Acorns

Acorns have been harvested for many years by the Native Americans and were known as “grain from trees.” It is believed that many more millions of tons of acorns have been consumed by humans than wheat, rice, and other grains. The nutritional benefits of acorns are many: they contain complex carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals and they are very effective at controlling blood sugar levels. They have low sugar content but leave a pleasantly sweet aftertaste and are also low in fat (for a nut) but high in fiber. Acorns can be ground into a flour or used in stews as a thickener.

One drawback of the acorn is that it tastes bitter due to the tannic acid it contains. This bitterness varies from species to species; Red Oaks (the leaves with the pointed tips) tend to be the most bitter and require more leaching whereas acorns from White Oaks (leaves with rounded lobes, pictured here) usually need little or no processing.

The nuts will be ready to harvest in September to October; just be sure to get them before the squirrels and other wildlife arrive. Lay them out in a sunny place to dry and to kill any insect eggs or spread them in a single layer on cookie sheets and bake on low for an hour or so. Then comes shelling—pop the cap off and crack with pliers or a nutcracker until the yellowish nutmeat can be reached. Place the nutmeat into boiling water and boil until the water is dark brown (about ten minutes), strain, place in another pot of already boiling water; continue until the nutmeat is no longer bitter (about three to four water changes). The moist nut meat can be used right away in cooking but if you are looking to save it or turn it into flour, dry it in a dehydrator or in a low oven. Acorn flour should be stored in a refrigerator or freezer since the oils in it can make it go rancid.

By the way, the dark water from the leaching process is full of tannin and can be used for all sorts of things. It can be used as a dye for clothing if combined with a fixer and it can also be used as laundry detergent. Add a couple of cups to each load of wash but this is best avoided with whites. The water is also medicinal—it is antiseptic and antiviral and can be used to help with skin irritations like poison ivy and rashes, gargled for sore throats, used as a tea for diarrhea, and it helps externally with hemorrhoids. And, as the name suggests, it can be used to “tan” animal skins.
Apache Acorn Cakes by Jackie Clay

• 1 cup acorn meal, finely ground
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1/4 cup honey
• pinch of salt

Mix the ingredients with enough warm water to make a moist, but not sticky, dough. Divide into 12 balls. Let rest, covered, for 10 minutes or so. With slightly moist hands, pat the balls down into thick tortilla-shaped breads. Cook on an ungreased cast iron griddle; you’ll have to lightly peel an edge to peek and see if they are done. They will be slightly brown. Turn them over and cook on the other side.

Modern Pemmican by Jackie Clay

• 1 lb. lean stewing meat, cut quite small
• 1/2 cup dehydrated wild plums or berries
• 1/2 cup acorn meal

Boil the lean stewing meat. When it is tender, drain and allow it to dry in a bowl. Grind all of the ingredients together in a meat grinder using a fine blade. Grind again, mixing finely, distributing the ingredients very well. Place in a covered dish and refrigerate overnight. (Or you can eat right away, but like many foods, refrigerating allows the flavors to blend nicely.) You can serve this on any flatbread, such as a tortilla. It is best served warm; you can reheat it in the pan in the oven like a meatloaf.

Puffball Mushrooms

Puffball mushrooms are good for the beginning forager because they are one of the easiest to safely identify. As the name implies, these mushrooms look like giant, white puffballs and once they are mature, any outside pressure will cause the spores to eject in a puff (don’t breathe in the spores as they can irritate airways). The best time and place to look for these mushrooms is after a warm, rainy day in the late summer or fall in fields, lawns, or on dead wood. Be sure that the mushroom is pure white throughout, with a consistency of cream cheese, and that there is no wet-dog smell, soft spots, worm holes, insects, yellow color inside, or powdery spores.

While larger puffballs are easy to identify, smaller puffballs could be confused with some other mushrooms. Immature amanitas look similar, but an amanita will have a stem and gills when cut open whereas the puffball will have neither. An immature stinkhorn will have layers of slime inside—fortunately, puffballs will not. Finally, poisonous earthballs begin small and white, but they are hard, and will remain hard as they eventually become black inside.

Puffballs have an earthy, pleasant flavor that can withstand most forms of cooking; they can be sautéed, simmered in soups, and baked in casseroles. Cooking times is about 7-15 minutes.

Puffball Marinara Sauce with Ramps from The Wild Vegan Cookbook by Steve Brill

• 1/4 cup olive oil, or as needed
• 6 cups wild leek (ramp) leaves or scallions
• 3 onions, chopped
• 3 celery stalks, sliced
• 2 cups puffballs or other mushrooms
• 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 3 26-oz. jars of tomato sauce
• 3/4 cups any wild or commercial wine
• 2 tbs. fresh basil or 2 tsp. dried basil
• 1 tbs. bayberry leaves or bay leaves, enclosed in a tea bag or tea ball if desired
• 1 tbs. parsley, finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper, ground
• 1/2 tbs. oregano, ground
• 1 tsp. sage, ground
• 1/2 tsp. rosemary, ground

1. Sauté the wild leeks, onions, celery, mushrooms, and garlic in olive oil over medium heat 10 minutes or until the onions are lightly browned, stirring often.

2. Meanwhile, bring the remaining ingredients to a boil over medium heat in a large saucepan, stirring often.

3. Add sautéed ingredients, reduce the heat to low, and simmer, covered, 1 hour.

4. Remove bayberry leaves.

Use with pasta, vegetables, loaves, or burgers. Makes 12 cups.

Ramps

Food writer Jane Snow once described the flavor of ramps “like fried onions with a dash of funky feet.” Ramps, or wild leeks, are a big deal here in southern Appalachia. Friends and neighbors surprise each other with brown bags full of ramps when a wild patch is found and entire festivals are held in honor of one of the first wild edibles to appear in the early springtime. Classrooms may become more stifling, not just because of springfever, but also because of the odor of ramps emanating from the students who have been indulging.

But ramps taste wonderful—a strong mix of onion and garlic. Even the smell is sometimes described as “strongly onion” or “strongly garlic” (and be sure that the plant you are looking to harvest does smell strongly, as the lily of the valley can look similar but is not edible). They are found in early spring, around April here in North Carolina, and are widespread along the Appalachian mountains and are found in smaller quantities in southern Canada. The bulbs look similar to scallions but their leaves are flat and broad. They can be used in any dish that calls for scallions or leeks (though you may want to use less of them than is called for until you’re used to the flavor) but traditionally, ramps are fried with potatoes, eggs, and/or bacon. An additional bonus is that ramps are considered a spring tonic (and science has shown that they contain high levels of selenium and sulfur).

Ramps with Bacon and Hard-boiled Eggs from Diane Rattray

• 1 pound ramps
• 4 to 6 slices bacon
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 hard-cooked eggs

Cut cleaned ramps into 1-inch pieces; boil in salted water for 3 to 5 minutes. Meanwhile, fry bacon in a heavy skillet until just crisp. Remove bacon and dice.

Drain parboiled ramps and place in hot bacon fat. Season with salt and pepper to taste and fry until tender. Serve garnished with bacon and boiled eggs, chopped or thinly sliced. Serves 4 to 6.

Berries

Yum, berries are one of the foragers’ favorites. It’s probably not necessary to go into the wonderful foraged food sources of blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries—those are known to many. But most people don’t stop to consider the edibility of some other common berries, ones that might be sitting like jewels right next to the blueberries you’re already collecting.

Elderberries

Elderberries like to grow in rich, moist soil and can be found growing throughout the U.S. and Canada. They used to be planted on homesteads because of their food gifts and because they’re believed to ward off evil spirits and lightning, but now they are mostly wild plants. They’re usually a shrub of about five feet tall but can grow into tree heights of thirty feet. In June and July, tiny white blossoms on umbels appear. These can be harvested and are often turned into elder-flower fritters—just dip into pancake batter and deep fry.

Elderberries, however, are most delicious when they ripen into blue-black berries in late summer. Do not eat elderberries raw, avoid using the stems, roots, or leaves, and avoid the elders with red berries. But definitely harvest the ripe black berries and use them for elderberry wine (in fact, the liqueur Sambuca is flavored with elderberries). Many also claim that elderberries make the best pies.

Elderberries are an incredibly medicinal plant as well. Use the flowers and/or dried berries for teas that cure a wide range of ailments or make a medicinal syrup out of berries; the teas and syrups are highly effective for boosting the immune system and fighting colds and flu.

Elderberry Pie

Preheat oven to 350. Make a double pie crust. Mix one quart ripe elderberries thoroughly with one heaping cup of sugar, one tablespoon cornstarch, one tablespoon lemon juice or cider vinegar, and three tablespoons of melted butter. Pour them in the bottom crust. Cover with the top crust. Press the top and bottom crusts together, make some slits in the top to let steam escape, and bake the pie until golden.

Chokecherries (or Wild Cherry)

Not the most appetizing name around, for sure. But chokecherries are so abundant, and can be so delicious, that it would be a shame to not make use of this free foraged food source. Some believe that this large shrub/small tree is the most widely distributed tree in North America, ranging from the Arctic Circle down to Mexico and from coast to coast.

While the chokecherry prefers rich, moist soil, it can also be found in poor, dry soil, in open woodlands, near homesteads, and is even cultivated as an ornamental that attracts birds. One mistake that may cause people to turn down the chokecherry is picking the pea-sized fruits before they are ripe. The fruits should be dark purple, almost black, without a hint of red. Even then, it’s best to let them continue to ripen for a week, if you can keep the wildlife away. If the fruit is harvested too soon, it is very tart and astringent.

Chokecherries can be dehydrated, turned into juice or wine, or, most commonly, made into jelly or sauce. Cook whole, washed cherries until tender in a little water or apple juice. Remove the pits by putting them in a ricer or potato masher and mashing them. The flesh will press through the ricer, creating a sauce similar to cranberry sauce, while leaving the pits and skins in the ricer. Heat this sauce with sugar to taste. You could also make jam with the cherry flesh by adding an equal amount of sugar and the juice of one lemon, slowly cooking until it reaches the desired thickness, while stirring often.

Stinging Nettles

These weeds are not the easiest foraged food to harvest due to the tiny needles that grow along the leaves and stems—this plant hurts if you brush up against it accidentally! But it’s oh-so-good for you and delicious. The plants are dull green and square-stemmed, with heart-shaped leaves and clusters of greenish, yellow flowers; they are about two feet high. The weeds can be found just about anywhere, but I’ve always run into patches in damp spots near water sources.

The best time to harvest nettle is in the spring when the stems and leaves can be lopped off. If harvested later, the leaves can taste a little gritty. Nettles are one of the most nutrient-packed plants around, with high doses of protein (for a plant) and vitamins A and C, and other nutrients such as calcium, iron, and histamine (yes, it’s great for relieving spring allergies). Nettles are a wonderful spring tonic and are also very useful for pregnant and postpartum mothers. They can be steeped into a potent tea or steamed with some butter and lemon juice. I have also enjoyed nettles in lasagna—just use it in any recipe in place of spinach.

And, yes, the sting disappears as soon as nettles are dried, steamed, or cooked.

Wild edibles provide a combination of wonderful opportunities. While harvesting nature’s bounty, we have the chance to spend time out-of-doors, move our limbs, spend time with family, and prepare some of the most delicious and nutritious food possible—all for free!

Resources:

Go Wildcrafting!

The Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants by Bradford Angier

The Complete Guide to Edible Wild Plants, Mushrooms, Fruits, and Nuts by Katie Letcher Lyle

The post Free Eats! Combating the Rising Cost of Food appeared first on Homestead.org.

Water Pie. It’s about as simple as you might imagine: just flour, cooking oil, salt, and water for the crust, and flour, water, butter, sugar, and vanilla for the filling.

At a glance, you can see the lack that must have been present to birth such a humble dish. The very substance of the pie is glaringly absent. And if ever you have ventured to bake this pie, you know it takes a little faith.

When the oven dings and you go to retrieve your pie, you are certain you will be left with a soggy, half-baked crust full of water. Yet, like a miracle, a filling will have formed.

This recipe represents so well the incredible creativity, tenacity, and resourcefulness of people during one of America’s most trying times, the Great Depression.

As we stand in the midst of our own troubles and the future hangs in a haze of uncertainty, you would be forgiven for finding yourself a little nervous. But there is truly no need to fear.

Your very existence in this world is a testament to your ancestors’ ability to persevere. And that ability is as much a part of you, and it will be part of your children. And their children.

Let us glimpse the ingenuity of those who came before us. And with their wisdom, we can thrive.
The Great Depression, from 1929-1939, was a time of extreme poverty alongside high unemployment on a global scale. There was a very real threat of starvation.

Think of the homemakers, women who were faced with the impossible task of putting meals on the table amidst rampant poverty and lack. But with what little they had, they not only supplied dinners that would become comfort recipes for future generations, they somehow produced dessert!

Water Pie, to me, represents the ability and the invitation to thrive in hard times. It wasn’t, in itself, a meal. It was only dessert. An addition. An enjoyable bonus. It was not at all necessary to expend those ingredients to survive.

It represents a generation’s determination to live, to maintain normalcy, and to meet the needs of those in their care with creative problem-solving.

Another example of this is Wacky Cake, doubtless named for its uncanny use of low-cost ingredients to somehow become cake, even without milk, eggs, or butter.

These people were spelunking to the barren depths of their resources and cobbling together solutions to their everyday problems with scraps.

Out of almost nothing, they made something. They didn’t throw up their hands when the cupboards were bare, and their pockets were empty. And neither will we.

As they did, we will look at what we have, and we’ll make something.

We won’t be afraid. The possibilities are brimming, and we are not helpless. We may not have much, but we have something. And there’s a way we can use it.

The kitchen creativity of the mothers of the Great Depression is transferable to every area of the homestead. We will need to extend that problem-solving to the coop and pasture as well.

Some creatures will be admittedly easier to care for in times of scarcity than others. Large ruminants, for example, may prove a challenge, but by no means impossible.

As such large creatures, cows and horses naturally require a lot of food and water. Are you able to grow and harvest your own hay on your property, or on a willing neighbour’s? These days, there are options for renting farm equipment if you lack the machines.

If this option fails you, bartering was a tried and true system during the Great Depression, and that interdependence marks a great many stories of human survival in hard times, and is the backbone of community.

You may not have hay for your cows, but perhaps your surplus of eggs would be useful for your hay-rich neighbour who is running low on food. Bartering and trading are great ways to thrive in hard times.

Or you may be able to establish a deal among a neighbor or two to share the cost of large orders of goods, so that everyone may enjoy the benefits of a bulk discount.

Your homestead is very likely not a one-hundred percent self-sufficient island with no need for anything external to it. And that’s okay.

We are stronger together, after all.

Of all of the creatures on a homestead, chickens may be your biggest ally. Their needs are perhaps the easiest to meet in times of scarcity, and they will help you survive as much as you help them.

If money or food are lacking, it may be time to consider free-ranging. Not only will your flock relish the opportunity to run amok, but they will also feed themselves for free on seeds, bugs, and grains. The wild edibles they find will doubtless include beneficial herbs to boost their overall health.

They will find their own grit, and you can feed them their own eggs to supply some valuable protein, and the shells for their high calcium needs.

And if the thought of feeding your chickens their own eggs seems a little strange to you, I assure you it is not only very healthy for them, but no other snack you could ever supply would likely be more enjoyed.

As you can see, chickens will mostly care for themselves while supplying you with eggs that you can eat or barter with. Remember when egg prices soared to impossible heights? There’s gold in them thar coops!

If free-ranging your chickens is not an option, you can gather grasses and weeds from your yard and garden manually. Pests devouring your garden? You may see possibilities in such a problem when you realize they are valuable treats for your flock. Sometimes a problem can actually be the solution to a bigger one.

Your chickens’ normal store-bought feed can be extended by soaking or fermenting it. Not only will they eat less, but each bite will be far more nutrient-dense.

As for substrate in your coop or run, dried leaves are free and a nuisance to most people. Your neighbours may be quite willing to part with them if you’re willing to gather them, supplying both of you with a valuable service. The leaves will also supply excellent nourishment to your garden soil.
These are, of course, only a few ideas to spark your own creative thinking. We need not be discouraged. We need not fear. Even with little, we’ll be just fine. We can stand together. We can adapt and change.

There are assets in your hands you may not have considered. With a little out-of-the-box thinking, you will know how best to utilize them.

Don’t give up. We are not going to survive, friend. We are going to thrive!

The post How to Thrive in Hard Times on the Homestead appeared first on Homestead.org.

While most gardeners store seeds “just in case”, as the years go by, we eventually ask ourselves whether it’s time to use them or lose them. But unfortunately, there isn’t much detailed information available on the seed aging process and how it truly affects planting.

This article covers seed lifespan, its effects on germination/growth, and how to make the most of your supply. If you’re unsure about whether to toss those old heirlooms into the garden or the compost bin, keep reading. The answer might surprise you!

How Long Do Seeds Last?

Seeds are alive; you could even compare them to people. Some are ready to spring out of bed every morning with a lively zest, and others want to cozy up and sleep in. What every living thing has in common, however, is an expiration date.

Ask Yourself Two Questions

Determining how long a seed variety has until it’s unviable generally depends on:

1. How long have you had the seeds
2. How you store them (experts recommend a dark, dry, cool place).

Once you answer those questions, you’ll have an idea of what you’re working with. But is it really that simple? A researcher in Israel certainly challenged what we know to be true about seed viability.

The Seed That Tested Time

Scientists are making efforts to successfully germinate seeds that are thousands (yes, thousands!) of years old. Notably, in the 1980’s, a seed was discovered deep in a cave excavated by Israeli archaeologists. The seed sat in Hebrew University’s Archaeology Department until 2010, when researcher Sarah Sallon received and planted it.

While this is an incredible fact, it does highlight a bit of a gray area regarding the true seed life cycle. Was the storage and preservation method used for this seed the reason why it germinated decades later? Realistically, we can’t all store our seeds in caves, can we?

There are countless methods seed savers use to preserve their collection. Some choose to keep them in the refrigerator, while others store them in a sealed bag or similar storage vessel. For example, strawberries germinate best through cold stratification. Because of this, many choose to just keep their seeds in the fridge until they’re ready for strawberry gardening. Every seed has different preferences; let’s talk more about them.

Preventing Seed Deterioration

We’ve touched on basic storage needs, but you should familiarize yourself with the specific requirements for your seeds. The more you know about each variety, the better you’ll care for your garden long-term. You might save some money, as well.

Avoid Mold & Mildew

Generally speaking, keep your seeds away from moist, warm, and sunny environments. Those three components create a breeding ground for mold and mildew, and once they’ve taken over, your seeds are done for. I suggest placing them inside labeled bags within a sealed (airtight) storage container. Then, put the container at the bottom of a closet or drawer for best results. You ideally want below 40% humidity.

Seed Viability Charts

There are seed viability charts all over the internet. Charts are incredibly helpful if you’re coming up on a year or two with the same seed and want to make sure they’re still good. But remember, these charts are not the final determinant of seed life. If you have three-year-old onion seeds and a chart tells you they’ve gone bad, you don’t necessarily have to get rid of them yet.

Your next step would be a germination test. They’re easy to perform and will give you the germination rate by percentage. You can skip the percentage portion if you’re not big on math or don’t need it, though.

Easy Germination Test

Complete a germination test via the paper towel method in just five steps:

1. Take up to 20 seeds and place them on a damp paper towel.
2. Cover seeds with another layer of damp paper towel, keeping them nestled in between.
3. Carefully slide the seeds and paper towels into a zip sandwich bag to prevent drying.
4. Label bag with seed variety and date. Put in an area that matches the seed’s germination needs. Example: Basil prefers warm and sunny conditions. You’d likely put them in a bright windowsill.
5. Each day, check to see if the seeds are germinating. Remove the moldy ones and count them as non-viable. To get your germination percentage, use Germination% =  # of healthy seedlings / Total # of seeds) x100.

That’s it! You’ve cracked the germination code. And hopefully a few of those seeds cracked open, too. Now you’re ready to get the survivors into some soil. Will they be as strong and healthy as newer seed varieties?

Old Seeds = Weaker Plants?

Surprisingly, there isn’t much correlation between old seeds and less vigorous plants. You may experience slower germination, but if they have enough energy to sprout at all, they’ll usually grow just fine. You’re more likely to get a weaker plant from environmental stress or nutrient deficiency as opposed to seed age.

Tip: Don’t treat your old seed sprouts any differently than the others. They don’t need special growing conditions. Overdoing the TLC will have the opposite effect.

Uses for Old Seeds

Now for some fun! There are numerous ways you and your family can enjoy seeds, regardless of their age. Here are my favorites:

• Crafts: Grab some glue, paper, dry beans/pasta, and the seeds. Make shapes and colorful pictures by gluing everything onto the paper.

• Chicken Feed: Got chickens? They’ll love your old seeds. Assuming they aren’t moldy, damp, or rancid, they’re generally safe to eat and a coop classic.

• Chaos Garden: Let’s say you have random seeds at the bottom of your storage container. (It happens to the best of us.) You probably don’t remember what plants they identify as. Make a chaos garden by throwing them in the soil, watering daily, and seeing what grows!

Are Your Seeds Ready for Planting?

Give it a shot! Sure, planting is serious, but… you can still get silly with it. Experimenting with aged seeds, given they’re not compromised, is an excellent way to learn in the garden. You could mess around and create something beautiful, like you.

Those seeds may be old, but they still have their charm. Give them a chance and see where it goes.

The post Will My Old Seeds Grow?  appeared first on Homestead.org.

The funny thing about this is that there’s nothing more ancient than the off-grid lifestyle. Before the advent of the grid as we know it (a relatively recent development that really only began in the 1860s), everyone from the richest king to the lowliest peasant technically lived off-grid in most capacities.  As such, folks had pretty well figured out how to thrive without the aid of all the new contraptions that have been invented for the modern off-grid lifestyle. They had thousands of years of civilization to back them up.

So, what is the off-grid beginner supposed to do?  How do you know when the old ways are best to learn or when the new innovations are worth the buy?  On my increasingly off-grid homestead, we are trying to answer that question with a balance of the best of the past with the best of modern innovation.  I will admit that we have a bias toward simple, manual tools (mostly because there’s less chance for something to break down).  So I’d like to take our years of experimentation and show you some modern and traditional tools and ideas for your own consideration.  The off-grid life comes at the cost of time or money; time to build your own systems or money to pay someone to do it for you.  So, no matter how much cash you’ve got, you can likely go off-grid.  I hope the comparison of these DIY cheap off-grid methods and pricier, manufactured methods can help you figure out the best fit for your own property.

Food Preservation: Electric Dehydrator or Protected Drying Screen

The most basic method of cheap off-grid food preservation, in my view, is dehydrating.  The free, desiccating power of the sun and wind have rendered fresh food into a stable, storable form for pretty much all of time.  And the best part is?  The sun shines freely on everyone.

You can build a pretty cheap solar dehydrator out of recycled materials (we’ve built one out of a defunct stand-up freezer) and there are lots of DIY plans online for such a build.  Lacking that, you can merely spread food on a window screen, cover it with a bit of cheesecloth to ward off birds, bugs, and dust, and lay it in a sunny place.  I’ve even seen folks use the dashboards of their cars as dehydrators—merely crack the window slightly to release moisture.  The point I’m making is, this method of food preservation is extremely accessible and low-cost.

Of course, you can purchase a gadget to do the work for you.  There is any number of food dehydrators and freeze-dryers out there to render your fresh produce and meat into shelf-stable sustenance.  Granted, in order to power any of these devices requires electricity, and that electricity will likely need an entirely separate solar, wind, or water generator to run.  In order to take the high-tech road when it comes to food dehydration, you’ll be investing quite a bit in infrastructure and appliances.  The payoff?  Predictably dry food, without needing to chase off flies, rain or shine. 

Laundry: Lavario and Gas-Powered Machines or Washing Plunger and Bucket

I find laundry to be a funny topic when it comes to the domestic side of off-grid life.  Most historical records of manual laundry practices that I’ve found only reflect the Victorian-era manner of clothes washing, with its arduous soaking, boiling, blueing, starching, and ironing.  With that litany of tasks to accomplish weekly, it’s no wonder most folks find the idea of hand-washing laundry to be untenable.  As detailed in an earlier article, however, those tasks aren’t necessary to clean the laundry.  I’ve implemented a pared-down, simpler approach for off-grid laundry, minus the boiling, bluing, starching, and ironing.  All you’ll need is a washtub, a homemade scrub board, and an antique washing plunger: can’t get more simple (or cheap!) than that.  Hand-washed clothes can either be dried on a clothesline outside, strung up above the woodstove, or—if you’re really into historical reenactments—laid out on clean, dry grass in the sun.

That said, some home-keepers still aren’t willing to roll up their sleeves and scrub socks when a machine could do it for them.  For that off-grid crowd, there’s a veritable army of alternatives available, all of them at varying prices.  Some folks swear by the Lavario system, or the Wonder Wash; others use gas-powered, solar-powered, or even car-battery-powered machines, and some opt for a wringer-washer combination.  All of these devices are somewhat limited in their capacity, which limits their utility for a large family.

Now, when it comes to drying clothes, I’ve even seen off-grid folks use gas-powered dryers… which, I must admit, personally rubs me the wrong way, since the sun is free and clotheslines work just fine.  I’m not here to evaluate your off-grid priorities, however.  Though these machines often run you a pretty penny, they may be the answer you’ve been looking for if hand-scrubbing and air-drying have been vetoed.

Toilet: Commercial Composting Toilet or 5-gallon Bucket System

The off-grid toilet is a divisive topic, either eliciting horror from those who pledge fealty to the flush toilet or pocket-emptying sighs from the prospective off-gridders who have just read the advertisements for the latest four-figure models.

Thankfully, the toilet can be a very simple setup, if you’re willing to employ a little elbow grease.  There are very effective $10 DIY off-grid toilet builds that feature little else than some pieces of 2x4s, a 5-gallon bucket, and a toilet seat.  They won’t win you any beauty awards, but they’ll do their duty while you do your own doody.  If you’re unafraid to learn and push convention, Joseph Jenkin’s Humanure Handbook (available for free perusal online) will give you all the information you need to build and perfect your own waste-recycling system.

If you have the (ample) cash to spend, there are composting toilets available for purchase, too, of course.  Nature’s Head is probably one of the better-known, with several models that can be installed wherever wanted.  They really do cost quite a bit—about $1,000 for their baseline model—but that comes with the customer guarantees, installation help, and prefabricated convenience that some folks are looking for.

Heating: A Huge Array of Options

Off-grid heating has been a companion of humanity for all of time, and as such, there are myriad methods of keeping your living space warm that have been developed throughout the world.  I can’t really categorize this range of options by price.  Though some of them have large initial costs, their long-term savings absolutely make up for it in the long run.  Instead, I’ll briefly list some of the methods that you can consider when it comes to warming your off-grid home.

Masonry Stove:  The masonry stove is an ancient design that has been employed by cultures around the world, from the ancient Roman hypocaust, to the Chinese K’ang, to the Austrian kacheloven.  They’re massive structures, integrated into the very backbone of the home itself, but they are able to effectively warm a home for hours at a time with very little fuel.  They would be an incredibly ambitious DIY build, but I suppose it is possible for those who are good at their research.

The nice thing about this option is that many masonry stoves can do double or triple duty as both cooking surfaces and water heaters as well.  So, though it is a large initial cost, it may become the beating heart of your winter home—and that’s a priceless thing!

Metal Wood Stove:  This “fireplace in a box,” invented by Benjamin Franklin, are an easy-to-install option for an off-grid home that can give you heating independence as long as you have access to your own firewood.  Options range from already assembled options to DIY Builds that can be constructed from recycled metal barrels. 

Rocket Mass Heater:  As with a masonry stove, the rocket mass heater warms a room or home by the hyper-efficient combustion of a small amount of fuel used to warm a massive structure which, then, radiates heat over time.  Rocket mass heaters were really perfected during the heady days of the 60s and 70s, and embody the self-sufficient, recycling-oriented spirit of those decades by being relatively easy to build, easy to source from your land, and largely needing reused materials. 

Passive Solar Design:  Passive solar design is a school of building construction that takes advantage of the sun’s energy to warm a home.  Unfairly summarized, this basically means that a large series of windows are oriented toward the sun’s winter zenith, a massive, heat-retaining structure is placed where it can absorb as much warmth as possible during the day, and then the house is thermoregulated through the night with the slowly released heat.  Houses need to be built with this in mind: retrofitting a home to this design would be borderline impossible (or very expensive) if it’s pointed the wrong way.

Earth-Sheltered Home:  Though this won’t actively warm a home, berming a partially-buried home with earth or building an underground home can naturally and effectively moderate the temperature without any other input.  Mike Oehler’s The $50 And Up Underground House Book is a good introduction to some practical home construction, as is Michael Reynold’s extensive Earthship series. 

Geothermal Heating And Cooling: This is a pricey option, admittedly, as it involves a huge installation of a system of pipes and pumps.  The basic concept of this system is to use the consistent temperature of the earth to moderate the indoor conditions of a structure, even if the structure is not underground or partially buried.  It’s not enough to warm a home on its own, but it will mean you have to consume less fuel to get a comfortable temperature.

Live in a Warm Climate:  This one may seem too obvious, but if you don’t want to have to deal with off-grid heating, living in a place that lacks cold winters may be the best solution.

Bathing: Solar Showers or The Art of the Sponge Bath

There are many ways to get clean.  The endless cascade of water that we employ in the typical on-grid shower is simply the most commonly used in “normal” society.

One of my favorite approaches to bathing is similar to this article from an old issue of The Mother Earth News.  In it, Alaskan homesteader, Ole Wik described his effective and water-saving method of sponge bathing.  Though “sponge bathing” may sound like a treatment for invalids in the hospital, those seeking an off-grid life should try to disassociate the “deprivation” mentality associated with it and see it for what it is: a surprisingly effective way to get clean.  The best part is, this system only requires a washcloth, a metal bowl, and some soap.

Other off-grid folks have made effective use of “camp showers;” warm water in a bag suspended above the bather’s head.  Another option, though it requires some handyman work, is a so-called “solar shower,” made up of sun-warmed water held in a reservoir and used as needed.  This method is only seasonal for those of us with wintry climates but may be a very effective year-round method for those homesteading in tropical regions.

This is obviously a very incomplete list; I haven’t even covered the options for lighting, food storage, cooking, power generation, or water systems, just to name a few.  I hope that I have clearly illustrated, however, that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to off-grid living.  Instead, there’s a dizzying array of options to consider, which is both encouraging and, sometimes, a bit overwhelming.  The final exhortation I can give to you, intrepid off-gridder, is to keep experimenting and trying things out to see what works best for you, your land, your budget, and your personal philosophy.  You can easily spend a fortune to get your home off-grid… but, as I have found, you don’t have to!

About the Author: Wren was once a teacher living in the city.  But she and her husband decided to make their escape from the confines of modernity and its dependence and move their family to 12 acres in the Ozarks. They are currently in the middle of establishing an off-grid homestead, and now happily spend their days as modern peasants, seeking out, learning, and trying to preserve the old skills that their urban backgrounds never gave them.

The post You Can Spend as Much (or as Little) as You Want to Go Off-Grid appeared first on Homestead.org.

Just remember when out foraging in winter (or any time) to make sure you have permission to harvest and that you eat nothing that has been sprayed with chemicals. Also, make sure you are 100 percent with your identification as you should never eat anything you cannot identify. With that in mind, let’s take a look at five easy-to-identify plants that are worth putting your boots or snowshoes on for.

Hackberry 

The hackberry tree is unique and very easy to identity, even in the wintertime, as its bark is very distinctive. They have extremely knobby and warty bark that reminds me of those decorative warty pumpkins you can buy in the fall. I have also heard this bark called “alligator skin” but that would have to be one very warty alligator. As the name “hackberry” implies, this tree produces little fruits that are quite edible.

Hackberries have been eaten for millennia, not just by the myriad of critters you will certainly find in the tree, but by humans as well. The “berry” is more nut-like than fruit-like, and is small and purplish with a crunchy shell. They are very high in fat, protein, and vitamins, making them an excellent trail snack especially in winter. To harvest, simply shake or knock the branches until your prize falls and then collect them from the ground. It may take a while to collect enough to do something with, but trust me, your patience will be rewarded.

Take them home and grind in a mortar and pestle and form them into your favorite snack shapes which can be stored for a long time at room temperature. Think of them like nature’s energy bars free for the taking.

Acorns 

If you have ever bitten into an acorn, you probably spat it right back out and wondered why the squirrels make such a big deal out of them. Acorns are very bitter because of tannic acid which, coincidentally, is what makes “dry” wine dry and gives coffee and black tea its bitterness.

Some species of oaks produce more tannic acid than others, so I would recommend you look for acorns that came from the white oak family as opposed to red, as white oaks generally produce less tannic acid than red. (This is a general rule of thumb, but your results, and trees, may vary.) White oak acorns start to germinate in the fall, while red oaks, in the following spring. If you are out foraging in the winter, you may only have red oak available, but if you have a choice, do try to prioritize collecting white oak acorns as it will make processing them much quicker.

Don’t know if the tree you’re looking at is a red oak or a white oak? Look at the leaves, if they have any left. If the leaves are rounded you have a white oak; if they are very pointed and jagged you have a red oak. If there are no leaves, look at the bark. If it is very deeply furrowed, then you have a white oak tree, if very smooth a red oak.

Once you have your acorns collected, make sure to remove any that have holes or that the nut rattles on the inside, and then crack them using a hammer or blocks of wood. Remove the inside meat and discard the shells. Now, in order to make acorns palatable, you will need to remove the tannic acid. This can be done by soaking the acorns in several changes of water until the water remains clear. This can take several days so be prepared to wait. I have heard of people putting the acorns in a mesh sack and putting them in the water tank of their toilet to soak; every time you flush, new water!

Once you have your acorns soaked, roast and then grind to make gluten-free acorn flour which can be added into your favorite baked goods like breads or muffins.

Evergreens 

When foraging in the winter, there are many evergreens from which to choose. From cedars to spruce, they all have something worth harvesting.  Just remember that some species, like yew, can be potentially toxic so know before you eat, and don’t eat anything you cannot positively identify.

Eastern red cedars have little purple berries that are, in effect, the “pinecones” of the tree. They were used for centuries as a flavoring for meats, but also as medicine by Native peoples. These berries are also what give gin its flavor.

Spruce and pine needles can be made into teas, simple syrups, and fun wines and beers or added to other recipes to give them a taste of the great outdoors. 

Rosehips 

Rosehips are the fruit of the rose bush. While they form in fall, they often persist into the winter. Rosehips have, pound for pound, more vitamin C than an orange and can be found on both wild and domestic roses. Rosehips make excellent teas, jellies, and even soups and stews. For best results in your rosehip harvest, make sure to pick them after a good frost, as this breaks down the cell wall of the fruit making it softer and juicer.

Don’t get frosts where you live but still want to try rosehips? Just pick and put them in the freezer for 24 hours before using them. Tada, artificial frost! 

Jerusalem Artichoke 

Jerusalem artichoke is a fun plant to forage in winter, or any time of year. However, they are neither an artichoke nor do they originate in the Middle East. They are in reality the tubers of a flower that looks like a sunflower. They go by other names such as “sunchoke,” or “fartichokes” as they are full of fiber and have a propensity to well… you know.

In the wintertime, the plant dies back leaving the edible tubers in the ground, so it may be best to identify a potential crop while it is still blooming. Some people grow Jerusalem artichokes as privacy screens or in gardens for their tall and beautiful flowers, but they are still a plant that you can find growing out in the wild, especially in undisturbed areas.

After a good frost, most roots and tubers will taste sweeter, and this is the case for this plant as well. If the ground isn’t frozen or you get a good thaw, dig some up and prepare much the same way as you would potatoes. Don’t worry about the plant, as it should come back up from the tubers you are sure to miss during the digging.

Frozen Food: Checking Out 

Winter may not be the most productive time of the year, but certainly still has its fair share of free food if you know where and what to look for. From the ubiquitous acorn to the hidden gems of Jerusalem artichokes, make winter a time to throw on the old snow boots,  grab your foraging basket, and head to your nearest woodlot.

Who knows? You might just find your latest ingredient in the frozen food department.

The post Frozen Food: Foraging in Winter appeared first on Homestead.org.

Automotive Care

Natural Engine Degreaser:  Dissolve one-quarter cup of washing soda into one gallon of warm water, pour on engine areas that need degreasing.  Rinse thoroughly.  Excess should not be stored – discard all leftovers.

Battery Cleaner (Removes built-up acid):  Sprinkle baking soda on the battery terminals.  Spritz with water to dampen.  Let sit for about one hour.  Sponge off with water.  Air dry.

Winter Windshield Solution:  When you leave your car outside in winter, mix three parts vinegar to one part water and coat your windshield with the solution.  This will keep your windshield free of frost and ice.

Bathroom

Bathroom Mirrors:  Clean mirrors with rubbing alcohol to prevent fogging.

Bathtub Stains:  Scrub with a paste made from cream of tartar and hydrogen peroxide.

Drain Cleaner:  For slow drains, use this cleaner once a week to keep drains fresh and clog-free.  One-half cup of baking soda, one cup of white vinegar, with one gallon of boiling water.  Pour the baking soda down the drain, followed by the vinegar.  Allow the mixture to foam for several minutes before flushing the drain with boiling water.

Plumbing Fixtures:  To clean chrome, stainless steel, fiberglass, ceramic, porcelain, or enamel fixtures, dissolve two tablespoons of baking soda in one quart of water.  Wipe on fixtures, then rinse.

Remove hard lime deposits around faucets by covering the deposits with vinegar-soaked paper towels.  Leave the paper towels on for approximately one hour before cleaning.  Leaves chrome shiny and clean.

Scouring Bathroom Cleaner:   One-half cup liquid Castile soap, one teaspoon of Borax, two teaspoons of baking soda, one and three-quarters cup of very hot water, and four drops of essential oil of your choice.  Pour the water into a stainless steel mixing bowl and add the liquid soap.  Stir well, then add the dry ingredients.  Add the four drops of essential oil.  Stir until well blended.  Store in a squeeze bottle (old ketchup bottle works well) and stir or shake before using.  Store the cleaner in a cool, dry place.  Shelf life is three to four months.  If you have a stubborn stain on fiberglass or plastic surface, add a few drops of hydrogen peroxide to the mixture for extra stain-fighting power.

Shower Heads:

Metal – To remove mineral deposits that may be clogging your metal shower head, combine one-half cup of white vinegar with one quart of water.  Then completely submerge the shower head and boil fifteen minutes.

Plastic – Combine one pint white vinegar with one pint of hot water.  Completely submerge the shower head for one hour.

Toilet Bowl Cleaner:  (CAUTION!  If you do use bleach to clean your toilet bowl, never mix bleach with vinegar, toilet bowl cleaner, or ammonia.  The combination of bleach with any of these substances produces a toxic gas.)

Baking soda and vinegar – Sprinkle baking soda into the bowl, then drizzle with vinegar and scour with a toilet brush.  This combination both cleans and deodorizes.

Borax and Lemon Juice – For removing a stubborn stain, like toilet bowl ring, mix enough Borax and lemon juice into a paste cover the ring.  Flush toilet to wet the sides, then rub on paste.  Let sit for 2 hours and scrub thoroughly.  For less stubborn toilet bowl rings, sprinkle baking soda around the rim and scrub with a toilet brush.

Tub And Tile Cleaners:

Baking soda – Sprinkle baking soda like you would scouring powder.  Rub with a damp sponge.  Rinse thoroughly.

Vinegar and baking soda – To remove film buildup on bathtubs, apply vinegar full-strength to a sponge and wipe.  Next, use baking soda as you would scouring powder.  Rub with a damp sponge and rinse thoroughly with clean water.

Porcelain Cleaner:  To clean porcelain surfaces, rub with cream of tartar, sprinkled on a damp cloth.

Kitchen Cleaners

Baking Dishes:  Enamel, Ceramic or Glass – Soak in hot soapy water, then scour with salt or baking soda and rinse thoroughly.

Basic Kitchen Cleaner:  Keep a bottle of vinegar within easy reach.  When your stove, countertops, walls, or anything else becomes spattered with grease, spray and wipe clean with a dry rag.  Vinegar cuts the grease and leaves a nice shine, and has antibacterial properties.

Coffee/Tea Stains:  To remove coffee stains from cups or counters, rub with baking soda paste.

Dishes:

Use liquid or powdered soap instead of detergents, which are petroleum-based.  In dishwashers, use equal parts Borax and washing soda.

Use baking soda and liquid soap.

Drinking Glasses:

Occasionally soak drinking glasses in a solution of vinegar and water to really get them clean.  Makes them sparkle!

When a quick dip for crystal glassware is needed, prepare a solution of baking soda in tepid-cool water (one level teaspoon to one quart) and brush with a soft toothbrush.  Very good for glass coffee makers and thermos jugs too.

Dishwasher Detergent:  Mix two tablespoons of baking soda with two tablespoons of Borax, put the mixture in the dishwasher.

Dishwashing Liquid:  This inexpensive soap does not suds-up very much, but it cleans so well!  Use with hot water.  Do not use it in automatic dishwashers.  One-fourth cup of soap flakes, two cups of hot water, one-fourth cup of glycerin, and one-half teaspoon of lemon essential oil.  In a bowl, combine soap flakes and water and stir until the soap is dissolved.  Cool to luke-warm.  Stir in the glycerin and the essential oil, leave to cool.  As it cools, it will form a loose gel.  Stir with a fork and break up the gel and then pour into a narrow-necked bottle.  An old shampoo bottle makes an excellent container. To use, squirt three teaspoonfuls into hot running water.

Oven Cleaners:

The first step is prevention.  Put a sheet of aluminum foil on the floor of the oven, underneath but not touching the heating element.

Clean up the spill as soon as it occurs.

While the oven is still warm, sprinkle salt or baking soda on the spill.  If the spill is completely dry, wet the spill lightly before sprinkling on salt.  When the oven cools, scrape away the spill and wash the area clean.

Baking soda, water, salt, and vegetable oil-based liquid soap.  Sprinkle water on oven bottom.  Cover with baking soda.  Let sit overnight.  Wipe off and apply liquid soap with scouring pad.  Rinse.

Retard grease buildup in your oven by dampening your cleaning rag in vinegar and water before wiping out your oven.

Sprinkle/spray water followed by a layer of baking soda.  Rub gently with a very fine steel wool pad for tough spots.  Wipe off scum with dry paper towels or sponge.  Rinse well and wipe dry

Two tablespoons vegetable oil-based liquid soap, two tablespoons Borax: mix the soap and Borax in a spray bottle.  Fill the bottle with hot water and shake well.  Spray on oven and leave for twenty minutes.  Scrub off.

Refrigerators:

To clean exterior and interior walls, dissolve two tablespoons of baking soda in one quart of warm water and wipe all surfaces.  For stubborn spots, rub with baking soda paste.  Be sure to rinse with a clean, wet cloth. This works well on other enamel-finished appliances as well.

To clean interior fixtures, such as vegetable bins and shelves, wash in hot soapy water, rinse well and dry.

Spot-free Dishwasher Rinse:  Add one cup of white vinegar to the rinse compartment of your automatic dishwasher.   Wash dishes as usual

When cleaning stainless steel countertops, ranges or sinks, use club soda.  You can buy a small bottle of generic or store-brand club soda.  It cleans like a charm and dries to a gleam without streaks or spots.  Don’t throw away flat club soda; even flat, it still works to clean stainless steel or spots spilled on the carpet.

Laundry Cleaners

All-purpose Laundry Soap:  One-half cup of baking soda, one-half cup of powered Castile soap, one-fourth cup of washing soda (sodium carbonate), one-fourth cup of Borax, and four drops essential oil of choice.  Mix all the dry ingredients together.  If you are going to add an essential oil, divide the dry soap mixture into four equal parts.  Add one drop essential oil to one part soap, and put through a hand sifter to mix.  Repeat with each of the four parts.  Mix the parts back together and put the entire mixture through the sifter one or two more times.  Store in a tightly closed container and let sit for a few days before using so the essential oils can permeate the mixture.  Add about one-half cup of this soap to a load of laundry as you would with any commercial detergent. (Shelf life: twelve months.) Note: To remove extra-heavy odors from clothes and soften them as well, add one-half cup baking soda to the rinse water.

Bleach Alternative:  Add one cup of hydrogen peroxide to the wash cycle after washing machine has filled with water.

Fabric Softener:  Use vinegar as a natural fabric softener.  This can be especially helpful for families who have sensitive skin. Add one-half cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle in place of commercial fabric softener.  Vinegar has the added benefit of breaking down laundry detergent more effectively (a plus when you have a family member whose skin detects every trace of detergent).

Hard-water Gel Fabric Soap:  Two cups soap flakes, one and one-half cups of Borax, one-half cup of glycerin, and two teaspoons essential oil, either lavender, lemon, or eucalyptus.  In a medium saucepan, stir together the soap flakes, Borax, and water.  Heat slowly and stir until the mixture is clear.  Add the glycerin and set aside to cool.  When cool, add the essential oil and stir thoroughly.  Pour into a mason jar or other container and cover until needed.  To use, add one cup of gel per load of clothes, making sure the soap is dissolved well before adding clothes to the water.  This gel works best with warm water, or dissolve it in a quart of warm water before adding it to the wash water.

Oil Stains:   To remove oil stains from clothing, rub white chalk over the oil stain before washing.

Whitener:  Hard water minerals can turn your clothes grey and dull.  If you have hard water, add one-half cup of white vinegar to your rinse cycle.

Miscellaneous Products

Air Freshener:  Vinegar and baking soda are great room fresheners.  Vinegar deodorizes, while baking soda absorbs odors.  A simple recipe of one teaspoon baking soda, one teaspoon vinegar (or lemon juice) and two cups hot water in a spray bottle can be spritzed in the air to remove odors.

Candles/Wax:  Sponge with a piece of cotton dipped in rubbing alcohol.

Carpet Cleaner:  Sprinkle carpet with two parts cornmeal and one part Borax, leave on one hour, then vacuum thoroughly.  For small spills, clean with white vinegar and soapy water.

Decals/Gummed Labels/Price Tag Remover:  Use vinegar.  To remove non-slip appliqués and strips from bathtubs, saturate a cloth or sponge and squeeze hot vinegar over decals.  Vinegar also removes stick-on hooks from painted walls.  Saturate a cloth or sponge with vinegar and squeeze the liquid behind the hook so that the vinegar comes in contact with the adhesive.  In addition, vinegar can be used to remove price labels and other decals from glass, wood, and china.  Paint the label or decal with several coats of white vinegar.  Give the vinegar time to soak in and after several minutes the decal can be rubbed off (NOTE: Use these methods only on washable surfaces and washable paint).

Eyeglass Cleaner:  Mix eight ounces of ammonia with 32 ounces of rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle.  Spray eyeglasses and rub clean with a soft cloth

Furniture Polish:  Mix one part white vinegar together with three parts olive oil in a bottle.  Shake well before using.  The vinegar will pull the dirt out of the wood, and the oil will lubricate the wood, preventing from drying out.

Glue:  Never run out of glue again, make your own by combining three tablespoons of cornstarch with four tablespoons of cold water and make a smooth paste.  Stir paste into two cups of boiling water, continue to stir until mixture becomes translucent.  Use when cold.

Grease Cutters: Use lemon juice, vinegar, or sprinkle with Borax and scrub with a scrub brush.

One-half teaspoon of washing soda, one-half teaspoon of vegetable oil-based liquid soap, three tablespoons of vinegar, and two cups hot water.  Mix in spray bottle, spray and scrub, wipe clean.

Ink Stains:  Use a non-aerosol hairspray to remove ink stains.

Jewelry Cleaner:  Baking soda is safe and effective when it comes to cleaning jewelry.  Use a paste of baking soda and peroxide to clean build-up and dirt off or your jewelry.  It gets rid of dirt, grime and body oils to leave your jewelry shining and looking new.

Metal Cleaner:  Clean copper, brass, pewter, or bronze easily with a simple mixture.  Dissolve one teaspoon of salt in one cup of vinegar, add enough flour to make a paste.  Apply the paste to the metal and allow it to sit for fifteen minutes to one hour.  Rinse with warm water and polish dry.

Paintbrushes:  Soften hard paintbrushes in hot vinegar for a few minutes.  Then wash paintbrush in soap and warm water and let air-dry.

Polished Wood Furniture:  To remove a watermark mix a few flicks of ash with olive oil, rub it in and leave for thirty minutes, then buff with a soft cloth; a mixture of salt and vegetable oil, left on for an hour, then removed and rubbed with a soft cloth, also helps remove marks.  Remove sticky marks with a little vinegar and water, then apply some beeswax or linseed oil.

Rust Remover:  Sprinkle a little bit of salt on the rust, squeeze a lime over the salt until it is nicely soaked in lime juice. Leave the mixture on for two or three hours.  Use the leftover rind as a handy scrubber.  Rust is gone

Silver Cleaner:  Aluminum pan, boiling water, one tablespoon of baking soda, and one tablespoon of salt.  Bring this mixture to boil in the pan.  Drop your flatware into it as it boils, doing only a few pieces at a time.  Let them boil for three minutes, then take them out and let them drain on a soft cloth, drying them to a shine with a second cloth.  Do not overcrowd the pot–it can be confusing to remember which pieces have already done their three minutes and which ones still have time to go; also, it can lower the temperature of the liquid, thereby lowering its efficiency.  Intricately patterned or pieces that are glued should probably be cleaned with a commercial cleaner.  A minute layer of the silver is removed each time you use this method, however, the conventional method of polishing silver rubs off the same small layer.

Silver Polish:  If you have a small job, the best silver polish is white toothpaste.  Dab some on your finger, and rub into the tarnish.  For bigger pieces, use baking soda and a clean, damp sponge.  Make a paste of baking soda and water.  Scoop the paste onto the sponge, and rub the paste into the silver.  Rinse with hot water and polish dry with a soft, clean cloth.  For badly tarnished silver, leave the baking soda paste on the silver for an hour or so, before cleaning off with the help of the sponge and hot water.

Concrete Grease Spot Remover:  To remove grease from concrete flooring sprinkle dry cement over grease. Allow it to absorb the grease, then sweep up.

Streak-free Glass Cleaner:  Combine one-quarter cup vinegar, one tablespoon cornstarch, one quart warm water.  Mix the ingredients and pour into a spray bottle and spray on.  Wipe dry with crumpled newspaper, buff to a shine.

Tar Remover:  Food grade linseed oil.  Wet rag with linseed oil and rub hard.

Vinegar:  Paint adheres better to galvanized metal that has been wiped with vinegar.

Vinegar of the Four Thieves:  Place a small handful each of dried lavender, rosemary, sage, rue, and mint in a large jar, and cover completely with organic apple cider vinegar.  Cover tightly and let sit for six weeks.  Strain into a spray bottle.  Whereas no home can be made to be sterile, spray the powerfully antiseptic Vinegar of Four Thieves recipe in areas of concern, such as on cutting boards and door knobs, always making sure to avoid your eyes.

Vinyl Cleaner:  One teaspoon to one-fourth cup of washing soda, and one cup boiling water.  Dissolve the washing soda in the boiling water.  Apply with sponge, wipe off with a damp cloth.

The post Natural Alternatives to Costly, Chemical, Household Products appeared first on Homestead.org.

Now, we are in an age where people are looking to deconstruct their over-processed lives, and I think it is an excellent time to challenge the ideas around food and convenience.  Are frozen pizzas easier and faster than pizza made from scratch?  What about that old TV-dinner standard, the turkey dinner?  Does it truly take less time to microwave dinner for your family than to make it by hand?  The answer, on both counts, is no.  The burden of home-cooked food is a marketing myth designed by the food companies to turn us away from natural, whole food and towards their over-processed Frankenfoods.  In this article, I will put myself and my fairly average cooking skills against the clock to prove so-called convenience foods fall conveniently short of their promise of good food in less time.

For the sake of this exercise, let’s assume we are cooking for a family of four.  Let us also assume that we are buying all of the ingredients and convenience foods from the same grocery store.  This will allow us to put the travel time and gas needs of all the food on the same level.  I will break the cost of the whole food down by the ounce to give an accurate account of the expense of the whole food versus the processed food.  Lastly, let us assume that herbs, spices, oil, etc. are something generally available in all kitchens and do not need to be included in the price.  So, let us begin.

Frozen Pizza

If you’re like me, you grew up eating pizza in one form or another.  It is a food that is synonymous with American childhood.  Pizza Night was a frequent occurrence in my house growing up, and when it came to frozen pizza, Tombstone brand frozen pizzas were standard.  My mom always pulled the pizza out with a flourish and ask, “What do you want on your Tombstone,” in a horrible Western accent.  The flat, rock hard, cracker-like pizzas were the cornerstone of homemade pizza for me, and it wouldn’t be until I had a family of my own that I learned that homemade pizza can be so much more than the folks at Nestle` led me to believe.

When it comes to comparing homemade pizza in terms of convenience foods, let’s address the biggest issue first: the dough.  Pizza dough takes a long time to make. You have to mix up the ingredients, let it rise, punch it down, and let it rise again before you can even start rolling out your pie.  This takes hours.  One way that frozen pizza companies like DiGiorno and Frechetta try to address this issue is by adding a bit of chemical leavening to their dough, like baking soda or powder, which don’t need the time to rise like yeast.  This works to an extent, but the resulting dough has a cakey texture that does not really feel like pizza.

The key to making this process convenient is a bit of forethought: make the dough in advance.  I know this sounds simple, but it takes about five minutes to mix up a batch of dough.  Once you mix it, you can leave it out on the counter overnight to rise.  In the morning, simply punch it down, wrap it in some plastic wrap, and stick it in the refrigerator.  Your dough can sit there for up to a week, just waiting to be used.  The wonderful part of this method is that as the dough sits in your refrigerator, it gets better.  While the dough is in the icebox, the yeasts slowly ferment the sugars in the flour starch, creating thousands of small gas pockets that will make your dough rise in the oven when the heat expands the gas.  In addition, enzymes in the flour are given a chance to develop that luscious flavor and texture found in popular gourmet pizza chains.  Many of these restaurants use the same technique to improve the quality of their pizza dough.  If you want to save your dough for longer than a week, give it an extra wrapping in plastic and stick it in the freezer for up to a month.  When you think you might want a pizza, pull it out of the freezer in the morning, and it will be ready to use by lunch.

To make the pizza for this experiment, I used:

• 13 oz all purpose flour: $0.06 (This amount of flour is enough to make two pizzas)
• ¼ C. olive oil
• 1 healthy pinch of Kosher salt
• 1 packet of bread yeast: $0.33
• water
• 3 oz shredded mozzarella: $0.47
• 1 can crushed tomatoes: $0.67
• 1 red onion, sliced: $0.43
• Some fresh basil leaves from the garden
• ½ oz kale, torn into bite-sized pieces: $.03
• Pizza stone (optional)

When you put these fresh ingredients next to the Tombstone pizza in all its plastic-wrapped glory, it’s pretty clear which will come out the better pizza.

Since my dough was made the night before, I preheated the oven to 400 degrees and placed the Tombstone pizza inside.  According to the packaging, it takes 20 minutes for the Tombstone to finish cooking in the oven.  This gives me 20 minutes to prepare and cook my pizza.  First, I rolled out my pizza dough and add my crushed tomatoes, sliced onions, kale, cheese, and basil and added salt and pepper to taste.  I then placed my pizza into the oven right above the still-cooking Tombstone.  By the time the 20-minute timer went off, both pizzas were ready to take out of the oven.  The pizza on the left is the Tombstone pizza.  The pizza on the right is the homemade pizza.

With the dough made days in advance, it took exactly the same amount of time to make a pizza from scratch with fresh seasonal ingredients.  This works because the frozen pizza uses the first 10 minutes in the oven thawing out before it even starts cooking.  That’s the 10 minutes it takes to prepare your pizza from scratch.  If you’re wondering about the cleanup, take a look at what was leftover from the homemade pizza:

The knife I used to cut the onions is missing from the picture, but this is not an inconvenient amount of dishes to clean up after such a wonderful meal.

The retail cost of the Tombstone-brand Pizza: $4.99

The total cost of my homemade pizza: $1.99

Turkey Dinner

The turkey dinner is the first truly American meal.  Some people call it THE American meal.  It represents hours of preparation, care, and timing.  The ritual behind the carving of the turkey is something that has been passed down and enjoyed since the turkey became our go-to food for holiday celebrations.  It is no surprise that the makers of the first TV-dinners sought to recreate that spirit when the first began marketing turkey TV-dinners to the public.

Today, microwave turkey dinners are alive and well, and for $3.29, the good people at Hungry Man offer a turkey dinner that will “Satisfy Your Craving” in just nine minutes.  This means that if I want to satisfy my craving for a fresh turkey dinner for four in the same time, I have thirty-six minutes to do it.

To accomplish this, I have to think about my approach.  First, I cannot cook an entire turkey safely in thirty-six minutes, but a convenient turkey dinner does not need a whole turkey, only turkey meat.  So, I purchased a whole turkey from the store and cut the breast meat away from the carcass, leaving the skin on.  I cut up the rest of the turkey and put it in the freezer for future turkey dinners.  A turkey breast has the advantage of being flat, thin, and fast to cook.  It is not necessary to brine a boneless turkey breast, which is convenient since it will need to cook in thirty-six minutes or less.  A liberal dose of salt and pepper will provide more than enough flavor on this cut.  With the turkey breast, my ingredients include:

• 16 oz turkey breast: $19.04
• 3 oz of turkey bones from carcass: $3.57
• 3 oz of peas: $0.10
• 3 oz string beans: $0.12
• 1 Fuji apple: $0.50
• 1 red onion: $0.43
• 1 large russet potato: $1.17
• 3 oz sweetened dried cranberries: $1.87

My first step was to hit the timer.  Then, under the doubtful gaze of my wife and mother-in-law, I set two pots of water to boil and lit the grill.  I chose the grill to cook the turkey because the direct heat would cook the breast quickly, searing the outside to provide extra flavor.  Into the first pot of water, I dropped the turkey bones and halved onion with a large pinch of Kosher salt.  I then chopped the potato into small cubes and dropped them into the second pot with some salt; cutting smaller cubes will help the potato to cook in less time.  Next, I tossed the turkey breast onto the grill and returned to the kitchen chop the apple.  The chopped apple and the dried cranberries went into a small pan to simmer with a cup of water and a tablespoon of sugar.

At this point, I had a few minutes to lean back and listen to the radio before the potatoes were soft.  I scooped the potatoes out of the boiling water with a slotted spoon and placed them into a bowl.  I then dropped the string beans and peas into the pot the potatoes had just vacated and mashed the potatoes with a pat of butter and a splash of cream.  By then, it was time to turn the turkey breast on the grill.  Returning to my turkey pot, I removed the bones and the onion, whisked in a chicken bouillon cube and an ounce of flour (the cost is negligible for this amount of flour), and let simmer to thicken.  Then, it was time to take the turkey breast off the grill to rest.  Next, I added a little salt and pepper to my gravy and strained the peas and beans.

That’s it!  That’s the whole turkey dinner.  When I cut into the turkey breast to serve, it was completely cooked and juicy:

The mashed potatoes were smooth and creamy, the gravy was rich and silky, and the fruit compote was fresh and tangy.  In the end, it took me 35 minutes and 46 seconds to create a turkey dinner for four; fourteen seconds faster than it would have taken to microwave four Hungry Man turkey dinners.

Take a look at the two here.  Which one would you rather serve to your family?

At almost half the price, it is clearly cheaper to buy the microwave dinner, so chefs at home will have to weigh the economic value versus the nutritional value.  The cleanup on this meal was not overwhelming.  A knife and cutting board needed to be washed in addition to the pots and bowls pictured here.

Total cost for four Hungry Man TV-dinners: $13.16

Total cost for the homemade dinner: $26.80

Cooking at home is often about creativity.  We have to eat every day, and some days we have less time than others.  Commercially developed convenience foods are not so much about saving time as they are about liberating us from thinking about what we eat.  The message from the food companies is that their foods are fast and nutritious; you can show your family you love them without slaving in the kitchen the entire afternoon.  The image of the family dinner taking half the day to prepare is a fantasy the food industry created to entice us to buy their high-calorie, nutrient-deficient food.

As I have demonstrated here, in the same time or less than it takes to prepare frozen convenience foods, the cook of the family can produce exceptional, high-quality food that can be fun and exciting to prepare.  I encourage you to approach all meals with this spirit.  A friend’s mother once told me, “The time you spend on your food reflects the time you spend on your life.”  For this discussion, I would suggest that the quality of your food reflects the quality of your life, so go forth, get creative, and don’t worry about the cleanup.  That’s what the kids are for.

The post What’s So Convenient About Convenience Foods? appeared first on Homestead.org.

Gathering materials will be the first step in upcycling, and fortunately, this can be as easy as taking a walk through your house or outside on your property.  Be on the lookout for common everyday items, scrap materials, or objects that are no longer used or functional.  Popular items to upcycle can include empty coffee cans, old wheels, farming implements, clothing, silverware, VHS tapes, books, and more.  Where you see trash, try to reimagine the object into something useful and beautiful.  Also, you can visit garage sales, flea markets, or thrift stores to find low-cost materials.  Once you have collected your materials, you can start collecting additional supplies to complete your project.

Upcycling projects vary greatly in their complexity, so it is helpful to have some basic supplies and tools on hand.  You may even wish to prepare a supply kit that is readily accessible for when you upcycle.  Some supplies you may want to include in your kit are glue, scissors, a hammer, nails, pen, ruler, tape, acrylic craft paints, and paint sealer.  If you have power tools, or have a neighbor who will let you have access to theirs, then these could also come in handy.  For the projects described below, power tools are not a requirement, but they can help you complete your project more quickly.

Now that you have gathered materials and supplies, you will need to select a project.  There are a couple of things to keep in mind when choosing a project.  First, consider the material you want to upcycle.  Maybe you have a box of old rulers or empty coffee cans you are hesitant to get rid of.  Second, it is helpful when you are choosing a project to pick one based on your skill level.  If you are a hobby carpenter, you will probably be able to master and excel at more complicated projects involving power tools and labor.  However, if you are more of a beginner, choose a project that suits your individual skills so that the process of upcycling does not become overwhelming.  Upcycling is meant to be fun.  Regardless of skill or background, anyone can upcycle.  Even children can assist adults with safer tasks.  Third, when you are choosing a project think about what you need on your homestead or what you could use to help it run more smoothly.  If your homestead would benefit from organization, choose a project that meets those needs.  Or if you are in need of a piece of outdoor furniture, consider upcycling your own.

Upcycling on the Homestead: Furniture

You can make your very own functional furniture using upcycled materials.  If you find an old trunk, you can make a unique coffee table or TV stand.  Any type of trunk will work whether it’s made of wicker, metal, leather, or wood.  First, clean the trunk very well inside and out, then purchase or cut a piece of glass to size for the top.  Or if you prefer, you can also leave the top of the trunk exposed.  Just be careful about putting liquids and foods on the surface to prevent damage.  As an added bonus, you can use the inside of the trunk for storage.  You may want to consider gluing a piece of felt or other non-skid fabric to the bottom of the trunk to prevent movement and damage to floors.

If you are in need of an end table, a birdbath may provide a unique solution.  Turn a clean (and water-free) birdbath into a decorative table by simply adding a piece of round glass to the top.  Consider adding potpourri in a color that accents the room and a strand of white lights for a grown-up night-light.  The lights also heat the potpourri, creating a lovely scent in the room.  Be sure to only use the lights in a concrete birdbath, instead of a plastic or resin one as it could be a fire hazard.

A milk-can can also be turned into an end table by adding a piece of round glass or wood to the top.  These are suitable for indoor or outdoor use.  However, a milk-can left outdoors will most likely rust, so try to keep it covered and protected from harsh weather.  If you are a painter, you may want to paint the milk-can in a landscape or floral scene to accent your home.  Alternatively, milk cans can be used as a unique plant container.  Simply add your choice of decorative plants.

Upcycling on the Homestead: Home Decor

In addition to functional furniture, frugal home décor can also be made using a variety of supplies including rulers, buttons, and greeting cards.  Picture frames can easily be fashioned using rulers.  Glue the rulers together forming a square or rectangle depending on your picture.  If you are looking to frame a photo of 4×5 or 5×7 or a larger print for decoration, rulers can be cut to the size of the picture.  This can be accomplished with a small handsaw, but be sure to sand any rough edges after cutting them to size.  If you do not want to cut the rulers, you can add a photo mat or colored piece of paper to the back of the picture to fill in any extra space.  The photo mat or paper can either be glued or taped to the back of the completed ruler picture frame.  In order to protect the picture, use acid-free glue and tape.  Rulers can also be glued horizontally to the bottom of a tray with handles to make a distinguished paper basket.

If you have extra buttons lying around, consider making inexpensive holiday decorations.  First purchase pre-cut wooden shapes from a craft store, such as a heart or star.  If you are handy with power tools, you can cut your own shape out of extra wood.  Next paint the wooden shape an appropriate color whether it’s green for Christmas or blue for Independence Day.  Using buttons of similar colors (ex: red and green for Christmas, pinks, and reds for Valentine’s Day) glue the buttons onto the dried the paint.  You can create a pattern or design or add them at random.  Using a ribbon cut to size, glue or secure both ends of the ribbon with a staple or thumbtack on the top back of the shape to create a loop for easy hanging and display.

After the holidays are over, you may wonder what to do with all of your greeting cards.  Greeting cards can easily be upcycled into holiday decorations.  One way to accomplish this is to simply frame the greeting card.  Alternatively, decoupage is also an option.  Cut the greeting card to the size you want (use only one layer of card).  Next, purchase or cut a rectangle out of wood that is slightly larger than the card, and paint the wooden block in a color of your choice.  You can purchase decoupage glue, such as Mod Podge, or you can easily make your own by mixing well equal parts of white glue and water until smooth.  Glue the greeting card into place by painting in either a vertical or horizontal motion, covering the card and the wood backing.  Attach a ribbon to the back to hang it or glue a picture hanger on the back to display on the wall.

Upcycling on the Homestead: Practical Items

In addition to decorations and furniture, more practical items can also be made into upcycled goods.  Old clothing can easily be made into a variety of projects.  Jeans can be cut into square blocks, sewn, and quilted for a jean quilt.  Alternatively, jean pockets can be used to make an organizer for art supplies, toiletries, or small hardware in your workshop.  Cut out jean pockets from old jeans (be sure to cut all the way through the entire jean to include pocket front and back).  Using a large rectangle of heavy-duty fabric cut to size, sew the back of the jean pocket on in rows.  Hang up the organizer in a room that could benefit from a little organization.

Other practical items can be made from wood pallets.  Pallets are becoming an increasingly popular material for upcycling.  With the rise in popularity, however, they can be more difficult to find, especially for free.  Ask local small businesses or utilize the internet to locate free pallets.  Pallets are a great source of lumber that can be used to make almost any project imaginable.  One easy project is a pallet organizer for outdoor tools and farming implements.  Nail an intact pallet to a barn or outbuilding wall and insert tools in between the slats for an easy storage container.  An inexpensive coffee table can be fashioned by using an intact pallet and adding sliding wheels or furniture legs to the bottom.  This would also make for a great picnic table for kids or adults who don’t mind sitting low to the ground.

Don’t throw out old car tires, or if you are really fortunate, tractor tires.  Larger tires such as tractor tires, when filled with sand can be a great sandbox for children.  Average-size tires can be made into a classic tire swing.  Tie very strong, thick rope around the tire in one spot several times and knot several times to secure.  With the other end of the rope, tie and knot to a sturdy tree limb until secure.  Be sure to read the label for the rope to make sure it will support the weight of the tire and person who is swinging.  Lastly, tires can be used to make a cost-effective raised garden bed contain vegetables and herbs.  Place the tire in the desired area, fill with soil and plants.

Additional Tips/Advice for Upcycling on the Homestead

Now that you have some ideas for your next project, review the following tips and advice to help make your venture into upcycling on the homestead successful.

• Clean materials (trunks, clothing, tires) before beginning a project.
• Be realistic.  Don’t scrutinize every piece of garbage/recycling leaving your home to see if it can be salvaged.
• Start small.  Begin creating small upcycled projects before advancing to more complicated ones.
• Choose projects that match your skill level and interest to prevent being overwhelmed.
• If you find it hard to complete projects, use the “24-hour rule”.  Complete your project from start to finish within 24 hours to keep you on schedule.
• When at home or in the community, be on the lookout for extra materials to upcycle.
• Make a dedicated workspace to keep tools and supplies organized.
• Look for inspiration at flea markets where you will find lots of upcycled projects.

When visiting an upcycled furniture shop, I was surprised to see dressers made out of old closet doors selling for over $800.  Upcycling has become very popular and many people will pay quite a bit (especially in the cities and suburbs) for these trendy, unique pieces.  If you are of the entrepreneurial spirit, you may want to look into selling your creations either online at Etsy or eBay, or at a local farmers market or flea market.  If you regularly travel to a larger town, look for a consignment shop where you can sell your products for a certain percent.

If you are interested in finding more projects or tips on upcycling, use an internet search engine to search the term “upcycled projects”.  Be prepared for thousands of websites with even more projects for added inspiration.  You can find more specific results by searching for upcycled projects along with your main material whether it is VHS tapes, tin cans, sweaters, et cetera.  Lastly, the next time you are at a flea market or craft fair, and see a project you like, speak directly with the merchant and creator of the piece.  By networking with fellow upcyclers, you can mutually learn and share so much.

By upcycling, items that were previously old and useless, you can turn your homestead into a sanctuary with many functional items and beautiful decor.  By upcycling recycled materials, you are not only helping the environment but are ensuring your homestead is sustainable.  Moreover, upcycling on the homestead can help you reach your financial goals by minimizing your expenses on furniture and decorations.  So next time you consider throwing something away or recycling, consider how you could reuse and reclaim that material to beautify your property.

Waste Not, Want Not: Repurposing on the Homestead

The post Upcycling on the Homestead appeared first on Homestead.org.

The years sorting, hauling, and selling apples gave Donnie a special love of apple varieties and flavors.  When I met him, I guess I considered a store-bought Golden Delicious to be the height of the apple experience.  Now I eat homemade applesauce for supper every night, and the names of the apples that comprise it are exotic to my ears.  Friends and even strangers who have tried our homemade applesauce marvel that it contains no added sugar, no cinnamon, nothing but The Apple.  I recall an orchardist from upstate New York we met at a party swearing we must have put sugar in the apples we brought for potluck, but Donnie set him straight: they were Yorks, a type the fellow had never eaten.

Recently, a friend asked Donnie for his “recipe” for applesauce, so he composed this handy guide.  It really isn’t a “recipe” in the ordinary sense of the word, because there is only a single ingredient.  It’s more like a journey, from raw to cooked to tummy.  Yummy!

Donnie’s Homemade Applesauce

“Barbara and I process and can several bushels of apples each year.  If anyone ever eats real honest-to-goodness, homemade applesauce they will never again be satisfied with that yellowish-green gritty pulp that is passed off as applesauce at the store.”

Step 1: Acquire Apples.

Apples originated in the Garden of Eden, which, as every schoolboy knows, is located in Kazakstan or thereabouts.  They spread far and wide, preferring a cool climate.  There have been thousands of named varieties of apples in America alone, but only a few varieties are now commonly available.  Unfortunately, people generally buy apples with their eyes, and many tasty but less attractive varieties are hard to find.  In fact, we have lost a multitude of varieties to the so-called “demands” of the marketplace.

Question: who “demands” watery, tasteless apples with inedibly thick, shiny skins?

Apple season generally runs from mid-August through November (this year, because of the heat, apples are finishing earlier – better start your search now!).  Varieties ripen at different times in this period so a good sauce-apple in September may not be available in November.  We can our apples over three months, enough for the year.

You should choose tart apples.  Some of the commonly available good sauce-apples are Jonathan, Macintosh, Stamen Winesap, and, my favorite, York.  Local Golden Delicious are okay but they tend to be a little chunky when cooked (many like them for pies).  Avoid sweet apples such as Red Delicious, Gala and Fuji.  You can mix two or more varieties for specific flavors.  A delicious combo we hit on last year by chance was a mix of Wolf Rivers and Rusty Coats (Rusty Coats are a variety grown in the Brushy Mountains).  If you’re going to can apples, buy at least a peck, or preferably a bushel.  It is not cost-effective to buy in supermarkets where they are sold by the pound.  A farmers market that sells local produce can be a good place to buy.  We’re lucky to live a few miles from the orchard country of southern Virginia so we have a pretty good range of choice.

Step 2: Peel, Core and Slice.

This is the part that most probably dread but I find it rather pleasant.  I just get my apples and equipment, put on some good Bluegrass music and get to work.  For equipment, one could get by with a paring knife and a bowl.  A mechanical apple peeler is a big help to make the job speedier (we bought ours from Lehman’s Non-Electric catalog, the Amish store).

A hand vegetable peeler also works quite well. A corer is a blessing.

But, regardless what else one has, a good paring knife is essential. These last three are available in most stores that carry kitchen items. I also use a cutting board, a bowl and a bath towel. I spread a bath towel out on the table and put all of my other items on it. It makes cleaning up the mess much easier. I use the removable bowl from a slow cooker to put the apple slices in.

When you have all of this stuff on the table and ready, grab an apple and peel it.  Then cut slices off of it down to the core (the corer does this for you).

Throw the slices into the bowl. Discard the core and peelings (great for compost!). You can use the peelings to make pectin but you won’t need pectin for this process. If a stray piece of peeling, core or seed make it into the bowl don’t worry about it. If it is eaten, this too will pass.

Step 3: Cook the Applesauce.

Now, you can do this the easy way or the hard way.  The easy way is in a slow cooker or crock-pot.  The hard way is all of the other ways, and I’m not going to go into that.  If you don’t have a slow cooker, then go buy one.  If you can’t afford a new one, go to the Salvation Army Store or Goodwill and you will surely find an inexpensive one.  Insert the slow cooker bowl into the cooker.  DO NOT ADD WATER.  Let me repeat.  DO NOT ADD WATER.  On most slow cookers one has a choice of low and high.  High will cook the apples in two to four hours.  Low will cook them in six to eight hours.  I generally set mine on low just before I go to bed.  The next morning—Voila!—Hot cooked apples for breakfast!

Now a very important advisory: when cooking most of the juice settles to bottom, and the juice contains most of the flavor, so stir the pot well. This juice, the natural outcome of cooking, is why you never need to add water. As an aside, someone that lives in the same house as I do used to misappropriate some of the juice. I caught her at it once, and though she tells me that she doesn’t do it anymore, I have my suspicions.

You may have noticed that apples are the only ingredient that I have used.  I forgot nothing.  Most apples prepared this way do not need sugar.  I don’t care for spices on my apples so I did not include any.  So, after stirring, taste the apples.  Be careful: they will be very hot.  Let the flavor settle on your soul before you head for the sugar jar or the spice rack.  If they need a little sugar or if you like spices, now would be an appropriate time to add.  However, if you plan to can them you may wish to wait until you are ready to consume them to add the extras.  They will taste even better later, so it’s unlikely they will need enhancement.

Here’s a wonderful way to enjoy your hot, freshly cooked apples: crumble buttered toast into a bowl of hot homemade applesauce.  Wait a few minutes for it to cool and for the toast to soften from the moisture.  Eat.

Step 4: Prepare for Canning.

Now that you have your homemade applesauce cooked, it is time for canning.  I do not know why it is not called “jarring.”  Do this while your sauce is still hot.  Spoilage is caused by air-born microorganisms taking up residence and rapidly begetting in wet organic material such as applesauce.  Another component that causes food deterioration is oxygen.  The canning process kills microorganisms, restricts oxygen, and places a barrier between the sterile product and the natural environment.  Home apple canning is done with a water bath, a pressure cooker or a steam canner.  Someone in our family is afraid of pressure cookers, and the hot water bath method requires a lot of water and therefore a lot of electricity to heat the water.

The steam canner is the easiest we have found (another purchase inspired by the frugal Amish).  Because you are working with hot material you will also need gloves or potholders, tongs, jar lifters, a magnet (pliers will also work) and a ladle.  A jar funnel is helpful but not required.  All these items can be bought as a set.

Math lesson: Canning jars come in quart, pint, and half-pint sizes.  A six-quart slow cooker full of raw apples will cook down to about half, so you can get about three quarts or six pints from a six-quart crock-pot.  The most our steamer holds is six quart jars; a bath holds seven.  Most stores sell jars by the dozen and they generally come with the rings and lids.  I like to use the wide-mouth jars because they are easier.  One can reuse jars and rings but always use new lids.  There is no reason to take a chance on a jar full of sauce spoiling because you tried to save a few cents on lids.

A US bushel of apples weighs 48 pounds. A bushel of apples yields about 12 quarts.

5.  Prepare/sterilize the jars, lids, and rings.

Put water in your canner or steamer.  If you’re using a bath put in enough water to cover the upright jars by two or three inches.  For a steamer, use enough water so that it will not boil away (about three inches, or just up to the gird that the jars will sit on).  Place clean jars UPSIDE DOWN in the container.

Bring the water to a boil.  Adjust the heat so that the water will barely bubble.  Remember, you cannot change the boiling point of water by much, but you can speed up the process by using a lid to prevent heat loss, so be sure to use lids.   After the water starts boiling, leave the jars in about twenty minutes.  While you are waiting on your jars, put the lids and rings in a saucepan covered with water and bring to a gentle simmer.

6.  Fill the jars and cook the applesauce.

Now, your sauce jars lids and rings are very very hot; it is time for the coup de grace.  Before you start, be warned that everything is HOT and hot stuff can hurt you.  WEAR YOUR GLOVES!  Take the lid off your steamer or bath with the opening away from you so that you don’t get a face full of steam.  Remove one jar.  If you are using a water bath canner you may need the jar lifter for this.  For a steamer, gloves will sufficient.

Set the jar upright near your well-stirred applesauce.  If you have a jar funnel place it in the jar.  Ladle the hot homemade applesauce from the crock-pot into the jar.  Fill to about one-half inch from top.  You can shake the jar a little to settle the sauce so you can get more in it.

Now remove a lid and ring from the boiling water in saucepan. Tongs, magnet or pliers are useful for this. Again, WEAR YOUR GLOVES. With a cloth or paper towel, wipe the rim of the jar to make sure that it is clean. Place the lid rubber side down on the jar. Take the ring and turn it granny-hand tight, not mechanic-hand super-tight. Repeat this process until you are out of applesauce. If your last jar is only partially full, just refrigerate it for eating soon.

Put the full, lidded jars RIGHT SIDE UP back in the canner or steamer – use the jar lifters or WEAR YOUR GLOVES.  You may need to replenish the water since some of it will have boiled away in the first, sterilizing, process.  Bring the water to a boil for half an hour.  Turn off the stove, remove the jars and set them on a dishtowel on the counter to drip and cool off.  After a while you will hear the lids pop.  This is the weight of the atmosphere pushing down on the lids, thereby sealing the jars.  When the jars have cooled to room temperature, push down on the center of each lid with your finger.  If it does not move, your jar is sealed.  However, if the lid goes down and springs back with a pop, that jar is not sealed.  You can re-process using a new lid or just set it in the refrigerator for eating.

If you want to, you can now remove the rings.  Back when money was tight and people did a lot of canning they would only buy a few rings and use the same ones over and over all season long.  However, when you open a jar of homemade applesauce, if you do not consume the entire amount, you’ll need the ring for storing the unused portion in the fridge.

WARNING: The hot bath and steamer canning methods are acceptable for apples, peaches, tomatoes and other fruits with a high acid content.  THESE METHODS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE FOR LOW ACID FOODS SUCH AS BEANS, SQUASH AND MOST VEGETABLES.  LOW ACID FOOD CANNED BY THE HOT WATER BATH OR STEAMER METHOD CAN CAUSE SICKNESS OR DEATH.

Our grandchildren love our homemade applesauce and expect us to bring them a jar when we visit. Last year we taught two of them, at their request, the secrets of making it, and they got to eat the results. Note also: a quart or two of applesauce is a great potluck contribution or house gift. Last year we put applesauce in decorative pint jars with red and white lids and gave them out for Christmas.

Apples are another of Mother Nature’s gifts that keep on giving.  From the cool days of fall to the dead of winter, and all the way through the summer (if you “put up” enough jars) you can have hot homemade applesauce for breakfast (Donnie’s fave) and cold applesauce on the supper plate as a condiment (that’s what I like best – soooo good with cornbread).

The post Homemade Applesauce: Accept No Substitutes! appeared first on Homestead.org.

These instructions are based on the Kenyan top-bar hive popularised by Phil Chandler of Biobees.  This is a basic guide with a few suggestions of “upgrades” and really is a woodworking project of the simplest kind.

Build List

Sides: wooden planks or boards or 25mm thick (1”), 300mm wide (~12”) which can be formed from two 150mm or three 300mm and 1220mm long (48”).  915mm (36”) is an option but if you are in any way successful you will wish you had built a bigger one.

Ends: wooden planks or boards or 25mm thick (1”), 300mm wide (~12”, formed as above), 450mm long (~17 ¾“).

Legs (if wanted): four 100mm x 50mm (4” x 2”) at a length comfortable to you.  Approx.  800mm (31 ½”) works for me.

Top bars: 430mm x 38mm x 25mm (17” x 1 ½” x 1”)

Mesh floor: Mesh with gaps of ~2 mm (8 holes per linear inch).  Stainless steel options are available from custom wire-mesh suppliers specifically for top-bar hives at around £25 for 5 (~$42) already cut to size.  Alternatively, aluminium craft mesh can work well at a lower cost, though it is less badger resistant.  (Although a mesh is recommended some prefer just using a solid floor in which case ignore.  The “ecofloor” which is growing in popularity also does not require the mesh).

Winter floor: 1220mm x 180mm x 25mm (48” x 7” x 1”)

Follower boards: three plywood or wooden boards attached to top bar.  A board 890mm x 280mm (35” x 11”) will make three follower boards.

Roof: 50mm x 50mm (2” x 2″).  I recommend making this on the hive so the lengths are based on what is required for a snug fit.  Approximately two 505mm and two 1220mm.  25mm x 50mm (1” x 2”) is acceptable depending in preference and local weather conditions.

Sundries: Wood screws, nails, waterproof wood-glue, M8 nuts and bolts for leg attachment.  Raw linseed oil and beeswax for weatherproofing.

~~~~~~~~~~

Top bars are the de facto top of the hive.  When making top bars it is important to include a comb guide of some kind.  This tells the bees where they should be building their comb otherwise they will build it across the top bars sticking them together and making it impossible for you to get them apart and get at the honey.

There are lots of ways to do this and I have given an example of four in the picture below:

1.  My preferred method, and the one championed by Phil Chandler (of Biobees fame), is using a wooden strip either a half round or triangle.  These are easily made with a table-saw or band-saw if you have one.  Nail along the middle of the top bar and rub with beeswax as a primer.  The bees like to attach to the lowest point so will, in theory, follow the line of the dowel.

2.  The method named by Wyatt Mangum (author of 200 Top-bar Hives) as the gold standard for keeping straight comb.  You buy standard wax foundation and cut into thin strips.  You then melt the bottom edge of the strips to the top-bar (a soldering iron works a treat).  This is made easier if you can cut a groove into the top bar first.  This is a very quick way of doing lots of top-bars but has the drawback of you having to buy something!  There is also a small danger that the bees will not initially reinforce the join to the top-bar making it more likely to break off if you handle it wrong.

3.  The simplest method, but probably the least reliable for straight comb.  Cut a groove, melt some wax, poor it in.  Done!

4.  A variation on 1, if you can’t/don’t want to cut dowel strips, glue some lolly-sticks (popsicle-sticks) in place and then rub beeswax on them.  If you really are making this hive with minimal tools and want the lowest-tech option, McCartney Taylor (Founder of “Learning Beekeeping” on YouTube) uses pieces of string soaked in beeswax and tacked onto the top-bar in a straight line.  No power tools required.  I haven’t tried this myself but it seems to be successful for him.  It may seem like I have spent a disproportionate amount of time on the top-bars, but, to the bees, this IS the hive.  The rest is weather-proofing.  This is the part the bees attach comb to and live on.  If there is a problem in the rest of the hive (provided the bees survive) you can lift out the top bars with the comb and bees in place and put them in another box.  Straight comb makes your life easier, and correctly spaced comb makes the bees life easier.

I have listed 38mm (1 ½“) as the top-bar width but some people use 34mm or 36mm and use 6mm spacers in honey areas so the bees can make that comb wider.  This depends partially on preference and partially on type of bee.  I recommend starting with 38mm (1 ½“) and working it out from there.

Follower boards are required to enable you to section off the colony into a smaller area of your top-bar hive.  This means they do not have to heat the entire hive all the time, and it also allows you to make splits or maintain more than one colony in the same hive.  Follower boards can also be used to adapt entrances, add feeders, and in a full hive, it may be the only bar you can remove.  The follower board is essentially a top-bar with a board the exact internal dimensions of your hive attached.  This can be made most easily by using a piece of plywood, or by fixing planks of wood together to provide a sufficiently wide board.  Using an 280mm (11”) wide board/sheet, measure alternating 381mm (15”) and 127mm (5”) (see illustration below).  Then cut along the diagonals and you have a board roughly the internal dimensions of your hive.  This can then be attached to a top bar.

The bottom will likely need some trimming to size (especially with a mesh bottom).  Depending on the boards your hive is made from (my first was reclaimed timber and not particularly straight), your follower board may or may not fit well.  It is important the follower board fits snugly, but do NOT panic!  There is quite often some gapping, this is normal.  I make up for this by placing a tape “skirt” around the edges, helping plug the gaps.  I know other horizontal-hive beekeepers who use a piece of corrugated cardboard, slightly larger than the follower board, stuck behind to deal with this issue.  If you’re keeping more than one colony in a hive, it is best to have two follower boards in between them.

By making the follower boards first you can now flip them upside down and use them as a jig for putting together your hive.  Lay your hive sides on follower boards and you have the dimensions you require.  You can now place your end board in place and screw them on.  This provides the correct gap for the top bars to be flush with the top of the hive end (see below).

The bottom will likely need some trimming to size (especially with a mesh bottom).  Depending on the boards your hive is made from (my first was reclaimed timber and not particularly straight), your follower board may or may not fit well.  It is important the follower board fits snugly, but do NOT panic!  There is quite often some gapping, this is normal.  I make up for this by placing a tape “skirt” around the edges, helping plug the gaps.  I know other horizontal-hive beekeepers who use a piece of corrugated cardboard, slightly larger than the follower board, stuck behind to deal with this issue.  If you’re keeping more than one colony in a hive, it is best to have two follower boards in between them.

By making the follower boards first you can now flip them upside down and use them as a jig for putting together your hive.  Lay your hive sides on follower boards and you have the dimensions you require.  You can now place your end board in place and screw them on.  This provides the correct gap for the top bars to be flush with the top of the hive end (see below).

Placing hive sides onto follower boards to attach ends gives correct top-bar spacing for the ends.

Once the ends are in place you can attach your mesh bottom by simply screwing into place.  The slant on the board give a convex shape to the mesh which can allow a tighter fit for the follower boards and a small air gap between the mesh and the winter bottom.  If you prefer to go with the solid bottom it would be worth planning the slant to give a flat level edge to receive the solid bottom and provide a snugger fit and better heat retention.

 Legs are not essential and some people choose to build a hive without legs.  This is useful if you are intending to build separate hive stands, allowing you to move hives between them.  The aforementioned Wyatt Magnum has hive stands the height of his truck’s flatbed so he can easily slide them on or off between the stands.  However, for most home-hivers who are keeping their hives in permanent locations, fitting legs is the sensible option.  These can be any length that is comfortable for you.  I have made them so they are the right height for a wheelchair.  I generally make them around 900mm long (~35 ½“) for me (I am 6’ 1” tall), but then I have also just cut a piece of wood I had into four equals lengths.  The legs also form the ledge on which the lid/roof rests, so, fitting them equally is important.

I fit the legs so that, once fitted, the ledge created to receive the roof frame is 25-30mm (1 3/16“) from the top of the hive end.  This is best achieved by standing the hive on its end (as shown in the previous picture) and clamping both legs into position.  Next, drill two holes for each to receive your M8 bolts.  The top bolt will go through into the hive, the lower bolt will go through the hive end outside the hive (see below).  Once fitted, cut the leg tops level, and its ready to receive the roof frame.

Roofing the top-bar hive is really where you can get creative, should you want to.  As I said, the top bars are the de facto top of the hive.  The roof is just a weather cover so can be as simple or elaborate as you want.  Having said that, there are quite a few advantages to doing a little more work at this point.  To make the rectangular roof frame, I measure each hive end and cut the end parts of the frame to fit, plus an additional 5mm clearance (just over 1/8“).  So, the ends are 450mm (width of hive end) + 5mm = 455mm.  But do put the lengths on the hive and mark the “actual” size then add 5mm.  If you then flip the hive over and rest the legs on these lengths you can then easily screw the front and back of the roof frame into place.  This ensures that if your wood isn’t completely straight, or your cuts aren’t square you still have a roof that a) you can get on and off of the hive, and b) will keep the weather out, but stay on when it’s windy.

At this point, if you want to, you can screw a panel to the roof frame.  Either a piece of ply, political signage, or some corrugated tin.  Since the legs on which the roof frame will rest is 25-30mm down (1 – 1 3/16”) using 50mm x 50mm timber (2” x 2”) gives you sufficient clearance above the top-bars to fit a piece of insulation to stop both loss of heat and heat gain.

The sun on a flat roof in hot climates may well result in comb collapse without a piece of insulation.  My preference is to pitch the roof.  This isn’t a lot more work and creates a much more weather proof design.  The pitch provides an air gap as insulation, a place to put additional insulation in the winter, and a place for a top-bar feeder.  In my part of the world it can also get very windy.  A pitched roof is much less likely to blow off in the wind and will also reduce the chances of the hive blowing over (in the same way a spoiler pushes the back-end of your car down).

It is very easy to provide a pitch for your roof.  All you need is a piece of 100mm x 25mm (4” x 1”), you then cut it the length of your hive end and draw two diagonal lines from the bottom corner to the top middle of the board giving you two right-angle triangles and a large isosceles triangle (see diagram).  Cut along these lines you have one pitched end, and by fixing the two right-angle triangles together you get the other pitched end.

Glue and nail these to the end of the roof frame and you can use either a panel on each side, or I use feather-edge fencing strips as they are cheap and easily replaced.  I now also place hinges on the roof to make things a little easier but this is another optional extra.

That is your hive finished except for one very important thing: your bees need a way in!  The entrance is another part that can be as complicated or simple as you like.  By far the easiest entrance is just drilling three 25mm (1”) holes in the hive body 25mm (1”) above the hive floor.  These can be in the end or in the side depending on preference.  I have switched entirely to end entrances as this means for my long hives I can have one colony in each end, making in-hive splits easier.

There many and more entrance variations, I mostly now use periscope entrances.  This is an entrance by which the bees enter low on the outside and emerge high on the inside.  This has advantages in heat retention, reducing wind cooling the hive, making the hive more defendable to wasps and the like, and potentially reducing mite-drop from brood onto entering bees.  The periscope entrance can be most easily achieved by simply placing a follower board on the inside with three more drilled at the top.  This has the added advantage of giving you access to the front of the colony when you want it, without having to move all the top bars along beforehand.

All that is left is a coating of weatherproofing.  Many people use standard wood preservers but the preferred method by the natural beekeeping community is using raw linseed oil with beeswax melted into it (approx. 10:1 raw linseed oil to beeswax ratio).  Make sure you do not add this to the inside of the hive (the bees will weatherproof that for you).  A few coats of this and you are good to go, hive finished and ready to receive bees (see “Bees for Free!” for a how to).

References and Links:

Wyatt Mangum’s website: http://www.tbhsbywam.com/

Phil Chandler’s site and hive plans: http://www.biobees.com/build-a-beehive-free-plans.php

Michael Bush’s Site and hive plans: http://www.bushfarms.com/beestopbarhives.htm

McCartney Taylor’s website and youtube guides: http://learningbeekeeping.com/beekeeping-articles/top-bar-hive-design-plans/

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