Here is real simple way to install real solar lighting and avoid the cost and equipment of panels. I installed some in the Solar Bathhouse this weekend and it really made a difference. Using only a empty coke bottle, all I did was wash it out and filled it with water. I added a cap full of bleach to keep the growth down and the water clear. I drilled a three inch hole in the roof, installed the filled bottle and siliconed the heck out of it. I also had to support the bottle on the underside for about 6 hours until the silicone dried. There you have it. One of [...]
Archive for the ‘Home Steading’ Category
Custom Lighting
Posted: 30th January 2012 by Modern Day Redneck in Home Steading, Making what you need, Power Outages, Survival Technology, Survival Tools & MachinesTags: Custom Lighting
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Solar Bath House
Posted: 10th November 2011 by Modern Day Redneck in Home Steading, How To, Making what you need, Modern Day Redneck, Water StorageTags: Solar Bath House
I have been really busy the last couple of weeks building a Solar Bath House. When completed, the water will be pressured from the harvested rain water through a 12v on demand pump. It will then be heated in the batch water heater and delivered into the Bath House. Inside, the bathroom will have a home made composting toilet, sink and a bathtub/shower combo made from a horse trough. Light will be from solar lighting during the day and oil lamps at night. Here are some pictures of what has been built so far. Composting toilet with saw dust bucket on the side. Cute flower box. [...]
Chickens and Childcare
Posted: 26th August 2011 by admin in food, Food Storage, Home Steading, Survival InfoTags: Chickens, Childcare
Home team: 34, Chickens 2. We knew-of-a-guy-who-knew-of-a-guy. I think every great story ought to start that way. This one certainly does. The said-guy (the second one, the one who was known by the first guy) happened to have a rather large flock of chickens that were past their prime; some were still laying but at some point it is not economical to fund their retirement. A hen can live up to 14 years old, laying 7-10 of those years, according to Carla Emery in “The Encyclopedia of Country Living”. However, she’s at her peak production just those first few years. So this “guy” decided it was time to cull the herd. He would give up to 60 hens away for [...]
Ten reasons to grow your own food
Posted: 8th May 2011 by cindy in Home Steading, Survival GardeningTags: grow your own food, reasons
National Gardening Month 1. Gardening is delicious. Homegrown produce, especially juicy tomatoes and fresh basil, are usually tastier than when store-bought. Plant what your family likes to eat and enjoy the rave reviews. 2. Gardening is good exercise. Pulling weeds, digging holes and hauling dirt burns calories comparable to brisk walking. It also challenges and tones both lower and upper body muscles. 3. Gardening is good for children. They can learn the science of seeds and plants. They can learn planning and researching skills by deciding what and where to plant, and what each plant’s water, sun and nutrition needs are. They are also motivated to eat healthier foods. This whole process teaches patience in today’s era of immediate gratification [...]
In years gone by homesteaders designed and built their own houses, they built their homes with not only the contour of the land in mind but also the seasonal sun, wind, hills, slopes, rain were also other things to consider. The main house even if it is just a cabin is always the focal point of any site plan, and the first step in designing it is to decide where it will be located.Log Home: In the southeast a log home is well protected by trees against winter winds. To offset the hot, humid character of the region in summer. In the northwest area it is protected by with trees to the north but always facing south to maximize [...]
Homesteading General Note
Posted: 23rd February 2011 by admin in Home SteadingTags: Homesteading General Note
To The Land People are leaving the cities and moving to a life of self-sufficiency. They are buying small and large parcels (1 to 40) acres. Some can abandon city jobs, while most others commute to work, enjoying a blend of rural life. The rewards can be great with a more independence, family togetherness, lifestyle, and freedom with less stress. There is nothing better then a year-round garden and greenhouse; keeping chickens, ducks, rabbits, and fruit trees. Going back to mother nature and back to basics is true independence. Land Hints Your selection of land is very, very important to your success. Practical characteristics should out weigh esthetics, even though both are important. The first thing you need is to [...]
On Guard – Protect Your Home and Family
Posted: 24th January 2011 by admin in Home Security, Home SteadingTags: Protect Your Home
On Guard – Protect Your Home and Family As a parent, it’s understandable not to want to think about the possibility of a home invasion. You don’t want to scare your children and the thought of what could happen is absolutely unbearable. Unfortunately, we live in a world where such things occur and while the FBI has recently reported a marked decline in property crimes, that doesn’t mean you don’t prepare. Ignoring a problem rarely makes it go away and the last thing you want to do is find yourself ill-prepared in the event of a home invasion – especially when there were things you could have done to prevent it. What things am I referring to? Well, I’ve [...]
7 Ways to Secure Your Home at Night
Posted: 24th January 2011 by admin in Home Security, Home SteadingTags: Ways to Secure Your Home
Keeping burglars out of your home during the day when you’re at work and the kids are at school is one thing, keeping home invaders intent on doing you harm out of your home at night when you’re asleep is quite another. Installing a home security system will help, of course, but there are things you need to be doing as part of your evening ritual to keep things locked up nice and tight. Here’s a list of some of the things you need to do at night before you go to sleep to insure maximum security: 1. Lock the doors. Yes, we’re starting with the obvious. However, isn’t this the one thing that you actually do forget to do [...]
How to Start Your Own Commune
Posted: 24th January 2011 by admin in Home Steading, Starting a CommuneTags: Commune
How to Start Your Own Commune With continuing unrest in the Middle East and the economy showing no signs of improvement, the idea of living in an isolated community far away from society may sound like an ideal lifestyle right now. Some people associate communes with infamous cults and hippie communities that were becoming increasingly popular in the ‘60s and ‘70s. But believe it or not more and more people today are choosing to live in communes because they refuse to adapt to a materialistic, energy-consuming lifestyle that can be draining not only to your emotional state and wallet, but the environment as well. There are hundreds of benefits to living on a commune, such as growing and producing your [...]
The Right Livestock for You & Your Lifestyle
Posted: 24th January 2011 by admin in Home Steading, Live StockTags: Right Livestock
The Right Livestock for You & Your Lifestyle When one considers a pioneer lifestyle that consists of living off the land, most of us automatically picture a milk cow in the back pasture just waiting to produce us fresh milk and butter and cheese. This is closely followed by happy and clucking chickens running around trailing a line of baby chicks, otherwise known as fuzzy little yellow balls of fluff. But, which animals are best suited for you? While some are more romantic than others: chicks and lambs, vs. say pigs, it’s important to base your decisions first and foremost off of your land and your capabilities for sustaining particular animals, followed secondly by your needs and wants. There’s [...]
Homesteading Hour #2
Posted: 18th October 2010 by milandred in Home Steading, Preppers Podcast / ArchievesTags: Homesteading Hour
PREPPER PODCAST Upcoming Show: 10/18/2010 7:00 PM Central Length: 1 hr … Description: Prepper Preparedness Homesteading hour #2 John and Carrie talks about Homesteading/self sufficient and self reliant freedom. As well as Land Hints and compromises. Also the Code of the West by John Clarke and some Recipes. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/theprepperpodcast/2010/10/19/prepper-preparedness-homesteading-show-2
Chuckwagon Chow
Posted: 23rd May 2010 by admin in food, Food Storage, Home Steading, Survival Cooking & Recipes, Survival Food StrategyTags: Chuckwagon Chow
Fry bread Often thought of as a traditional Native American food, it’s been made by the tribes of the Southwest only within the last hundred years. It contains few ingredients indigenous to the lands of the Old West. Most fry bread ingredients came from the new settlers and were acquired by tribes through trading. Development of this tasty bread most likely happened as a result of need by two cultures, which found that frying bread in a skillet could save time; the result traveled well and lasted longer than other breads. You can vary this recipe by changing the size of the pieces or roll it out to ¾ inch thick, which takes longer to fry but gives the bread [...]
Solutions for City Dwellers, Suburbanites
Posted: 24th April 2010 by admin in Home Steading, Survival GardeningTags: City Dwellers
For big results, think small. High rise living, cluster-zoned developments and an increasing scarcity of affordable land are giving rise to a new class of farmer…The Urban Gardener. Using space saving strategies, city dwellers and suburbanites are growing an impressive variety of vegetables. One of my sisters lives in a suburban development and has transformed her backyard into one of these gardens. With the help of intensive culture (very close planting) the yield per square foot can be multiplied. Inter cropping and succession planting can also bring impressive results in crop size. Where soil is poor or space extremely limited you can get excellent results by raising vegetables in containers. Lack of sunlight, as well as a shortage of [...]
Foraging For Food
Posted: 24th April 2010 by admin in Home Steading, Survival GardeningTags: Foraging For Food
Food is a very important part of life that you must have to survive. In an extreme situation you must do what ever it takes to keep you and your family alive. Insects! #1. Insects of all kinds are a very good food supply. From slugs, snails, ants, spiders, mill worms, Beatles, grubs and just plain earth worms being the best. An earth worm has almost as much protein as soy or meat. Earth worms being plain and earthy tasting but are not as bad as you would think. Just wash them and hold in you hand and squeeze their waste out. Then you can just eat them or you can cook them. If this sound gross then ok make [...]
With all the modern appliances and utensils that are available and probably in most of your kitchens, I still believe the kitchen appliances and utensils that have stood the test of time are of utmost importance for the homestead kitchen. Virtually indestructible cast iron, hand cranked meat grinders, hand cranked grain mills, hand cranked juicers to name a few should not be overlooked when stocking your homestead kitchen. When I first started setting up my homestead kitchen, I was amazed at the prices for some of the items. I was also amazed at the unavailability to purchase these items locally. Thanks to the world wide web most of the items you need to stock your homestead kitchen are [...]
Portable Sawmill on the Homestead
Posted: 24th January 2010 by admin in Home SteadingTags: Portable Sawmill
Dave Boyt I got “sawdust in my veins” about thirty-five years ago when I was building my house. Not wanting to pay lumber yard prices for lumber yard quality pine when I had a woodlot full of oak, I took matters (and a chain saw) into my own hands. I cut the trees and hauled the logs to a local sawmill where they were milled into the posts and beams that eventually took shape as our house here in southwest Missouri. The desire to set up and run my own sawmill grew stronger every time I bought pine lumber for three times what the local sawmill paid for my oak logs. I finally made the leap and bought a small [...]
The Four Most Overlooked DIY Home Security Tips
Posted: 24th January 2010 by admin in Home Security, Home SteadingTags: DIY Home Security Tips
The Four Most Overlooked DIY Home Security Tips Your home is your castle, your bastion against all of the forces in your world that could do you harm. Accordingly, you’ve put a lot of time, thought, and money into making your home secure. And yet, have you done everything you can do? The fact is that there are a handful of home security steps you can take that will not only protect you from those who seek to do you harm, but that are relatively quick, simple, and inexpensive. Here are three of the ways to protect your home that you probably haven’t considered: 1. Use your yard’s natural defenses. Does your house sit at a slightly elevated position from street [...]
Underground Root Cellar
Posted: 24th January 2010 by admin in Emergency Must Haves, Home SteadingTags: Underground Root Cellar
Howdy, I wanted to share with you and your readers how I built an underground root cellar in my backyard. First I marked out a rectangle on the ground measuring 8′x12′. Then I set to work with my post hole digger and dug a 6″ wide trench 6 and a half feet deep all the way around. Next I tied re-bar mats and slid them down in on all four sides. I used 8′ chain link posts as digger handles after about 4′ of depth. Then I lined the inside of the trench with 1/8 inch Masonite paneling and poured the trench full of concrete.A couple of weeks later I had a friend come over with his backhoe and dig out the [...]
How To Wash Clothes On a Washboard
Posted: 24th January 2010 by admin in Home Steading, Making what you need, The Pioneer LifestylesTags: Wash Clothes On a Washboard
I am sure there are not a lot of us today who have ever washed clothes on a washboard like the pioneers did. Cleaning your clothes are just as important today as they were in the pioneer days. If we were suddenly thrown back in time, with no electricity or modern day washing machines how would we wash our clothes? This is an attempt to give a few simple instructions on how this could be achieved should the need arise. Reading instructions is probably not enough, like most things you will have to learn by doing. What you will need: 3 large wash tubs 1 large washboard 1 bar of laundry soap Hot and cold water Laundry basket Clothes pins and [...]
