How to Improve Your Homestead Skills

essential skills Nov 10, 2020

Many people that I’ve met that live a self sufficient lifestyle are motivated, flexible, self-starters. They are hardy do-it-yourself types, critical thinkers, and problem solvers.  This is because being able to manage your own resources and provide most of your daily needs actually requires a considerable amount of skill and knowledge. Perhaps this is one of the things that intimidates most people and holds them back from starting this type of lifestyle.  Fortunately, there are several options to improve your homestead skills.  That is the focus of this post.     

What if you had to build you own house? Provide your own electricity? Repair your roof? Build a shed? Install your own water purification system? Grow your own vegetables? Provide your own source of meat? What if you had an important project to complete,hiring someone was not an option, and you had no idea where to start? Could you figure it out? 

If you are not accustomed to this...

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Guide to Smoking Meat

Smoking meat has been a means of food preservation for thousands of years. It is especially useful if you live off the grid. However, it is also a means to prepare some excellent food and step out way beyond the basics of grilling. Yet many people are intimated by the thought of smoking meat and never even attempt to learn this art.
 

This guide to smoking meat is designed to not only teach you the basics but also give you some fantastic pointers on how to purchase your first smoker. But in the event you are limited on funds, this post will also give you what you need to turn your grill into a smoker.  

In other related posts, you will also learn the basics of Cold Smoking meat as well as a guide to purchasing your first smoker.  But for now,  let’s start out with the basics.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1) INTRODUCTION
2) DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BARBECUING, GRILLING, AND SMOKING
3) THREE BENEFITS OF SMOKING MEAT
4) BASIC EQUIPMENT NEEDED FOR SMOKING
5) AN OVERVIEW OF...
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Building An Emergency Kit, an Important Part of Self Sufficiency

Why Build an Emergency Kit?

Self sufficiency and being prepared for emergencies go hand in hand. Since emergency situations can easily result in days of inconvenience or may result in you having to leave your home, it should be part of your overall strategy to build an emergency kit. This is important whether you live in an isolated area, which I do, or you live in suburbia. It is  important to prepare for every contingency and that is why I keep an emergency kit on hand.

When emergencies occur,  you may have to do without electricity, water, telephone, and easy access to a grocery store. Local resources will become strained very quickly. Consequently, one of the best things you can do to assist first responders, as well as your community, is to have the ability to be self sufficient.  It is important to understand that when these types of situations arise, resources may not be able to reach you for a variety of reasons. Therefore, you need to have certain things on...

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How to Improve Your Off Grid Skills

Living off grid requires dedication, commitment, and a considerable amount of knowledge and skill.  Most people do not acquire those skills over night.  Therefore, if this is concerning, continue reading and learn how to improve your off grid skills.  

Most people I’ve met that live a self sufficient lifestyle are motivated, flexible, self-starters. They are hardy do-it-yourself types, critical thinkers, and problem solvers. Furthermore, those that avidly work toward self sufficiency realize that it is almost impossible to know everything. It takes some time to acquire the needed off grid skills and knowledge. Most folks learn by doing. Creativity and ingenuity become your best friends.

Being able to manage your own resources and provide most of your daily needs  requires a considerable amount of skill and knowledge. I know this can be intimidating but you need to start somewhere. 

 

WHAT TYPES OF OFF GRID SKILLS ARE NECESSARY?

 

There seems...

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20 Benefits of DIY

essential skills Nov 04, 2020

Since I purchased my cabin property 20 years ago, I’ve learned many new skills. This is not only because I wanted to learn how to do things myself but also because it saved me a tremendous amount of money. I can proudly say that I have managed to complete roughly 90% of the projects on my property completely by myself. Consequently, I have learned from first hand experience the many benefits to DIY.

If you are not accustomed to doing things yourself, I would recommend starting with very simple projects until you are comfortable with your new skills. Plenty of home improvements stores offer workshops and short demonstrations on how to complete various projects. Additionally, you can find most anything on what I call “YouTube University”.

Continue reading to learn the 20 benefits to DIY.  You will also get to see me in the progress of completing a nice deck on the back of the cabin.

1) Learning new skills gives you more personal freedom.

Learning to do something...

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If you want to know more about sustainable living, being off the grid and having more control over your own resources.....