How to have a home with no house payments and no utility bills!

“The cabin is 14  x 14 and approximately 400 square feet with a full loft. It includes a kitchen, dining area, bathroom and living area downstairs and a large bedroom and office upstairs.”

http://www.simplesolarhomesteading.com/

 

How to Turn a Pallet into a Garden

Source: Life on the Balcony

Find a Pallet

The first thing you need to do is–obviously–find a pallet. I’ve had good luck finding them in dumpsters behind supermarkets. No need to be squeamish. It doesn’t smell. At least, it doesn’t smell that bad. Don’t just take the first pallet you find. You’re looking for one with all the boards in good condition, no nails sticking out, no rotting, etc. If you intend to put edibles in your pallet, be sure to find one that was heat treated as opposed to fumigated with pesticides. READ MORE…

 

A Garden in my Apartment – Open Source Project

 

Henry Lowrider – A Lesson in Courage

Go, Henry, GO!!!

Barbara H. Peterson

Farm Wars

Henry Lowrider was born in a little town in Southern Oregon, where the weather dips to minus 10 degrees in winter, sometimes colder. He was a beautiful baby. But Henry was not very aggressive. His peers kicked him around and didn’t let him hang with them. In fact, his brothers and sisters made sure that Henry slept on the floor, while they took the higher, warmer bunks. Henry just dug in and curled up in the corner where the others couldn’t fit.

One evening, Henry approached me. He was walking funny. It looked like there was something wrong with one of his feet. I took him in the house to care for him and heat his almost frozen tootsies. He got better, then resumed his day to day life. A little while later, I noticed that Henry was limping again. Except this time when I brought him in, he refused to eat or drink. Evidently, death with his family was better than life in a cage for Henry, so I reluctantly let him go, hoping for the best. At this point, I should mention that Henry is a chicken… rooster to be exact. 

 

The Middle Class Crash – US streets full of former middle class

 

Redefining the Natural

In some places, the term "natural" is defined and enforced. In others, such as the United States, it has no meaning.

By Allison Brooks

As societies develop and more technology is introduced, faith and trust in nature is lost. Mother Nature and the human body have been interacting for millions of years, way before any genetically modified plants or animals have come in to play, or even doctors. But it seems now, that this trust in nature for providing the best remedies and food is going by the wayside. More processed meat is being produced, more crops that grow out of season are bought, and more trust in chemicals to treat the simplest of ailments is increasing. This should not be the case. People need to look back to nature and realize that such a majestic background can produce everything needed to sustain life and thrive. 

 

Guerrilla Warfare Gardening 2: Toil’s no Trouble

Barbara H. Peterson

Farm Wars

Farm Wars Outdoor Garden 2011

With the last cabbage processed, this season’s outdoor gardening and food processing project is officially over. That is, all except for soil prep for next season, when we let the geese and goat in the garden to eat the leftovers, then spread the horse manure. Then, it’s all about enjoying the fruits of our labors, and telling the corporate veggie distributors to take their pesticide-laden produce and… well, you know the rest.

This is our fourth year gardening in the high desert, and I’ve got to admit, we messed around and got it right this time. We have enough in the freezer for the year, and the garden fed us and the critters with fresh produce all during the harvest.

Brian planted and hand watered the garden morning and evening. We both weeded and harvested, and I processed. Processing consisted of cleaning, trimming, blanching, chopping and freezing, as well as some drying. We both collect seeds.

Here are pics of some of the bounty (cabbage, onions, beets, radishes, spinach and zucchini). We had carrots also, but I forgot to take pics of them. The garden area was 60 X 80: 

 

Plastic soda bottles become light source

 

How to build a bike trailer from a shopping cart and old bicycles

Tony’s Trailers

Building your own free utility trailer:

Yes it’s true you can and I will show you some pictures that will get you started looking for the free material to build your own cargo trailer. All the materials can be had for free; this includes a derelict shopping cart and old bicycles and parts. Of course you supply the labor and tools and equipment to do the work.

Here is the YouTube link to see the rest of the instructions:

http://www.youtube.com/user/tonyhoar1#g/u

 

Skin Disease Linked to GMOs – Don’t let this happen to you!

By Barbara H. Peterson

In 2005, I experienced something that rocked my world. It started with an itch about halfway between my right knee and ankle, on the side of my leg. I inspected the area, and saw a couple of small bumps that looked like pimples. By the next day, the affected area had grown from just these few bumps to a dime-sized area filled with them. The itching increased. I sloughed it off to some sort of allergic reaction that would go away shortly. It didn’t. In fact, it grew to the point of keeping me awake at night.

When scratched, the bumps oozed clear liquid. I can best describe what this turned into as the worst case of poison oak rash that anyone has ever endured. This rash spread all the way up my leg to my shoulders, and included the other leg as well. There seemed to be no relief in sight. I got so desperate to ease the itching that I actually bathed in bleach. This DID NOT help. In fact, it only made things worse. Antibiotics did not work, fungicides did not work, steroid creams did not work. NOTHING worked. I was desperate.

I finally determined that the food I was eating must have something to do with it and stopped eating, drinking my pure well water only. The itching seemed to subside. Quite frankly, after making this connection, I was scared to eat! This couldn’t go on for long, so after hunger took over, I slowly started introducing foods into my diet, one item at a time.

It should be noted that during this time, I was told about genetically modified foods (GMOs) and started doing some research. I checked out the labels of all of the processed foods in my kitchen, and found that almost all of them contained known GM ingredients such as corn, soy, beet sugar, and milk containing rBGH hormone. Could this be the cause of my affliction? I would soon find out.