Self-Reliance
Fire Evacuation Procedures for Your Livestock
The year 2013 was an informative and challenging year for Half Creek Farm in Bickleton, Washington. In late July and early August, we got our first “opportunity” to give farm fire evacuation procedures a try.
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DIY Yellow Jacket Trap
Imagine it’s noontime on the farm and your family is ready to enjoy a great lunch outside. The plates are full and the view is postcard gorgeous. But, oh no! They are back!
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Why That Homemade Insecticidal Soap Might Kill Your Garden
One of the most prevalent DIY gardening hacks is to make homemade insecticidal soap, but I am here to tell you that it just might kill your garden.
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Collecting Wild Mushrooms
Collecting wild mushrooms is a fascinating hobby rewarding us with tasty wild food. Nature’s bounty is endless.
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Build a Backup Off-Grid Water System
Add to Favorites By Robert Sulek – Whether natural or man-made, rips in the fabric of modern civilization can occur with devastating consequences. Disasters seem to be happening more often, …
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Your Guide to Farm Pond Design
You can create an effective farm pond design, whether you live on a few acres or 500. The water from a small stream is sufficient.
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Fire Evacuation Procedures: Do You Have a Plan?
Add to Favorites Our recent fires in the state of Washington have been a lesson in preparing fire evacuation procedures. The fires swooped in so fast that there was little …
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Alternative Heating Ideas for Price Hikes and Power Outages
Growing up, I got in big trouble for turning on the heat. And we walked to school uphill both ways and then came home to milk the pigs, right? Actually, we did have a house rule prohibiting electric heat. Firewood was much cheaper.
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Farm Pond Maintenance to Prevent Winterkill
Ponds and lakes in the northern United States have in the past experienced what I will term a “fish kill” related to lack of dissolved oxygen present in the water. Oxygen is essential to the metabolism of all aerobic (air breathing) organisms.
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Know Your Firewood Moisture Content
Knowing firewood moisture content can make the difference between creating steam or heat. Most folks agree that water doesn’t burn, not unless you break H2O down into H and O, both of which are highly flammable, and that doesn’t happen in your stove or furnace.
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How to Process a Deer: Start with Sharp Knives
Deer hunting and processing has been a family tradition for as long as I can remember. As kids, my brother and I would joke that this was our family’s “quality time.”
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Emergency Preparedness Plan Ideas
A disaster can occur at any time. Having an emergency preparedness plan ahead of time could make a difference in your survival.
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What is the Best Way to Store Firewood?
You’ve put in all the hard work of chopping the tree, splitting the wood, and now you’re ready to stack it for storage. But what is the best way to store firewood?
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Why You Should KISS Emergency Preparedness
How many of you are confident the economy is solid, your employment is secure, the value of the dollar is sound and the power grid is permanent? It’s no wonder the subject of preparedness has gone mainstream.
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Water Storage Tanks for a Low-Flow Well
Water storage tanks can be a practical solution if your well doesn’t fill fast enough for normal household use. But how do you get a building permit if the flow is less than local code requires?
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