Seasoning Your Cast Iron, The How To Facts

Like anything else, there is different ways to accomplish the same goal. Although what I am about to explain to you is the correct way, it might not be the same way you know. Also we are not going to tear this whole process apart, we are going to keep this process as simple as it was done a few hundred years ago. Like they say, if it isn't broke why fix it?

In order to clear the slate for a good conversation, let us get straight into factory seasoning. Any good quality cast iron will arrive pre-seasoned. It is ready to use out of the box, a light rinse and your ready to start using it. Over time a non-stick surface will form, which brings us to the golden rule, never, ever wash your cast iron with soap, dishwasher or scrub it with steel wool... I strip all my new (even to me second hand) cast iron down using Kosher coarse salt and a lemon cut in half. With a little elbow grease, you'll be done in no time. If you desire to keep the factory seasoning, that is fine too.

Let's get to the small affordable list of things you're gonna need prior to seasoning your cast iron. A disposable aluminum pan large enough to set your cast iron into while it is seasoning and a tub of lard. Yes, pig fat... You can use a veggie based white spreadable stuff, but stores still carry just plain old lard, which is the best thing to season with.

Pre-heat your ovn to 350 degrees, okay let me stop here and pass along a note. Some will say you have to pre-heat the cast iron prior to seasoning. That isn't true, the concept in theory is there, but I have been working with metal all my life and we are not annealing, we are seasoning. Annealing is a whole different blog post... The whole open pore concept isn't necessary for seasoning. 

Get out your Lard, open it, and just stick your hand in and grab a big ole glob of it and start to smear it on your cast iron, all over, don't miss a single spot...  Go ahead and to the lid to the Dutch Oven as well, smear it all over it too... Place on your disposable pan, place into the oven for one hour.

By this time you're wondering if it will stink, yes a little. Anytime that it gets too much, if it does, just open a window or door to vent. After an hour has passed it is time to remove the cast iron and let it cool to room temperature and repeat at least one more time, two more times is best at this point, but one more will work.

Over time, using your cast iron, and washing it only with hot water and a brush, a non-stick surface will form. Never use metal utensils unless you have to, just use a little care when using them.

From time to time you may need to season your cast iron again. I once knew a woman by the name of Nancey, she had a cast iron skillet that hadn't been washed with soap for 60 years. Her skillet made some of the best fried trout I ever ate, better than my own and Mom's.

If your looking for a great deal on a starter set of cast iron, here is a great deal!!!! 

 

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?

The Cash Storm, Homesteaders Freedom...

With the warm coals from the hard wood fire, I sit in my warm house wearing my smiley faced pj bottoms and my traditional plain white T on. As the storm Sandy finally moves away, what is left in her path is beyond words, however lets take a closer look.

Held up by the force of wind, I once stood in the wind gale of a down graded category 3 Hurricane. As a natural entrepreneur minded man, I gather fuel, bar oil, sharpeners, chainsaws, straps and come along's,  timber jacks, ropes and cash. As I had already gathered basic 3 week supply of goods to take care of my family I was ready... As we sat in the eye for almost 15 minutes, I was already to get going.

Perhaps you might think that I was going to take advantage of people and charge outrageous prices to remove tree's from dwellings and other places... No, I was however using my money and skills to make money and provide people with a service. I made money after the hurricane moved through by having the tools and supplies on hand to get the job done right away as people wanted to get back to normal. I never charge to much and did dozens of jobs for what the people could afford or had on hand. I even bartered for some stuff....

As a young man, poor, I was always searching for new things to adventure into as long as I could benefit from it, and I enjoyed it, why not? I am positive this type of attitude of moving forward has helped me with running my own businesses as well as the risk of doing that. But Hurricanes and big storms always put a little green in my pocket. There was risk doing what I was doing, but I felt a need to take care of my family, money in my pocket insured I could buy supplies.

A few years ago we were hit by several big storms back to back. We had snow on top of snow on top of snow on top of snow... At one point, I had walls of snow that lined my driveway. But I didn't need to do as I had done before, nor was this storm any different. However perhaps my age now, maturity, knowing better, or just a more confident approach in getting through these types of natural events.

I remember sitting in the eye of that hurricane, in the dead still of air, looking at the coming wall, did I do the right thing and could we handle another 6 hours of this? We did in the end, but it sure was tough and scary. I thought I had 3 weeks of supplies, they lasted only a week.

As I sat here the other day while Sandy raged on, I thought about those days when I thought like that about money..... Today, I am just prepared for months if need be and I didn't go out of my way to do anything special. I don't feel like being in a panic to run to the store to buy supplies other than toilet paper. If I don't have a tin can of food, it doesn't bother me.

Being self sufficient has given me a confidence that I never knew it would. Sure you can say, well of coarse silly, but I can't explain the feelings of confidence I do have. I feel like we could be stuck here and we would survive and be okay. I know tons more about hunting, gathering, gardening and life skills. I feel like I could write a book and teach others the way I have adapted to this life of rewards and freedom. We that Homestead, step in and post a comment if you do, we have a sense of freedom others do not know or understand....

It compares to something like a right of passage, something you have learned and lived and now you can confidently execute the motions without thinking or worry...

By being self sufficient as I want to be, I think if the stuff hits the fan, we will be okay... That is a good feeling....

Sharing My Resources To Help You Along The Way

After a few years of getting my homestead in order or to a place where I can spend more time on my blog and share my ideas and resources. I can finally sit down, start and play catch up.

My first goal was to start listing items that new homesteaders or people just moving into a more self sufficient life can use and identify with. We get so many emails, private messages and post a day about how to, what to use, and how to you find what you need. So I decided to sit down and put together a game plan. This approach has been thought out completely so that we can help you quickly and with the right stuff.

I decided to put the categories in a well defined order so that the first tab is the most important and the last not as much. I can't tell you how much reading can teach you. The gadgets are things you can use to help you process better, faster and with a more positive results than ever before. The seeds are from well trust sources that I have personally bought from in the past.

Starting out or continuing to move forward can sometimes lead to a road block, and we want to be able to help you up and get going again. We have a small, yet dedicated team that will share the correct information with you. There are times or circumstances that we get stumped as we know a little more than general information but not experts in any one subject.

With all the digital products coming out, we are working towards making sure this is a readable site to everyone. If your on a phone and want to see more options, click the down arrow to the right to see more options. Then the tabs will come up and go from there.

Feedback from our community is important so we want to be able keep communications open, and we listen to all suggestions and ideas.

When you use our resources and make purchases from Amazon when you follow our links, we get a small kick back which gets split three ways. I am on a 1099 so all taxes come out first, than we have a projects fund and then the giveaway fund. By supporting this page this way, your giving back to the whole community. After people started stepping forward telling me how much I am changing their lives for the better, I thought about the items we give away and how much they could help others live a better, more self sufficient life.

Supporting this community is important to everyone here, including myself and other moderators. All of our moderators are volunteers at this time. They are giving back because they love and enjoy sharing their lifestyles. We are also here to make sure that this is a friendly PG-13 level site.

Last but not least, Thank you for your financial support through the Amazon Program and a huge thank you for being a part of our community. Be sure to share us with your friends.... Peace and much Love Jason

The Chicken Strategy, Chickens are Smart!!

Do you remember the story of wrong way Whooten I told you about when I was a child? Basically it was about a duck that was born around our pond, I believe in the end he was left by his familyu and was the only little duck left. Well, the fellow had a bad sense of direction like most men. So he swam backwards but walked forward, yeah go figure right.

So, ok, now I have a new story to tell you happening here on the homestead... LOL... Pretty good one too.

So out of the old flock we have two hens, one is still laying and one continues to peck at the others eggs and breaks them open. I have supplemented their feed and have done everything I know to keep her from doing such a thing. But she continues to carry on her hate until the other day..

The hens were shouting their chicken alarms and so we checked in on them. When the door was opened, there she was in all her glory.......

So she has been pushing the lid off a few times, once we didn't put it back on because we never found any poo in there so figured we would keep it off.

She was safely removed from her troubled position being stuck in the top part of the feeder.... Then, to our amazement she was doing something pretty smart. She was protecting her eggs from the other hen that keeps breaking them open.

By laying her eggs down in the can, the other hen can't reach them to break them open. So, we decided to make a plan to test this theory to see if this was a self taught, survival of the species skill. Now a week later, she continues to lay eggs in there, but if filled up to much she will lay in the nesting box where the other hen continues to break them...... 

So Your New To This and Your Looking Where To Begin?

Like Peddlers peddling all sorts of Elixirs for everything that is wrong with you, so are people blogging and giving the information they know or think to believe to be true.

Recently a community member said you didn't need to buy books, everything was on the internet for free.. So than I posted a photo of a home library with a quote from Cicero "If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." I know there is a lot of bogus material out there, I know there is a lot of people not evening do what I am doing and sitting in their home just posting and not living the life they suggest they are living.

Here is the deal, I am a real person, with real idea's, that is living and sharing how to be more self sufficient as I desire to be. I am not going to tell you what level to live it on or where you need to be, that is up to you. If you just grow a tomato plant and that makes you happy, right on. If your sitting up in the middle of Canada's back country, off grid, in a Yurt  and your living your life they way you want, right on. My goal isn't to push any one more into being SS (self sufficient), my goal is to show you how you can do it if you want.

So am I going to do things wrong sometimes? Yes, although I strive to end my task to be fruitful and moving forward with my SS living, I make mistakes. When I make them, I admit that I made a mistake and try to move forward with a solution or take it as a lesson not to do what I did. Do you remember the anti-chicken rat traps I made? That was a flop and a costly mistake. Problem was I didn't think like a rat and so I solved the problem another way and now my coop is rat free.

So, what advice do I have for you on your first step? Decide to do it or not. If you decide to take it on (any level), remember a few things. Your going to have to get dirty and do some work. Your going to have to read, and a lot of it. Your going to have to understand, and not be afraid of failing, face it your going to make mistakes. The amount of tears that have made mud puddles in front of my knees are uncountable. You just have to roll with it and make your way through it. Remember what I said a few years ago? Making a mistake means that at least your trying to do something to change the out come of how your living your life right now.

Now make a plan and write it down, Danielle has a list that says "make a list for this" no kidding, but look write it down and hang it somewhere and look at it for a couple days.
1. What is your end goal?
2. At what level do you want to live SS
3. Are you willing to make small investments and gather materials from where ever to make stuff?
4. Are you willing to ignore the silly comments your family/friends might make?
5. Why do you want to change?
6. Can you see yourself working hard earning your way through hard work?
7. At what level are you willing to give things of comfort up, in exchange for less but more rewarding?

When you read these over and over, hang them by the can if you want, talk to yourself about them.

If you asked me some years ago about my proudest moment, and I have owned land and property before. But what I was most proud of, I would have told you it was buying my land. Today that question has a very different answer. Today I am proud of yesterday because I made a choice and I decided to stick with it through injures, tears, sweat, failures, property disputes, risk, and accomplishment. My land has shaped me as much as I have shaped it. It has given back to me what I have given to it.

When you step forward, I will suggest a book for you to start from. Why? Time tested methods of doing the task the way they explain it. It will teach you many different aspects of living more SS. Once you thumb through it a few times, start writing down some things you want to change, now you can begin.
 

                                                               

The Birth Of The Smoothie

There are a few dishes that sit on my table today as did when I was a child. It is sometimes wonderful how we relate food today and the memories from our childhood, sometimes it isn't.

Traci, my sister can correct me on this one, however I am sure it was in October of 1978. We lived in a shanty in a small town in Clarksburg Pa. It was once a sturdy home, left to time and rented without up keep. The coal door still opened as we would feed the coal furnace from the basement and the coal truck put coal through that door. I doubt that at any time in life of that house was it ever warm during the winter.

I had returned from shoveling coal into the furnace as I was told to do, steam in the air, windows covered in condensation, the old brown TV with a fuzzy picture of the evening news was on. Traci and I often peeled potatoes as well as help Mom prep dinner as she had a full time job.

Dinner time in our house was that, all the family come together, sit, ask for people to pass around stuff. It was a Friday evening and Bobby's two children spent that weekend with us. So with 4 children, when Mom shouted dinner, the whole house seemed to rumble and shake as we made our way to our seats at the table. But this night it was a quiet "drag" to the table.

It isn't my fault if your having your own flashbacks by this time, perhaps, but let me tell you more.

Bobby and Mom thought a good meal was a meal where you would have to eat stuff that children think is gross. It doesn't matter how it was cooked, it was just nasty. Bobby's pick that Friday's meal, saute' liver and onions... with mashed taters...

I tried for an hour to climb my way through this meal, it was nothing smaller than Mt Everest, and almost no place to drive my fork in. It was cold and harsh, but Mom just kept pushing forward... Your not leaving that table till your plate is clean.. I remember listening to the clock tick as if minutes were hours...

As  time past, I was alone in the kitchen while every one else fought for a spot to watch TV. Mom went in and put her night gown on... I knew better to waste the food, that is the real reason I didn't try to out smart my way through it. I wasn't a very clever child either and knew I faced a spanking or worse if I did get caught. Then, with a sad face as I looked at her, she said right....

Mom was a War baby and was raised by her Mom and a nanny as the story was told to me. So she had some of that hard liner and dry humor about her that had been caste into her as a young child by a Brit Nanny.

The blender was pulled out, she grabbed my plate, scrapped it into the blender, she came back and grabbed my golden Tupperware plastic glass which was filled with whole milk. In it went like she was a master chef creating a master piece... The blender bogged a few times at the start... than it ran...

She filled that same glass up, placed it before me and ordered me to drink it. I did so in total fear that she was about to become a monster.. Than she filled it up again until the blender was empty, again she ordered me to drink it, but this time my gag reflexes were about to explode. I lifted it up slowly, and couldn't get that liver infused milk drink taste out of my mind. I was crying and begging my way out of it, but I was stuck...

So the birth of liver and onions smoothie was born... The taste test didn't do so well, so it never became a popular fade diet or smoothie...

PS Please look at the labels I have attached to this post....

Real Homesteding For Real People, DANGER! (Graphic PG-13)

For most people here you understand how I live and the reasons why I live the way I do. It is a system that balances on many factors, some I can control, some I can't.

I know I have had ONE egg fried and savored in the last two months. No pancakes, no Souffles, no cakes, nothing that requires a egg. Sadly my old flock is in its senior years, and the girls are beyond their hot flashes and have just about stopped laying. I would cull them, but their are our first flock and I said I would only cull them if it made them live more comfy.

The new flock has had a Rooster, a kind gentle Silkie. I didn't know he had fight in him, but now I know he does, and he is ready to defend the flock.

Growing up on a Farm, you understand sometimes bad things happen. In order to secure the problem you have to look at the evidence and decide how and what happened. Even when you look at what is there before you, it isn't what it seems.

Joshua came in and mentioned he saw a Red-Tail Hawk looming in the trees near the coop and he saw one dead chicken and other stuff. We had just come home from Church and I was cooking lunch, but it was a Homesteaders worst fear, grabbing the gun to defend what is yours. I will defend my way of living and my food including my animals.

Wait... You can't shoot at a Hawk against the law, but my thoughts were different as he said he saw a dead chicken. I knew it wasn't a Hawk, a Hawk would carry its pray off to eat... But I knew that the killer was near and close by. I thought a dog was near by, and if lived by me and your dog entered my property line and killed my chickens, I would kill your dog. I have no relationship with your dog, my dog has been trained to guard the chickens and not harm them.

So as the evidence was there, a dead chicken laid at my feet, I looked at the method of killing and looked around the pen. It was the scene of horror for a chicken, a real reason why they are so skittish by nature. Piles of feathers, each pile near or around the edge of the fence.

I figured if a coon had made the kills, I would find more dead chickens as I had 7 still missing. I ruled out a yottie, and then a weasel was considered. I didn't know so we recovered the live chickens secured them.

After lunch I went out to look around and decided to make my "chicken call" just in case the girls had escaped some how and made a run for it... What do you know, they did, and they were still alive and called back to me!! Scared, but still alive, the Araucana ran to me (we are friends) and so she was happy and settled up in my arms. I called out to Danielle and Jessica to help me, I told Joshua where to go. We got four of them, the other three had been hurt pretty bad by the feathers in the pen. By evening they showed up ready for food and water.

I suspect a young coon came in and the rooster defended the flock while many of the got away. We did loose one chicken, and she was buried as she died unexpected and was honored.

The great news is that the girls have started to lay!!

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!

Chicken Popsicle Hydrate Them With Water and Scraps

In the hot, dog days of summer, I am canning outside trying to keep the house cool. Nothing says farm work to me like a glass of cold Iced Tea, touch of lemon and just a tad of sugar to take off the bitter edge.

As a child we always had water and goats milk, but goats milk had it's place, and Iced Tea... Come in out of the garden, bailing hay, farm chores or fields, the cool glass of iced tea hit the spot. It still hits my memory buttons like it was yesterday.

Chickens are no different than hard working homesteader or farm hand. They aimlessly wonder to forage for bugs and find cool places to get a good dust and cool off. Their feathers keep the heat in and they need to keep cool.

So, you can keep your veggie scraps, chop them up, and add them with water into a flexible plastic container and freeze. I like to add a little scratch just so they know I love them. From green bean ends, swiss chard, blueberries, blackberries, squash and even tomatoes. Over rip strawberries in the mix makes my girls go nuts....

How To Grow Onions

Onions are one of the most popular vegetables for growing in home gardens and are one of the first crops of spring. They can be stored over winter thus making a versatile crop They are used in a huge range of culinary dishes,both raw and cooked.

If adding manure or composted organic matter then add a few weeks before sowing / planting out.
Onions can be planted from seed or from sets (small partly grown onion bulbs). Sets are more expensive but they tend to be more reliable in their results and also require less work - no thinning and reduced onion fly risk.

If sowing from seed then sow in holes about 1/2 inch deep with about 5 inches between seeds. If sowing in rows then space the rows about 10 inches apart.

The soil should be moist before sowing so check the soil the day before sowing and water if the soil is dry.

If planting onion sets then they can be planted around Mid to Late March. Again space rows about 10 inches apart. Sow sets around 5 inches apart as they shouldn't require any thinning. Dig a small hole for each set and place the set in neck upwards. When covered back up with soil the tip of the neck should just show through the soil surface.

Spring onions (scallion) can be sown from April and planting should be staggered every few weeks to ensure a continuous crop throughout the growing season. Onions will grow in most climates and are frost resistant.

Onions will grow in almost any soil from sandy loams to heavy clay. The soil should be firm. If your soil is heavy then you can introduce some organic compost or manure into the soil to help its moisture retaining properties. Onions prefer a slightly acidic soil - PH 5.5-6.5 is a good PH for growing onions.

Frequently weed between the onions by shallow hoeing, onions do not trap much incoming light due to their sparse leaf forms so weeds can take full advantage of the available light.

Onions are ready to harvest a week after their tops have started to fall over and are yellowed. Use a small shovel to lift the onions out of the ground. Take care not to damage the skins as this invites decay organisms in to attack the onion flesh.

Onions should be harvested on a sunny day, cleaned of any soil still attached to them and then placed on top of the soil where they will dry out with the help of the sun and wind.. Leave the onions out for a few days,until the tops dry out.

Remove the tops with a sharp knife about 2 inches above the onion top so that decay organisms do not have direct access to the onion bulb.

Discard/use any onions that show signs of decay or damage as these can affect healthy onions if they are stored .

If you want to store the onions over winter then you can cure them by hanging them in a well aired place (such as from the roof of a summer house veranda). Mesh bags or strings can be used to group and hang the onions and they should hang for about 3-4 weeks.

The Haters, The Lovers, The Seekers.....

As I sit in comfort of my plush chair, the fire is keeping this space warm and the smell of the fire reminds me of childhood days of living on the farm. I know that wood I split was well worth the effort as I knew these days were coming, and I would have to keep us warm. It was the same way back on the farm.

Today the world is a whole different place, but there are spots and places that have stayed the same just as I was raised. People are trying to get back to the basics and teach themselves the skills needed to live off their land, I am one of those people. To me, its in my soul, part of my program, what I believe in, what I desire. I was never a " keep up with the Jones " or "faddish" type, maybe as a teenager but that has long since been gone.

When we moved here I had many dreams on how I was going to make this land work for us. I have struggled many times with different aspects of living self sufficient. I haven't gone without, I have always provided, and the food I eat and gather is bar none the best. I know that when we pop open that canning jar, whatever is in the jar was made with hard work and lots of love. Pride is something I feel, but its also my drive to live the way I do. No words can describe to you how I felt in my heart when that day I opened my freezer and all the food that filled it over half way was of my own effort and hard work. The rewards of doing it on your own are many, more than some people can see, but also ones that people seek to understand it.

The Haters
Haters is a strong word, but these are the people that think that meat in a package was grown in a garden or a product made by man. Shake your head if you want, I have a neighbor that thinks just that way, clueless. They are the people who look down on you, or feel sorry for you because you "have to" live the way you are. They think that the efforts you make to make maple syrup is a joke because they can go to the store and buy it without any effort.
Its easy to go to the store and buy a dead processed chicken, after cooking it, its okay to throw some of it away if you want because there is no relationship between that chicken and you. I was at a KFC, yup I said it, sue me, KFC....... When I ordered some wings. As I sat down to eat them, I opened the hot sauce and began to chow down (KFC does have some killer hot sauce). After a couple, I bit into one that had a dark substance all around the meat and bone. Raising and slaughtering animals myself, I knew that was a blood clot caused by abuse. At the hands of a human, that chicken died in a manner less than respectable, at least in my book.
The haters don't have a clue as to why it was like that... Frozen veggies and fresh.... They sit around and complain about the economy and food prices, but harvesting lettuce in a field is below them. They are the people supporting big Ag companies so that the basic gentle farmer can't make a decent living at working the land or raising meat to sell. I don't hate the Haters, I want to open their eyes, teach them, let them taste their own rewards. I want them to raise one chicken and harvest that chicken to feed their family.

The Lovers
These are the people who might not have land, might not understand what we do or how we do it. They are looking at us, reading what we do, and living through us as we get on with life. Lovers are those that understand why/what we are doing. They sit on the side lines because perhaps that is all they can do because they need to learn and be taught how to do something on their own. They don't envy us so much as appreciate what we do and what makes us tick. They do what they can to recycle, and do what they can to keep the landfills less filled.  Lovers ask questions about what we do as well as love the food we share with them. Some lovers cover their like for us because they don't think they can do what you do. But they are always the first to stick their hand up for free veggies when we have extra to offer. Believe it or not, Haters can be closet Lovers, in fact a closet Lover will be your seasonal friend. They are easy to snuff out, you just have to see who is kind to you during growing season and dislikes your lifestyle when growing season is past. I am positive you can say " Hey, I know someone like that! " Lovers also don't make fun of us, they are eager to understand because perhaps they will someday be a Seeker. I like Lovers and I will gladly keep sharing what I do, in hopes someday, you will post that you decided to try it for yourself and love the rewards of your hard work and thank me.

The Seekers
I am a Seeker... Seekers are those, ( I will remind you, at ANY LEVEL) that are seeking a new/better way to provide for their family by doing it themselves. They seek out like minded people to join with to learn and understand. They want to join those people that are doing it and get their hands dirty. They want a wood fire, they want to pop open the canning jar, they want to understand how basic needs can be met by hard work and understanding how to do it. They respect others who have to live that way, they look at those who have to live that way as a friend. A Seeker can cover themselves with a blanket that was sewn with yarn and understand the warm they feel was made with a pair of hands not a factory loom. They embrace the smell of a wood fire, and will even cook a meal right in the living room because while the open fire heats the room, it can also cook a meal in a pan. ( Did you ever image looking at your fireplace that way?) 

I really like it when people tell me that they tried something I have taught them to do, or they buy a book that allows them to make something all on their own. It isn't my goal, but an added benefit to teach others while I learn myself. I know some of you have been with me a few years now, and as I have hit the bumps along the way, you too have hit them with me. Thanks for hanging out with me and I hope your doing something SS if you weren't already doing it yourself. Jason

Local Meats, Better Quality/ Prices Supporting Local Farms

So for many years I have been going to my local Farmers market as well as Slater's Meats. Located off of 38 about 11 miles from my home. Bob Slater, the owner makes many of his own meats to sell as well as other local meat makers. When I asked him how long he had been Butchering, he laughed and said "long before you were born, 1957" When I asked him about his meat supply, he stated that some was local, and the other from out west. He made it clear that it was the cost of raising the beef locally and what farmers could get per pound. I also know from talking to another farmer locally that supply can increase on a weekly bases. 

It was a very clean store and you can tell a lot of attention goes into their up keep. There was clean saw dust on the floor around the cutting stations, and the veggie cooler was perfectly clean. They offer a wide variety of HOMEMADE loafs and meat mixes as well as a large selection of locally sold spices from a local company. You just got the feeling that this was a shop for locals, no gimmicks or thrills, just a down right country store.

If you happen to be passing through or are local, stop in and try some of their deli meats. They will allow you to free sample some, just like the old days!

Here is Bob Slater and one of his other butchers. Bob was cutting NY Strips while his other butcher was cutting a piece of fresh Top Round for me to make my jerky from. His knife was very sharp I might add.

 Here you can see the butchers rail coming from the freezer while a mule deer looks away from the butchers table.

Butchers rail

  Prepping some meat

 Trimming off the fat of my top round

 Look at this selection of cold cuts, homemade sausages, loafs and meat mixes!

 How good are these prices?

 Local Chicken

Prices so good, it is worth the drive for the price alone not to mention the quality!

 What grocery store can claim they make their own lunch meats? I did sample and bought a pound each of the Pepper Loaf and Dutch Loaf. The Pepper Loaf taste just like a hot pepper sausage, but its flat! YUMMY!

 Other local meats and sausages as well as a wide selection of cheeses. I am going back today to pick up my pork bellies for bacon makin! They also supply me with my pork and fat trimmings to make my homemade sausages!

So The Question Was Asked, Am I A Prepper?

K&D asked me this morning if I am a prepper? Perhaps..

My lifestyle is based on a system of beliefs that living off the land and taking care of me, my family and helping others to become more independent for themselves. However, not having a huge wallet to just go out and buy everything I need, my approach is a more practical down to earth.

If you have journeyed with me the past few years you know that I operate out of a fund/account set-up to provide money to pay for this. Whenever you follow my links to amazon from here or from FB and buy stuff, no matter what, I also get a kick back. It isn't much but at an average of .34 a day it helps. I call this account my SS fund and I make purchases according to my needs and what SS skill I am working on.

Trading and bartering are not included with this account. So I do my best to trade and barter before I spend any money for something.

I do have stashes placed in different locations of my property,  and those each will afford us with 7-9 days of food for 4 people. They are replaced every 3 years at a cost of $60 a bucket. I also have a "bug-out" bag as well as night vision and first aid. I have water filters as well as iodine for water.

Now, as many of you know, I don't talk about my weapons and what I use to hunt. I have a rifle, muzzle loader, and cross bow. Beyond that being said, the rest is not open for conversation.

I am sure I can escape, and we do have a plan in place in case something does happen. I feel my skills are useful enough to present myself as an important member in a clan if need be. I also am skilled enough to do it on my own and take care of my family. Fist aid is my biggest problem, I know the serous basics, but not the serous stuff.

Knowing plants in different regions is a must as I may have to travel south or north. I feel I have enough knowledge to gather food in every season. I can build shelters, set all sorts of string traps to catch small game, and I know many staple plants that I can gather that will keep us alive if they are to be found.

I don't know what the future holds, but I live the life I do so that I will not be unprepared in regular life or if something bigger happens. I know that my basic calorie counts won't be good, but we can get by.

What if TSHTF, are you ready? What are you doing about it?

About That City Life? Country Living At Its Finest !

So I have had some conflict recently about my SS way of life. But let me not forget my city life and all that it still is and more. Perhaps I will slip into a place where I beat city dwellers down, but have heart my dear friends, city living isn't this country boys cup of tea.
As we sat watching the news, a 78 y/o woman had been raped and murdered 4 blocks down, 7 blocks over. I didn't understand the dynamics of the murder back then, I have a great understanding now. However, it was the fact that we lived in the best area, the best school, and things like that didn't happen here, or so I was to believe.

Then there was the on going hassle with stupid neighbors and property lines (still can't run from that one) and all that it came with. Then comes privacy, I didn't get that till we moved back to the country. The people driving by, the sirens, the smog, the everyday traffic, horns beeping, that fights people had, and the list goes on.

Than once we moved house back to the country it took a little getting use to. But I would sit out on the porch staring up at the sky that I hadn't seen in so many years. The peepers, the tree frogs, the gentle cool breeze of the summer night. It was like heaven, a place where I walked around and drank my beer and listened to what mother nature was. To be honest, it defined me and who I am.

I grew up on a farm, where in the summer we stay and camped outside because the upstairs of the house was too hot. Even if we could afford a fan, we couldn't afford the power to move the night air. In the winter, getting ready for school was a hoot!! See, the trick was to put our clothes in bed with us the night before. Early in the morning, when Mom would shout to get up, she just wanted to see lights in the hallway. So every other day me or my brother would hop out of bed and make a mad dash to turn on the light and back to bed. There was frost patterns on the windows, you could see your breath. You could smell Dad trying to get the coal fire started. But if it were banked right the night before, it would be cold but you couldn't see your breath.

I found the relationship with the Earth that I so longed for and had missed sooooooo much when I had to move to the city. I always told my Dad " You can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy. " He would be mean sometimes and say " well what are you going to do? Move back to PA where the deer and the antelope roam? " I never could figure a response to that statement, until I moved back. Jokingly, at Thanksgiving dinner, I looked at him and said " They must have killed all the Antelope, because I have yet to see one. " He never said a word but rather changed the subject.  
I decided that city living isn't for me, I see nothing wrong with it, but its not for me. I have dreamed of living in a cabin, that dream might just happen sooner than I ever dreamed.
But it might not, so I have made a final decision on where I will remain. I will continue to live in the woods, and continue with my way of life and continue in the direction I want to go. I want to be happy, and gardening, living off the land, making my own stuff, and being kind to the Earth are all things that are importnat to me, I can't give that up.
I hope you stay with me as I continue my next adventures of sausage making!!! I am evening doing a bacon video.... Thanks friends and fans, stay tuned!!! Jason

Wasting Some Green, and Seeing Red, A No Waste Trick

Well the garden is coming in and doing its job, I have processed pickles, chutneys, jams, squash, onions, garlic and the corn is coming in.

I have had so many cukes, I put some in the frig and meaning to get back to them for bread and butter pickles, and well they went limp on me. I try to have a no waste rule, however I have been so busy with the new building project, time just slips by. I picked another bunch today and threw out the old shriveled ones.

So the first small handful of red maters were nice, then today I harvested 6 pounds or so. I processed them for juice using my kitchen aid and two different attachments combined together to pulp free my sauce in less then 15 minutes I had over a 1/2 gallon of the good stuff. I have frozen that and will add that later when I have enough organic juice to make a few batches of sauces and salsa.

The trick to get every little bit from the maters using my method, is to process the maters 4 times through the kitchen aid. I ended up with 1/4 cup of seeds and just skins. The old method use to take me hours, and there is nothing wrong with doing it by hand. However, I am a modern pioneer and I love to save time processing as long as I get a better or higher quality end product. In this case, it was hours sooner and I got 100% of usable product.

If you want me to share what products I use, and my method, let me know. I am always happy to share.

Keeping On Getting Back To Normal, Love Fresh Food

Hello SS folks, long time no post... However as I mentioned after my return from the coast, I am presenting you with the photos of the homestead and where I am at with things.

So we are doing great, and the weather has been bad. With almost no rain, my rain barrel has been dry most of the grow season. I have used both pond water and well water for the garden. The mulch I laid down has been a blessing. Like some of you, I have been getting on with my seasonal duties of putting food up for the winter season. Although I have been eating more veggies since the garden has been growing, I drop almost 25 pounds of fat. Stress fat as well as process food eating I am sure. We all know the difference in the taste of market food and your own.

Well, all that being said, I'd rather explain the photos as they posted. So if you have sometime and want to join me on my adventure of my SS lifestyle, grab a cup of tea or your preferred drink and lets have a mozzy on the farm.
Mushroom Logs setting idle, waiting for some rain


Wind spinners which help run the birds off and add some beauty to the garden



Solar lights in the garden. 4 corners have led colored globes, and again the bean tree fence post topper


Garden Guard


Garden pictures of different crops and general garden stuff







Ground Hog enters garden and eats carrots and beans, I will harvest and stew him soon


Early Garlic processing



Onions



Summer and Zuke squash, dried and ready to be separated into my squash mess vac bags and other cooking recipes. I have a long loved squash mess recipe from my Mom that she taught me how to make. I took it one step further and developed a dehydrated recipe of my own.


Jamming.. Maple syrup too..





So let me set this up and explain to you how some people don't think. At the end of maple season, folks are tired and couldn't be bothered working out the "fines" in the last gallon of syrup. Fines are named as all the small particles left over in the last batches of each go at maple making. They were going to toss them out this year, I got my equal share already, and wanted the stuff they were going to throw away. Anyway, what you are looking at is one jar of the left over "fines" syrup. Somewhat darker than Amber, still a good quality syrup, this jar is 90% maple syrup with the fines settled at the bottom. SO letting it settle and removing the top syrup has given me another half gallon of syrup.


Todays harvest


The root cellar seems to keep at a steady 66 degrees and was a rewarding building project for food stores. It has proved to be a great place for me to safely store both dried foods as well as canned food.

The hedge rows have provided a steady supply of berries for jamming and fresh eating. This year is the first year that grapes are growing. some of the later raspberry plants are still providing berries of pancakes and sugar and milk.


I suspect that I will be drying and canning tomatoes very soon. I will be canning green ones as well. I also will be drying some for soup recipes.

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You can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy.
вегетарианец- Russian word for poor hunter
We are pioneers, trail blazers, we fight for freedom. We transform our dreams into the truth, our struggles, we became a nation.