Bartering.... Getting Clever For Wintertime

Dotted all over the countryside are little known wintertime hot spots that you can barter for wintertime space for your own gain. You can exchange labor for a 4x4 space or you could barter for a larger space.

Privately owned greenhouse owners are always eager to let one or two people hang out and have a space of their own with some fair labor exchanges. They will want to supply you your soil in which to grow your yummy food in, and with a little understanding will help you understand how greenhouses work. 

I have bartered my way into a local Greenhouse this year and have been given a 4x8 foot space this winter.

What should I grow?

Re-Claiming and Makng Useful Stuff (Pictures)

There is a lot to be said about keeping things you "might" use in the near future, then comes along the rules of how long to keep it. I know on at least a half dozen times, I have stuck to the rules. But wouldn't you know it in the near future I would need it. Sometimes, that is my luck... So I decided how rare or how many things could I use it for and what was the chance I was going to include it in a project.

I had some manure delivered a couple years ago, and the driver backed into my gate and crushed it, breaking off the post it was attached to. After bartering, I got another load for free and replaced the gate but I held onto the crushed one.

It was a 12 foot gate and too large to store, so I cut it down, did some tree pulling on it to pull out the bends as best I could. I attached a come-a-long with a strap around a large wild cherry tree and the other end to another big tree. Using a nylon industrial/farm strap, I positioned it several times along with the other strap to pull out the kinks. Some I couldn't get out, some I just repaired.

After I repaired them, I stored them away in my out building for a few years. They were out of the way because I hadn't remembered them until I needed them. When I built the new coop pen, I used both of the now two parts for entrance and exit gates as you will see.

 So each gate would have been around $70 retail or more, and the installation went quickly. 

Now the finished product is keeping my Silky Roo in with his girls and the critters out!

From Downspout To Sap Out, Interesting Useful Idea

While winterizing this year, confident in my acquired skills of maple syrup making, spotting and marking of maple trees on my own property (more than four I have tapped in the past). Thinking of my resources on hand to start building my sugaring supplies, not wanting to spend more money, I decided to take one of my rain barrels and keep it out of storage for sap gathering. I will need to buy one large barrel to put in the shanty for holding sap while cooking it down. But I decided to spread the idea so that you can take advantage of my newly thought of idea.


In truth, maple syrup making is a skill handed to me by my grandfather. So as you might know, I planned to be at this point a year ago, but the murder of my parents put my life on hold. My feelings of their deaths has been a roller coaster at times, and time does allow us to learn to except the way things are. I still get angry and upset at times, if I didn't I wouldn't be human. I miss them and wished they could share life with us. Being as it is, perhaps they were saved and are watching us from heaven.

Realize that putting a hold on my path of being self sufficient has not taken hold of my ideas and made me put it down and surrender my diet and lifestyle to big corporation. Learning the skills needed by pioneers of the past days keeps me excited and the rewards of my hard work keeps me going. I will have a plan to share with you for what/where I want to be in the next year. I know that I want to expand my diet to include more dried beans.

I am in a better mental state and find myself getting back to normal something to look forward to. I miss my folks but I know although they are gone, they would want me to keep moving forward in my own life.

Hope you hang in there with me while I get things back together in my own life. Peace be with you, and spread some love. Life is too short to hate. Jason

Seeds Are Selling Out Early This Year, Better Get Yours Today!

Did you ever think that seed sources would be running out of seeds?

I have always thought. What if this was the year that the chit hit the fan? So like always, I bought my seeds early this year. However, there are a couple GMO seeds I was interested in and tried to order them to find out they are sold out for the year already?

Sold Out Seeds


Since my last order of 34,500k seeds this year, that price has risen by $10.00 in less than a month. If you think the cost is going to go down, don't hold your breath.

The world population will rise to over 7 billion this year, and food prices will triple in the next ten years. If you shop at the store, I do shop for sale items that I can't grow myself, you have seen prices this year alone rise by 6% and the quantity is being reduced by manufacturers without raising the prices to high.

Am I suggesting a panic here? No, I am suggesting that you invest in understanding how to keep your own seeds. This simple book will help you understand how to manage your seed keeping. I do keep many of my own seeds from year to year, and allow some plants to die out to collect seeds. If your not sure how to process and store your own seeds, this is the book for you. After you read the book, understand the knowledge, you can sell the book for a few dollars less than you bought it for. That is being self sufficient!

Kindle Readers, A New Gardening Book By Jason Akers

The self sufficient gardener, Jason Akers has completed his ebook, The Process Oriented Gardener.

Product Description
The Process Oriented Gardener is all about gardening the efficient, responsible and sustainable way-by looking at gardening as a process. A process is full of inputs and by reducing these inputs and providing them for ourselves we can reduce the cost and the "toll" of gardening. A process includes steps that allow us to do better work faster. By following the steps I lay out you will do things the ways that are easiest and best. And a process concludes with outputs. In the garden this is the harvest. Learn how to best utilize your harvest.

Check it out, it could help you grow more food efficiently, with less effort, and cheaper. We all love that, cheap and better!!

Stakes And Gates, Making Money From Being Self Sufficient, Easy Peasy..

I am going to open this by telling you about my SS (self sufficiency) fund. My budget started out at $3000.00 and I could only barter, trade, or sell to add cash to the fund. When I would do shows I would sell my homemade jam for $3 pint, and so forth. I will dumpster dive, barter, or even beg if need be to get anything as cheep as I can. I will even set up a veggie table at the flea market to sell my goods. A trick to do, or a few. Grow something that isn't common, take it to sell. Have a working cook station to share how the finish product will taste, take lots of the norm stuff, but having something different brings attention to your stand. Be active and say words like organic, heirloom seeds, and other words that will draw in people who know organic is wholesome.

So first I am going to share a project that I decided to spend my money on. I did a couple proto types, and some anchoring ideas. For years I have been tied up in knots with spending money on a fencing system I just can't get the nerve to buy one, the stakes alone, the thin metal green ones are 9.79 each. I can't see pounding them in the ground and expect a 20 year life out of them.

So I designed my own system, and picked up some plastic 48" fence from the flea market at 50% off retail a few weeks ago. Because my garden changes yearly, I wanted a removable system so when I want to change it, I can without removing dug in post.

These Medevil/Roman looking staff/arrows are my removable stakes. Although they cost me $14.79 to make, they will out last those cheap ones 10 to 1, making this a cost effective build in years to come.

This next project started out as a serous problem created by a truck driver who happened to be a few bricks shy of a load. Personally, his company solved the problem right away, but I think he was on something. He hit my ten foot gate, and driving  a big truck like he was, it didn't take much to destroy it. The post broke off and the bent gate was pushed onto the ground. Within 2 hours a new gate and post were up, and I saved the bent gate.

With my tractor, and a tree,  a couple slings, I took the gate which was shaped like a parallelogram tied one of the slings to the top, the other to the bottom, and pulled it slowly back into square. The pops and kinks while bending it back into place weren't alarming. So I took the gate into the shop, did some hammering, bending and some spot welding to increase the strength. I also welded some 3/16 by 1 1/2 flat bar to one side after I cut the gate in half with a cut off wheel. I now have two gates that I need for a couple projects in the planning phases.

Today was a good productive day for me and I am pleased with the amount of work I did, even thou it didn't get warmer than 34, the sun shinning made me do it... LOL...

If you might have read, or might not have, I am a Coppersmith by trade and own and operate a Copper manufacturing shop as well as metal fabrication company. So I do have more machines at my hands than the standard gardener.

I also wanted to share a picture of a lamp I built for my own house four years ago. The patina is correct and beautiful, the shades on the sides is amber mica, and the bottom is green/white/yellow stained glass. Its very pretty at night. Day and night photos

The Grain Mill, A Rare Insider Look, Part 3 of 3, A Social Media House, Bartering Hub

John and I agreed to meet that day so he could give me a tour of the different working stations of the Mill. I was excited to go further into the Mill than just the place where I get my own feed at. The large engine outside was running, hulls fly through the air in town is always a sure sign that John is working with grain at the Mill. Its very little, but as you drive you can see them in the air. The single engine runs a shaft, and the different parts of the Mill are clutched in to drive that work station.

The following stations can all work together or not run while some others are. Items such as horse feed can be made in a 2 ton mixer.

Bird Seed is also mixed, and John makes different types of bird seed depending on which season it is, or which birds are most common. He admitted he can make 15 different types of bird food, but prefers to make only 5 different types. But if you buy 250 pounds of seed he will mix a batch for you.

Now its time for some pictures of the Mill and all her gears, spinning/humming. Inside are square tubes call elevators which move the grains from one operation to another until the end product is made. Buckwheat makes this trip up and down the three story building six times before its separated and the fine flour has been sifted and dropped in the bagging location.

But if you don't need hundreds of pounds of flour made, and want to make your own, and own a kitchen aid, this one is for you.

This one, if you want to make your own by hand, I have this one too!!

My friend has this one, and he uses it for all sorts, he loves it.

This unit is a bit cheaper, but isn't as well made judging by the looks of it.