this profession engaging and in demand.  It’s one of the professions that fit in nicely with the country lifestyle, especially if you have room for horses.  Do you have a natural interest and ability with horses and are you willing to put in the time to learn?  This is the type of profession that you could apprentice for, but you’ll also need to prepare by studying horse anatomy, trimming, molding and shaping of horseshoes, how to apply horseshoes, and the handling of the horse, as well.

If you want to apprentice, go to your local farrier’s supply or feed supply and ask to put up an ad requesting to become an apprentice.

Some tools you’ll need to have as a farrier are an anvil for molding horseshoes, a farrier knife and hoof nippers for trimming hooves, a farrier’s forge to custom make or fit horseshoes and horseshoe nails among other things.  Check out HorseHoofCare.net for more information on becoming a farrier.

Homestead Gig 10: Wildcrafting

Can you really make money collecting nature’s bounty?  Herbs, leaves, stems, bark, and the like?  Yes, you can.  You can harvest the bounty that’s all around you and sell them for use in medicines, home remedies, potpourris, food… the list goes on and on.  Start out by buying a good plant book and walking the woods and fields in your area to find out which ones grow and are in demand.  This is a time-honored profession and one that takes very little money to start; living in the country makes it that much easier to prosper with wildcrafting.

Roots will be your most profitable finding, especially ginseng.  You should hunt for any and all plants where you find the richest soil and lots of shade.  How you find those areas is up to you as most wildcrafters will not give up their secrets.  Some of the more common plants you can learn quickly and find pretty easily are catnip, nettles, herbs, and cactus fruits; you can always grow many of the most popular herbs yourself.

Reach out to herb buyers and get their price list; study your book on recognizing wild plants and on any sunny day strike out and launch your career.  You’ll need to acquire permits to harvest plants on public land, in most cases you can get these from the local sheriff’s office.

Supplies you’ll need, depending on what you harvest, may include: tools for cutting and digging like an adze-mattock, shovels, rakes and chainsaws, and various containers to hold the plants like boxes, bags, and baskets.

Homestead Bonus Gig: Odd jobs

The odd-job market potential is huge out there—let’s face it, we all have things around our homes we just don’t want to do.  That’s where you come in.  If you’re motivated, there are so many ways to make money.  Start out by being honest with yourself about what you can do, will do, and are willing to learn to do.  Then set your fees, make a simple flyer and/or start answering ads in your local paper for folks looking for someone to help them do the odd jobs they don’t want to do.

Check out Craigslist gigs and classified ads online, search the web for “gig apps”  (there are many), pizza/food delivery, lawn & garden work, sell your scrap metal to local recyclers, donate plasma.  Do farm and ranch work like fence mending.

So there you have it.  There is a large variety of ways to make a living on your own if you just get a little creative.  Do some research, check the internet forums, contact your local officials, and ask your neighbors for tips and business ideas.  Take the time to assess and hone the skills you already have or to educate yourself further on something in which you’ve always had an interest.  You’ll find yourself gainfully self-employed in no time.

The post Ten Humble Country Callings: Homestead Gigs appeared first on Homestead.org.

Home is a State of Mind

Your home is where your story begins. Do you want to let someone else write that story for you? Builders of non-traditional homes are determined to write their own story. They walk fearlessly down the less-traveled road, believing that every step leads them to a higher calling.

The alternative housing movement is about sustainability, reducing our carbon footprint, and making use of products that others consider less worthy. The alternative housing movement has elevated lesser-known, unique materials and places in wonderful ways. The results include some incredible, and almost otherworldly homes. 

A Treehouse Home: Be It Ever So Humble

Of all the alternative housing options out there, I find treehouses one of the most fascinating. Yet people live in them and have managed to carve out very successful lives despite what most of us might think would be an impossible place in which to dwell.

I’ve always been a lover of trees. I spent considerable time in my treehouse as a kid, and I would have lived there had I been allowed. It was awesome being high above the ground, completely immersed in nature, while my tree home gently swayed in the breeze. The sunshine came through the leaves and warmed my temporary home that I shared with the birds, the bees, and various other critters. I was no Julia Butterfly Hill; I eventually climbed down from my tree home when I knew lunch was about to be served.

Do you think you could adjust to life in a tree? You wouldn’t have to worry about neighbors or the noises of the city. Your visitors would be birds of all kinds, spiders, and maybe even a snake or two. Up among the branches, you’re completely immersed in nature.

The kind of people who can savor the uniqueness of a treehouse life are few and far between. But if you can live such a cloistered life, and you decide to take it upon yourself to build your dream home among the branches of a majestic oak, I hope you do your homework.

First of all, get to know the tree that will be your home. Is it structurally sound? How can you be sure of this? Consult an arborist. An arborist will check for:

Root System: The roots of a tree help hold it up, they are the legs of the tree.

Trunk condition: It needs to be strong and healthy.

Branch Stability: You’ll need strong and well-connected branches to support your home.

Each of these will ensure that your treehouse dream home won’t topple and leave you on the ground looking up.

Berm Homes for Sustainable, Net-zero Living

These alternative homes are built into the earth, often into a hillside, also known as a berm. These homes are built into a hillside with earth covering three sides of the home and the front left open so that natural light can pour in. A berm home could be just the ticket if you’re looking for excellent insulation and energy efficiency. Their earth-sheltered design gives homeowners natural insulation provided by Mother Nature. What’s really cool about these homes is how they blend with the surrounding landscape.

I know what you’re thinking: “mole hole.”

But just because you build it into the earth, don’t think a berm home can lack innovative design and exciting possibilities. You can let your imagination run wild when constructing these homes. And the advantages are as numerous as the stars in the sky, (which you’ll be able to see if you install a skylight in your berm home):

• Less maintenance
• Lower home insurance
• Consistent indoor temperature, thus less energy consumption

Soundproofing is also provided by Mother Nature. Made with mostly recycled materials, off-grid homes can sometimes use glass and plastic bottles as well as old tires in their home builds. And of course, solar panels will provide electricity.

The earth surrounding the home holds heat and cold well. These homes can be built into an existing hillside, or a few tons of compacted earth can be used to construct their walls. The inside of the walls is covered with adobe (a mixture of clay, water, and straw).

Cooling tubes are used to cool the air in the house. The tubes run through the surrounding earth and into the home, making use of the cooler temperatures inside the earth. The temperature in one of these homes is close to that of a cave.

To collect water, some off–grid homes have panels on the roof or use a roof drip diverter. This is a vinyl-coated fabric that collects snow and rainwater and funnels it through a drainage hose into the home.

If you’re considering an earth home, you’ll reap the benefits of lower energy costs, more protection from natural disasters, and the knowledge that you are doing your part to help protect the natural world from damage and destruction.

Living Big in a Tiny Home

The tiny home trend is booming, and it just makes sense. People are finding out that there’s good living to be had in a tiny home.

Oftentimes, size does indeed matter, but when it comes to tiny homes, bigger has lost some of its shine. Folks these days are looking for sustainability and a reduced carbon footprint, so they downsize their living space. They’re finding out that decluttering and maximizing space bring the kind of peace that they were longing for.

It’s quality over quantity in the world of tiny home living. The average size of a tiny home is somewhere around 100-400 feet, and ways to maximize these spaces will amaze you.

A tiny home will definitely cut your cost of living since you’ll need less power to heat and cool your space. These homes can be customized to your liking by using multifunctional furniture and unique storage solutions.

Many tiny homeowners opt for a tiny home with wheels. That way, they have the ultimate mobility and can travel in style while still maintaining their individuality. If you don’t like where you’re living, just hit the road in your tiny home and don’t look back.

Shipping Container Homes

Every home is a container of sorts, but the container homes of today will leave you in awe when you see how creative some of these alternative home designs are. They may start out as a large rectangle, but they rarely stay that way.

A shipping container home can be as modern and comfortable as you want to make it. Maybe you don’t fancy living in a 40-foot rectangle, don’t worry, that’s not how it works. Shipping container homes are built to suit you.

Insulation is a must in one of these homes. They can get very cold and very hot. Either end of this spectrum can be uncomfortable and even deadly. You’ll need the kind of insulation that blocks radiant heat in the summer and keeps the cold out in the winter. This kind of insulation is provided in the container homes of today.

You can customize these homes almost any way you want. All the conveniences of home can be added as well. Bedrooms, bathrooms, living spaces, it’s all there in modern container homes for a great price.

Living Skoolie             

If you want to find inspiration, meaning, and a sense of purpose, the skoolie bus life could be for you. If you want to think outside the box, live by your wits, embrace authenticity, think skoolie bus life. If you want to dance to your own kind of music, live like you’re dying, find peace within your soul, the skoolie bus life is for you. Those who live it take their freedom seriously. They embrace life’s uniqueness, authenticity, and creativity.

But first things first. Check out your bus for roadworthiness. The engine and body of the bus need to be in good shape. Ditto for the tires. Since you’re dealing with an older bus, make sure you give it a thorough once-over; I’m talking the whole enchilada.

You Won’t Be Poppin’ Wheelies

Which kind of bus would you choose? School buses have always been popular because of their durability; any vehicle that transports hundreds of rowdy kids every day has my vote.

Once you choose a bus you want to convert, you’ve got to strip that bus down to its birthday suit. Gone will be the seats that held all those energetic kids for all those years. What’s left is one of the sturdiest frameworks the world has ever known. But still, you won’t be poppin’ any wheelies in it.

Truckin’

Bus life is a nomadic life, and that’s a huge part of its allure. Skoolie folks are not stuck in any one place; the world is their oyster. Imagine being able to crank up your school bus and hit the road. It’s the feeling of freedom that makes the skoolie life worth living. Because school buses are built to last, you’ll have plenty of time to live out the skoolie life of your dreams and have fun doing it.

There Will Be Challenges 

Some obvious downsides of the skoolie life are limited space, less privacy, and sometimes the difficulty of finding a place to park your bus due to legal and zoning issues.

You’ll also need to consider water and waste management. Educate yourself on this, as it requires planning and regular upkeep. You’re likely dealing with an older bus, so maintenance can be expensive. Have some money saved for this purpose.

Clutter Vs. Clarity

Those who live in alternative homes love the lifestyle. They live a minimalist life close to nature and they have their freedom to change neighborhoods whenever they feel the itch. Life in a smaller home is customizable and cost-effective.

But living in a small space means you will have to come to terms with your possessions. It means chucking some junk out of your life. If you don’t do this, living in a school bus or tiny home will be much more difficult.

Clutter is the enemy of clarity. Think about the things you use most often and where they’ll be most accessible to you. Then, concentrate on some creative storage solutions.

Storage under beds and couches is an option to create more living space. If your under-furniture storage has wheels, so much the better. Under the floor storage can also be an option. Extra shelving in closets and over-the-door organizers will also go a long way in keeping your space free of clutter.

I applaud those who dare to live beyond the sidewalks and take on the task of building an alternative home. I hope their journey is an enjoyable and productive one. After all, home is a state of mind.

The post The New Age of Home Building: Alternative Abodes appeared first on Homestead.org.

These men were the symbol of freedom and life on the new frontier of America. Some saw them as renegades and even criminals because of the life they lived; they were fearless and embodied the American spirit, living by their own laws. But they were here before the settlers, carving out the wilderness and making the settlers’ way easier. As a result of this, the first settlers of our country owe these men a debt of gratitude.

The trappers made a conscious choice to live life in the wilderness, believing that this life was what they were called to do. Many of them survived attacks from the Blackfoot and Comanche Indians who already lived in the area. Eventually, the trappers and the Indians became friends and learned to work together and even intermarried, but that wasn’t until after much bloodshed. Along the way, various Indian tribes shared their knowledge of living off the land and partaking of nature’s abundance. A trapper’s daily life included danger and discomfort as they risked their lives crossing rushing rivers and wading into icy streams to set up their traps. Hunger and possible death or dismemberment were always just one step behind them.

When all was said and done, these trapper experts considered it all worthwhile because they were living out their passion in the heart of Mother Nature’s bounty. The mountain man pushed ever onward into uncharted territory, never phased by myriad hardships, living their lives by their own exacting specifications. It was a life that few of us could live today.

Even though the life they lived was on their own terms, the lure of the money they made from the furs did play a part, spurring them on to the next cache of highly valued beaver pelts.

He moved through the mountain wilderness on horseback, sometimes leading two to three horses along with him just to carry all of his gear. The gear he carried included:

• Extra rifles
• Powder for the rifles
• Lead to make his own bullets
• Bullet molds
• Beaver traps
• Axe
• Hatchet
• Cookware
• Blankets
• Coffee
• Several pounds of flour

This list doesn’t include the gear he carried on his person; his skinning knife, which was so important to him that, if it was lost, he would backtrack for days to find it. He carried flints in order to start a fire, something similar to a bota bag for water. He carried a bag that was something like a purse; in it, he might have kept money and things very dear and valuable to him.

The main occupation of the mountain man was to trap beaver, skin them, and then sell them at annual fur rendezvous. A large fur trade sprung up as the demand for beaver pelts grew. During the first half of the 1800’s, beaver fur was very much in demand for hats and coats. The mountain men were trapping and skinning as fast as they could to keep up with demand.

The Pacific Fur Company, the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, American Fur Company, and the Hudson’s Bay Fur Company were the best known. Once a year they sponsored a fur rendezvous where trappers met up and sold their beaver pelts, called plew.

The beaver traps they used were made of steel and weighed about 3 1/2 pounds. They attached the trap to a tree root or a rod driven into the ground. Beavers were attracted to the traps by a small amount of beaver bait smeared on the outside of the trap. This was the beaver bait recipe:

• One dozen castor glands from beavers
• A pinch of nutmeg
• 12-15 cloves
• 30 grams of cinnamon

Finely pulverize all and stir well.

Castoreum is the secretion a trapper would squeeze out of the two castor sacs on mature beavers; it’s an oily, reddish-brown substance. To this day it’s used in medicines and perfumes. (Castor from beavers is not to be confused with castor oil which comes from castor beans.)

After trapping the beaver, skinning him, and scraping the skin off with his special hide hunter’s knife, he then stretched the hide out to dry on a hoop frame made of willow branches. It may have taken it several days for the skins to dry, depending on the weather.

While the hides were drying, the mountain man had time to relax and enjoy the beauty of nature all around him. His meal that evening would consist of a few crispy beaver tails roasted on the open fire and several cups of hot black coffee.

Kit Carson

Kit Carson, born in 1809 in Kentucky, was the quintessential mountain man. The list of his accomplishments have filled many books, and been the subject of many folk tales, some exaggerated, but based on truth. This American mountain man and frontiersman, was larger than life.

Kit began life as Christopher Houston Carson in Madison County, Kentucky. Kentucky is, for some reason, where many of the mountain men of yore were born and raised. He was one of fifteen children, large families being the norm in frontier days. The family lived in territory thick with Indians. The Kickapoo, Winnebago, and Pottawattamie tribes were just a few that roamed the area and were in competition for the same game and natural resources the Carson family and other settler families depended on. From his earliest days, Kit Carson was taught to beware of Indian attacks that could happen at any time, and from this, he learned to be ever vigilant. Even as a youth he was the protector of his brothers and sisters, who always felt safer when he was near. Life on the open territory was no doubt a rough one, but it was where the seeds of Carson’s greatness were first sown.

Kit learned about trapping and the trapper’s way of life at the age of 14 when, as an apprentice in a saddle shop, he heard the tales of the mountain men who frequented the place. Just two years later, knowing the apprentice life wasn’t for him, he left the saddle shop and joined the wagon trains going west on the Santa Fe Trail. This was the beginning of his adventurous life.

He grew into a man known for his strong character and for taking on responsibility and leadership. He was also a trapper, and Indian fighter who later became an Indian agent, authorized to interact with the Indians with the goal of preventing conflict with other tribes and with the U.S. government. He was a courier and a scout during the Mexican-American war. After the war, he traveled all the way from California to Washington, D.C. with news of the war. So vast was his legend that he became a star of the dime novel, so popular in the 1900s.

Kit Carson had the personality and the courage it took to play a key role in the early days of our republic. Matthew Kinkead, who was himself a trapper and explorer, lived in Taos, New Mexico and taught Kit the skills of a trapper. Carson also learned the different languages of the Spanish people and the Indian tribes, becoming fluent in at least seven tongues. This is quite impressive, considering he himself was so illiterate and could only sign his own name and never learned to read.

Throughout his years as a trapper, Carson worked alongside many of the well-known trappers of his day. They traveled the Yellowstone, Powder, and Big Horn rivers and trapped beaver in what were the then unknown territories of Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana.

Kit Carson married Singing Grass of the Arapaho tribe; they had two daughters, but Singing Grass died of a fever after the birth of their second daughter. Carson later married another Indian woman and they had eight children. Their descendants live in the Arkansas Valley of Colorado today. Carson died in Fort Lyon, Colorado in 1868.

Jedediah Smith

Jedediah Strong Smith took up the life of a mountain man at the young age of 22. Born January 6, 1799, his spirit of wanderlust gave him the desire to see virgin lands and to follow the rivers and streams wherever they may lead him. He took up with General William Ashley’s expedition and traveled up the Missouri River, trapping beaver as they went. Smith was a natural-born leader and soon led his own expedition into the Rockies where he rediscovered the forgotten South Pass. This pass was crucial to the settlement of Oregon and California in the years to come.

As a young lad, he read about the adventures of Lewis and Clark and was very influenced by them. Smith was known as a very spiritual man, as mountain men go. He never drank, smoked or swore. He was strict about following his calling as a mountain man and stopped often along the trail to pray and write in his journal. Smith never married and is remembered for his Bible around the campfire. He was known to have traveled more miles than any other trapper of his time. He crossed the Sierra Nevada mountain range and the Great Basin, which contains valleys, lakes, basins, and mountain ranges. It’s believed he was the first white man to do so. Smith died in 1831.

John Colter

He joined an expedition with the Missouri Fur Company traveling through the Rocky Mountains to bring back an excellent collection of beaver hides. Colter was chosen to be the man to go out across the tundra and visit the area’s Indian tribes to let them know of the mountain men’s presence, of the expedition in the area, and to trade with them. It has been said that Colter was the first to white man see Jackson Hole and Yellowstone Lake.

Mountain man John Colter was a travelin’ man. Born around 1773 and died 1813, he had traveled across the continent twice with Lewis and Clark. Armed with lessons he learned from them about the wilderness life of filled with grizzly bears, snowy nights around the campfire, and fighting Indians like the vicious Blackfoot tribe, Colter felt himself ready to continue the restless life of the mountain man.

He was loving the life of the mountain man and everything was going fine until, one day, while trapping beaver, he and a fellow trapper were ambushed by some Indians from the Blackfoot camp nearby. Colter’s partner was killed and he himself was told to strip naked and start running. He quickly complied, realizing that he was now the object of their hunt. He was the hunted, and run he did, for several miles. At one point he turned around and saw there was only one Indian behind him, with spear in hand; the rest of the tribe was nowhere to be seen. Colter and the Indian fought, Colter won, took the spear and Indian’s blanket and continued running. He eventually came to a river where he hid, successfully, from his pursuers. They never found him; when he felt the coast was clear he got up and walked to Fort Raymond, some 200 miles away.

Grizzly Adams

John “Grizzly” Adams, an amazingly eccentric shoe salesman turned mountain man/animal trainer. Grizzly Adams was born in 1812 in Massachusetts and was a relative of our second and sixth presidents, John Adams and John Quincy Adams. He was also related to Samuel Adams, the Revolutionary War patriot.

John “Grizzly” Adams had always had a way with animals, but since his father had apprenticed him as shoemaker, that was the direction his young life took. He worked at this trade for fifteen years, during which time he married and raised a family. He and his family lived a quiet life until 1849 when the Gold Rush hit and he felt the urge that so many others did to head west to improve his family’s fortunes. Things did not go well for the Adams family and three years into the venture, John “Grizzly” Adams turned his back on civilization and all that it offered. He decided it was time to follow his dream and he headed for the Sierra-Nevada Mountains. When he got there he built a cabin and lived the life of the mountain man, among the wild animals that were so dear to him.

It was there that he began the grizzly-bear career he’s so well-known for. He also developed into an expert mountain man, learning the ways of nature and communing with the surrounding Indian tribes. He was so close to his bears that he gave them names and even used them as pack animals. When he tired of life in the mountains, he moved to San Francisco to put on animal shows. Several years later he moved to New York, paraded his animals down Broadway and was offered a contract with P.T. Barnum’s circus.

The life of the mountain man was an exciting one and one that makes for great stories even today. It’s fun to imagine how they traveled through unknown territory, depending on their wits and survival know-how. They trapped beaver and sold the pelts at annual fur rendezvous across the west. The rendezvous was about the only time a mountain man got to meet up with and get face-to-face contact with other trappers. The rest of the time, he lived and traveled the back-country completely alone, only occasionally teaming up with other trappers.

Those days of roaming free on the land, having no laws, no neighbors, and no boundaries are long gone. The life they lived was solitary and dangerous, but they lived it willingly and became specialists in their field. We today will never know the courage it took for them to travel their solitary roads knowing that the next grizzly bear or Indian attack could be just around the corner. His travels across the uncharted territory, that was then a new and unmapped country, opened the way for future generations of Americans who will never know the struggles of the mountain men.

The Farmer, Civilization, and Liberty

The post The Mountain Men: America’s Original Survivalists appeared first on Homestead.org.

I remember the days of the Cold War as a restless and uncertain time for Americans. The nightly news documented unruly college campus protests taking place around the country, racial tensions, and sadly, the Vietnam War. Americans watched all these things from the comfort of our couches. War and turbulence seemed far away.

But playing in the background of the stormy fifties and sixties was a time many have only read about, and some have lived through. It was called the Cold War but it actually burned quite hot with proxy wars popping up here and there across the globe. Technically it was defined as ‘the state of political hostility that existed between the Soviet bloc countries and the US-led Western powers from 1945 to 1990.’

As a child, I sensed the tension but had no idea what was going on. At school, we were being taught to duck and cover under our desks in preparation for the inevitable nuclear attack that Russia was sure to wage on us. At school, a siren would blare, and all of us kids got to put down our pencils and duck and cover under our desks. Schools were stockpiling canned goods, and fallout shelters were being built in basements and government buildings. The unrest we had watched on television was paying us a visit, and it threatened to end life as we knew it in these United States.

School kids were told to donate any canned foods they had to add to the stockpiles of supplies kept at the public schools. So, we school kids regularly brought canned goods to the growing stockpiles of food kept there. If World War lll broke out during school hours, at least no one would go hungry.

Despite all this, times were good in America. People had jobs, cars, and plenty to eat. But the Cold War reminded people that we were very close to losing all of that. The homecooked dinners we enjoyed daily could soon be replaced with Hawaiian Punch and the Doomsday Cookie. That’s what our government planned to feed us as we hunkered down in our fallout shelters when the bombs began to drop.

During this time President Kennedy gave speeches and went on record in LIFE magazine urging citizens to begin preparing fallout shelters if they were able to do so. He also promised that public shelters would be in the works for those of us who didn’t have fallout shelters. They began to be built underneath municipal buildings, in parking garages, and were even carved into hillsides.

Folks all around the country worked to get prepared for the possibility of World War lll by stocking shelf-stable food items. Ladies’ magazines like Family Circle and Woman’s Day were bombarded with articles and ads on how to prepare for the bleak future that lay ahead. This information was of supreme importance; it was the solution for survival after a nuclear blast.

A big question on the minds of many was what they would eat when the time came to hunker down. Enter the Doomsday Cookie. It cost $0.37 to make and was made from bulgur wheat, which is high in fiber and has a pleasantly nutty flavor. It was shelf stable, meaning it could last virtually forever, and it was highly nutritious. Our government went into overdrive to produce it by the millions before it was too late.

The Doomsday Cookie had a starring role in the Cold War. It was going to get Americans through the devastating days that lay ahead. But Armageddon Entre, as it has also been called, had a more important job than any food that had come before; it was going to save lives when the bombs started falling. It was THE shelf-stable food, and that’s an understatement. It was going to save lives when the nuclear bombs started falling. It was the Cold War era’s nutrition solution for, during, and after a nuclear blast.

People had stocked up Tang, Campbell’s soup, canned veggies, fruits, and meats, but they all took a backseat to the Doomsday Cookie. That’s why American cereal companies, including Nabisco, Sunshine Biscuits, and Keebler were working overtime, and then some, to crank out the cookies on a scale unheard of in the history of our republic. All their hard work paid off and twenty million Doomsday Cookies hit the shelves of fallout shelters around the country in 1964.

The Armageddon Entree doesn’t taste any better than hardtack, which was flour, water, and salt, but spread some strawberry jam on it and it went down a little easier. Four Doomsday Cookies contained about 700 calories and the nutrients to sustain life.

We Americans today probably don’t give much thought to nuclear war, and if we do, we have the prepper shows to watch and books to read to learn how to get prepared. But folks back in the days of the Cold War were new to the idea of prepping and nuclear war.

It was the great unknown to them, so they did their best to follow the government’s instructions to the letter when it came to fallout shelters and how to stock them for survival. They believed that death and destruction were right around the corner. The building of the shelters served to shore up morale during precarious times.

People hurried to build fallout shelters in the mistaken belief that they would save them; they were very wrong. The shelters couldn’t take a direct hit from a nuclear bomb but they could house people until radiation levels fell to a normal range and it was safe to go outside. But the shelters undoubtedly gave folks a sense of hope. They had a place to run to if and when the bombs started falling, and they had the Doomsday Cookie to get them through it all. I’m not saying the Doomsday Cookie was all that tasty, but it was palatable and could be washed down with a large swig of Tang.

Grandma’s Pantry

Because doomsday survival was new to Americans back then, President Eisenhower established a campaign called Grandma’s Pantry. During this crusade, people were urged to keep enough food and water on hand for at least fourteen days in case of an ‘atomic emergency.’ It encouraged and educated people on how to stock their pantries and fallout shelters. Some called the campaign propaganda, but it provided valuable information to those of us living through perilous times.

The goal of Granma’s Pantry was to educate America’s mothers on how to prepare for the possibility of World War lll by educating them on shelf-stable foods that could keep them and their families alive, including the Doomsday Cookie.

Exhibits for Grandma’s Pantry were produced by the thousands and placed in grocery stores, department stores, and anywhere people were sure to see them. What did Grandma’s Pantry contain? A 14-day supply of all kinds of canned soup, Spam and other canned meats, water, Tang, Hawaiian Punch, canned vegetables and fruit, canned beans, peanut butter, crackers, cookies, and candy bars, and of course, the Doomsday Cookie. The cookies were packaged in tins of as many as 434 cookies. They were also called survival crackers.

Essential non-food items that every home and fallout shelter should contain include a battery-operated radio, an auxiliary light source such as a flashlight and extra batteries, and at least one first aid kit containing supplies like bandages, adhesives, and aspirin.

School kids of the day were told to donate any canned foods they had to add to the stockpiles of supplies kept at the public schools. So, we school kids regularly brought canned goods to the growing stockpiles of food kept there. If World War lll broke out during school hours, at least no one would go hungry.

Emergency Survival Crackers (1963 Radio Broadcast)

This news segment for Houston’s KPRC-TV, broadcast on January 15, 1963, tours the Houston Nabisco factory soon after it received a government contract to produce survival cracker rations, also known as “fall-out biscuits,” in the case of a nuclear event. The reporter details their nutritional value, as well as explains how they are produced and sealed for storage, before ending the segment with some light gallows humor speculating about their taste. Nabisco, earlier known as the National Biscuit Company, is a cookie and cracker manufacturer of products such as Chips Ahoy! Oreo, Ritz Crackers, and Wheat Thins. The company closed its Houston plant in 1999.

Multi-Purpose Food

General Mills had developed its own “fallout food offering” that consisted of synthetic protein, (whatever that is.) I’m glad I never had to taste-test it. It came in large white cans and was included in the Emergency Pak Food and Water kit. It was manufactured by a company called Surviv-All, Inc. in New York City. Compared to this offering, the Superstar Cookie must have seemed like a delicacy

How the Doomsday Cookie Came to Be

Bulgur wheat flour was chosen by the United States Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health, Education and Welfare as the perfect ingredient for the Doomsday Cookie.

Bulgur, a cracked wheat, is a whole grain that’s high in fiber, has a nutty flavor, and is shelf stable. It also has lots of vitamins and minerals like protein, Vitamin B6, and iron. Cracked wheat is made up of grains of wheat that have been crushed into small pieces. Bulgur is like cracked wheat except that it is steamed and dried during processing. Because of this, it cooks faster than plain cracked wheat. At the time of the Cold War, it was available in huge quantities for very little cost.

The government bought three million bushels of bulgur wheat to make Doomsday Cookies. By the end of 1964, twenty million Doomsday Cookies had been made and sealed up in airtight tins. They were then shipped to public buildings, government bunkers, and fallout shelters across the country.

Doomsday Cookie Recipe

• 2 cups bulgur wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup water

Mixing bowl and spoon, sharp knife, cookie sheet, wax paper or freezer paper, clean straw, or other implement to poke holes in the cookies.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine salt and bulgur flour in mixing bowl. Pour in the water gradually, stirring as you pour. Knead the dough, it will be sticky. Add more flour if dough is too sticky. Then roll the dough out into no more than ½ inch thick so it will bake evenly.

1. Cut into square biscuit shapes.
2. Dock or poke holes in the dough with a fork or a straw.
3. Bake in the oven for 30 to 40 mins.
4. Allow to cool completely.

Tip: If you only have bulgur wheat and want to make it into flour, simply measure one cup of it into your food processor, grinder, or blender. Pulse it until you get a coarse flour and sift it through a mesh strainer to remove any large pieces. Store it in an airtight container in a cool dry place. It can also be used in many recipes like pancakes, breads, etc.

TV shows about prepping and the zombie invasion are popular today. I guess certain themes of life on planet Earth will live on forever. We are cautioned these days to get prepared and stay prepared in case the unthinkable happens, but preparedness was a way of life in the days of the Cold War.

Grandma’s Pantry always had plenty for everyone, at least that was the goal. She didn’t wait for an emergency or an enemy attack; it was too late to plan then. She knew she had to depend on herself, her garden, and a well-stocked pantry or fallout shelter. It’s a life lesson well worth learning.

The post The Doomsday Cookie appeared first on Homestead.org.