Welcome to Practical Self Reliance!
Where you’ll find hands-on guides for foragers, gardeners, preservers, and homesteaders.
Food Preservation
Beginner's Guides
Home Freeze Drying (Beginner’s Guide)
Beginner's Guides
Pressure Canning: Beginners Guide
Beginner's Guides
Beginners Guide to Cheesemaking (with Recipes!)
Beginner's Guides
Dehydrating Food: Beginner’s Guide
Welcome!
Hi, I’m Ashley
I’m an off-grid homesteader in rural Vermont and the author of Practical Self Reliance, a blog that helps people find practical ways to become more self-reliant.
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Edible Wild Fruit
Foraging Thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus and R. odoratus)
Edible Wild Fruit
Foraging Wild Raspberries (Rubus sp.)
Edible Wild Weeds
Foraging Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
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Beginners Guide to Lock Picking
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Beginners Guide to Water Bath Canning
Homestead Lists
70+ Uses for Wood Ash
Wood ash from your fireplace, wood stove, or outdoor boiler may seem like a waste product, but there are a…
Herbalism
Salves
Cayenne Salve
Herbal Medicine Guides
10 Ways to Use Plantain
Herbal Medicine Guides
10 Ways to Use Calendula
Herbal Medicine Guides
10 Ways to Use Purple Dead Nettle
Canning
Pressure Canning
100+ Canning Recipes from A to Z (How to Can Everything)
Once you start canning food at home, you’ll want to find canning recipes to put up everything in a convenient…
Foraging
Foraging Mushrooms
10+ Ways to Preserve Mushrooms
Edible Wild Weeds
Foraging Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata)
Edible Wild Weeds
10+ Ways to Use Mullein
Off-Grid
Off Grid Appliances
Living off-grid doesn’t mean giving up modern conveniences. There are a number of companies that make specialized off-grid appliances, and…
Grow Your Own Food
Grow Your Own Food
How to Grow Hops
Grow Your Own Food
10+ Fruits You Can Grow from Cuttings
Gardening
