Your Practical Guide To Self Reliant Living
Mulberries are gaining attention these days in permaculture circles around the world. They’re easy to grow, prolific, and new hardy varieties mean that they can be grown anywhere between zone 4 and 9. Minimal maintenance and large crops make them a great choice for a backyard orchard.
Canning apple pie filling at home means you’re just minutes away from having a pie in the oven. The apples are already peeled, chopped, seasoned and thickened. That allows you to just pour the pre-made apple pie filling into your favorite crust and bake. Next time you need something quick for a potluck, you can…
Sometimes you just need a little bit of sweet, but you could do without the extra calories. Artificial sweeteners contain some pretty scary stuff, and they taste downright horrible. Stevia is different. It’s a simple plant that you can grow right in your backyard, just like I did. It’s hard to imagine a green leaf…
There aren’t that many mushrooms you can forage year round, but orange witches butter will pop out of softwood logs any day of the year. That includes -20 days right in the middle of our zone 4 Vermont winter. While it may not taste like much, it is edible, and it’s a year-round survival food. Witches butter mushrooms…
Every grain we have today has a wild ancestor, but some are more domesticated than others. Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) is relatively new to domestication, and its wild cousin (Chenopodium album) is not that different than the modern cultivated grain. The seeds may be a bit smaller, but the plants look almost identical when they sprout in…
Whether you live in the suburbs or out in the sticks, squirrels are a fact of life. For the most part, they’re fun to watch as they carry on their own little drama up and down the trees in the fall. On occasion, they can become a real problem, destroying crops and taking up residence…
Tomatillos are one of the easiest crops to grow in the home garden, and plants yield pounds of fruit even with no care or weeding. Growing tomatillos is extremely rewarding because they’re a dependable crop even in the worst years. Tomatillos are a quick win for new gardeners, and perfect for growing with kids.
Canning tomatillos at home is a quick and easy way to preserve whole tomatillos for use all year long. Most tomatillo recipes start by simmering the tomatillos, and canning them ahead of time will save effort and allow you to get dinner on the table faster on a busy weeknight.
Few houseplants can match Tulsi for both beauty and fragrance. Tulsi, also known as holy basil or sacred basil, is a perennial in tropical and subtropical regions, but it can be grown indoors year round regardless of your climate. Each year we plant a large patch in our vegetable garden and harvest well before harvest…
Dehydrating is one of the best ways to preserve food for the long term. It requires less energy than canning or freezing, and if stored properly, dehydrated foods will last for many years. Since the vegetables need to be rehydrated before eating, a soup is a perfect way to use dehydrated veggies. Here’s how to…
Cornelian cherries are the sweet-tart fruit of a particular species of dogwood (Cornus mas) and they’ve been cultivated for thousands of years. They’re a part of the traditional cuisines in eastern Europe, Greece and Turkey, as well as a part of traditional Chinese medicine. These dogwood cherries are only just becoming popular and available in the US because of the…
