When space is tight and the demand for food is high, vertical farms might be the best answer. Check out this piece from PBS on the subject.
Here are some fun facts about vertical farms. If you are interested in building your own vertical farm, https://homesteaderdepot.com/supports-for-vertical-gardens-infographic/here are some alternative or unique supports you could use to get started.
Pemmican is a dehydrated survival superfood that is nutritionally complete and incredibly long-lasting. It is made with nothing else but lean meat, tallow, and berries. It was invented by the North American Plains Indians, as a way 
to store the meat through the winter. It quickly caught on with early Frontiersmen and even British explorers who prized the high nutritional value and portability of pemmican. It’s effortless to make, and you can do so using ingredients that are easy to find and equipment you already have in your kitchen.
The recipe for pemmican is from the book ‘The Lost Ways’, which is an 
eye-opening guide to survival arts we have long forgotten. The SHTF situation we are preparing for, was everyday life for folks who lived 150 years ago.
Many DIY survival foods involve complicated ingredients and are rarely nutritionally complete. But pemmican has all the nutrients you need.
Click the link below to learn how to make it, and in no time you’ll have yourself a hearty ration of all you’ll need to keep yourself and your family alive.
Are you sick and tired of the high-priced shampoos that are on the market today? You want to be self-sufficient, but you still keep on buying those shampoos because you need to keep your hair clean. What if you could make your own shampoo? Think about the benefits that can provide.
Benefits of Homemade Shampoo
First, when you have homemade shampoo, you’re not going to be spending as much money on those expensive brands in the store or at the salon. Consider how
much money you spend on shampoo each year for your entire family.
A bottle of high-quality shampoo can cost between $10 and $15 per bottle. Of course, there are some that are much more. For the purpose of this example, we will say that you are buying shampoo that’s about $10 a bottle, and you’re going through two of those bottles each month for your entire family. That’s only $20 a month, but it equates to $240 per year. You can surely find a better way to spend that money.
In addition to saving money, you will know exactly what ingredients are going into the shampoo. This means you don’t have to worry about unpronounceable chemicals being placed on you and your family. When you look at the recipe we’ve included here, you will see just how easy it is to keep your hair clean and to keep all those chemicals at bay.
The Simplest Recipe
This is going to be one of the simplest shampoo recipes – or any recipe for that matter – you’ll ever find. It’s been around for quite a while, and it works well.
You need to have one tablespoon of baking soda and 1 cup of water. Mix those two ingredients together, and put in an old shampoo bottle. That’s all there is to it. Once you’ve made the shampoo, you just have to shake the bottle, little dab on your hand, and wash your hair just as you normally would. It’s good for any type of hair, and you don’t have to worry about stripping away the natural oils.
Once again, baking soda has proven to be one of the best items that any homesteader can have on hand. If you want to make sure you’re saving the most money, then you might want to buy in bulk. This way, you can use the baking soda for other tasks as well, including cleaning and brushing your teeth.
Getting Fancy
While the preceding recipe is very simple and it is all that most people are ever going to need, you might want to treat yourself to something a little bit different once in a while. To do that, you can add a bit of essential oils to the shampoo mixture to give it some scent. You can also add in a teaspoon of honey.
As long as you are using natural ingredients, you can add quite a few different things to the shampoo and still keep it safe to use for any type of hair and any type of skin.
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A lot of people think that living the homesteader lifestyle means giving up on modern amenities, like mosquito repellent. While you might not be buying chemical-heavy sprays like others, though, you don’t actually have to just sit back and let mosquitoes and other bugs take over your life. In fact, there are a lot of highly effective natural ways to keep those bugs away from you, your home, and your garden.
Grab a spray bottle and fill it halfway with distilled water. Fill it the rest of the way with witch hazel, and then add about 50-60 drops of rosemary, eucalyptus, or clove oil. Shake it up, and spray it on your skin. It’ll leave you feeling refreshed, and it’ll keep insects away, as well.
Almost all insects are repelled by rosemary, making it a great herb to plant in your yard. You can plant it around your garden to keep pests out, and you can plant it around your patio or your fire pit to create a bug-free zone in the yard. Other good plants for this purpose include catnip, mint, citronella, and wormwood.
If you’re trying to keep pests out of the garden, including insects, slugs, and snails, crush up eggshells and spread them around the bases of your plants. This makes it difficult for the pests to traverse the ground to get to the plants, and they’ll soon go looking elsewhere for food.
Finally, if bugs keep getting in your home, try spreading cedar mulch around the outside of the house. Much like rosemary, this deters pests and will make them want to go somewhere else.
Try out one or all of these tips to enjoy a bug-free living and gardening space in and around your home.
Whether you just want to make your weekend camping trip a little more comfortable, or you want to prepare for a homey camping experience in case of a disaster situation, there are many ways that you can make camping feel more like home. These methods don’t involve spending thousands of dollars on luxury 
camping items, or carrying far too much weight as you pack everything and the kitchen sink. But just a few simple touches around your campsite can make a huge difference.
When you can, and when it doesn’t add too much weight to your gear, try to incorporate soft fabric in your campsite. A tablecloth over the picnic table, a small rug just inside the tent where you step in with your bare feet, and sheets or blankets from your home that you use with your sleeping bags can make your campsite feel more cozy and relaxed.
Related Article: “Campsite Chores for Kids”
Try to expand the “living space” by laying out a large tarp, or even a large outdoor rug, in front of your tent. While it doesn’t actually create any more space than was already there, it does trick our minds into believing that the defined living space is larger and designed specifically for us. If you have a large overhead tarp over your tent, try to find one that is big enough to cover some area to the front of the tent as well, to create a “porch” for your temporary home.
Finally, don’t be afraid to bring a sentimental, decorative item or two – a scented candle, a lawn ornament, or some fun lanterns strung around the area can make it feel more like “you”. Add some chairs or a comfortable hammock, and you may find that leaving your campsite is harder than you thought.
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Look at the lists below, so you know which produce should be grown at home or given extra care when washing or preparing them.
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If you’re getting started with a family homestead, one of the things you’ll have to learn very quickly is how to delegate. Even a small farm takes a ton of work, and one person can’t do it all. Whether you pay an allowance, or simply make chores a part of learning life skills, your
kids should be a part of caring for your family homestead. If you have younger children, there are still plenty of ways that they can help out around the farm.
Pre-School Aged Children
While you may have to help 2- or 3-year-olds with some of the delicate jobs, getting kids started young is a great way to help them get interested in the world around them. Doing simple chores beside you as you do your own allows them to learn, develop motor and language skills, and spend some quality time with you. They can:
• Pull weeds (with direction)
• Collect eggs
• Plant seeds and help water plants
• Help feed and water smaller animals (calm family pets are a good place to start)
• Pick up sticks or rocks from the yard or garden
• Sweep leaves or dirt off the walkway or patio
Elementary Aged Children
As children grow past the age of five, they can often begin taking on more responsibility with less direction. Anything listed above should be chores they can do on their own by now. Additionally, they could also:
• Feed and water animals
• Rake the yard
• Assist with laundry
• Clean small animal pens
• Bathe animals
• Harvest vegetables
Middle School Aged Children and Up
By the age of 10, children can:
• Mow the yard
• Help build or repair fences or enclosures
• Milk animals
• Clean large animal pens
• Hang laundry unassisted
• Assist with medical care for animals
• Operate machinery
Every child is different, so it’s important to allow your child to move up in responsibility only as their development allows. These lists should give you a good idea of how easy daily homestead management can be when your whole family pitches in.
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I love watching people build things. I get lost watching people use techniques that have been refined over generations. Watch this master of his craft create a weapon that has been used to conquer and defend millions of people for centuries…
If you are looking for something a little more practical and DIY, I would suggest checking out the PVC builds of long bows. For a relatively small cost you can build your own accurate and effective long bow (but it won’t be as beautiful as the one this film)…
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