Knowledge Weighs Nothing

5 Winter Activities to Boost the Health of Your Garden

As the warmth and humidity of summer gives way to the cooler months of fall, an entire new realm of requirements is at your doorstep. While many homesteaders and gardeners use the chill of fall and winter as a much-needed break from gardening labor, this is not the time for a complete separation of duties. It’s best to think of winter as a time of gestation for the next season. Just like a baby growing within the womb, there are certain activities you must perform to ensure the health and vitality of your freshly birthed garden.

The following five activities are designed to help maintain a safe and healthy garden throughout the cold winter months, so as spring approaches your soil and plants are ready to burst with life.

5 Must-Do Winter Activities

Remove Previous Season Debris

Perhaps one of the most important steps to take after a current growing season comes to a close is to clear out annuals and compost. By eliminating this debris, you improve the fertility of soil while eliminating the possibility of winter-borne plant diseases and pests. As the winter months give way to the warmth of spring, rotate your crops throughout the gardening area to help thwart the onset of disease and insects.

Shield Your Crop from Freezing Temperatures

Although this may not be necessary for regions where temperatures do not dip below freezing, for many, the most effective way to improve soil and its fertility is to plant cover crops, such as winter wheat or winter rye. These crops are capable of protecting the viability of your soil while being able to be tilled during spring to revitalize your soil. Without cover crops, many gardens are left vulnerable to the ravishes of winter. Don’t have time to plant a cover crop? No worries – simply spread a layer of leaves along your garden bed.

Repair Gardening Tools

During the downtime of winter, perhaps the most effective way to spend your free afternoons is to repair essential gardening tools. The worst mistake you can make is to wait until spring has arrived to begin repairing your tools. By spending the short days of winter fixing your gardening tools, you’ll save a significant amount of time when the season changes and your days become filled with preparing, planting and protecting your crops.

Prepare for the Forthcoming Season

After you’ve safeguarded your garden for winter, now’s the perfect time to begin planning for the next season. The most successful gardeners are those who take the downtime offered by winter to fully flesh out the upcoming season duties, plants and goals. What were you successful at in the previous grow season? What issues did you come across? Where will the new crops be planted? These, and many more, questions must be answered in order to ensure the next season is as productive and profitable as possible.

Relax Your Mind and Body

Although working as a gardener seems as if it’s a life filled with an ever-growing to-do list, during the winter months it’s imperative to find time to relax and recuperate. Give your body a chance to recover while treating your mind to exciting planning sessions. Congratulate yourself on accomplishing another season, and use this positive thinking to propel you into the next season with a renewed excitement and love.

10 Ways To Make Some Money When Trying To Live Off-The-Grid

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Do you desire a life that’s less dependent on the ability and services of faceless businesses? Is your desire to be truly self­ sufficient stronger than your desire to be “taken care of” by corporations? Living off the grid harkens back to a simpler time, when humans took care of themselves using the resources found in their immediate surroundings.

Regardless of your self­ sufficiency, there is always a need for some form of income. While you may not wish to get rich, the following 10 ways to make an income while living off grid offer a means of financial stability to help purchase essential life items.

Sell Your Art

A common skill set for many who live off the grid is creativity. Whether you’re skilled at carving wooden sculptures or knitting scarves, if you have an artistic ability, you can make some money. While the first piece of advice from many outlets is to sell artwork on online websites, such as Etsy, many who live off the grid wish to avoid establishing an online presence.

Use local farmer’s markets, flea markets or even setting up shop in antique stores can draw in a decent income. Think outside of the digital box when it comes to marketing and selling your
artwork.

Sell Herbal Tinctures

The marketplace for holistic medicines and herbal tinctures has never been greater. While many choose to stay connected to the grid, there are equally as many who desire a more natural
approach to healing common ailments. If you’re an herbalist, either professional or amateur, create your own herbal tinctures and tonics. Sell and market these items at flea markets, farmers
markets or online, if you wish to connect for the sole purpose of making money.

Sell Naturally Produced Honey

Beekeeping is an excellent option for those who live off the grid as it provides two benefits: an opportunity to make money selling honey while simultaneously helping the ever ­dwindling bee
population. While becoming a beekeeper and harvesting honey requires specialized equipment and training, there are many online and offline resources to aid in this quest to make money while
simultaneously helping the bee population.

House Painting Services

Regardless of where you live, there’s always a need for professional painting services. If you have experience painting interior and/or exterior walls, then you may have an opportunity to cash in on this experience. Create fliers describing your services and rates. Place these fliers on community bulletin boards found in recreation centres, libraries or in local businesses. Want to take a more proactive approach? Contact businesses directly soliciting your services.

Pet Sitting Service

If you live off the grid, then you likely have ample of outdoor space. Utilize this space by offering pet sitting services for friends, family and community members. While this may not be
ideal for every person, if you love animals and have a desire to make some extra cash, pet sitting may be your best moneymaking option.

Provide Horse Riding Lessons

Are you a horse lover? Do you enjoy instructing others on enjoying the freedom and connection between a rider and the horse? If so, then create fliers to promote horse riding lessons. This is especially effective if you live in horse­heavy communities and locations.

Sell Fruits and Vegetables

When you live off the grid, you probably have a well­ developed garden. While you rely on the fruits and vegetables you’ve cultivated to feed you and your family, if you have extra consider
selling these items at a local farmer’s market or flea market. Many consumers prefer buying goods from local farmers due to its freshness and lack of commercially ­used pesticides.

Babysitting Services

Whether you want to babysit for your friends, family or strangers, establishing a babysitting service is among the most effective ways to earn some money while staying disconnected from
the grid. Call all your friends and family to offer these services, and consider networking with your local church group or placing fliers on a community bulletin board.

Write a Book About Living Off Grid

Even if you’ve never written a book before, there’s a growing interest and desire to learn how to become self ­sufficient and living off grid. Feed their desire for knowledge, while feeding your bank account, by writing a guidebook for off grid living. You can sell this book online as an eBook, at flea markets or by sending the manuscript to a traditional publishing house.

Offer Gardening Classes

If you’re an accomplished gardener, the fruits of your labour can be more than fresh greens for your salad. Offer gardening how­to classes for beginner, intermediate and advanced­ level gardeners. This allows you the ability to expand your network of gardeners while earning a nice income doing what you love.

Amazing DIY Washing Machine Generator (Water or Wind Powered!)

This might just be the best cheap DIY electricity generator we have featured! It is fairly straightforward to build and it can generate a huge amount of free off-the-grid electricity. The level of constant electricity generated in the video is outstanding. I think the best thing about this generator is that it can be powered by anything which turns the motor. You can set it up to run with water-power, wind-power or even peddle power.

I believe there is one negative though… This DIY generator has to be built with a smart drive washing machine. These are mostly (maybe even solely) made by a company called Fisher & Paykel. They are very popular in certain parts of the world, but not so in others. They are sold in the US but they are not all that common. If you interested in building this generator, I would keep a lookout on Craigslist and eBay etc.

(Image from:  Buddhanz1)

How To Make A Soup Can Forge

We have done several posts about making your own knives etc, but the main stumbling block stopping most folks having a go is that the tutorials usually say you need a forge to heat, shape and harden the steel.

Building a full sized blacksmiths forge is beyond most people, however, how about building a soup can forge? I think most people could manage this! Watch the video above to see how to build a simple soup can forge that is big enough for knife making. I guess if you wanted to make larger tools such as axe heads, you could just use a larger can and make a larger forge in the same manner.

(Image from: LifeBuzzN)

The 12 Fastest Growing Vegetables To Grow

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To plan a successful vegetable garden it is vital to know how long your vegetables will take to grow. You need to plan where each vegetable is going to be planted, when they can be harvested, and what (if any) you can plant in their space once they have been harvested. Additionally when you are new to growing vegetables, focusing on some the easier and quicker to grow varieties is a great way to boost confidence and see quick results.

Personally I do not understand why more people do not grow turnips? They grow lightning quick into tennis ball sized roots and they can be grow quite close together. They are also nutritious and easy to prepare and cook… Check out the full list of the 12 fastest growing vegetables below, and order some non-GMO or organic seeds for the coming growing season.

The 12 Fastest Growing Vegetables To Grow

(Photo from: Wikipedia)

How To Grow Sweet Potato

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We eat lots of sweet potato, I love them baked with loads of hot beef chilli covering them, there’s nothing better on a cold day! Although we eat sweet potatoes, we don’t really have the climate for growing them. For years I have been considering giving them a go and seeing if we could get a crop, but I haven’t tried so far… This may well change after having seen this from ‘Home Joys’!

I always assumed that you planted a sweet potato in the same way you do with normal potatoes – you just throw one in the ground and a plant grows with loads more potatoes! Whilst I knew sweet potatoes are a completely different family of vegetable, I didn’t realize you could sprout them (see photo) and then remove each sprout from the potato, and then each sprout can grow into a whole new plant! If you can grow sweet potatoes where you are, this is definitely worth a try as you could easily get six or more new plants from one potato. Check out the link below for more information on doing this.

How To Grow Sweet Potato

(Photo from: Home Joys)