*PING*
I currently have maple trees tapped, and have a gallon of cider in a carboy bubbling away, as we speak (so to speak).
The apple cider I bought though, so that’s not homesteading. :/
Solar panels and batteries. Engineering knowledge of
Good skills to learn!
If I were ambitious I’d have a go at ‘em all.
I think building a fire is one of the top priorities.
- finding fatwood
- sewing on a button
- making it look like an accident
You can’t get Hard Cider anymore unless you make your own.
Earlier I sent you a link to the Knowledge Base I set up. I don’t know if you ever went there but it has an entire section on Homesteading.
When and if the time comes, do you have the skills for independent living ?
How many skills and traits have you already accomplished ?
Are you at peace with yourself and what you have already learned, and your thirst for knowledge has already been fully satisfied ?
Also, just because you have the skills enough to be independent doesn't mean that you should ignore the sense of community.
Society is based on interaction with others, sharing skills, bartering your surplus in exchange for someone else's surplus,
as well as developing your own additional skills, or mentoring others.
"No man is an island" - Thomas Merton
21 Selling at Farmer’s Markets.
1. Gardening
A. TruGreen
2. Caring for Fruit Trees
A. Uncle John’s Cider Mill
3. Cooking
A. Stouffer’s Frozen Entrees
4. Baking Bread
A. Aunt Millie’s Whole Wheat Bread
5. Making Butter
A. Land-o-Lakes
6. Preserving Food
A. Tupperware
7. Making Hard Cider
A. Angry Orchard
8. Recognizing Good Firewood
A. Look for the box in the store marked “Duraflame”
9. Safely Cutting and Splitting Firewood
A. Carefully open said Duraflame box
10. Cleaning Your Chimney
A. Hire Dick Van Dyke
11. Hunting
A. Does drinking Angry Orchard Hard Cider at Deer Camp count?
12. Foraging
A. Beware of the stiff at the very back of the refrigerator.
13. Using Herbs for Healing
A. Is a medical marijuana card required in my state?
14. Beekeeping
A. I prefer the squeeze bottle shaped like a little bear
15. Chicken Keeping
A. I am keeping the wings frozen until I bake them for the Big Game
16. Processing a Chicken
A. Use a bucket, and decide between Original Recipe or Extra Crispy.
17. Soapmaking
A. Irish Spring. Manly, yes, but I like it, too.
18. Building and Maintaining Fencing
A. Keep filling in the hole under the fence that the dog keeps digging.
19. Playing an Instrument
A. iTunes
20. Talking to Your Neighbors
A. No, thank you. I’ll just look up their Facebook status.
and making beer.
I’m 12 out of 20....
#20, talking to neighbors, expanding socially, when I am a loner, is the hardest one for me.
Making compost.
Natural pesticides.
8. Making hard cider
As long as you’re harvesting apples & making hard cider...add making Apple cider vinegar to the list.
21. Live close to an IGA or Food Lion.
21. Generating heat and power.