The Ancient Art of Thread

It's a funny title, isn't it.  "The Ancient Art of Thread" and I chose it because almost any type of art-form you can name that involves the use of fiber into thread has a basis in antiquity.  Spinning, weaving, knitting, crochet, tatting, nålbinding, kumihimo, and sprang were all invented by various people of varying cultures in response to a need to cover our bodies and protect ourselves from the elements combined with a desire to be admired for our ingenuity, talent, and ability. I have recently expanded my abilities to include direct knowledge of several of these skills, which are now generally considered to be more of an art than necessity.

For the homesteader, I personally would recommend learning at least spinning as well as one of the other methods of creating fabric.  Several of them can be done with a miniscule budget and all are very useful skill sets to have.

Spinning is the act of turning fiber (animal, plant, or man-made) into thread or yarn.  It can be made using a spindle or a wheel, but all involve the process of twisting the fibers together to create long cords, then twining the cords together to create thread or yarn.  You can successfully spin yarn with a home-made spindle or an expensive custom-made ornate spinning wheel.  Wheels come in differing shapes and sizes, from the giant Great Wheel or Walking Wheel (you stand and walk back and forth, spinning the yarn onto the spindle of the wheel) or a modern upright 2-treadle wheel.  All of these will allow you to create the materials for the other art forms.

Weaving is probably one of the oldest methods known for creating fabric.  It seems to be one of the least common thread-art forms in use today.  Probably because when most people think about weaving, they picture enormous floor looms taking up half their living space.  I have only recently delved into this form myself, but I can tell you from experience that weaving tools do not need to be expensive, especially if you or someone you know is handy with wood and some nails.  My current favorite weaving tool is called a tri-loom because it's in the shape of a right triangle.  It's primarily used to create woven shawls, but the triangular pieces can also be stitched together to form other shapes of different sizes.  Another type of loom, which is a mid-range as far as size and cost goes, is the rigid heddle loom.  These can create a variety of fabrics and are very easy to learn to use.  With almost no instruction (except a little web research to learn terminology and basic techniques), I was on my way to weaving several dish-cloths on the loom.

Knitting is another very old method of creating fabric.  In my opinion, it's one of the easiest for a beginner to learn because once you have set up all of your loops, they will be there in front of you, unless you drop one or inadvertently create an additional loop.   The fabric resulting from knitting is very stretch and thicker than weaving.  You can learn to knit online (knittinghelp.com), though I would recommend seeking out a teacher if you have difficulty comprehending the stitch.  There are only 2 basic ones in this art, the knit and the purl, master them and you can make a wide variety of items.  It's generally very easy to find teachers and/or classes for knitting since it's a very common thread skill.

Crochet is actually one of the younger forms of thread art.  The fabric resulting from crochet was once referred to as "poor man's lace" because it was created to resemble lace, but produced similar results far more quickly.  For speed, crocheting cannot be beat.  However, it does use up nearly twice the yarn as knitting over the same area of fabric.  The stitches generally result in a thicker, less flexible fabric.  As for expense, crochet is probably the most cost-effective thread art that exists today.  Since you literally need nothing more than a hook and a ball of yarn to create a wide variety of items.  You can learn to crochet online as well (http://www.nexstitch.com/Tutorials.html).  Though again, seeking out a teacher to help you should be as easy as finding a yarn or major craft store near you.

The next few are a little more obscure in the grand scheme of things, and if you've heard of them, you are ahead of the general populace!

Tatting is the method by which lace fabric is primarily made.  It tends to be rather tedious and time consuming, uses a tool referred to as a tatting shuttle, and results in some of the finest, most delicate-appearing fabrics ever created!  This is an art form I have not developed an interest in pursuing for myself.  However, it was one my mother showed a desire to learn as apparently it was an art that her own grandmother performed.  My knowledge of this art form is very limited, so I won't comment further.

Nålbinding is another ancient form of thread art that many believe pre-dates even knitting!  It is Scandinavian in descent and involves the use of a long piece of thread, a large needle (usually wood or bone, but any large yarn needle will do the job nicely), and your thumb.  It involves creating a series of loose knots or loops that intertwine to create a thick, springy fabric.  I feel that it's use is slightly limiting however, I have not seen items other than hats, mittens, and socks created in this manner.  The art form does require you to use wool yarn because you are working with long, but still limited, lengths of the yarn that must be 'spliced' together as move along the piece you are creating.  Learning this form of thread art can be challenging since most of the tutorial videos explaining the method are in Swedish or Finnish!  I myself am only just beginning to learn this fascinating art.

Kumihimo is another form of weaving that I've only recently learned existed.  It apparently originated in Japan and is a form of complex braiding that yields exotic ropes and cording.  In modern times it requires very little in the way of tools to produce fascinating results.  This is a method I have not yet pursued, nor do I personally know anyone that uses it.

The final form of thread art I want to talk about is called Sprang and is not one I have ever made an effort to pursue.  Also I have known only a single person that really uses this method.  It's a form of weaving that is probably the most simple and cost effective in existence since the 'form' used to create the fabric is a piece of cardboard and once you have wrapped your threads, they become your working threads as well.  perhaps one of the reasons this form of thread art is not more popular is the extreme limitation of the resulting fabric.  As far as I know, only bags and hair nets have been mentioned as the use for fabric made with the sprang weaving technique.  The fabric that results is very springy as the threads are twisted, or braided around one another.

Rendering Fats

I recently saw there is an article in a popular homesteading magazine about how to render lard.  In response, I thought I'd offer up my method for rendering to all of you for FREE!!!  That's right, spread the word, I charge nothing for sharing my skills and knowledge.  I'd love to have a few more followers as well. ;)

This is my method for rendering fats: tallow and lard.  Tallow comes from beef fat, lard from pig fat.

Step 1: Talk to your local butcher or meat grocer person and ask them to hold back beef or lard scraps for you.  The beef fat scraps will be easier because most places like groceries still do their own meat cutting.  I usually ask for 10 lbs, as little meat as possible.  Ask them to run the scraps through their grinder, 1 pass should do fine.

Step 2: Pick up the scraps and place in a large pot, I use a 12 qt steel.  Start out on low to medium-low heat to begin the melting process.  If you like the scent of cooking meat, you'll love this step!  Stir constantly at this point to keep anything from sticking or scorching.  When the 'meat' is brown and all the fat is liquid, pour through a strainer into a second pot.  You could actually can or use the cooked meat as well for other purposes.

Step 3: Place the second pot back on the burner and add about 2 quarts of water to the liquid fat.  Cover and bring the pot to a slow boil over a medium-high heat.  Remove the pot from the heat and allow it to set for awhile.  When you can handle the pot, put it into the fridge to cool completely.

Step 4: After several hours, remove the pot from the fridge and check the contents.  The fat should have hardened on top of the water and should be firm to the touch.  If not, put it back in the fridge.  If it is, use a long knife and cut the fat into wide squares.  Push down on one of the squares into the water below to gain access to the others.  Use a slotted spoon to carefully remove the squares of lard/tallow into a bowl or another pot.  Try to disturb the water below the squares as little as possible.

Step 5: Add 2 more quarts of water to the second pot and repeat the process of heating the lard/tallow to a boil and cooling rapidly to harden.  The idea is that any impurities in the fat settles to the bottom of the pot while it is cooling.  So when you lift out the fat squares, it should be pure white and hard (tallow will be harder than lard) with little to no impurities.  After this second rendering, your tallow/lard should be ready for use.  I personally recommend keeping it refrigerated to extend the usable life, but I know plenty of folk that do not.

The very best tallow and lard is made from the internal fat usually found surrounding the heart and kidneys of the animal, but the scraps from your local butcher will work just fine as well.  Tallow is wonderful used in soaps and sometimes candles.  Lard is awesome for both soaps and cooking.

Crepe Myrtles

This is a flowering beautifying Crepe Myrtle.  You may have seen these, they are quite popular in my region, and come in a variety of colors, the most popular being pink.  The one I planted has been growing for several years, about 5 now I think.  When I chose this ornamental, I decided I wanted it to be in a tree format.  It's important to make that choice for this plant since it can and will revert to a bush-like state, which is the norm.  It can be cultivated into a tree however, and that is what I will discuss here.  When I purchased the young plant, I carefully chose one that appeared to have a single main trunk.  I wanted a white, which at the time was less hardy than others.  I planted it at home and removed the secondary trunk from the original plant.  After that it only required annual pruning.  This is what I now have:

 This particular plant doesn't bloom until mid to late summer and then blooms almost until fall begins.  It is generally draped with small white flowers that have no fragrance.

if you look carefully at the first photo, you'll see at the bottom of the trunk, shoots of new growth attempting to take hold.  If allowed to remain, these shoots would develop into new trunks.  If this is desired, leave them, I do not wish to give up my 'tree', so this is what I do every year:

 Here you can see the shoots much closer

No special tools are required, simply break off the shoots at the base of the tree.

Nice clean lines now.  I wanted my tree to have a base trunk with a division.  I did a great deal of shaping when the tree was young and now need only maintain the desired shape.

Preserving the Harvest: Making Jelly

One of the most useful, in my opinion, skills to have is the ability to "preserve the harvest".  It is a sorely under-appreciated skill and art form.  When people ask about a person's hobbies, you almost never hear them say "I like to preserve foods."  After all, what kind of person enjoys spending hours over a hot stove, picking, washing, peeling, coring, crushing, cooking.  Cooking is a hobby, preserving is apparently considered to be a skill, but it is one that is severely overlooked.  never under-estimate a person that is skilled at preserving the harvest.  That is a person that will not go hungry during lean economic times.  Gardens, orchards, and berry yielding lands are more efficiently utilized.  As a homesteader, it is a skill that is absolutely vital and should never be overlooked.

Learning how to make jam and jelly is fun and simple.  There are numerous recipes to be had differing by fruit type mainly, but they all have a few things in common.  First, you can make jam and jelly from almost any kind of fruit you can find.  The difference between them is in the core substance you use: preserves are made using the whole fruit, intact but softened by cooking; jam is usually made from the whole fruit, crushed or minced; jelly is made from the juice alone.  In this segment, I'll focus on jelly-making.

You want to use the best fruit, ripe and fresh.  You'll want to wash it and prepare it:
- Grapes, strawberries, and soft fruits, remove stems and crush slightly
- Apples, crab apples, pears, and harder fruits, peel and quarter
Don't underestimate the value of peelings!  I usually peel peaches and apples for preserving, but the peelings themselves can be cooked down and squeezed to provide the juice for jelly!  In this way you waste almost nothing.

You can even make jelly from bottled juice from the store, but keep in mind that you will probably have to add pectin to convince it to gel.  Pectin is a natural element found in the peelings of all fruits, which is why home-made juice for your jelly may require little to no extra pectin.

Take your fruit and measure it out into a deep pot.  Add between 1/4-1/2 C water (for soft fruits) to 1/2 C water for harder fruits and simmer until the fruit is soft.  Place 2 layers of cheesecloth in a colander and add the softened fruit/juice and allow it to drain.  You can squeeze it off a little to get as much juice as possible, but be careful not to add too much pulp to your juice.

Measure again into your cooking pot and for each qt of juice you'll want to add between 3 and 5 cups of sugar.  The more bitter the fruit (crab apples for example), the more sugar you'll need to add.  If adding pectin, increase the sugar input.  Then you cook on low (stirring continuously, the sugar will burn FAST!) until the juice reaches the gelling point.  Gel is reached when a spoonful of the cooled mixture slides off the spoon in a solid sheet.  It takes quite a long while for this point to be reached!  Generally it gets easy to tell by the way the mass is cooking. 

You then ladle the hot jelly into prepared jars (I recommend no larger than half-pint for ease of use) and seal them in a boiling water canner (BWC), usually for about 10-15 minutes.  You can create spiced jellies by using a spice bag and adding a stick of cinnamon, some cloves, and a couple of nutmegs.

Enjoy!

Meat Animals for the Space-Challenged Homesteader

Everyone is familiar with the more common domestic meat animals available to the average US homesteader: cattle, pigs, sheep, goats (for the bold).  But what do you do when you live in a place where these animals are not permitted?  Does that mean the small-homesteader is doomed to buying expensive/altered meats from their nearby grocer?  Do you try and find a nearby grass-fed provider?  While these are certainly options, if you want to go those routes, there are also other 'alternative' sources that you can consider.  They aren't anything new, it's just that many don't even think about them as being sources of meat.  For the truly small-time homesteader you can consider rabbits, cavies (guinea pigs), poultry (not just chickens and/or turkeys, but ducks, geese, or quail!), and also... pigeons.

Of course some of the larger fowl do require a certain amount of space and some can be a little obvious to your neighbors, but quail are very small, do best raised in cages (they can be hard to catch if allowed to free-range), are fairly quiet most of the time, and provide a surprising amount of meat per bird in a very short amount of time.  Quail begin to lay around 6-8 weeks and are ready to butcher by 10-12 weeks.  Certain types of chickens are also butchering size by around 6-10 weeks, not even giving them enough time to really annoy the neighbors.  Careful with those breeds though, they are not meant to be used for breeding and many cannot survive that long if you become squeamish about butchering.  So if you plan to have chickens to butcher, make sure you actually plan to do it on time.  The same is true for both types of broad-breasted turkeys, which cannot mate naturally and will mature around 50 or more pounds.  If they are left to live to maturity, they can sometimes have a hard time moving around and by then will be too big for your oven!  If you want turkeys to raise and supply consistent meat, make sure to go with a single-breasted or heritage breed.

Rabbits are one species I have a great deal of experience with raising, and as I've touched on it before, won't go into it too much again now.  Cavies however are one I have not hit upon before.  Cavies are best raised for meat in colonies outside in good weather and inside during colder months.  They don't handle weather chages well, so keep that in mind.  Always choose the larges cavies you can find, leave the "petshop" pigs in the shop where they belong (they are there for a reason and most won't even get larger than a pound... show animals are supposed to be at least 2 lbs, for a reference point).  For the truly squeamish homesteaders who can't bear the thought of eating a "pet" animal remember that in some countries, these animals are a staple and colonies are maintained in many households,

For something really different though, try adding pigeons to your homestead.  These birds are truly an amazing creature and one that is overlooked so often as a source of meat that it becomes an instant benefit to the small homesteader because your neighbors are just as likely to overlook them as well.  When choosing birds to raise for meat, pick breeds with nice size and a large breast.  The recommendation to me was to "feed 'em, water 'em, and leave 'em alone.  They do the rest."  And so far it has been true.  Food, water, a nest and a perch and they will do the rest, laying, setting, and raising young pigeons.  You can even release them after awhile to search for their own food some and they will return to their young.  Now I personally am not comfortable yet releasing my pigeons, and they don't seem all that inclined to leave, but it is an option.

I suppose the most important thing for a small homesteader is to think outside the box.  The only limitations to what you can really do are those you set for yourself.

Finding a Spinning Wheel

Long gone are the days of old where women stood on their porch and spun on a Great or Walking wheel with a pointed spindle.  The invention of the flyer so many ages ago has essentially eliminated them in modern wheels.  Having just come through this research and selection process, I am happy to share my knowledge and experience.  First, don't assume that an antique wheel is the only option available.  There are still several very popular and current makers of wheels.  The price range for a new modern wheel foot driven will vary from around $100 to well over $1000 or higher for custom hand-made wheels.  Most beginning spinners, such as myself, do not really need the higher end wheels to start out.  Decide what you really desire in a wheel, then set out to find one.

As for deciding to learn spinning, well for me it was a natural offshoot of knitting and crochet.  It seemed the next logical step, to learn to make the thread itself.  Although no one needs to learn this out of necessity these days, it is certainly a very useful skill to have in your homesteading repertoire. 

While it's not recommended for a beginner to start off with an antique wheel, since they often have quirks that may result in a slight retarding of the learning process, you can still choose one if you wish.  The most important thing to know when looking at an antique wheel is whether or not it is complete and whole.  Many antique wheels will have cracks or chips, you need to know when those will affect the function of the wheel.  A crack in the wheel itself would be okay, for instance, as long as it does not through off the balance of the wheel's movement.  A chip from the maiden would be okay as long as it was secure and stable in spite of it.

That reminds me, the art of spinning tends to have a language utterly unique for it.  You definitely need to learn the lingo!  The parts on the wheel include the wheel itself, the treadles (foot peddles) and footmen (piece that connects the treadles to the wheel), the flyer (an arched piece of wood that fits around the bobbin and attaches by a cord to the wheel, this is what actually spins the fiber), the maiden (bracket that holds the flyer), the whorl (round piece where the cord goes, usually found on the flyer), the bobbin (I-shaped piece that horizontally fits into the flyer, the thread is wound onto it by the flyer arms), and finally the mother-of-all (which holds the wheel).  With regards to the fiber there is raw (not washed or combed), combed top (uses evil looking Viking or English combs), carded rolags (rolled bits of fluff, usually from hand cards) or batts (usually from a drum carder), and so many more!  You may have tog and thel on a double-coated fleece (such as Icelandic fiber).  You may have to deal with neps (bit of fiber that bunch up on a spun thread) and noils (short fiber bits).  And you can choose to spin woolen or worsted method (an explanation for another post!).  All I can say is read, read, read!!

Back to finding a wheel: once you have established your price range and researched the various options (single treadle or double?  Scotch or Irish tension or double drive?  Saxony or castle, Norwegian or modern?) then you need to decide what is the most important aspects for you.  Combine everything and stalk your perfect wheel on e-bay or resort to locating manufacturers and dealers.  Fair warning, some of the very best wheels are still not made in the USA.  Two of the most popular are made in far away countries.  Ashford wheels are of New Zealand origin and Kromski wheels are Polish.  These are 2 that offer a wide range of beautiful wheels, have many vendors in the US and appear to be dedicated to educating their customers about their wheels.  Both offer production wheels (any wheel greater than 21" in diameter is technically a 'production' wheel, it will move the flyer at a faster rate with minimal treadling required), travel wheels (wheels that will fold together for easy storage/traveling) and many others.

If you are more concerned with cost than aesthetics, the Babe wheels can generally be had for less than $200 and include everything you would need to learn to spin.  The Babe wheels are made from PVC and use wheelchair wheels.  There is also a fairly new wheel-maker in Texas producing beautiful wheels for extremely reasonable prices.  They are the Bluebonnet wheels.

Regardless of the wheel you choose, be sure it is the one you really want.  These wheels are an investment or time, money, and energy.  You could be spending a significant amount of time looking at it, so make it one that YOU want to look at frequently!

A Spinning Beginning

This is one of the few homesteading skills that I still have yet to have mastered.  However, I have spent the past several weeks (almost months) searching for the "One" wheel that screams at me to "buy me!!" and find that in the process I am learning more about wheels and fiber than I ever really knew existed.  Of course, I am a connoisseur of wool yarns.  During my time making wool baby pants I managed to accrue a rather extensive and vivid array of types and color variations.  I could tell you straight off that a mohair blend would wear longer, but was a little rougher on the skin.  That Blue-Faced Leicester had a great sheen and durability.  That Merino was ultra-soft, but tended to pill much more severely.  Yet though my search for the perfect wheel, I am also learning about alternative fibers.

The one I am most anxious to try is Alpaca, yet there is also yak, silk, angora, mohair, llama, bison, qiviut, and so many others.  Even dog hair can be blended and spun, a tribute to a favorite pet.  Natural fibers tend to come in a variety of un-dyed colors, from white and silver, to browns and black.  Of course, I have to be difficult and look at raw fiber that will require a certain amount of processing to get it to the point of being able to spin.  The way I see things, I may as well start at the beginning.  While I am not able to keep any fiber animal larger than an Angora rabbit, I am determined to start with fiber as close to the animal as I possibly can.

Crochet or Knit?

I have discovered over the years that generally most people excel in one of these two forms of thread art.  They can knit with skill but have a tough time figuring out crochet or they love to crochet, but have a hard time understanding knitting.  So the great dilemma for a new homesteader is which of these would be the more useful one to try and knuckle down to learn.  Unfortunately, the decision is not as simple as it would at first appear.  Both forms are portable and can go with you anywhere.  Both require minimal attention once you have mastered the technique.  Both have a rather small investment cost.  Both can be very useful in many ways.  Therefore, the real question should be: why do you have to choose at all?  Regardless of what anyone tells you ("once you learn to knit, you really can't crochet." or maybe "you'll have an easier time learning crochet, knit is so much harder, so don't bother.") a person can learn both methods and perform them well.  It requires perseverance, diligence, determination, and sometimes: a good teacher.  Also, I don't recommend teaching yourself through books, but there are some excellent video tutorial sources on the 'net.

Most patterns for knitting require the user to master only 2 basic stitches: the knit and the purl stitch.  Knitting on the flat you would need a pair of straight needles, for small circular you need double pointed needles (DPN's - socks and the top of hats), for large circular you need circular needles (sweaters, pants, sometimes socks).  You would also need to have yarn of your choice.  Knitting will yield a fabric that have a significant amount of stretch in it, ergo it lends itself very well to apparel such as: sweaters, socks, children's skirts/pants, hats, scarves, gloves/mittens, and similar.  You could make toys, misc household items, dishcloths, afghans, shawls, or bags.  Though sometimes too much stretch in these is not good.


Crochet on the other hand will yield a fabric with much less stretch or flexibility.  Depending on the thickness of the yarn and smallness of the hook, you could actually make rigid containers that have only a little flex to them.  Crochet requires only a hook and yarn.  Because crochet can be a little less flexible, it lends itself much better to items that require less flex in the fabric, such as: afghans, household items, dishcloths, shawls, bags, and toys.  You can still make apparel however: sweaters, socks, children's skirts/pants, hats, scarves, gloves/mittens, and similar items.  It really depends more on the skill of the person and not the limitation of the form.

There are some additional tools that make each form easier or more interesting.  For instance: stitch markers for either form or a cable needle for knit.  Whatever you decide to learn, have fun!  If it isn't fun to do, you won't stay with it.

Reduce

This works great for homesteaders as well as anyone wanting to go a little more 'green'.  It was a simple thought, but one that was completely foreign to me at first.  How to reduce the wasteful non-edible items that enter our home.  Think about what you spend for plastic trash bags?  You purposefully throw them away.  The same with paper towels.  How about toilet paper?  Put it into a bowl of water and flush it away.  Why not wipe with dollar bills?  Sometimes it almost feels as though that's what I'm throwing into the commode.  What about laundry & dish washing soaps?  Same thing, spend money on an item that will be excreted from the house with minimal internal impact.  There had to be a better, more economical way to accomplish basic and general hygiene without such a horrendous sense of waste.

Simple solutions: inexpensive bar towels instead of paper ones, cloth napkins, cloth wipes for the bathroom (why not?!  We use cloth diapers, the toilet cloth just goes in with those.  Add a simple sprayer/bidet and you can quickly reduce or even eliminate the need for paper to toss into your commode.  Too gross?  Then use them only for girls sans defecation.  For trash bags I've learned to toss anything organic out the door to the birds, or onto the compost pile.  That means that what little is left is dry.  No need for plastic bags.  Paper bags from the grocers work quite well.  Though honestly, no bag at is really needed.

As for cleaning, white vinegar is a great basic household cleaner and fairly inexpensive.  For laundry soap I make up a special batch of home-made soap (no frou-frou or superfatting), grate it after it's cured and add some borax and washing soda.  You could add fragrance to it as well.  This type of basic soap is also very good for using on dishes.  I usually just leave a bar flat by the kitchen sink and using the scrub brush, quickly brush up a bit of the soap and scrub each dish.  It works well on most foods.  I do keep some Dawn on the sink as well, but only for very greasy foods, as it still works better on that.

I saw this on a forum to which I belong

I don't have "hobbies'

I'm developing

a robust

Port-Apocalyptic

skill set

Basic Soap Making

Safety:
The very first chapter in every soap making book I have read, and I've read many, always talk about safety.  I will be no different.  The very first thing any person needs to understand about soap making is that it is a chemical reaction taking place that generates a great amount of heat.  The name of the process is called saponification, wherein an acid (oils) and a base (NaOH... the lye) chemically combine to form a salt (soap).  No person intending to undertake the making of soap should ever do so without the proper equipment and tools.  The main ones that cannot go without are rubber gloves and chemical safety glasses.  Lye (NaOH in water) is highly caustic, it WILL burn if you get it on your skin or in your eyes.  Most also recommend closed toe shoes, long sleeve shirt and pants.

Remember two things when planning to make soap; the lye water is caustic... and so is the raw soap.  In fact, the soap has the ability to burn until it has been fully cured, though is less likely to do so as time wears along.  It's a good idea to use only steel, glass, or plastic tools when making soap as wood will eventually deteriorate and aluminum can react.

Tools:
The basic tools needed for soap making, aside from safety gear of goggles and gloves, include the following:

• steel or glass bowls for weighing and mixing
• plastic or steel spoons for stirring
• two glass thermometers for measuring temps if you are going to be precise, candy thermometers work very well for these
• an electric hand mixer, or be prepared to stir for a really long time!
• rubber scaper
• steel measuring spoons
• large (4C) glass measuring cups
• soap molds (can be as simple as an old ice bin or as complex as you wish)
• freezer paper if your soap molds are wooden (to line it), Vaseline for plastic molds (it helps the raw soap to release from the mold
• steel blade knife or wire to cut the soap bars (I use a wire cake leveler and a miter box)
• an accurate scale, I prefer a digital one
• a soap calculator to aid in determining the best weight of the ingredients so as to avoid putting in too much lye.  You can find these online or purchase one
• oils (tallow or lard, vegetable oil, specialty oils, or any combination.  It's best to choose single oils to add, no combo oils like Crisco, avoid corn oil as it tends to go rancid quickly (known as DOS), also avoid peanut oil as it tends to not fully solidify and comes out with a fairly nasty result)
• Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH)

I also like to use the following, but these are all optional:

• Additives (coffee grounds, seeds, or salt for a scrub bar
• clays
• butters
• herbal or mineral colorants
• even silk (makes a very smooth bar, this is dissolved into the lye water

Homesteading Skills

I mentioned in my previous post that knowledge is the one thing that would separate people that could survive an apocalypse and those that wouldn't/couldn't.  But which skills, either modern or antiquated would provide the best opportunity for survival?  What interesting information is there for the modern individual to learn that could provide both a path to greener living, apocalyptic survival, or just plain fascinating hobby?  I have discovered that I personally have a fascination for many crafts.  I would include the following basic knowledge or skills:

Woodcutting
Animal husbandry
Beekeeping
Farming/gardening, soil, water knowledge
Spinning, weaving, knit, crochet
Basic blacksmithing (optional)
Candle and soap making
Herbology
Rug and basket weaving
Hunting, skinning, butchery techniques & tanning methods
Food storage and preservation including dehydrating, canning, & preserving
Basic carpentry
And several others

For me, I am very much taken with useful crafts such as candlemaking, soapmaking, spinning, crochet & knit, and more recently, rug braiding.

Think About It

Lately I've been watching a lot of post-apocalyptic television shows.  Yes I know I'm a little behind the ball, I've always been that way.  Who has time to sit around staring at a tube these days?!  Well recently, I have found a little time to check some of these out.  Now, barring an event that would completely obliterate the possibility of resuming a semi-normal lifestyle such as disease or warring zombies, I decided there were several items that would be a must-have to survive long-term.  I mean, let's face reality; food, fuel, and basic necessities can only be obtained from outside sources, and these would become extremely limited and scarce as time wore along.  As such, here are some of the items I would consider necessary in the long run:

- Spinning wheel, carders, and fiber (or keep a small flock of sheep), knitting needles and crochet hooks
- Canning equipment and jars with re-usable lids
- Root cellar, or something similar
- Hot box or greenhouse for growing fresh herbs/veggies indoors in winter (need that vitamin C!)
- Windmill or two
- Rain collection/water system (there's a creek nearby... through a neighbor's lot) or well
- Wood-burning stove or passive heat system (check these out, they are awesome!)
- Small livestock (rabbits, chicken or other fowl, goats, bees, and/or sheep... possibly a pig)
- Soap & candle-making equipment
- Basic farm tools/equipment that did not require fossil fuel (cultivator/harness for turning soil plus hand tools)
- Guns (hunting and defense)
- Land (probably the most vital) and quality seeds

With these, a family could be moderately self sustainable and likely trade for anything else needed.  See, what bothered me the most about some of these shows I saw was that they tended to consume items that they did not have the immediate ability to self-create.  Even whole towns could not do what they were depicted as having done.  The greatest aspect of survival is knowledge.  Knowing how to survive and how to keep surviving over the long haul will be the ultimate separation between those that do actually live beyond a few months, and those who do not.

Just as a quick explanation for my choices above: the spinning & knit/crochet is because eventually clothing will be needed.  Excess could be traded to others who lack this ability.  Canning equipment should be pretty self-explanatory, families have to put supplies away in order to survive winter.  Root cellar and hot box are for similar reasons.  The windmill is to supply basic power needs, water system/well for water needs.  Heat system for winters.  The livestock choices I made were small to fit my miniscule land's ability to support.  Rabbits for quick meat, fowl for eggs, bees for wax & honey, sheep for fiber & meat, pig for meat (nearly all of a pig is useful!  Lard for soap, meat, hair, bones...everything!!).  The soap is for cleaning needs, the candles should also be self-explanatory.  Basic farm tools for gardening and farming needs, I would choose goat harnessing since you would need to keep a buck to breed does for milk and meat production, he may as well earn his keep the rest of the year too!  Let him pull the plow or a cart.  Guns or weapons should also be a no-brainer, when there is not sufficient livestock, it may be able to be hunted, but also for defense against raiders who would likely steal rather than starve.  Finally land, the most essential of the entire list.  I would probably enlist the help of my 3 immediate neighbors.  I know I can trust them, and helping to feed them would probably go a long ways to acquiring their assistance.  One lot for growing hay, the other either farmed or portioned for livestock pens. 

Lighting Options

As we head into the shorter-day months of fall and winter, there are some various options to consider when it comes to lighting.  It really all depends on personal preference.  For those trying to go "off grid" as much as possible, your options are limited.  Now let me be as transparently clear as I can; I am not talking so much about how you light your home, but how you manage to go about your chores after the sun has gone down.  Yes, there will be times that you simply cannot possibly complete everything needed to be done in the handful of hours allotted to you by Nature.  In the old days, a person worked from sunup until sundown and no more.  Today, with many households requiring multiple incomes, it's not always practical to assume you can complete all your necessary chores by 5 or 6 in the evening, the earliest time the sun will begin to drop by midwinter.  Not to mention that in this modern age it would be complete folly to utterly disregard all possible methods of artificially lighting your surroundings.  Even cave-dwellers had the ability to beat the darkness back.

With that in mind, there are a few different options.  The easiest, most convenient, and most expensive would be electrical lighting.  You run (preferably) underground electrical wiring to the area you wish to have lit, a barn, a corral, a work area, and then add switches, outlets, and fixtures.  Again, this can be very expensive not only in the materials cost, but also installation.  It's always a good idea to have a qualified electrician install the system, reducing the risk of potential fire later.  This method would top out not only on expense, but also on convenience.  What luck!  Just walk over, flip a switch, and voila!  Instant light to wherever you needed it most.  However, while this type of lighting can be as strong or as light as you need, there is the unfortunate drawback of only being able to light the specific areas planned.  So you'll want to decide carefully before installing.

Another option is portable/handheld lighting using flashlights or electrical lamps.  These offer the greatest potential for flexibility.  The light goes wherever you need it to go.  There are some rather significant drawbacks though, the cost of batteries being one of the highest.  The crank-type lamps often lose their vitality after just a short while and can be expensive.  These types of lighting often need to be directed by the hand (flashlight) to be truly effective.  A battery powered lamp or floodlight would be a good alternative option for portable light.  The best benefit of this type of lighting is the initial start-up cost and availability.  You can obtain a flashlight or lamp almost anywhere!  Batteries can be obtained in almost any place you can name that sells small items.  Initially, this will always be the best option in the early days of homesteading.  It's a good idea to keep a few lamps or lights on hand regardless of your chosen lighting method.  You never know when you might need a spare light!

The final option, and my ultimately preferred method, is the use of an oil lantern.  I'm sure you can picture the kind I mean.  They were very popular about a hundred years ago.  The general unit is metal with a hurricane glass wrapped in wire over a wick that dips into the well of the base.  It generally also has a thick wire handle that swings a bit.  Yes, you can still purchase these for about $5 brand new.  No need to raid your local antique shops (unless you wish to do so).  The base can be filled with either lamp oil or kerosene, which tends to burn rather slowly, resulting in this method being the most cost effective.  Remember that when lighting a new lamp, you should fill the base with the oil and allow it to sit unburned overnight (or several hours) so that the wick absorbs the oil before you light it the first time.  I use plain matches to light my lanterns, no fancy lighters necessary.  It's best to keep your lantern below eye level, as it will have a tendency to affect vision acuity if held directly within the line of sight, I've found.  Also, when setting your lantern down, be sure there is no possible risk of it falling or being knocked over.  It won't explode like they show in the movies, but it might go out.  Keep the lantern glass clean for optimal lighting, but never when the glass is hot.  I prefer this method because it's quick, it's constant, it's portable, and it lights a considerable distance.  This is one method, however, I would not entrust to very small children.  My older kids though, have no trouble using the lanterns.  In fact, they get a kick out of using them!

Critter Bedding

One question that I see a lot for confined animals is: "what is the best type of bedding to use?" So I will address this for as many of the common livestock species as I can.  First, most of the large livestock: horses, cattle, sheep, goats, pigs; will require no bedding if they are pasture kept.  In barns or birth jugs, it's best to bed down with either pine shavings or sawdust as that is the easiest to keep clean. 

If you have an enclosure for your poultry that involves them being confined indoors on a concrete or wooden floor, I recommend using sand, as that is the easiest to keep clean for birds.  For cage-reared rabbits indoors, first I recommend keeping them on a metal wire floor, for sanitary reasons, and second I recommend using either wood pellets or wood shavings.  If outdoors, there's honestly no reason to use any bedding at all!  If you clean the pan out weekly, it will be sufficiently ventilated that you should never notice any odor.  Newspaper is absorbent, but it will do nothing beneficial for your garden, nor will it aid in odor reduction in any way.

Some alternatives, pros/cons:

Cat litter: (clay), absorbent, little odor control, VERY heavy!, hard to dispose.  (clumping), still heavy, hard to access, expensive!

Wood or newspaper pellets: can be heavy (depending on type), excellent absorption, can be put in compost pile or directly on garden, little to no odor control

Equine fresh: very good odor control, expensive!!

Cedar shavings: NEVER use!  No good as a bedding type due to phenol content

Pine shavings: (regular) shouldn't be used other than as a barn additive for larger livestock (kiln dried) preferred bedding for smaller animals

Carefresh: this one is put here as a joke!  Homesteaders, save your money and steer away from this entirely!  There are much more cost effective beddings out there!

Cut up cardboard: I cannot recall the brand, but this is an excellent bedding material for small animals.  Somewhat hard to clean out, would be fine on the compost pile, cost effective and 'different', it works best laid over top a single layer of wood pellets.

Shredded/layered newspaper: Layers seem to work better in pans and carriers, nicely absorbent, no odor control at all, needs to be changed frequently.

Breeds: Rabbits for the Homesteader

The American Rabbit Breeders Association recognizes 47 pure breeds for showing purposes.  The homesteader will generally have little purpose for most of them.  Generally, most of these modern breeds were designed for the modern person: they are small and slightly ostentatious.  For the homesteader there are 3 general categories of interest: meat production, fur/skin production, and wool production.  There is another aspect of rabbits, pet production, though for most homesteaders this will be a rare and generally unnecessary aspect.  If you can sell a few extra youngsters as pets, great!  But don't expect much of a market for the breeds that work best on a homestead.  Many breeds can/will give you multiple purposes. 

For instance, you can eat any rabbit of any breed you raise, however certain breeds and breed combinations will give you the best tasting/quantity of meat for the lowest expense.  The 2 best known for meat production are the New Zealand (known best for it's maternal abilities) and the Californian (known for it's terminal abilities).  The cross of these breeds is often known as a Smut.  These 3 breeds will yield the highest meat quantity, at the youngest age, utilizing the least feed, with the best meat to bone ratio of any other breed in existence.  Don't be fooled, bigger is not always better.  The most common temptation is to find the largest breed, the Flemish Giant, and cross into the meat herd.  Resist the urge, Flemish are one of the slowest growing breeds with some of the worst meat to bone ratios of any other breed (they have very large and heavy bones)!  If you don't mind holding the growers to an older age (increasing the 'texture' of the meat), you could also utilize these rabbits for their furs.

Some of the more common breeds raised mainly for their furs are the Havana, a medium breed with a luxurious smooth coat, and the Rex, a larger breed with an extremely plush coat.  Rabbits raised primarily for their furs generally need to be kept until around 10 months of age, when the fur would be "prime" and full.  Compared to meat rabbits raised to around 2-4 months, this can feel like an eternity!  However, on a younger rabbit the skin would be too fragile and thin to work.  Conversely, rabbits kept for their furs until an older age will not have meat as tender as that of the younger animals.  It is truly a paradox!  You can certainly keep the skins of younger animals, though they will be much more fragile, but you will have tender meat.  You can certainly eat the meat of the older fur animals, but it will likely be 'tougher'.

The last aspect for a homesteader to consider would be to choose a breed for wool production.  The best part about raising rabbits for this is that the rabbit need not be killed to harvest the wool.  In truth, many of them seem to truly relish the attention lavished on them!  These rabbits do require a certain level of care that the other breeds do not, especially if you wish to harvest the maximum quantity of usable fiber from them.  The only breeds that can really be used for this purpose are the Angoras: Giant, Satin, French, German, and English.  Honestly choosing your Angora breed will come to a personal decision, as they all have the potential to give you beautiful fiber.  The Giant will yield the greatest amount, though these rabbits tend to be the most expensive and difficult to locate.  The Satin will yield a beautiful wool that has a shine to it, unique to that breed.  The English is the smallest of the Angoras, though it also tends to have some of the finest wool.  They are characterized by their general similarity to a "cotton ball".  I'll go into raising rabbits specifically for wool at a later time.

Of course there are several other breeds one could consider.  Rare heritage breeds such as the American or Beveren.  Marked breeds such as the Rhinelander, Dutch, or English Spot.  Giant breeds such as the Giant Chinchilla, moderate breeds such as the Lilac, or small breeds such as the Netherland Dwarf.  Exotic breeds like the Britannia Petite or Himalayan, new breeds such as the Thrianta, and fluffy breeds such as the Jersey Wooly.

Take care to choose the breed for your homestead carefully so as to maximize your benefits.

Cutting up Chicken into Fryer Pieces

This is a task that every person, regardless of homestead or home-maker should know how to do.  Especially given the ever increasing cost of food.  Cutting up a chicken really helps when you have birds that aren't quite "pretty" enough to be a roaster, and it increases the usefulness of your carcasses.  Starting with an entire cleaned bird, place the carcass with the legs facing you.  Using a flat-blade, well-sharpened knife, cut down through the skin beside the legs to free them up.  At this point you are only cutting skin.  Take both legs in your hand and push down flat against the back to 'pop' the joints loose, it makes it easier to remove the thigh bone later.  Look into the carcass and find the rib cage, cut down the ribs to the spine.  Then bend the carcass in half, bending at the back until the spine breaks.  Use your knife to cut through the soft tissue and separate the carcass into front and back halves.

Take the back half and bend it backwards at the point of the spine.  The bones should break, allowing you to separate the leg quarters from each other.  Bend the leg at the joint and cut around between the leg and thigh muscles, cutting through the joint to separate the leg from the thigh.  Wash and put these aside.

Next pull the front half of the bird to you.  Place breast side up and wing side towards you.  Start cutting around the ball of the wing, pulling the wing down as you go.  There is a joint that will separate and the wing come away from the rest of the carcass.  Repeat with the other wing.  Set these aside.  You have remaining the back and the breast.  You can leave this whole, or separate the back and de-bone the breast. 

To separate the back simply turn the carcass breast side down.  Using a pair of butcher scissors or pruning shears (well cleaned), insert the shears into the side of the bird and cut through the ribs.  Push in farther until all the ribs have been cut.  Repeat on the other side.  Turn the carcass around, insert the shears beside the neck, and cut through the clavicle bone on both sides.  Then use your knife to cut through the meat, releasing the back.  Set aside.

Finally you have the breast.  Turn the breast up and sharpen your knife, it will need to be very sharp to de-bone the breast meat.  I highly recommend de-boning the breast since it is very easy to do.  You'll see a demarcation line between the breasts, this is where the keel bone is located.  Make the first slice along this line, from top to bottom.  Remember there is a bone there, angle your knife in towards the bone so that you can be sure to shave away as much meat as possible from it.  Slice by slice, carefully deepen the cut down the keel bone and along the ribs until you have freed the meat from the bottom of the rib cage.  There is another small rib bone below the keel that you'll need to scrape along.  After freeing the bottom of the breast, work on removing the top with as much meat as possible.  Remember this is where the 'wishbone' is located, so you'll have to work around it.  Try to leave as little meat behind as possible.  After freeing up the first side, repeat the process on the other side.  When you are finished, you should have 2 large boneless breasts.

Wash the parts, separate as desired, and store or cook as you wish!

Raising Rabbits

Rabbits are a wonderful way of getting your feet wet raising your own meat on limited space and budget.  They tend to be less smelly than chickens and their reproductive methods are not only faster, but easier on the homesteader.  Of course, it's a good idea to actually keep both rabbits and chickens, and while they should not be kept together openly, there is nothing wrong with your chickens and rabbits sharing a barn.  Of course one of the biggest hurdles for many new homesteaders is actually killing and then eating your own rabbits.  A few tips I offer, first do not name any offspring you intend to butcher, naming tends to increase a bond with the animal.  Keep personal interaction with your grower rabbits to a minimum, lavish that attention on your brood rabbits instead.

A few things to keep in mind about rabbits: First, the meat is highly nutritious and lean.  The meat will have a texture and flavor similar to chicken and can be used in exactly the same recipes.  To make ground rabbit or rabbit sausage you will need to add some fat from other meat as it is too lean by itself, also it grinds easier if it is slightly frozen.  Meat is not the only product your rabbits can give to you!  Rabbit manure is very valuable as fertilizer in that it requires no composting, just add straight from the pan to the garden.  Some rabbits can produce fine wool that can be spun by itself or combined with other fiber for luxurious yarns.  Rabbit skins can be preserved and given a great number of uses, or sell them as green or tanned hides.  Worms can even be raised in manure beds. 

Rabbit feed can be supplemented by "green manure" from your garden: beet/carrot tops, melon rinds (in moderation), cut grass, radish greens, even honeysuckle, fresh green pine branches, and bamboo greens!  Be careful not to feed too much fresh foods to rabbits less than 6 months of age.  Overall, rabbits require very little input as compared to potential production of any livestock species in existence today.

There are two main methods and ideology for raising rabbits for production.  One allows you to minimize your space needs and also identify exact parentage, this is cage rearing.  The other will maximize overall production output by allowing the rabbits to "do what rabbits do" through colony rearing.  Both methods will need some planning and basic materials to get started.  Cage rearing you will need enough cages to comfortably house each brood rabbit individually.  Each cage should be twice the length of the rabbit, stretched out, though larger is always better.  Bucks should have ample space to mount a stretched out doe to breed.  Pregnant does and growing brood juniors (bucks and does after weaning, but less than 6 months of age) require less space.  Does with litters will need more space even than bucks.  And you will need to account for at least 1 very large cage per litter for rearing your growers to butchering weight.  You will also need enough feed and water bowls for each rabbit, and a large feed hopper for each grower pen/cage.  I recommend your cages have a wire floor, but be prepared to also add a plank, tile, board, or mat of some kind to give the rabbits' feet a rest from the wire.

Cage rearing is fairly simple, always take the doe to the buck's cage for breeding.  Rabbits do not have a 'heat cycle' they can breed anytime of the day or year, though they tend to be more receptive during the spring/summer than fall/winter.  Perseverance is key though, if you want off-season litters, keep at them!  The buck should mount the doe and attempt to breed.  If she is receptive, she should stretch and lift her hindquarter.  The buck should grunt and fall over, this is how you know the breeding was successful.  Allow the buck to breed her 2-3 times more, then remove the doe.  Take her back about 8 hours later to increase litter size.  Mark your calendar for 31 days hence.  Move the doe to a kindling (birth/litter) cage after about 2 weeks and offer her a nest with straw/shavings in it about 3-4 days prior to her due date.  Then watch carefully.  She should pull fur for the babies, if you see a pile of fur in the nest, you can carefully pull back to see if the babies are ok.  If so, leave them alone.  The doe may not even go back to the nest for up to 24 hours, this is perfectly normal.  Check them daily for the first few days to be sure their bellies are rounded out.  Well-fed babies should appear plump at all times, if they begin to appear slim and wrinkled she isn't feeding them.  We'll go into that later though.

Colony rearing is slightly less labor intensive, though a little more space consuming.  You would actually setup and prepare a large area fully fenced on all sides (don't forget the floor, rabbits can and will try to dig burrows!  If they are successful, you will not be able to control the population and might not even be able to have a handle on total number or catch the young for consumption!)  The rabbits would need to have sufficient feed and water available at all times.  They will also require nest boxes or a well kept area of straw/hay for rearing litters.  You will still need to check litters to be sure that any that die early are removed promptly.  In this method you may use one buck for several does.  You will know which is the sire of any given offspring, but will never know which is the dam.  This is a great way to let "rabbits be rabbits" in a controlled way.

Whichever method you choose to keep your rabbits, have fun with them!  Rabbits are a joy, and they're mighty tasty too!!