Carla and Stephanie, teachers at the Austin-based Wildflower School of Botanical Medicine, led our eager group on an early evening plant walk in the Muller Development in East Austin. I’ve posted the brief comments they made about each plant, to the best of my ability. Please note that many of these plants have fantastic medicinal… Continue reading Austin plant walk with the Wildflower School
I happen to have a great fondness for turtles, as they seem so elegant and peaceful and wise. On a beautiful spring day like today, it’s important to stop and appreciate the small things in life, like the flowers popping up everywhere with their seductive brightness and fragrance, the heavy rains watering our parched soils,… Continue reading The snapping of turtles
I just got a tip on Facebook from a fellow blogger (Save Our Skills) that the Department of Homeland Security is checking up on prepper-type blogs. According to SurvivalBlog.com, the FBI has been visiting sites and even tracking users. They note that the FBI “surreptitiously collected the IP addresses of [their] site visitors. In all,… Continue reading Big Brother is watching… me?
In my previous post, I described how to render fat to make lard. In this post, I will show you how turn that lard into homemade lye soap (cold process) that’s better than anything you’ll ever buy in the store. Before I begin, I should note that this post has lots of information. Don’t let… Continue reading Making Homemade Piggie Soap
Rendering fat is much easier than you might expect. All you need is a good stock pot, some heat-proof utensils and bowls, and… some fat to render. It’s a great way to use “waste” products and turn them into either tasty stirfry or, better yet, homemade soap. To get the fat, you can take the… Continue reading Rendering fat for cooking and soapmaking
Surviving the Modern World 