Author: Damian Brindle
-
Considerations for Hiring a Landscaper for Your Homestead
Maintaining a homestead is one of the most rewarding lifestyle choices you can make. Becoming self-sufficient by gardening, raising livestock, or even spinning your own yarn provides you with a degree of independence most people don’t have. Are you planning a large landscaping project or simply need some help around the yard? There are a…
-
Freeze-Dried Pears
I keep hunting for new foods to freeze-dry, in part to try something new for you, but also out of curiosity for me. At some point, however, I’ll have to return to foods I’ve already tried. This week I purchased sixteen pounds of pears from Sam’s Club for $26.48: Initially, I was looking for berries,…
-
The Emergency Heater You Need
These emergency kerosene heaters are all pretty much the same in how they work, but still buy a reputable brand, like Dyna-Glo, though this Sengoku heater has plenty of good reviews. In any case, so long as you can keep enough kerosene on hand, you’ll have a ready-to-deploy heat source powerful enough to keep a…
-
9 Power Tools Every Prepper Needs
Your toolbox likely contains the usual suspects — hammers, wrenches and screwdrivers — but what about power tools? Some people prefer manual ones, but power tools can make your life as a prepper so much easier. They make your do-it-yourself (DIY) work much faster and often get the job done correctly. These nine power tools…
-
Freeze-Dried Marshmallows
One of my readers suggested I try freeze-drying marshmallows, and since our Border Collie puppy, Hero, has been denying me sleep for the last few days, I was glad to try something easy. We had two one-pound bags of large marshmallows that were meant for Smores, but nobody has used them in months, so it…
-
DIY Reflective Heater
Here’s a neat way to make your own DIY heater out of vegetable cans by also using items I’d never considered, such as a 100% carbon felt to act as a wick and stainless steel mesh to act as the mantle. Overall, I like the design a lot, though I think the build could be…
-
How to Prepare for Living Off the Grid in Winter
Climate change means summers are getting hotter, but that isn’t the only impact. On the opposite side of that coin, winters are getting colder and harsher. Even in urban centers, surviving these extreme conditions isn’t always easy. The Texas winter storm of 2021 claimed 246 lives, though some estimates put the number at close to…
-
Freeze-Dried Skittles, M&Ms
Even though I’ve been having trouble with our septic–and with getting someone out to fix it–I still wanted to freeze-dry something, so while I was at Sam’s Club (getting more bus boy bins to wash dishes during the apocalypse), I figured I would try freeze-drying candy. Although there were many options with it being so…
-
Pooping in a Bucket, and Other Problems
This week has been less than fun. Aside from wondering whether my mother survived Hurricane Ian in Florida (she did) with her having limited to no cell service and no power for days, our septic system decided to malfunction, which became apparent when sewage began to backup into our showers. Yuk! I haven’t been able…