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8 Considerations for Long-Term Camping
When most people think of camping, they picture pitching a tent for a weekend and heading back home after a few days. Short-term camping is a great way to get out into the wilderness and away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life for a few days, but what if you don’t have the…
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Freeze-Dried Pineapple
This week, I chose to try pineapple. So, I stopped by my local Sam’s Club and purchased a box of five large pineapples for $14.20: As with the bananas and applies I freeze-dried in previous weeks, preparation took longer than I’d hoped for, but mostly because I spent more time cutting larger chunks into smaller…
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How to Pick Contractors for Your Homestead
There are plenty of benefits of living in a bustling city — employment opportunities, restaurants and entertainment, shopping, meeting people and high-quality amenities are only a few worth mentioning. Yet, many city dwellers dream of trading it all in for simpler living somewhere off the beaten path. That’s why more people opt out of their…
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How to Optimize Your Food Storage
Following all the turmoil in the world, it’s no surprise you might be making plans to optimize your food storage for emergencies and worse. A recent United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization report stated natural disasters now occur three times more often than in the 1970s and 1980s. As a result, there’s now a broader…
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Freeze-Dried Apple Chunks
As one might expect, I’m already behind on posting my weekly freeze-drying posts. That’s partly my fault (because I got started way too late this week) but I’ll attempt to blame the freeze dryer soon. I decided to buy some apples at the store because our orchard is still too young, and our vegetable garden…
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Small Rainwater Catch, Does It Work?
Last Friday, my son began to ask me about our water preparedness plan. I was honest; it’s not great. I told him we had eight 55-gallon drums that had clean water we could drink, and six IBC totes collecting rooftop rainwater that would certainly need filtered and then boiled before I would feel comfortable consuming…
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How to Handle Plumbing While Living Off the Grid
We take plenty of things for granted in our homes that might be a bit more difficult to manage if you decide to go completely off the grid. Sure, you can install solar panels for electricity and dig a well to ensure you have water, but how do you get that water to your home?…
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Freeze-Dried Bananas
Although I intend on freeze-drying eggs again ASAP, I bought a bunch of bananas for something to freeze-dry in the meantime. I believe I purchased a total of about sixteen pounds of bananas since I really didn’t have any idea of how many I would need. I tried to ensure they weren’t too ripe: I…
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I Bought a Large Freeze Dryer
A few months ago, I finally convinced myself to purchase a large Harvest Right freeze dryer. At about $4,000, that’s a big investment for me! But I had to wait to use it because I needed an electrician to come out and check things out. Basically, the large freeze dryer needs a dedicated 20-amp circuit,…