If you are on facebook, the Homestead Survival page is so very useful.  They scour the web looking for information that is helpful to not only the homesteader, but also to those who like to prepare for troubled times, whether that might be financial difficulty, natural disasters, or just as a hedge against rising prices.  Check them out!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Homestead-Survival/189287804456890

I have posted before about how much I love Mountain Rose Herbs http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/ .  They have high quality products, good customer service, and often they carry things that I can't find anywhere else.  Here is a post on their blog about how to make infused oils and salves...

http://mountainroseblog.com/diy-herbal-salves/

Shows a simple solar system, great to watch if you have never used solar.  This is the system we used for our chicken coop, runs the light and the outlet.  It is relatively inexpensive, and ours is still going strong over a year later.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qoeK_hdw2hM

I have really been trying to post at least once on both sites, but is is so easy to jot down little things on facebook!  Sometimes there is information there that isn't posted here.  If you are on Facebook, follow this link and hit "like".  Send your friends too, the more people move toward independence, the more secure we all are.

http://www.facebook.com/BillyJoesFoodFarm

Holy Basil, the anti-infammatory...

http://thelowhistaminechef.com/holy-basil-the-anti-inflammatory-anti-histamine-superstar/

So here is another photo for another project...keep the varmits away.  This would also work for feed storage.

This is a post from another blog, worth reading for sure.


Looking meat in the eye


About ten years ago when we still lived in Oregon, we were faced with butchering a steer for the first time. And I do mean this was our first time. A friend put into words what I was privately wondering myself: would we be able to eat the meat? We had raised that steer from infancy. How could we eat him after looking him in the eye for two years?

In fact, this friend made a joking wager that we wouldn't  be able to eat him. I won the wager when she and her husband invited us for dinner one evening and we brought the steaks. (They were delicious.)

This  issue sparked a half-humorous piece I once wrote called The  Cuteness Factor. But all joking aside, the issue of eating what you raise is  actually quite a serious one. It's one thing to be brought up on a farm, dealing  with the realities of butchering on a regular basis. But for those embarking on  country living after a lifetime shopping at conventional grocery stores, it's  not an easy issue to overcome. If you're striving for greater self-sufficiency,  eating one's own livestock is something that must be faced.

read more at... http://www.rural-revolution.com/2012/04/looking-meat-in-eye.html

I want every single one of these on my property.  Every.  Single.  One.