Off Grid and Lovin’ It

Barbara H. Peterson

Farm Wars

Most of us have wondered what it would be like to pack bag and baggage, move to a remote area of the country, be able to cut all ties to the outside world if necessary and live off-grid. Quite a daunting task, and a bit scary. But it can be done, as evidenced by Bud and Judy who did just that around 9 years ago, and are thriving today because of it.

I asked Bud what their motivation was, and he said: “We just wanted to do things on our own.” Well, they are doing just that. Isolated from the artificial existence of city life, cocooned in the warm glow of self-sufficiency and ready to cut the ties to civilization at any moment, Bud and Judy are living a life that most of us only dream about, and I was about to get a peak at their hideaway…  READ MORE

 

The Backyard Chicken Movement

Michael McCarty
Activist Post

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? It is a heady and perplexing question, to be sure.

Like the classical philosophers of old, I do not have an acceptable answer, either. I’m not even going to try.

However, for more and more people across this land, a more appropriate and timely question has evolved.

They now ask themselves if perhaps they should acquire some chickens, which could provide some tasty eggs for their morning breakfast. People are now looking at their backyards with fresh eyes, searching for a handy and level spot to erect that new chicken coop.

Unfortunately, the next question becomes all to prominent and leaps to center stage: Is it legal?  Now there’s a question! Again, it is also not so easy to answer in simple terms. This can of worms is large, and it holds more slithering things than your well-tended compost pile.

For lack of a better term, the backyard chicken movement is exploding across the country, much to the chagrin of local jurisdictions and the faceless bureaucratic machine. It is a suburban, and increasingly urban phenomena. Well-informed citizens are demanding high-quality, locally grown food. Imagine that! The local food movement continues to gain momentum, with more followers and practitioners every day. It’s a national issue now, and it is not going away anytime soon. But it starts on the local level, and chickens are a big part of it.

 

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. 

 

How to Harvest Lettuce Seed

 

How to Save Radish Seeds

 

Guerrilla Warfare Gardening

By Barbara H. Peterson

Farm Wars

Garden like your life depends on it – because it does!

In this age of rampant contamination of our food supply by pesticides, toxic sludge, radiation, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs), as well as increasing regulations restricting family farmers and people that merely want to use the space in their yards for something useful such as growing food, we would all do well to start learning how to plant a garden, and save the seeds from those crops for future plantings and to share with neighbors and friends so that if one person gets shut down, then others can share their saved seeds and the garden can be started right back up again.

This is guerrilla warfare using seeds as weapons of mass deliverance. 

 

Colloidal Silver for Canning and Food Preservation

By Angela Kaelin

Source: Colloidal Silver Secrets

Historically, from the time of the Roman Empire to the days of American pioneers heading westward across the prairie, silver has been used to preserve food and beverages.

Because of its well-known bactericidal and fungicidal qualities, silver was used to make cups, pitchers and storage containers to help preserve food, water, wine, vinegar and oils that would otherwise spoil easily from bacterial contamination. What’s more, plates, bowls and eating utensils were frequently also made of silver. Sometimes silver coins were placed in storage containers to preserve food and water on long voyages.

Sadly, today most food processing companies rely on toxic chemicals and irradiation to preserve food when they could be using a safer, healthier and all-natural alternative.

Safe, Effective, Highly Beneficial

As a preservative, colloidal silver is not only extremely safe and highly effective, but it provides a number of powerful health benefits to the human body, including increased immunity and greater resistance to infection and disease. That’s why colloidal silver remains to this day the perfect added preservative for canning, as well as for lengthening the shelf life of the foods in your refrigerator or on your kitchen counter.  READ MORE…

 

Making your own butter is so easy – here’s how

 

Transforming a room in your house to an indoor gardening area