What is kombucha? An effervescent fermented tea made from regular black/green tea, sugar and the starter culture, also known as the Scoby. What is that alien-looking thing and why do I want it in my tea? Scoby is actually an acronym for “symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast”. The bacteria is Acetobacter (a genus of acetic… Continue reading How to make kombucha
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
I did it. As of this week, I have no detergents in my regular cleaning lineup. Instead, I am using a combination of natural soaps and other products. Laundry detergent: Dr. Bronner’s Citrus Castile Liquid Soap, borax and washing soda. Shampoo: Kiss My Face Olive Oil Bar Soap (I was using “shampoo bars” but discovered… Continue reading Detergent-free household
When a food dehydrator comes into your life, what do you do? You make jerky! An Excalibur food dehydrator became part of my kitchen gear, thanks to my friend Russ. While I like jerky, I don’t eat it often because most of the time, the stuff you buy at a store is either cheap, unpalatable… Continue reading Making Homemade Beef Jerky
Thanks to the Urban Farming Guys there’s a great video on how to do this… In my quest to save money and use safer products around my home, I decided to try making my own laundry detergent. The HOW: My ingredients: Washing Soda: $3.69 at Breed & Co. Borax: about $7 at Wheatsville Co-Op, but… Continue reading Make your own laundry soap
I’ve been trying to get by on less: spending less money, buying less useless crap, using less in my daily life. In other words, I’m trying to do my best to live within my means and use what I have, rather than rush out to the store to buy more stuff. This is a goal… Continue reading Clouds in my coffee
Ever gone to the grocery store just before a hurricane/ice storm/heavy snowfall, or after a serious thunderstorm? If so, you may recall how little milk, bread, and other basic items were left on the shelves. Planning for extreme weather or natural disasters, or even an invasion of zombies, are all great reasons to build up… Continue reading Long-term food storage & zombie prevention
This will be a quick post, but I’m very proud to have had the opportunity to redesign the website for one of my favorite survival/prepping resources, and I wanted to announce that here and give that site a little plug. The Survival Podcast is a daily (Monday-Friday) hour-long original podcast produced by Jack Spirko. He’s… Continue reading The Survival Podcast
Homemade yogurt? On a recent episode of The Survival Podcast featuring money-saving tips, a listener wrote in suggesting that people make their own yogurt. And from the moment I heard about it, the idea was intoxicating. The basic concept is taking regular milk and adding a couple tablespoons of existing yogurt for the cultures, and… Continue reading Porchgurt
Sometimes things are so obvious that you just don’t think about them. After listening to one of The Survival Podcast’s money-saving shows, I decided to give one of the ideas a shot. I’ve been paying $120 a month for cable and internet, and given how little TV I watch, it just seemed crazy to keep… Continue reading Dump cable, save $1000
Surviving the Modern World 