Looking for a fun family activity to while away the hours during the holiday lull? Have the kids run you out of tinder for your fireplace? Maybe its time to show them how to create one of the world's oldest fire starters: the humble featherstick. History The origins of the featherstick, as is usual with such simple forms of technology, are rather vague. Many civilizations … [Read more...] about Fabricating Feathersticks
Skills
Making Fig Wine
As you may have noticed from a few previous articles on this website, your humble author is obsessed with figs. Perhaps this is because despite living in climate supposedly not suited for them, I have managed to keep a fig tree alive and flourishing for some time now, and thus am always pleasantly surprised by the harvest. Whatever the reason, I decided this year to combine two … [Read more...] about Making Fig Wine
Farmyard First Aid: Using Your Kit
My apologies folks, this article comes a little later than anticipated. Warming weather around the homestead has meant my days are increasingly spent outside, rather than behind my keyboard. But with some rainy days upon me, I figure its time to discuss how to use the first aid kits we prepared in Farmyard First Aid: Creating a Kit. Bandaging The articles discussed in the … [Read more...] about Farmyard First Aid: Using Your Kit
Wintertime Woodcrafting: Maul
Depending on where you live in these United States, you're currently either enjoying some unseasonably warm weather, enduring record-setting snow, or some variation in between. While our country may have a fair amount of temperature variation, one thing tends to remain constant right about now: growing season is at an end, hunting season is running out, and its time to find a … [Read more...] about Wintertime Woodcrafting: Maul
Cow Milking 101
Its the time of year when many ranchers are weaning calves away from their mothers. While this can result in quite a bit of bawling and, depending on where you calf pen is located, some sleepless nights, it also signals the beginning of a great time to start getting some pure, unpasteurized, unhomogenized cow milk for you and your family (provided you haven't started already). … [Read more...] about Cow Milking 101
