Category Archives: DIY

Yaupon Holly (the vomitting plant) makes a great tea

Posted on by Posted in DIY, foraging, guineas, Natural Cures, Self-Sufficiency, tea .

yaupon-hollyWith spring here, Ranae and I have been outside a great deal lately. The cool evenings are a great time to sit in our favorite lawn chairs and enjoy a glass of tea. It’s a time spent together discussing the plans for the summer and improvements we intend to make around this little homestead.

The guinea eggs have been ordered and we are anxious for their arrival. One night this past week we were sitting outside and discussing how nice it will be to have the guineas running around foraging for bugs, etc. We discussed the various types of bugs the guineas would be searching for and what plants if any they would consume.

The conversation turned to our own interest and experiences with foraging. I was first exposed to foraging for food when I went through the Army’s survival training. I always found it amazing how many plants are edible if you simply know where to look. Continue reading →

Be Careful Where You Spend Your Money

Learning is fun

Posted on by Posted in DIY, Family Fun, Make Your Own, planning, Remote Living, Self-Sufficiency .

I love when I receive email from my readers and I do receive a lot of it. Last week I received an email from a man who read a couple of my articles. He had read the one about how hard it was to find good reliable help out here in the sticks and the latest one about starting with a portable building for a house cabin. He asked a pretty good question, “What if I just don’t have the skills to do the building and construction you talk about?”

I realize not everyone has been trained or even exposed to such things, but for me this is what I find the most exciting about the lifestyle. The constant learning and trial and error at skills I may not have is what keeps this lifestyle interesting for me. While I have had some training and plenty of practice in building construction, I don’t have all the answers to every problem we face out here. Continue reading →

A roof over our heads

Posted on by Posted in DIY, Family Fun, Make Your Own, planning, Remote Living .

portable-buildingThis series of my articles has been about deciding if this self-sufficient lifestyle is right for you or not. In my “Back to the Basics” article on January 3rd, I mentioned the six things Ranae and I put at the top of our list when deciding to make the leap to be 100% in this lifestyle. Those six items are: water, shelter, food, energy, finances and community. Keep in mind, we filter every decision through the frugality filter.

Last week I talked a bit about how we were able to get internet out here in the sticks and how that provides for my ability to make a living. So, once we had all the big hurdles met, what about a roof over our heads? Continue reading →

A new compost bin