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  • First Time Butchering Chickens (Video)

    First Time Butchering Chickens (Video)

    Being able to raise and butcher your own animals is a dream of many aspiring homesteaders.

    I think a lot of people don’t think about what it actually involves to butcher chickens, and in this video, you hear the account of some novice homesteaders trying to butcher two roosters for the first time.

    Chickens are feisty and evasive, and it’s never as simple as simply grabbing them, killing them, and roasting up dinner, and you’ll hear the various challenges this couple faced when they spontaneously agreed to take two roosters for butchering.

    They did do a bit of research before butchering the roosters, so you can both learn from their mistakes as well as the knowledge they acquired along the way.

    I’m a big fan of learning by doing, and I think this couple’s haphazard experience will probably help them a lot for the next time they butcher chickens, and, thanks to the magic of the internet, we can learn from them too!

    If you are planning on butchering chickens but haven’t ever done it before, this is definitely a great video to watch, and I learned a lot. Enjoy!

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  • How Americans Survived the Great Depression

    How Americans Survived the Great Depression

    A very good touchstone for both how to survive with very little and how precarious our comfortable, modern lives are is the Great Depression. As the economy took a downward turn and hundreds of thousands of lives were turned upside down, farming families were forced to migrate and city dwellers had to do what they could to get by. It was a gruesome time in America’s history, but when we look back, it’s always amazing to see what people did to survive.

    To start, back then, many of the people who were most severely affected by the Great Depression already had a lot of self-reliance skills that we no longer have. The “Oakies” who were forced off their land to seek work out West where they could, were desperately poor, but they also were accustomed to making their own food, mending their own clothes. They didn’t sit around welfare offices of their home states, they packed everything up and headed out West to try to rebuild their lives.

    The novel “The Grapes of Wrath” shows the many skills these working class survivors already had that these days, most Americans don’t. They were manual laborers who made small amounts of food stretch and improvised with what they had.

    One of the biggest reasons for self-reliance and homesteading is not just to have a place to be in case another depression hits, but also to develop the skills and self-reliance to withstand it. We are so accustomed to living with everything we need at big box stores right down the way or ordered with a simple click online, and even globally, the poorest classes of people still have smartphones. Big agribusinesses requires less and less involvement of real communities and families who live on the land, live it, and work it, and more large industrial equipment and seasonal, migrant workers.

    We are moving further and further away from a life dependent on the sweat of our own brow, and more and more dependent on a larger, fragile modern beehive.

    When we look back on the Great Depression, it should serve as a sobering reminder to us that our way of life is not guaranteed. Start investing today on the skills you might need to survive tomorrow.

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  • The First 5 Steps of Homestead Preparedness

    The First 5 Steps of Homestead Preparedness

    A huge part of the reason one might be compelled to homestead, either on your own property or even in a city or suburb, is to be more self-reliant in case of disaster.

    But if you’re just a hobby farmer or an urban dweller who wants to prepare for emergencies, what do you need to get started?

    Here are a few tips to build a survival stash and plan to keep your family safe when disaster strikes.

    1. Be Sensible

    Survivalism is pretty popular these days, and there’s a huge mix of reasonable admonition to prepare and hysterical doomsday hype. First of all, just get your head on straight and think about what is realistic to prepare for. Natural disasters are inevitable, war isn’t entirely unreasonable, threats to our cyber security systems and electrical grids are absolutely realistic (alien invasions and widespread holographic mind control, not so much, although you never know!).

    2. Start small

    It’s typically advised to have enough clean drinking water and non-perishable food in your household to last each member of your family 48 hours, along with blankets, medical supplies, flashlights and/or candles, and spare cash. While this won’t sustain you very long in a large-scale disaster, it’s a great place to get started.

    3. Set goals

    When building an actual survival stash that would sustain you for several months and even years, set some goals for yourself. Budget to spend a certain amount of money on survival food and supplies a month, for example, or perhaps plan to save up enough to build a storm shelter for next year. Figure out what it is exactly that you want to make sure to have in the case of a disaster, and set reasonable, realistic goals for how to work towards that.

    4. Aim for reliance

    Homesteaders and aspiring homesteaders know more than anyone that the goal should be sustainable reliance more than simply stockpiling essentials. Invest in livestock and start a garden, learn about edible foods in your area and spend some time learning basic first aid and herbal medicine, learn to build and fix things, and start planning your life around a world that’s no longer reliant on a modern grid.

     

    You never know when disaster could strike, and you will never be fully prepared. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t common sense basics you can start with now to help ease the blow when it happens.

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  • 4 Health Benefits of Frozen Blueberries

    4 Health Benefits of Frozen Blueberries

    Blueberries are well-known as a delicious source of antioxidants and valuable nutrients, and although they’re not as glamorous or trendy as acai berry, they’re actually more nutritious and top many dieticians have named them the #1 superfood out there.

    But did you know that when you freeze them, contrary to what you might think, it actually increases the nutrients?

    Anthocyanins are what gives blueberries their dark, rich color. They are a are a type of flavonoid, which is a phytonutrient found exclusively in plants, and they’re what make blueberries so incredibly healthy.

    What happens when you freeze them is that is that the cold temperatures disrupt the tissue structure of the delicate flesh, which actually makes the anthocyanins more available and easier to be absorbed when consumed.

    Anthocyanins have many great health benefits, such as:

    Improved memory

    By protecting your brain against cell damage, anthocyanins actually improve brain function by allowing our brain’s encoding and retrieval process more fluid. This helps us to remember things quicker and for longer periods of time.

    Heart Health

    Eating blueberries have been shown to drastically reduce one’s risk of heart disease, as the anthocyanins regulate and relax the arteries on our vascular wall, protecting them from damage. As a result, the overall blood flow improves, regulating blood pressure as well!

    Improved Digestion

    These healthy antioxidants also support our digestive system by protecting our digestive tract from damage. Often times, gastrointestinal health can actually be connected to the development of cancer, particularly in the colon, which is yet another reason why antioxidants are so important for a healthy diet.

    Frozen blueberries are not hard to acquire or use! You can buy them in bulk and freeze in Ziplock bags to throw in smoothies, yogurt, or baked goods. If you are looking for a quick and easy way to add lots of essential nutrients and antioxidants to your diet, give frozen blueberries a try!

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  • How to Can Hamburger

    How to Can Hamburger

    I’ve been sharing a bit about canning meat lately, and I thought I’d share an actual recipe for how to do it.

    Now, remember that you do need an actual pressure canner to can meat, but given the amount of foods you can preserve with a pressure canner, it’s definitely worth the investment.

    Any way in which you can preserve meat is great to be able to do, since it’s nutritious and caloric. When it comes to canning hamburger in general, this is a great option for meat canning as you can take advantage of sales (ground beef goes on sale often), buy and preserve in bulk, and then have a great little stash for cheap meals or even survival.

    Here’s how:

    What You Need: 

    • sterile canning jars and lids
    • ground beef (1 lb of beef fits pretty well in one pint canning jar, to give you an idea of how much of both you will need)
    • stovetop and skillet
    • pressure canner
    • beef or chicken stock or broth
    • salt

    Directions: 

    1. To start, make sure your jars are properly sterile, your meat is ready to go, your kitchen is clean, and your pressure canner is ready.
    2. Preheat your skillet and brown your meat gently. It doesn’t have to be entirely cooked, just browned a bit.
    3. As your browning the meat, but your lids in very hot water and set aside.
    4. When the meat is done browning, pack it into the jars, leaving 1″ at the top. When you’re finished, drain the grease from the jars.
    5. Next, pour in your stock or broth, leaving 1″ at the top.
    6. Add a teaspoon of salt to each jar.
    7. Using a clean, warm cloth, gently wash the lids of your jars to prepare for sealing.
    8. Place the lids on the jars and tighten until finger tip tight.

    The Canning Process

    Now that you have your meat in jars and ready to be canned, it’s time to move on.

    1. Place your pressure canner on the stove, with the rack on the bottom.
    2. Fill with 3 quarts of hot water.
    3. Add as many jars as you can fit in the canner, so that they are not touching.
    4. Put the lid on according to your model’s instructions, and set the oven to high. Do not put the gasket on yet.
    5. Wait about 10-15 minutes, until there is steam coming out of the steam vent.
    6. Once you see steam, set your timer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes of exhausting steam has passed, then put on your gasket.
    7. Keeping your oven on a high setting, wait until the “topper” pops up, which should take about 5-10 minutes. Once the pressure gauge shows designated pressure of 11 lbs, gently lower your stove to keep it there, and set your timer for 75 minutes. Check periodically to make sure the pressure is maintained.
    8. After 75 minutes, turn off the stove and carefully remove your canner from the burner.
    9. Once the pressure has dropped to zero and the topper has gone back down, you can carefully remove the jars and place them on the counter to “pop”/seal.
    10. Once your jars are cooled and sealed, label them and store them.

    Your canned meat will last in a cool, dry pantry for 2-5 years.

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  • Off-Grid Cabin Security (Video)

    Off-Grid Cabin Security (Video)

    When you live out in the country, it might seem safer than an urban environment, and in many ways, it definitely is. Those low crime rates aren’t misleading; way less people means way less crime.

    That being said, there’s still a risk of your property being vandalized or stolen if you aren’t at home, especially if you live far away from other houses.

    They say locks are to keep honest people out, and if you don’t feel safe simply locking your gate and front door, you probably want to take additional measures to secure your homestead when you’re not there.

    Off Grid Nation is a great YouTube channel that has all things survival homestead related, and he gets asked a lot about the security of his off-grid cabin on an isolated property.

    In this video, he shares his many clever security systems he’s put in place to keep people out of his stuff when he’s gone. It will definitely give you some good ideas on how to fortify your own homestead from even the most determined criminal. Check it out:

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  • Grow 53 Plants in 4 Square Feet (Video)

    Grow 53 Plants in 4 Square Feet (Video)

    We’ve been talking a lot about urban homesteading here lately, and when you’re talking about gardening in an urban or suburban environment, space is always going to be an issue.

    A lot of urban gardeners are turning to vertical gardening, which is an excellent way to maximize space and production when growing area is limited.

    This is a very inspiring example of vertical gardening, in which a whopping 53 plants is grown in a four square foot area. Imagine how much you could grow on a single porch or patio! Check it out:

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  • Genius Ways to Use Lard

    Genius Ways to Use Lard

    Lard is something many of us have considered unhealthy for years, but it’s making a comeback as nutritionists reveal the healthy, complex fats in  lard are actually pretty good for you! It’s way better for you than vegetable or seed oils, and definitely better than margarine or imitation butter.

    If you fry bacon at all, you definitely want to collect the fat that builds up in the pan and keep it for cooking! I keep a small jar in my fridge and use it as I would oil or butter all the time.

    But did you know you can render it on your stove just like you would tallow? It can be used in so many different ways and, if you’re lucky enough to find a butcher that will give pork fat away, you can do it entirely for free!

    Here are just a few examples of the many ways in which you can use lard:

    Seasoning cast iron skillet

    This is my personal favorite. Nothing seasons my cast iron like lard, and it makes them truly non-stick. I don’t even have to use water to clean them out when they’re regularly seasoned with lard! Simply rub on the warm, dry pan after washing and the next time you use it, you’ll probably just have to wipe them out with a cloth and a little  more lard!

    Cooking

    Use lard as a base to fry in, as you would any other cooking oil. With enough lard, you can deep fry, and nothing is quite as crisp or perfectly fried as when it’s fried in lard, trust me.

    Baking

    Lard makes a great fat for things like biscuits, breads, or tortillas. Simply use in the place of butter or oil for a smooth, buttery texture that is to die for!

    Candle making

    Lard actually makes a great base for candles! There are many different recipes out there, and while they definitely don’t have a fatty smell like you’d expect, you can still scent them however you want using essential oils. These make a great gift or emergency candle stockpile.

    Soap making

    If you’ve seen ‘Fight Club’, you’ll remember that animal fat is used as a base for soap, and lard makes a great one. It’s wonderfully moisturizing, and again, if you can get your pork fat for free and render your own lard, it serves as a very frugal base for soaps.

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