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Homesteading – Page 44 – Homesteader Depot

Homesteader Depot

Category: Homesteading

  • Pineapple

    Pineapple

     

    Pineapples are a fruit that requires some patience to grow, but not much else.  If you buy pineapples from the store and have a spare container lying around you already have everything you need to grow your own pineapples.  Here are some simple instructions for how you can grow delicious pineapples in your backyard garden.

     

    1. When you cut up a pineapple to eat it, save the top section with leaves. Remove all of the sweet flesh from the top, any leftover flesh will rot while you are trying to root it and will hinder the rooting process.
    2. Place the top, with all flesh removed, in a container with water so that the bottom of it is submerged. Change the water every day or so until you have roots about an inch long.
    3. Transplant the rooted pineapple top into a container (or if you live in a warm enough zone that never sees frost you can put it in the ground). You should use a container that is at least 10 gallons.  Since the pineapple leaves are spiky, you won’t want to be reaching in a weeding it out later so mulch it well.
    4. Pineapples like rich soil with plenty of drainage. Make sure to add cinders or perlite to help promote easy drainage.
    5. Give your pineapple all the sun that you can and water it regularly. It will need to be composted every growing season and may take more than 2 years to produce its first fruit.
    6. After your pineapple has fruited, you can further propagate it by using the top of the new fruit, and the plant should produce a new growth that can be rooted. You can remove it carefully to root it, or you can first bury it and water it until it produces roots in place.

    Pineapples are not for the impatient gardener, but they are easy to grow and provide a unique look to your garden that can be complemented by planting succulents and aloe around them.

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  • Learn DIY Repair for the Homestead

    Learn DIY Repair for the Homestead

    If you are a homesteader, you need to invest time and effort in learning to do quite a few things that you may never have imagined yourself doing. In addition to taking care of livestock, growing food, and hunting for food, you also need to take care of many repairs around the house. When you have a piece of property, large or small, things are going to go wrong. You will eventually need to have repairs.

    People are not born as a jack of all trades who know how to fix everything. It is accumulated knowledge, and everyone needs to start accumulating that knowledge at some point. You might as well start now. Fortunately, you have quite a few options when it comes to learning today.

    Talk with friends and neighbors about some of the things that you might want to learn and that they know. Maybe one of your neighbors knows how to work on cars. You can ask if they will teach you a few things the next time they are working on a car. Someone else might know how to replace tile on a roof or how to fix the fence so the racoons will stop getting into the yard. In addition, you can find plenty of videos on YouTube, as well as good old-fashioned books that can provide you with the knowledge you need.

    Keep in mind that you shouldn’t just keep your learning limited to DIY repairs. As a homesteader, the more you know how to do the better off you will be. Learn to make your own soap, learn to make candles, learn to hunt and fish, and more. In addition to learning the theory behind all these things, it is important to put it into practice so you actually know how to do it.

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  • Are You Making Prepper Mistakes?

    Are You Making Prepper Mistakes?

    If you are into learning how to survive and prepping, you read as much as you can on the subject, and you are generally willing to work hard to make sure you have everything you need when it comes to living after the SHTF. Of course, many out there do not take any steps beyond buying some “cool” and interesting gear, some freeze-dried food, and maybe some water. Those who fall into this latter category could be making some serious prepper mistakes.

    One of the big issues is people buying supplies and then never bothering to rotate through them. If something has a shelf life of five years, you should use it before those five years are up. You need to learn to rotate your supplies. Buy new and use the old. You can’t just buy it and forget it when it comes to things like food and water.

    Another problem people have is forgetting to resupply their items. If you have a first aid kit that you have been taking from over the last year, and you never bothered to resupply it, when the SHTF, you could be in trouble. What if you have a lot of ammo, but you decide to go out to the woods or the range to do some target shooting? You need to resupply that ammo so you have it when you need it.

    One of the other problems comes from preppers and survivalists who have all of the gear they think they need to survive, but they have no practical knowledge of how to use it. They have items they have never used or tried and simply bought them because it seemed like the thing to do. You need to know how to use all of your supplies, and you need to increase your knowledge well beyond what the supplies offer with real world skills.

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  • Cats as Pest Control on the Homestead

    Cats as Pest Control on the Homestead

     

    Homesteaders often find that they are at odds with a range of different pests, including rodents. You can find different methods to use when it comes to controlling those rodents. Some might use traps, while others might use poison. This tends to be a losing battle though. The traps are not likely to kill as many mice or rats as you have, and the poison could end up hurting your other animals or even getting into your food supply somehow.

    Using Barn Cats

    One of the best natural and truly organic ways to deal with your mouse problem is to have some cats on the property. Cats, so long as they are not soft house cats that have never seen the outdoors, can do a good job of helping you with your pest control problem. Just a couple of good barn cats can help to keep the levels of mice, rats, moles, voles, squirrels and other rodents to a minimum.

    The best option is to raise the animal from a kitten. Ideally, the mother would have been a barn cat as well and will have imparted some of her knowledge to the kitten before you get it. Those that are part of a lineage of cats raised in barns tend to have more of a killer instinct, as well.

    When you are keeping your kittens in the barn, during the first few weeks, confine them to a relatively small area that has a bed for them, as well as a litter box. This shows them that this is their area, their home, and they are less likely to wander away for long periods.

    Keeping the Cats Safe

    Just as the cats can prey on the mice and other rodents, you do have to be careful of some animals preying on your cats. This includes things such as foxes and coyotes, so be sure you have methods in place for keeping those predators off your property. Having some large guard dogs, good fences, and a shotgun ready to go is often enough to deter these types of predators, and it can help to keep all your animals safe.

    Not All Cats

    Here’s something important you need to realize – even though cats in cartoons tend to have it out for mice and birds, some cats are simply too lazy to care. This means that not all cats are going to be great barn cats, and you might still be overrun with rodents. In those instances, you can find some other methods of keeping the pests out of your home, barn, and other areas. You could also try another cat, or get some help from the professionals.

    Keep in mind though that if you are a homesteader living in a rural area, the battle against pests will be ongoing. Even if you have pros come in and remove all the pests from your property, they will come back. This is why having some good barn cats that are always on duty is your best bet.

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  • Be Aware of Bears on Your Property

    Be Aware of Bears on Your Property

    When you are homesteading, and living out in a rural area, you need to contend with all the wild animals that also happen to live in that location. You could have coyotes, foxes, and plenty of other critters that might want to get up to no good on your property. However, some that can be particularly dangerous and ornery given the right circumstances, are bears. All bears have the potential to be dangerous, and you need to do some things that will help dissuade them from coming onto your property. Here are some tips.

    First, you need to make sure you have a secure place to keep your garbage until you are ready to take it to the landfill. It should be kept in a locked shed located away from the house. Do not trust the bear-proof garbage cans, as they are not always as “bear-proof” as they claim. Garbage attracts bears, and it is one of the most common causes of conflict between bears and humans.

    If you have livestock on your property, you will also want to do a good job of managing the animal feed that you have. The feed needs to be stored away from the animals and in a secure, locked shed. Do not overfeed the livestock either, as this extra food could end up attracting the bears. If you have pets, feed them indoors.

    Never store food outside. It can be tempting to get an outside freezer or chest to store extra meat from your hunts. However, as soon as the bears get a whiff of this, they will be heading to your property.

    Finally, consider electric fences to stop the bears from getting onto your property in the first place. Bears are no laughing matter, and they always have the potential to be dangerous. Use caution.

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  • Survival Skills You Need Now

    Survival Skills You Need Now

    Do you have all the survival skills you need? Would you be able to survive if the world as we know it were to implode tomorrow? While you might have some skills that others are lacking, you might not have everything you need to survive. Just because you know how to read a compass and fire a rifle doesn’t mean you are going to live. You need to start acquiring more skills, and you need to start sooner rather than later.

    Medical training is very important. You don’t have to become a doctor or a nurse, but you should learn first aid and get some emergency medical training. You never know what you might have to face in a survival scenario.

    Learn to use firearms, learn to trap and hunt, and learn to skin and butcher animals. Learn basic gardening skills, and learn how to can and prepare food. Sewing classes can come in quite handy as well, as you will learn how to mend your clothing.

    Learn how to drive a stick shift. If you don’t already know how to drive stick, it’s time to learn. It will take an afternoon or two to get the basics down, but it is a good skill to know. Also, learn basic mechanical skills that go a bit beyond just changing a tire. Having some basic knowledge of how engines work can come in handy.

    These are some of the skills we feel are very important, but they aren’t the only ones you should learn by a long shot. Start with these and then start considering other skills that you can start learning. No matter how much you know, you should never stop learning. In addition, share your knowledge with others so they have a better chance of surviving as well.

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  • Wheatgrass  

    Wheatgrass  

    This time of year, even those that are living in a warmer zone are experiencing declining harvests in the garden.  Adding a layer of protection can help, but if you haven’t already done this it’s a little too late.  The good news is that even if you haven’t protected your crops from the cold, or even if you haven’t started a garden at all yet, you can still enjoy the health benefits of dark leafy greens this time of year thanks to wheatgrass.  Here are some of the nutritional facts, and basic growing and harvesting instructions for wheatgrass.

     

    • If you purchase wheatgrass seeds from your health food store in bulk the price is not quite as high as if you are purchasing small amounts.
    • Measure out the desired amount and place it in a canning jar, cover it with water and put a breathable lid on. Change the water out every 12 hours for a day or so until you see the sprouts.
    • Once the wheat has spouted, it can be placed in a shallow tray or pie tin with potting soil, keep the soil moist and place it in a location where it can get the most sun possible. You can speed its growth with a CFL, though this should be used a supplement and not it’s primary light.
    • When the blades spilt into two is when they are ready for harvesting.
    • To harvest your wheatgrass simply cut a clump with a pair of scissors and juice it. You should be able to get three harvests from one crop, though the last harvest will probably not taste as good since the sugar levels might be lower.
    • Wheatgrass juice offers the most health benefits and nutrition if it is consumed fresh, this is why it is best to grow it yourself rather than waste money on buying dried products or bottled juices.
    • Wheatgrass juice contains Vitamins A, B (in trace amounts that are formed from organism that live on the plant and not by the plant so the FDA says that there is no vitamin B in wheatgrass juice), C, E, I, and K. It is also a source of chlorophyll, pantothenic acid, iron, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium and even contains protein.

     

    While the specific claimed health benefits are mostly unsubstantiated by scientific research there is no shortage of people who personally claim to have benefited from this superfood for a myriad of different diseases and disorders including cancer, obesity, anemia, constipation, and detoxing from heavy metals.  During this season of elevated threats of bacterial and viral infection, stay at your healthiest with fresh greens courtesy of wheatgrass.

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  • Better Beans for Your Garden

    Better Beans for Your Garden

    Gardening is a part of homesteading, and one of the best types of vegetables to grow is beans. They are a healthy choice and you have plenty of options. Green beans, for example, taste great fresh and raw, as well as cooked. It is possible to can them and save them, and you will find that they are a great, healthy side for just about anything you are cooking. Of course, you can’t forget the deliciousness of a green bean casserole, too. However, if you want to have a great yield of healthy beans, you need to know how to grow them the right way. The following are some simple tips you can use.

    No Seedlings or Transplants

    You might be tempted to start the seeds out of the garden, or even to buy beans that have already started. However, you will find that using transplants and seedlings in the garden will not often have the best results. Instead, you will find more luck when you sow the seeds directly into the ground. Before you sow the seeds, though, make sure the soil temperature is at least 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

    Soak the Beans

    On the night before you plant the seeds, soak them in water at room temperature. You should soak them overnight. Doing this can help to make the germination occur faster. However, it is a good idea to check the weather beforehand. If you find that you have some rain in the forecast in the next week, do not soak the seeds. Having too much water could kill them.

    Rotate the Crops

    You know that rotating your crops each year is a good choice. You will find that planting beans is a good option because it can help to put nitrogen in the soil. In addition, when you rotate them, you should plant them in the area where you planted items such as cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli the year before.

    Prepare Poles for the Beans

    There are two types of beans – pole and bush variety. When you buy the seeds, the packaging will tell you whether you have the pole or bush style. If you have beans that grow on a bush, you will not have to do anything to support the weight of the plant. It supports itself naturally. However, if you have pole beans, you will need to place poles in the soil, so the vine runners can grab onto it and climb. You could use wires or strings connected between poles, a trellis, or doweling rods. You can experiment to find the option that works best for you.

    Beware the Birds

    When your beans first start to sprout, they will be very tempting for birds. They will sometimes pull out the sprouts as soon as they poke through the soil. To combat this problem. You can run a string down the row, placed about two inches over the area where the beans will sprout. Once the bean plants are a couple of inches high, you can remove the string.

    Each year that you grow beans, you will learn new tricks and tips to employ that will work for your land and your beans.

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