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Homesteading – Page 85 – Homesteader Depot

Homesteader Depot

Category: Homesteading

  • Five Ways to Preserve Herbs

    Five Ways to Preserve Herbs

    As summer winds down, you may have a garden brimming with herbs just dying to be harvested. One of the biggest downsides of herb gardens is how much work it can be to process all the herbs! A pretty good problem to have, if you ask me. Here are five great ways to make the most of a bulk herb harvest and keep your herbs through the winter, for many months of delicious cooking.

    Freezing 

    This is quite possible the easiest and quickest method of preserving herbs. Simply toss your herbs in a Ziploc bag, squeeze the air out, and stick right in the freezer. You can pull them out whenever you need some and, other than the additional moisture content, they can be used just as you would dried herbs. This might be the best option for space as they can be flattened in the bags and stacked pretty easily in a freezer.

    Freezing in oil 

    This is the best way to preserve herbs if you want to just grab a small amount to toss in a pasta sauce or other dish. Stick small portions of the herbs in each section of an ice tray, then cover with oil and freeze. Once they are frozen you can pop out the cubes and put them in a Ziploc bag for long-term storage in the freezer.

    Drying

    The most classic way to dry herbs, this can be done either in a dehydrator, a very low oven with the door cracked, or hung on a string. If you have a particularly dry cellar or pantry, you can even just put them in a paper bag for a few weeks. Once dried, they can easily be removed from the stem or stalk and put in airtight jars.

    Preserving in salt or sugar

    In an airtight jar with salt or sugar, herbs will keep sometimes for up to two years and flavor the medium you’re preserving them in. The salt or sugar will absorb the flavor of the herb can be used as you regularly would. This might be nice for homemade bath salts or body scrubs too, with herbs like lavender or lemon balm.

    Preserving in oil 

    This is a very delicious way to preserve herbs! The herbs must be completely free of moisture, and are packed in jars, often with garlic as well, and covered with oil. You can use one of those fancy oil bottles as well. Let sit for a few weeks and then just use as regular oil. Also a lovely option for gifts.

    I hope this list has given you some ideas for maximizing your herb harvest this year-at the very least, I bet it’s made you hungry! Happy cooking!

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  • Crock Pot Sourdough Recipe

    Crock Pot Sourdough Recipe

    Sourdough bread is delicious, and nutritious! When made with a real sourdough culture, it breaks down the anti-nutrients in the wheat that are commonly attributed to gluten intolerance and allergy. There’s also no better-tasting sourdough than when it is made fresh at home.

    A very easy way to make sourdough is right in your crock pot! If you don’t have a bread maker or don’t want to heat up your kitchen in the hot summer months, crock pot sourdough is a wonderful option. It also makes for a very easy way to rise the sourdough.

    First, you’ll need your culture. This is the most time consuming, but once you have one going, it’s a lot simpler to make loaf after loaf. This blogger seems to have originated crock pot sourdough, and also has a recipe on her website for the culture.

    Once you have a bubbly, active sourdough culture, you can follow this recipe here for delicious crock pot sourdough:

    Crock Pot Sourdough Recipe

    1 cup active culture

    3 cups flour (you can use some combination of white, white whole wheat or whole wheat if you like)

    salt

    warm water

    olive oil for greasing

    1. In a large bowl or food processor, quickly stir or pulse the salt throughout the flour. Then add the culture and mix or pulse until blended.

    2. Next add 1 cup of warm water, and stir or blend until you have a uniform dough that can be formed into a ball. You might need to add either more flour or water as needed. Should be sticky, but not too wet.

    3. Let rise overnight, either in the bowl or food processor, lightly covered, or, for a really nice, steamy rise, you can heat up your crock pot for a few minutes, then grease, and put the dough in to rise.

    4. Once the dough has at least doubled in size, it’s ready to cook. If it’s been rising outside the crock pot, dump it out onto a floured surface and reshape slightly into a loaf if needed. Then place in the greased crock. If it has been in the crock already, simply move on to the next step:

    5. Cover the crock with a dish towel or paper towel to absorb the moisture as the bread cooks. Then, cover with the crock pot’s lid. Set to low for about 1.5 hour, then check. when it’s done, it will be browned around the edges and no longer sticky and doughy on the top. It might need an extra .5 hours to achieve this.

    6. It’s hard to get a really crispy top in the crock pot, so you might want to finish it off for 2-3 minutes in the broiler-just watch it carefully so it doesn’t burn! This step is totally optional.

    7. Set on a cooling rack and once the loaf is cool enough to touch, enjoy! It’s best served fresh with warm butter and honey.

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  • Preparing the Homestead for Winter

    Preparing the Homestead for Winter

    I know, I know, it’s not even labor day yet, but it’s never too early to think about preparing the homestead for winter. The key to a safe winter is planning, preparation and foresight. If you’d like to homestead one day or get more off-grid eventually, here are a few basic tips for winter prep you can start considering now, for this year or the next. Even if you’re not a homesteader at all, these are useful tips for disaster preparedness through the winter.

    Collecting Firewood

    This is probably what comes to mind first when you think of preparing for winter, and it is of course vital. Fireplaces and wood stoves can be lifesaving, and even if you have gas stoves, you may want to consider a wood-burning backup for heating and cooking, in case gas lines get shut down or roads get blocked and you can’t drive to purchase more propane.

    You can purchase truckloads of firewood, sometimes find people selling it or giving it away on websites like Craigslist or other local listings, and of course cut your own. The most important factor is dryness: storing the wood while dry and keeping it dry.

    Storing Food

    As summer wanes away, take advantage of your garden harvest and also whatever harvest is going on in your community and start preserving food. Canning, drying, fermenting and packing in oil are all great options for refrigeration-free food storage in your cellar. Also if you are a hunter or know some, you’ll want to start preserving meat too. Meat can also be canned, made into jerky, and you can also render tallow too.

    Even if you are happy with your emergency supply of canned goods, preserving fresh produce through the winter is a very good idea for nutritional reasons. Throughout the winter, finding fresh, local produce can be very difficult, so preserves offer a nice alternative to irradiated Ecuadorian produce.

    Make repairs 

    Before the weather gets cold is the ideal time to check your house for any repairs that might need to be done before winter. You wouldn’t want to find out in the middle of a winter storm that you’ve got a leak in your roof or poor insulation on one of your windows. Get your regular maintenance done on your vehicles, too.

    Other ways to prepare for winter are to make sure you’ve got flashlights and/or oil lamps with spare batteries and/or oil, plenty of winter clothes and blankets for your family, and-something often overlooked-a way to dry clothes indoors. With the right considerations and foresight, you can have a very safe and prepared homestead winter.

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  • How to Propagate and Use Comfrey

    How to Propagate and Use Comfrey

    Free medicine doesn’t just come from the government (kidding!).

    The wonder plant comfrey is one of the easiest herbs to grow and among other amazing benefits it has been known to speed healing in bruises and broken bones.

    One hardly needs a green thumb to take advantage of this plant’s healing properties.  Comfrey is most commonly grown from root divisions.  These can be purchased online from your favorite gardening website, or even on Amazon. But even easier, they can easily be taken out of ground from any mature comfrey plant that you have access to without doing the slightest damage to the existing parent plant.

    If making your own cuttings, simply dig up the entire parent plant, and cut off the existing leaves. You can save them for poultice or just “chop and drop” them near any plant that you wish to add nutrients to.

    Then divide the root base-which is about all there is going to be left of the plant after removing the leaves-into as many pieces as you can given the plant that you have to work with. Cutting the pieces too small may reduce the chances of survival or at least increase the time it will take for the cutting to regrow, try going with pieces about the size of your fingers.

    Next, all you need to do is put the new cuttings in containers with potting soil, keep them moist, but not saturated, and in indirect sun for around two weeks.  When your new cuttings first sprout, it will be only time that these hard plants are vulnerable, so try to keep them on a start table to reduce pests.

    Once established, these plants will continue to produce medicinal leaves and grow more roots, allowing you to easily and exponentially grow your comfrey supply.

    Once you have a hearty supply of comfrey in your garden, turning it into useful medicine for treating burns, bruises, sprangs, and broken bones is just as easy as growing it.

    First, harvest the leaves. Consider leaving at least 20% of each plants leaves intact will help speed regrowth, but if necessary comfrey can recover from being run down with a lawn mower so don’t worry too much.

    Then puree, the leaves in a blender that you don’t use for food-or at least one that you will clean thoroughly before using again for food, since comfrey does contain hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids which can cause liver damage if ingested.

    If no blender is available, the leaves can be finely chopped and beaten to a juicy pulp.  The puree or pulp can then be placed directly on the wound site and wrapped with plastic wrap or cellophane, which would in turn be wrapped in an ace bandage to keep it in place.  This can be left in place over night and changed out in the morning.

    This isn’t all this plant has to over though, so check back soon for more information on how, among other things, comfrey can increase food production and help with weed control.

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  • 2 DIY Skincare Recipes for Any Homesteader

    2 DIY Skincare Recipes for Any Homesteader

    Did you know that you don’t need a ton of chemical-heavy, processed skincare products to look and feel younger and more vibrant? In fact, your homestead and garden could provide all you need to make more effective and healthier skincare products than any of the store-bought products you’ve used in the past.

    Lavender Body Lotion

    For firm, hydrated skin that feels soft and smooth, try this recipe for a calming lavender body lotion. You’ll need:

    • 1/3 cup coconut oil
    • 2 tablespoons beeswax
    • 3-6 drops lavender oil

    Mix the ingredients well and store them in a cool, dark place when not in use.

    Lip Exfoliant

    Throughout the year, thanks to changes in temperature and humidity, the skin on your lips really takes a beating. Regularly exfoliating can prevent chapping and help keep your lips looking gorgeous, even without the use of lip balm (which can be addictive and can cause your lips to dry out whenever you don’t use it).

    First, gather these ingredients:

    • 1 vitamin E capsule
    • 1 teaspoon olive oil
    • 2 teaspoons honey
    • 2 teaspoons brown sugar
    • 4 uncoated aspirin tablets

    Mix all ingredients together, being sure to crush the tablets and capsule so that everything is equally mixed. Apply a layer of the exfoliant to your lips and lightly scrub with your fingers or a soft toothbrush. If you have leftover exfoliant, you can store it in a clean container in a cool, dark place and it should keep for several weeks or months.

    These are just two of the ways you can use ingredients you’ll find around your home and in your garden to keep your skin fresh and beautiful. Remember, along with these, if you eat a diet of whole, organic foods from your garden, and you regularly wash your face with non-detergent soap, you’ll look gorgeous for years to come.

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  • Great Farm Animals for Beginners

    Great Farm Animals for Beginners

    Everyone loves farm animals, and many people would love to raise them. But of course, while the benefits of raising livestock are many, it can be a bit intimidating at first to dive in head first to the wide world of animal husbandry. Here’s a few suggestions for easy farm animals that are perfect for beginners:

    Bees:

    Bees are a great option especially if you don’t have a lot of pasture or yard space. If you make sure bees are right for you, honey and beeswax harvests can be plentiful and they’ll provide wonderful support for your garden as well, after all, they’re nature’s pollinators!

    Goats: 

    Goats are a perfect low-maintenance starter animal for milk and meat producing livestock. Here are five reasons to get goats, but in short: milk, cheese, weed control and they’re totally fun too!

    Ducks: 

    Ducks are super fun and super cute, too! Kids love them and they’re perfect as pets, to whet your pallet for farm animals. They don’t require a whole lot of space and can be very happy with a small shelter and simple pool. One very appealing advantage of ducks is that they will eat bugs in your garden-but won’t scratch it up the way a chicken would.

    Rabbits: 

    Common pets, rabbits are also wonderful options for easy livestock. They don’t take up a lot of space, you can feed them veggie scraps from your kitchen and garden, their meat is delicious and they’re productive-the phrase “breed like rabbits” exists for a reason, you know.

    Chickens:

    What’s a farm without some laying hens? Chickens are so easy and popular that these days, many people even keep them in their backyard in cities. They are very cheap to feed, are often happy with a simple enclosure or will wander happily around any farm or large property. They can also be tossed scraps from your kitchen and love grains and even fruit and vegetables. They’ll hunt on their own for bugs-just make sure to keep them securely out of your garden or they’ll tear it up!

    This is a short list of some easy farm animals to start. Whatever you choose to start with, just remember, it’s all about trial-and-error, learning-by-doing and, most importantly, having fun!

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  • Five Things That Are Better Analog

    Five Things That Are Better Analog

    One of the challenges of homesteading is getting off the grid completely, and the less your life is digitized, the more possible this is. Americans are quickly losing the last traces of self reliance by using digital everything, from media, newspapers, communication to even their home appliances and cars. Here are a list of a few items that are always more reliable analog, that you might as well stick to, especially if you plan on living 0ff-grid at some point.

    Clocks

    While most analog clocks are still battery-operated, there are also still clocks out there that only need to be wound up, like people have been using for centuries. Not to mention even simple sundials. While most people use their cellphones as watches, there’s no reason not to keep some form of analog clock in your home.

    Radios

    For disaster preparedness, it’s always a good idea to keep an analog radio around. Radio has been used for decades analog-radio
    for simple forms of communication and as we get more and more used to the rapid-response nature of cell phones and internet, it may be prudent to keep a traditional radio around, just in case.

    Books

    E-readers can be great, but no matter how plugged in we get, many people still prefer the simple pleasure of a physical book. From a practical perspective, keeping books with vital homesteading and survival information could be crucial one day. Digital devices will always fail and many homesteads don’t have constant internet access-or any at all-so if you plan on long-term, self-reliant homesteading, plan on building a library well-stocked with guides, resources and even your favorite novels.

    Notebooks

    Digital note-taking can be very convenient but, like books, notebooks can be far more reliable in the long-term. If you keep an ongoing collection of practical or even creative notes, you might want to consider transferring the information you want to last to physical form, for the same reason as keeping physical books-digital forms of information will always eventually fail. 

    Cars

    Most new cars have computers which are very convenient in our highly-connected world, but not-so-convenient for at-home repair and modification. There used to be a day when the average person could work on and get to know the function of their vehicle and keep it running for decades.

    analog-carLook at Cuba-cut off from Western car manufacturers since the 60s, Cuban citizens have kept their old classic American-made cars running with little more than basic tools and salvaged car parts. If you don’t want to be tethered to the unreliable technology of today, it might be worth investing in an older analog car for your homestead.

     

     

     

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  • Cheap Superfoods for the Frugal Health Nut

    Cheap Superfoods for the Frugal Health Nut

    The term “superfood” is very popular these days, and it’s often assigned to exotic, ridiculously priced food oddities like açaí berry or spirulina. But superfoods are not just for rich people, there’s plenty of everyday foods that are rich in nutrients and worthy of being called super. Every day foods like oats, eggs, butter, milk, and the rest of the items on this list may be conventional, but they’re packed with amazing and beneficial nutrients and minerals to make the most of your dollar.

    Grains/Starch:

    • Oats
    • Brown rice
    • Quinoa
    • Millet
    • Sweet potatoes
    • Red potatoes

    Fruits and Veggies:

    • Cabbage
    • Apples
    • Carrots
    • Bananas
    • Blueberries
    • Strawberries
    • Kale
    • Cauliflower

    Protein/Fat:

    • Lentils
    • Beans
    • Tuna
    • Peanut butter
    • Eggs
    • Butter
    • Whole milk
    • Anchovies

    Misc:

    • Coffee
    • Green tea
    • Cinnamon
    • Sauerkraut
    • Parsley

    Healthy food doesn’t need to be fancy, it can be as common as apples, high in fiber and vitamin C, or lentils and beans, some of the cheapest foods around and yet packed with crucial vitamin B, magnesium, folate, iron and zinc. Green tea is a powerful antioxidant and can be found dirt-cheap at many grocery stores and even corner stores, and while superfood kombucha can be pretty pricey at the store, sauerkraut is just as nutritious and costs a fraction of the price. Kale is crazy popular right now for a reason: it’s full of fiber, protein, thiamin, riboflavin, folate, magnesium, calcium and vitamins A, C, K and B, and can cost as little as $1.50 a bunch. You don’t have to break the bank to find healthy, nutritious and delicious food-odds are, you’re probably already eating and enjoying many of these staple foods!

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