Via email, so I'm sharing it anonymously. This is actually a really interesting topic, and I know so many of you are out there going it alone happily, but others would rather not be. How do you find a like-minded partner with whom to share this life? From a reader:
Want to get into giving match-making advice? Trying to find a like-minded, healthy single man in his 60s is impossible. I just turned 65 and finally realized with my body slowing down- it's become an issue to do this lifestyle alone. How do I find a nonlazy man to show up at my door? 🤔
Ashley, Keep up what you do, and be grateful for the team you have supporting and helping you. Happy New Year!
Those are both tricky topics, and they are becoming more common in homesteading circles, but there's not a lot of great info out there. For gluten free, Carolyn at homesteading family just put out an ebook I think on that, and I've heard people are enjoying it. For non dairy and non coconut cheese, that's even trickier. Pascal Baudar is doing a lot of work with cultured nut and seed cheeses, and he shares a lot of those recipes on his facebook and instagram (though there's not much of that info in his books). Here's a basic recipe of his: https://www.chelseagreen.com/2021/vegan-cheeses-cashew-cheese-spread-and-the-basics/
Hi, Ashley. I love everything you offer and will be very busy this year learning everything you have to offer. The only thing other than what you have listed that I wanted to learn this year was how to make sourdough bread. Thank again.
These are all great! In 2024, I've been focusing a lot of things roughly in the fiber arts world. I've been very slowly working towards having an entirely me-made wardrobe with primarily natural fibers. I've been learning to spin yarn, and I took my first fleece from animal to sweater this year! I've also been restoring and learning to use vintage flat bed knitting machines!!
Topics I'd love to learn:
- How to feed animals without the feed store
- Turning lawn into meadow with native wildflowers
- Building and managing a greenhouse
- How food forests actually work
- Vermiculture/fly larvae/meal worm processes (we have a lot of chickens, haha)
- Grinding and baking with whole grain flour
- Homestead veterinary skills for common homestead animals
- Basic machine maintenance for homestead machines
- Making rope and nets
- Making natural skin care products
- Making natural perfumes
And this is not really a specific topic, but I'm very interested in developing good systems this year. I want to have systems in place to keep all of the various things running and incorporate project/life management into my life more intentionally. There's a lot to keep going as a homesteader!
I'm interested in most of the topics on your list that haven't been done yet, so anything is great!!
Our life is also turning more in a fiber direction this year. My daughter is passionate about working with linen, and my son is all about dying wool and making homemade rugs. So this year we're groing linen and other fiber plants, as well as dye plants, and I'm digging into my trunk of angora fiber from when we had rabbits years ago (but I never got around to processing).
There's a spinning wheel in the living room now that everyone's taking turns on (be it spinning, or alternately pretending it's a race car...because they are little ones). Either way, so much fiber fun coming to our lives this year.
Thank you for putting in the time and effort to provide a fantastic and immensely valuable resource!
Topics I’m most interested in from your list: how to restore cast iron, solar backup for well pump, any and all from your herbal and foraging lists.
Topics not on your list, but hope you have experience or knowledge about: disengaging from feed mills/at supply and making your own livestock rations, things you can make with lard (besides pie crust!), how-to tackle an overgrown forest to be healthier/more diverse (ie. thinning, using livestock, seeding forest floor, fire or not, etc).
Awesome, adding those to the list! Restoring cast iron is a great topic! We make just about everything with animal-based fats, be it butter, tallow, lard or duck fat. That one I can cover for sure.
Great! For the lard, I am particularly interested because I raise Mangalitsa hogs and they always have lots of back fat, therefore lots of lard. We now use lard for pretty much all of our cooking and a lot of baking. But I don’t know much in the way of non-food applications, like skin care or maybe using excess for other livestock like chickens in wintertime? I’m sure there are also many “old-timey” uses that I won’t even think of. :)
Oh, lard soap is really luscious and great for the skin, and is a good cottage industry product to make and sell if you're interested. It's the first thing that comes to mind, and here's a recipe: https://wholefedhomestead.com/wild-rose-old-fashioned-lard-soap/
But food related, have you tried making lardo with it? Sure, you can't eat THAT much, but it's one of those things that you can only really taste if you have access to high-quality slabs of back fat, so a luxury you're uniquely qualified to make: https://honest-food.net/lardo-recipe/
One thing I was particularly surprised and grateful to learn was how many conifers are edible, could be made into a pleasant tea, and could even prevent malnutrition in a pinch. Would love to learn more about edible trees, etc., that we're surrounded by, but might not realize are edible.
Thank you for all--enjoying and appreciating your posts so much. (Was thinking the same thing as Tara P.--a book by you would be a great favorite--it would certainly be a favorite with me.)
One thing I didn't see on the list - Yaupon Holly leaves make a nice tea, and contain caffeine. There is a company in Florida that I order it from, since we don't have the space to grow our own.
Hi Ashley! This year I am planning on learning about milling my own lumber with a chainsaw mill. I'm planning to use it for mostly homestead building projects like additional poultry coops. Im also interested in building geodesic dome projects, like a dome coop. Building a Chinese style passive solar greenhouse is also on my list. Basic terracing techniques and how to convert woodland forest with uneven ground into growing space for orchard trees and vegetables is also something I'm trying to learn about. I think you write about some of these things already like your raised bed articles. Thank you for everything you share, it is so valuable!
Thanks Bruce! Getting into milling lumber has been on our list for years, and my husband is really hoping to get that one going this year. Let me know how it goes for you!
I’m going to be learning to be a milkmaid and cheese making this year so my garden will be smaller and more easily managed and my preservation activities will be greatly lessened. We are also working on using the abundance of our freezers, canning and freeze drying rather than buying anything from the store.
In 2024, I took baby steps in fermentation. I made honey-fermented cranberries (yum) and naturally-fermented pine sodas (also yum, but a little too sweet).
I learned how to make a (fish) consomme (super yum), how to make a ham, and how to make a terrine.
Hi Ashley, I am anxious to try making yogurt at room temperature. Thanks for ALL the information. I am amazed that anyone knows so much about survival.
Ha, even with what I know, I still feel like I'm doomed without access to a hot shower. I've got a lot more to learn for sure =)
Yogurt at room temperature (or yogurt in general) is pretty simple; the wee beasties do all the work, and the main thing is to start with a good strain. My kids really love the drinkable kind, which you can culture from a store-bought jug of siggi if you've got a health food store nearby.
I've ordered a Matsoni Yogurt starter. The best yogurt I ever had was the first yogurt I ever tried. A friend made it in his oven with the starter in a white pillowcase inside a tub. I remember him squeezing the juice out over the sink and scooping out a cup for me. Mmmm mmmm good.
I can definitely cover that! My daughter is passionate about spinning linen, and we're growing it this year and an number of other fiber plants (milkweed, etc). Twine is a good bit easier than yarn too.
Via email, so I'm sharing it anonymously. This is actually a really interesting topic, and I know so many of you are out there going it alone happily, but others would rather not be. How do you find a like-minded partner with whom to share this life? From a reader:
Want to get into giving match-making advice? Trying to find a like-minded, healthy single man in his 60s is impossible. I just turned 65 and finally realized with my body slowing down- it's become an issue to do this lifestyle alone. How do I find a nonlazy man to show up at my door? 🤔
Ashley, Keep up what you do, and be grateful for the team you have supporting and helping you. Happy New Year!
Topics I received from y'all via email (so I can keep everything in one place here):
- Growing fruit trees, especially trimming, pest management, and winter care.
- How to propagate roses from cuttings
- Soapmaking, Tinctures and Teas, Pressure Canning and Fermenting
- Making Hard Cheeses
- Growing Mushrooms
- Better Time Management
- Beverages to Replace Coffee (without sugar)
Dairy free cheese, without coconut. Anything dairy free and/or gluten free. I love your fermenting articles, thank you.
Those are both tricky topics, and they are becoming more common in homesteading circles, but there's not a lot of great info out there. For gluten free, Carolyn at homesteading family just put out an ebook I think on that, and I've heard people are enjoying it. For non dairy and non coconut cheese, that's even trickier. Pascal Baudar is doing a lot of work with cultured nut and seed cheeses, and he shares a lot of those recipes on his facebook and instagram (though there's not much of that info in his books). Here's a basic recipe of his: https://www.chelseagreen.com/2021/vegan-cheeses-cashew-cheese-spread-and-the-basics/
I’m also living the gluten/dairy free life. When mixing in the homesteading world, I’m a bit of a stranger in a strange land!
Hi, Ashley. I love everything you offer and will be very busy this year learning everything you have to offer. The only thing other than what you have listed that I wanted to learn this year was how to make sourdough bread. Thank again.
Sourdough has been going non stop in my kitchen for the past few months, so I should have some help for you there shortly =)
These are all great! In 2024, I've been focusing a lot of things roughly in the fiber arts world. I've been very slowly working towards having an entirely me-made wardrobe with primarily natural fibers. I've been learning to spin yarn, and I took my first fleece from animal to sweater this year! I've also been restoring and learning to use vintage flat bed knitting machines!!
Topics I'd love to learn:
- How to feed animals without the feed store
- Turning lawn into meadow with native wildflowers
- Building and managing a greenhouse
- How food forests actually work
- Vermiculture/fly larvae/meal worm processes (we have a lot of chickens, haha)
- Grinding and baking with whole grain flour
- Homestead veterinary skills for common homestead animals
- Basic machine maintenance for homestead machines
- Making rope and nets
- Making natural skin care products
- Making natural perfumes
And this is not really a specific topic, but I'm very interested in developing good systems this year. I want to have systems in place to keep all of the various things running and incorporate project/life management into my life more intentionally. There's a lot to keep going as a homesteader!
I'm interested in most of the topics on your list that haven't been done yet, so anything is great!!
Excellent topics!
Our life is also turning more in a fiber direction this year. My daughter is passionate about working with linen, and my son is all about dying wool and making homemade rugs. So this year we're groing linen and other fiber plants, as well as dye plants, and I'm digging into my trunk of angora fiber from when we had rabbits years ago (but I never got around to processing).
There's a spinning wheel in the living room now that everyone's taking turns on (be it spinning, or alternately pretending it's a race car...because they are little ones). Either way, so much fiber fun coming to our lives this year.
Some ideas (take or leave as it sparks your interest):
FERMENTATION:
- Basic cheeses
- Gourmet / hard cheeses
- Milk kefir
- Tepeche (fermented pineapple soda)
- Ginger bug (ginger soda)
- Making cheese, yogurt, kefir from powdered milk (i.e., from food storage)
- Kombucha
- How to keep ferments alive when your house is cold as f*@#
GARDENING:
- Hot beds
- What seeds to start early in the doldrums of winter
- Seaweed as mulch
- Planning a perennial food garden (asparagus, horseradish, rhubarb, etc.)
- "Holding over" last years mustard greens to harvest mustard seeds
- Using recycled food containers to start seeds & container garden
HERBALISM:
- DIY cherry bark cough syrup (foraging, drying, making a tincture)
COOKING FROM SCRATCH:
- Rotating your "doomsday stash" (long-term stored foods)
- Recipes for using long-term stored foods
- 30-day Pantry Challenge
FORAGING:
- How to identify & make pine needle tea
- How to forage, preserve, and use juniper berries as a spice
- "Beach apples" aka how to forage and use wild rose hips
- Foraging, drying, and cooking with seaweed
DIY & CRAFTS:
- Soapmaking - cold process soaps (vegetable oil based)
- Soapmaking - hot process soaps (lard based)
- Leatherworking 101
- Leatherworking - make basic shoes (pampooties, moccasins)
DIY MAINTENANCE:
- Basic blacksmithing
- Basic soldering
- Basic welding
- Basic "metal forge" using recycled aluminum cans
- Plastic "welding" (repairing broken plastic)
- Small engine repair of yard equipment (most common easy fixes)
- Basic shoe repair
NATURAL, ZERO-WASTE & FRUGAL LIVING:
- DIY shampoo & conditioner
- DIY antiperspirant & deodorant
- DIY lip balm
- Fun with "Precious plastic"
PREPAREDNESS:
- Vetting like-minded people for a mutual support group
- Thought experiment: what would your post-collapse career be?
Okay, lots of probably irrelevant stuff. But maybe its interesting to other people?
Wow, that is such an amazing list, thank you so much!
I have a couple of those posted, here's some links for you:
https://practicalselfreliance.com/beginner-cheesemaking/
https://adamantkitchen.com/tepache/
https://practicalselfreliance.com/fermenting-cold-climates/
https://practicalselfreliance.com/perennial-vegetables/
https://practicalselfreliance.com/prunus-serotina/
https://practicalselfreliance.com/how-to-make-soap/
The rest are going onto my list. I really appreciate these, thank you for taking the time to write this up!
Thank you for putting in the time and effort to provide a fantastic and immensely valuable resource!
Topics I’m most interested in from your list: how to restore cast iron, solar backup for well pump, any and all from your herbal and foraging lists.
Topics not on your list, but hope you have experience or knowledge about: disengaging from feed mills/at supply and making your own livestock rations, things you can make with lard (besides pie crust!), how-to tackle an overgrown forest to be healthier/more diverse (ie. thinning, using livestock, seeding forest floor, fire or not, etc).
Awesome, adding those to the list! Restoring cast iron is a great topic! We make just about everything with animal-based fats, be it butter, tallow, lard or duck fat. That one I can cover for sure.
Great! For the lard, I am particularly interested because I raise Mangalitsa hogs and they always have lots of back fat, therefore lots of lard. We now use lard for pretty much all of our cooking and a lot of baking. But I don’t know much in the way of non-food applications, like skin care or maybe using excess for other livestock like chickens in wintertime? I’m sure there are also many “old-timey” uses that I won’t even think of. :)
Oh, lard soap is really luscious and great for the skin, and is a good cottage industry product to make and sell if you're interested. It's the first thing that comes to mind, and here's a recipe: https://wholefedhomestead.com/wild-rose-old-fashioned-lard-soap/
But food related, have you tried making lardo with it? Sure, you can't eat THAT much, but it's one of those things that you can only really taste if you have access to high-quality slabs of back fat, so a luxury you're uniquely qualified to make: https://honest-food.net/lardo-recipe/
Typo above: …from feed mills/ag supply…
One thing I was particularly surprised and grateful to learn was how many conifers are edible, could be made into a pleasant tea, and could even prevent malnutrition in a pinch. Would love to learn more about edible trees, etc., that we're surrounded by, but might not realize are edible.
Thank you for all--enjoying and appreciating your posts so much. (Was thinking the same thing as Tara P.--a book by you would be a great favorite--it would certainly be a favorite with me.)
Good timing! I just put out a guide to edible trees not too long ago:
https://practicalselfreliance.com/edible-trees/
Let me know if I missed any you know!
Thank you! The only one I knew was sassafras, so I have everything to learn!
Warm New Year wishes to you!
Great resource, thank you!
One thing I didn't see on the list - Yaupon Holly leaves make a nice tea, and contain caffeine. There is a company in Florida that I order it from, since we don't have the space to grow our own.
Hi Ashley! This year I am planning on learning about milling my own lumber with a chainsaw mill. I'm planning to use it for mostly homestead building projects like additional poultry coops. Im also interested in building geodesic dome projects, like a dome coop. Building a Chinese style passive solar greenhouse is also on my list. Basic terracing techniques and how to convert woodland forest with uneven ground into growing space for orchard trees and vegetables is also something I'm trying to learn about. I think you write about some of these things already like your raised bed articles. Thank you for everything you share, it is so valuable!
Thanks Bruce! Getting into milling lumber has been on our list for years, and my husband is really hoping to get that one going this year. Let me know how it goes for you!
I’m going to be learning to be a milkmaid and cheese making this year so my garden will be smaller and more easily managed and my preservation activities will be greatly lessened. We are also working on using the abundance of our freezers, canning and freeze drying rather than buying anything from the store.
Nice!
In 2024, I took baby steps in fermentation. I made honey-fermented cranberries (yum) and naturally-fermented pine sodas (also yum, but a little too sweet).
I learned how to make a (fish) consomme (super yum), how to make a ham, and how to make a terrine.
I also learned much about Scotch Whisky.
Plan for 2025: more fermentation.
Nice!
Hi Ashley,
Thank you so much for all you do and share with us! When are you going to put out a book? I bet people would line up to purchase it
Someday maybe, but not until my littles are a good bit older.
More on growing and storing natural herbs for teas and healthy living.
Great topics!
Brining, salting and drying mainly fish and meat.
Such a good topic!
Hi Ashley, I am anxious to try making yogurt at room temperature. Thanks for ALL the information. I am amazed that anyone knows so much about survival.
Ha, even with what I know, I still feel like I'm doomed without access to a hot shower. I've got a lot more to learn for sure =)
Yogurt at room temperature (or yogurt in general) is pretty simple; the wee beasties do all the work, and the main thing is to start with a good strain. My kids really love the drinkable kind, which you can culture from a store-bought jug of siggi if you've got a health food store nearby.
Room temperature Yogurt in General: https://practicalselfreliance.com/mesophilic-yogurt/
The drinkable stuff that's super easy to make and get culture for: https://practicalselfreliance.com/drinkable-yogurt-swedish-filmjolk/
I've ordered a Matsoni Yogurt starter. The best yogurt I ever had was the first yogurt I ever tried. A friend made it in his oven with the starter in a white pillowcase inside a tub. I remember him squeezing the juice out over the sink and scooping out a cup for me. Mmmm mmmm good.
I would love to learn to make twine from foraged materials like nettle, also a big yes to basket-making!
I can definitely cover that! My daughter is passionate about spinning linen, and we're growing it this year and an number of other fiber plants (milkweed, etc). Twine is a good bit easier than yarn too.