Knowledge Weighs Nothing

How And Why You Should Plant Fruit Trees In The Fall

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If you are going to be truly self-sufficient, you are probably going to want to plant some fruit trees.  Apple trees are a great choice as apples are so versatile, many varieties store well and stay fresh for months, they can be eaten fresh, cooked, canned, made into cider and hard-cider, you get the picture…

If you are thinking of planting some fruit trees, it is usually the case that they will want to be planted in the Fall. This will give the tree the best chance of establishing itself and getting its roots out before the growing season the next year. Click the link below to find out more on how and why to plant fruit trees this Fall.

How And Why You Should Plant Fruit Trees In The Fall

(Photo from:  highbury orchard community)

Water Bath Canning Cheat Sheet

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If you are thinking of getting started with water bath canning, but you don’t know your lid-lifter from your air-bubbler, you need to check out the post below from ‘Canning Across America’. The post covers water bath canning tools and equipment, and there is straightforward advice on the actual water bath canning process.

Additionally, I highly, highly recommend the book: Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving (click to view on Amazon), it may well be the best $14 you ever spend, as it will likely become your canning and food preserving bible.

Water Bath Canning Cheat Sheet

(Photo from: Canning Across America)

List Of 150 Herbs, Together With Their Uses & Benefits

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You’re either a person who embraces the use of plants and herbs, or you a person who would rather purchase the chemical/pharmaceutical alternative. Either way there is no disputing that certain herbs have very clear and proven medicinal uses and other wide ranging properties.

For example, St John’s Wort is a herb/plant, but it is also one of the most common prescription anti-depressants in many countries, with trials showing it can be as effective as low dose pharmaceutical alternatives, for treating mild to moderate depression. Cacao has many medicinal benefits, with its most popular benefit being that it can dramatically lower high blood pressure when consumed daily, which is an excellent reason to have a daily cup of high cacao chocolate (at least 80% cocoa)… There are 150+ herbs listed below, have a look and find out about the uses of benefits of each.

List Of 150 Herbs, Together With Their Uses & Benefits

 

(Photo from:  Herbs Info)

Everyone Should Know About Medicinal Uses Of These 22 Common Foods & Spices

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If you would prefer to use natural remedies instead of pharmaceutical medicines, this is something you don’t want to miss out on. This information is also particularly important for preppers and those concerned about what the future may bring… If there is ever a total collapse or SHTF event, it will become difficult, if not impossible, to get hold of medicines from the pharmacy/doctors etc.

This list details the medicinal properties of 22 common foods and spices and it also includes advice on dosage and preparation of many of the remedies

Everyone Should Know About Medicinal Uses Of These 22 Common Foods & Spices

(Photo from:  Chugy)

Sage: The Must-Grow Plant (Find Out How & Why To Use It)

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Wow, I knew sage was good for you, but it didn’t realize how many medicinal properties and medicinal uses it has. I did however know that sage plants are very easy to grow, as we grow our own sage as a herb for recipes… I think I might have to grow several more sage plants now so we can make our own homemade remedies.

I am particularly interested in making the sage tea now that I know about its sedative and relaxation properties. It could be just the thing after a stressful day. Anyway, check out the link below and find out more about the many uses for sage.

Sage: The Must Grow Plant (Find Out How & Why To Use It) 

(Photo from: Wikipedia)

How to Make Cheese From Powdered Milk

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With have done a few DIY cheese posts recently, and one thing that keeps getting asked is – can you make cheese from powdered milk? Our previous posts used fresh milk and cream…

Well the answer is yes! You can make a basic cheese, often referred to as cottage cheese, from milk powder, water, vinegar and lemon juice. In an economic collapse or SHTF incident, cheese would become a vital protein source, if you had the ability to make your own. Also, it means that together with your stored pasta and tinned tomatoes, you could also make lasagna!

This same cheese can also be made from fresh milk, just substitute the milk powder/water for the same quantity of fresh milk.

How to Make Cheese From Powdered Milk

(Photo from: Tactical Intelligence)

How To Grow Coffee Beans at Home

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Almost everyone loves coffee. In fact most of us NEED that morning cup of coffee to get us up and out the door… From a preparedness and homesteading point of view, I see two problems with coffee.  Firstly it is getting more and more expensive to buy, and secondly, if there every is a total collapse or a SHTF incident, we are all going to miss our coffee badly – whatever coffee which may still be available will likely be poor quality and astronomically expensive.

If you live in the right climate, or you have a large greenhouse, you can actually grow your own coffee plants at home.  Coffee plants are actually pretty easy to grow, their main pet-hate is frost. It’s processing the coffee beans which takes a bit more work, but even then, I think the rewards make it well worthwhile! Get planting now, as it can take between 2-4 years before the coffee plants start to develop any usable quantities of cherries.

Kona coffee bean trees are one of the best suited to home growing, you can purchase Kona seeds and plants from Amazon – you can purchase Kona coffee bean seeds (15 tree seeds) for less than $5, or you can purchase 2 Kona coffee 8 inch plants for just less than $15

How To Grow Coffee Beans at Home

(Photo from: CIAT International Center for Tropical Agriculture)

How To Make Apple Vinegar From Scratch

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We get through loads of apple vinegar, but we have an apple tree so we can pretty much make our own apple vinegar for free! Apple vinegar is delicious, we use most of it to make salad dressing, but it also has numerous health, beauty and around the home uses. Apple vinegar really is worth making, especially given how simple and cheap it is to make!

Apples will soon be in season, if you have your own apple trees, you’ll have more apples that you know what to do with. Even if you don’t grow your own, apples become very cheap to purchase from the store. You can even make apple vinegar with apple peel and apple cores, in fact that is what is used in the DIY tutorial below. We have found the best results come from using the entire apple though, but feel free to use what you have available. Check out the DIY tutorial below and see for yourself  just how easy apple vinegar is to make!

How To Make Apple Vinegar From Scratch

(Photo from: 17 Apart)

How To Preserve Dairy Products For Emergency Situations

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Continuing the recent dairy theme – Make Mozzarella From Milk In Just 30 Minutes and How To Make Butter From Milk (Couldn’t Be Easier!), I thought I would do a quick post about how to preserve and store fresh dairy products, in this case – milk, cheese and butter, for long term emergency food storage

You might be surprised to hear but with the right method,  milk, butter and cheese can all be preserved in wax and it can keep (un-refrigerated!) for up to 5 years. For most people dairy makes up an important part of a well balanced diet, so it stands to reason that, if possible, it should also be part of your emergency food storage supplies.

How To Preserve Dairy Products For Emergency Situations

(Photo from: cwjoneill)

How To Make Butter From Milk (Couldn’t Be Easier!)

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A while back I did the post: Make Mozzarella From Milk In Just 30 Minutes which was extremely popular! Given that so many of you liked the idea of making cheese out of milk, I am assuming that you will also like to know how to make totally delicious butter!

This one I’ve got, as making butter from milk is easy! It’s even easier to make butter from cream, but I have said how to make butter from milk, so let’s stick with that for now.

How To Make Butter From Milk

    • First things first – pour one gallon of fresh full-cream milk into a container with which has a mouth wide enough for you to be able to skim the cream from the top of the milk when it forms.
    • Now put your container of milk into the refrigerator for 12 hours or so, overnight will do.
    • Next carefully skim off the cream that has formed on the top of the milk.  Once you get down through the main cream and it starts to get thinner and more milk like, stop!
    • Now leave your cream (covered) out on the side, until the temperature is approximately 75 degrees and it starts to smell a bit off…
  • Add the cream to a large jar, making sure not to fill it more than 40% full.  Put the lid on tightly and shake vigorously for between 10-30 minutes, depending on how vigorous you are! Once you start to notice a distinct separation, with the beginning of the butter clumping together within the butter milk, slow the shaking right down, but keep going; within a minute or two your butter should start to turn yellow.
  • Now strain the butter from the buttermilk through a colander (save the buttermilk for pancakes!) and rinse under the tap. Shake off as much water as possible and add the butter solids to a bowl and mix them together to form one large mass, if there is still excess water in the bowl, pour this out.
  • Now it’s simply up to you to add some salt to your butter (to your taste), mix it all together, put the butter to a container with a lid, refrigerate and enjoy!

There you go – you’ve turned milk into butter! As said, it is much quicker if you are already starting off with cream, but now you can pretty much make butter from either cream or milk.

(Photo from:  A Continuous Lean)