Self Reliance Archives - Page 9 of 11 - Homesteader DepotHomesteader Depot

Dehydrating Food: A Beginner’s Guide

Dehydrating is a great option for preserving food for the long term, especially for gardeners or homesteaders. But even if you’re just an urban homesteader, it might be an excellent way to get started with food preservation. If you like to shop sales, frequent farmer’s markets, or grow veggies or herbs in your own little urban homestead, dehydrating is a great way to maximize your finds and easily store food for the long term. Here are some of the benefits to dehydrating vs. other food preservation methods: it preserves the nutritional content of food it condenses food and also makes […]

Top Five Reasons to Homestead (Wherever You Are)

“Homesteading” typically means living on a homestead, raising animals and growing your own food, and being independent and self-sufficient. As the global economy seems to teter on the brink of total collapse, modern life becomes more and more reliant on large-scale grids subject to fail, and urban environments are becoming increasingly dangerous, more and more people are becoming drawn to the idea of homesteading. Now, as we’ve often discussed, you don’t need to own your own land to homestead. There are many ways you can homestead right where you are. And here are the top five reasons why you should […]

DIY Home Energy Independence

One of the biggest draws towards homesteading is trying to achieve energy independence. It sure is rough out there today. Electricity costs are soaring and you probably know the feeling of dread that comes over you each time you open up an energy bill. Well, it actually is possible to be completely energy-independent, and never pay an electric bill again. I’m not even kidding. This incredible video explains how, and really blew my mind! If you’re sick of being beholden to big energy corporations that fleece you monthly, and tired of shivering through winter and sweating through summer just to […]

How to Test Your Soil Using Only a Mason Jar

When starting a garden, it’s crucial to know what kind of soil you’re working with. It will help you determine what to plant and how to amend your soil. All soil is comprised of three basic components: sand, silt, and clay, and varying combinations of these three components determine what type of soil you have. Loamy soil is ideal, and it is typically more or less an even mix of sand, silt, and clay. It is slightly spongy and moist, but still light enough that it doesn’t get packed down too easily. In essence, it’s just right. To achieve this […]

DIY Tooth Whitening Recipe

We’ve shared a lot of DIY health and personal hygiene products on this blog, and for good reason. There are so many products out there that are full of chemicals and toxins, that can be easily made at home for a fraction of the cost. This whitening tooth powder is packed with beneficial ingredients you’ll want to try. Ingredients: 4 tablespoons bentonite clay. This is a natural, mineral-rich powder that gently cleans your teeth. It also detoxifies your mouth to freshen breath and fight gum disease 2 teaspoons baking soda. Baking soda is a very mild abrasive that polishes […]

Mother of Four Builds House From YouTube Video Instructions

These days, we all rely on the internet for literally everything. I personally believe that YouTube instruction videos are one of the greatest inventions of all time (seriously!). It is such an incredible thing to be able to search for a video to help you out with a confusing or intimidating project, and homesteaders know this better than anyone! Whether you want to learn how to build cold frames, shear a sheep, or birth a baby cow, YouTube has videos for pretty much everything. Still, it might surprise you to learn what this incredibly ambitious mother of four did, using […]

Ways to Recycle Sawdust

Woodworking projects and home repairs top the to-do lists of many homesteaders, but they generate a copious amount of a largely unwanted byproduct: sawdust. Before dumping your next shovelful of sawdust into the trash, take a look at this list of creative ways to make good use of it: Use for traction when you’re stuck in the snow. Sawdust is traditionally used by logging truck drivers to prevent slipping and getting stuck in harsh winter road conditions. Keep a sealed bag or two of it in your trunk to spread around your tires for extra traction if you get […]

The Easiest Gardening Method You’ll Ever Try

A thriving garden is the beating heart of the homestead. For many people, though, keeping a garden can be a challenge. Traditional methods require heavy machinery for soil preparation, questionable chemical fertilizers, all adding up to a prohibitive upfront cost. A great and easy method of gardening that has a very low financial demand is the “lasagna garden”. It was given that name because the method involves developing arable soil by composting an existing plot with layers of organic matter. You create the layers in the fall, to be ready for planting in the spring. Here’s a quick guide to […]

Common Mistakes When Going Off-Grid

Getting off-grid and energy independent is really appealing, but can also be pretty intimidating. It’s hard to know where to start when you’ve lived your whole life reliant upon a municipal grid, and as I wrote recently about homesteading in general, it’s OK to make mistakes. But, you can always learn from the mistakes of others! There are common mistakes a lot of people make when first getting off the grid, and here are some of those mistakes and how to avoid them. 1. Aiming too high Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s great to have goals and aim for […]

Are Grow Lights Worth it?

For those that have outdoor gardens, the thought of growing food indoors with artificial lights can seem like a ludicrous concept. Providing your plants with access to the maximum amount of possible sunlight is a basic strategy for increasing growth, and the sun is free. Purchasing and the operation of grow lights costs money, and gardening should save you money and provide you with resources, not cost money and use resources. So, are grow lights worth their cost and the cost of their operation? Not to try to skirt the question, but it depends. If you live in an […]

How Does Homesteading Make You Healthier?

When you have a homestead, no matter the size, you do not have a lot of time to rest if you want it to stay up and running properly. Homesteading can provide you with a sense of accomplishment, but it certainly takes work. However, this work can be very good for your health. This is one of the “hidden” benefits of homesteading that many people do not think about. Let’s look at some of the ways that becoming a homesteader could make you a healthier person. Getting Exercise You are going to be outside and working quite a bit. Whether […]

How to Homestead When You Live in An Apartment

For many wannabe homesteaders, an apartment probably seems like the last place you’d be able to homestead. And of course, you won’t be able to grow (very much) food of your own, raise livestock, or live off the land. There are however, many things you can do to make your apartment a mini-homestead. While you’ll still be reliant on the outside world, the truth is, most homesteaders still are too, and no matter what your living arrangement, there’s always something you can do to be more self-reliant. Here are some tips for apartment homesteading that anyone can do: 1. Grow […]

22 Ways to Use Beeswax

Beeswax is amazing. It is the only naturally occurring wax, and is produced in special wax glands of female honeybees. It takes 8 pounds of honey to produce 1 pound of wax! Vegetable waxes are rendered from fruit or leaves, while soy and paraffin waxes are produced by a toxic chemical process. Only beeswax is wax in its natural form, and simply can’t be produced in a lab, even in this day and age. But if you keep bees, you can essentially grow it in your own backyard! It has been used for centuries in many different ways, and there’s […]

30 Non-Food Items to Hoard

Yesterday I wrote about 30 items to purge in the New Year for a clutter-free homestead, and one of the purposes for purging is to make room for hoarded items that you do need! So here is a list of important non-food items to hoard in the New Year. Keeping with the trend of that article, it’s important to make sure you have a clean and orderly way to store these items. Keep them dry, organized in categories, and regularly go through your stash to make sure everything is in working order, not expired, and will still be useful to you. It’s […]

A Vegetable Growing Cheat Sheet

I love a good, detailed infographic, especially when it comes to gardening. A lot of the gardening infographics that show up on my feed on Pinterest are pretty simple, so I was stoked when I found this one from Anglianhome.co.uk recently. It’s an all-purpose cheat sheet for vegetable growing, from what’s best for plot vs. patio (or potted) vegetable gardens, where to plant, when to plant, and a handy companion planting guide as well. I think the companion planting guide section is my favorite, with handy color coding. It can be overwhelming trying to decide what to plant with what, […]

Creative Ways to Freeze Eggs

If you are ever faced with an abundance of eggs and not enough time to make something with all of them, it can be overwhelming! Eggs, especially of the farm-fresh variety, are such awesome, healthy, cheap (or free, if you have your own chickens!), and versatile sources of nutrients that it is imperative to use them efficiently. One really great option for preserving eggs with any of the following freezer methods is not only having eggs through the winter as production slows, but also to make them quick, easy, and relatively mess-free to use! Baking in Muffin Tins A really simple […]

3 Amazing Benefits to Growing Fruit Trees in Containers

I’m normally not a fan of growing food in containers, other than wooden raised beds which I guess are a form of containers. But fruit trees are an exception and one that most people don’t ever consider, probably because they don’t think it’s possible. But it is possible; lemons, oranges, and avocados are three examples of commonly purchased fruit that you can grow at home, and in containers. Here are a few reasons why you might want to consider containers a strategy for growing fruit. Space Space is a factor for a lot of gardeners. And trees are not […]

Best Animals to Raise for a Homesteader

You want to become truly self-sufficient. Even though you might have a beautiful garden with all the vegetables you need, if you are still buying meat and dairy from the grocery store, you aren’t very self-sufficient at all. In this post, we’ll be looking at some of the best animals for a small homesteader to raise that can do more than just provide meat. Goats Having goats on the property is always a good idea, as even just a single goat can provide you with between two and four quarts of milk each day. The milk can be used to […]

Don’t Be Without These Homemade Cough Drops

I never tire of homemade cold remedies. I got a pretty bad cold this week and really wished I had made some of these delicious homemade cough drops. A nasty cold is particularly awful to have during cold winter months. I will definitely be making more of these to have on hand the next time a cold hits. It’s simple, easy, and way better than your average chemical-filled cough drops. Regular store-bought cough drops often have artificial colorings and flavorings in them. They might be able to soothe your cough but they sure won’t help prevent cancer! Try this simple […]

Growing Vegetables and Herbs Indoors

When the weather gets too cold for you to grow vegetables outdoors, you might want to be adventurous and try growing a few select vegetables and herbs indoors. If you live in an apartment, condominium or townhome without any outdoor space to grow a garden, you can grow some vegetables, herbs and even tropical fruit indoors if you create the proper growing environment. Sufficient light, either natural light from a door or windows or a grow light, is essential for an indoor vegetable garden to thrive naturally. There are some LED grow lights available on amazon.com that also make for […]