Category Archives: Self-Sufficiency

Reader’s Review: The Mini Farming Guide to Composting

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Mini Farming Guide to Composting9781616088583 - Copy

Editor’s Note:  A few weeks ago, reader Dianna Anna won our giveaway of The Mini Farming Guide to Composting.  She decided to write a quick review of the book and I thought I‘d share it with everyone.  Thank you Dianna Anna!

 

The Mini Farming Guide to Composting by Brett L. Markham shows that composting in some form or fashion is entirely feasible no matter if you are just learning or have been doing this all your life.

I first learned about composting years ago in a commune in rural Mississippi.  I’ve had a compost pile in some shape or form since then, from chicken wire bins in my suburban back yard to large planters on my tiny patio. And over the years I have probably read a dozen or so books on composting. But, in this one book I was delighted to get everything I always wanted to know about composting including the technical stuff to go with it!

This guide starts with the science of the soil and covers indoor composting, worm farming, the difference between anaerobic and aerobic, and lots more like sheet composting and compost tea.  I finally got the info I needed for composting animal waste (that includes human too). Even better, this book  is printed on glossy paper so you can take it out into the yard with you and not worry about getting the pages dirty.

Buy this book!  It is well priced at just $14.95. Trust me, it is the only book you will ever need on this subject.

 
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Drying Herbs without a Food Dehydrator

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Dried mint leaves after 2 weeks

Dehydrating food is a handy skill to have but may not seem practical while living in an apartment in the city.  You may not have room for a food dehydrator in your small apartment kitchen, but you can actually dry herbs without one.

Most recipes call for just a pinch of herbs but when you buy it at the grocery store you end up with large bunch that ends up withering in the fridge.  But it doesn’t have to go to waste if you air dry it.

Here’s what you need to do:

  1. Wash the herbs thoroughly.
  2. Without tearing or crushing the leaves, gently dry them with a towel.
  3. Lay the herbs on a clean kitchen towel, or on a paper towel.
  4. Leave the entire thing on a high shelf or another out-of-the-way spot in the house where it can be undisturbed for a couple of weeks.
  5. Check in one week.  The photo above was after two weeks.  The rate of drying depends on the humidity level in your area, so your drying time may be quicker if you live in a dry climate.
  6. After three weeks, the herbs should be thoroughly dry.  This is what the mint looked like after it was completely dry.

Dried mint leaves after 3 weeks

You can tell it is ready when you feel the leaves and stems are somewhat brittle and can easily be crushed by your fingers.  Store whole in an airtight container, or crush the herbs and store in a recycled clean spice container.

Now you’ll have dried herbs whenever you need it for a recipe.

 

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Experimenting with the Easiest Homemade Laundry Detergent

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I had been wanting to try making my own homemade laundry detergent, but wanted an easy one.  Many recipes require grating soap, or boiling the soap mixture, which I wanted to avoid.

Then I found a super easy laundry detergent recipe over at Backdoor Survival.  Survival Woman’s recipe, found in The No Mess No Fuss Method of Making DIY Laundry Detergent did not involve grating soap or boiling ingredients.  The best part was, I already had these materials on hand.

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You will need:

1/2 gallon container (recycled juice bottle will do)

3 TBSP Borax

3 TBSP Washing Soda

2 TBSP dishwashing detergent (Dawn Dishwashing Liquid was recommended in the article and that is the one I used)

8 cups water

Directions:

  1. Boil 2 cups water (out of the 8 cups).
  2. Using a funnel, pour the Borax and Washing Soda into the bottle.
  3. Carefully pour in the 2 cups of boiling water.  Shake well until powders are dissolved.
  4. Add the dishwashing liquid and mix some more.
  5. Finally, add the remaining 6 cups of water and mix well.  That’s it, you’re done mixing.
  6. Use about a quarter to a half cup of this laundry detergent to a load of wash.

The Test

First, I washed a load of colors with the homemade dishwashing liquid, at the cold water cycle.  Our machine is just a regular washer.  I noticed the mixture is more watery than store bought liquid laundry detergent.  It is also odor free.

The second load consisted of whites.

The Result

The load of colors came out clean, with surface dirt removed.  I did not have any heavily stained clothes but any dusty pants and minor dirt came off.

The whites were clean enough, but because I did not use bleach like I normally do for whites, they are not bright white.  To be fair, the homemade laundry detergent results were about the same as store bought without bleach.

If you are used to heavily fragranced clothes, the unscented mixture may be an adjustment.  For myself, though I like the scent for fresh laundry, I used to get an allergic reaction when using too much Downey or heavily scented detergents.  I think we get conditioned to store bought products and expect cleaners to be extra sudsy and fragrant.  They do not need to do these to clean properly.  I believe the homemade laundry detergent worked as well as commercial detergents but is certainly much cheaper to make.

This homemade detergent experiment was certainly a success!  Thanks Survival Woman!

 

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Save some Money: Make your own Homemade Dishwashing Powder Detergent

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Trying to free up money to for emergency supplies means cutting back on expenses elsewhere.  One thing I am trying is to cut back on commercially made products, and replace them with homemade substitutes.  One project that turned out well was to make homemade liquid soap.  I found a good recipe for homemade dishwashing powder over at Survival Common Sense.

Most of the grocery and Target stores in my area did not have Borax or washing soda but I found them at Wal-Mart.   They can also be found on Amazon.

You will need a clean empty jar (I used a recycled plastic jar), a measuring cup and a measuring spoon.

Here are the ingredients I used:

1 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda

1 cup 20 Mule Team Borax

1/4 cup store brand kosher store

2 packets of lemonade flavor unsweetened Kool-Aid  (1/4 cup citric acid can also be used but Kool-aid was easier for me to find)

White vinegar (as a rinse aid)

Mix all together in a jar.  Measure two tablespoons of the mixture into your dishwasher’s  soap compartment, along with three drops of dishwashing liquid.  Important:  do not put more than three drops of dishwashing liquid, as this will overflow your dishwasher with suds.

Add vinegar to the rinse aid receptacle to make sure your glasses are spot free.

I ran a dishwasher full of dirty dishes at the normal cycle.  After washing was completed, I checked the glasses.  They came out clean.  I had one that had chocolate milk stains all over it when I put it in:

This is how it came out.

No chocolate milk stains were left in the glass.  They were not completely spot free, about one to two spots appeared in some of the glasses; but for everyday use, I’d say the homemade dishwashing powder worked just fine.

A note about storing homemade dishwashing powder:  I  initially stored the powder mixture under the sink with the rest of the cleaners.  The next day, I took it out to use it for the next load, I noticed the powder was starting to clump.  I think the humidity may affect the powder and cause clumping if left too long.  This does not have chemicals to keep it free flowing.  I shook the jar vigorously and most of the clumps disappeared so I will be able to continue using it.  If you live in a humid area, you may want to cut the recipe in half.   I moved it to another spot that has less humidity.

I consider this experiment a success and will continue to use the homemade dishwashing powder.

 

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Quick Self Sufficiency Project: Deodorizing Spray

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I had tried using deodorant substitutes before, and reported the results on the blog.  I thought it would be interesting to try out a actual recipe and see if it would work.  I found the original recipe on the Root Simple blog.

Deodorizing Spray

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
Tea tree oil and Eucalyptus oil (I used Eden’s Garden but any brand should work)
1 cup of water
Spray bottle

In a small jar, add the baking soda to the water.   Shake it up.  Then add 4 drops of tea tree oil. Tea tree oil has anti-bacterial properties but it does have a strong smell.  I added 5 drops of eucalyptus oil and shook it some more.

That’s it!   Carefully pour the mixture into a recycled spray bottle.

To use, spray all over areas you normally perspire and wipe off.  Test on a small area first in case you have some sensitivities.  I like mine as the eucalyptus makes it smell like a spa treatment.  You may prefer a different scent such as lemon or peppermint.

Does it work?

I tried it after a strenuous workout and it worked pretty well.  It did not have a strong fragrance, but it was effective in getting rid of any sweaty smells.  Note that this does not work the same as a commercial deodorant.  It will freshen you up at least for the rest of the day, til you take a shower.    But for the purpose of freshening up, this works just fine, and only costs a few cents to make.

 

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Making Iced Tea from Dried Flowers

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Hibiscus Iced Tea

I never knew flowers were edible until my mother in law told me about edible zucchini flowers and hibiscus flower tea.  At first I thought it would be gross to eat a flower, but now that I am interested in survival ideas, it actually makes sense.  I thought it would be a good skill to learn how to make tea from dried flowers.   I think it’s a handy skill to be able to make tea from unconventional sources, such as pine needle tea.  Tea can be comforting when served warm, or refreshing when served cold.

Hibiscus tea has several health benefits:

  • Rich in vitamin C
  • Contains antioxidants
  • Promotes healthy blood pressure that is within a normal range
  • Natural diuretic

Ingredients:

1 cup dried hibiscus flowers (Available at Mediterranean grocery stores; I ordered Davidson’s Organic hibiscus from Amazon)

12 cups of water

1 1/2 cups of sugar

You will also need: 2 large pots, colander

Method 1:

In a large pot pour 12 cups of water.  Add a cup of dried hibiscus flowers and soak overnight.

The next morning you will see that the water has turned red.

Strain the liquid into another pot.  Add 1 1/2 cups sugar (more or less according to taste) and stir well.  Refrigerate and serve over ice.

The resulting tea had a tart, tangy taste, similar to cranberry juice.  It is refreshing on a hot day.

Method 2:

If you don’t want to do the overnight soaking method, you can also brew it like tea.

Set the water to boil and remove from heat.  Add the dried flowers and let the mixture steep for 15 minutes.  Strain out the flowers and add the sugar.  Serve cold.

Whether you soak the flowers or steep in hot water, the result is the same.  Hibiscus tea is also sold in the herbal tea section of the supermarket, but I found that the home made version is actually more flavorful.

 

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Homemade Greek Style Yogurt

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Greek style yogurt with honey

I really like Greek style yogurt.   Since it’s more expensive that regular yogurt, I decided to find out if I can save some money by modifying the original crockpot recipe and make Greek style yogurt at home.   After a couple of experiments, here is the the one that came out just right.   (Note:  The recipe has some similarities with making regular yogurt, but follow the instructions below if you want firm Greek style yogurt.)

Ingredients:

2 tbsp Greek style yogurt

4 cups of milk,  plus 2 tbsp of milk to be saved and used later

You will also need: crockpot, 2 towels, cooking thermometer (the turkey thermometer worked fine) mesh strainer, large coffee filter, container for storing.

Directions:

1.  Pour 4 cups of milk into the slow cooker and set on low for 1 1/2 hours.  Once the milk reaches 170 degrees, turn off the heat and let the slow cooker cool down for 20-40 minutes.

2.  Check the temperature after 40 minutes.  The milk should have cooled down to 105-110 degrees.   You will notice a “skin” has formed on top of the milk.

3.  Once you reached 105-110 degrees, mix the 2 tbsp milk with 2 tbsp Greek yogurt with a spoon.  Pour the milk/yogurt mixture down the side of the crockpot to avoid disturbing the skin that has formed on top of the lukewarm milk.

4.  Cover the crockpot first with aluminum foil, then with the lid.  Then cover it with two towels to keep it lukewarm.   Leave it alone for 8-12 hours and it will thicken.  I checked mine about halfway through and the crockpot had cooled completely so I turned it on “warm” for about 10 minutes then turned it off again.  I left it alone for the rest of the time.

 

5.  Check the yogurt after 8-12 hours and you will see that it has thickened but has some liquid around it. Do not leave it much longer than 12 hours, as the yogurt will get more sour.

6.  Line the mesh strainer with a coffee filter (or cheesecloth) and set it over a small pot.

7.  Pour the yogurt into the strainer and let it drain for 15-20 minutes.  You will find about 3/4-1 cup of liquid.  Some cooks use this liquid for baking.  I had no use for it at the time so I threw it away.

Thick enough for a teaspoon to stand up

8.  You now have Greek style yogurt.  Pour into containers and refrigerate before using.  It will firm up some more after it has cooled.

The resulting Greek style yogurt was very tasty served with honey.  I found out this yogurt can also be substituted for sour cream.  I used it to make dip and it turned out well.

Save a couple of tablespoons of yogurt to use for your next batch.

Overall making it yourself is much cheaper than buying Greek style yogurt, as the store bought brands run about $1.25 for six ounces.  I only spent about $1 for a quart of milk, and made about 24 ounces of yogurt which would have costed $5.  Now that I know what to do, I will double the recipe next time.

 

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Homemade Liquid Hand Soap (from a Soap Bar)

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I tend to get itchy, chapped hands so I wanted to see if I can make an inexpensive liquid hand that is gentle and non-drying.  I am a big fan of Dr. Bronner’s Liquid Magic Soap, as you can see from this review.   So I used the soap bar version as a base for my liquid hand soap.  Here is what I did.

Ingredients:

1 bar of soap – I used Dr. Bronner’s Almond Bar Soap      2 tbsp glycerin (can be found in most personal care sections at groceries or drug stores)

12 1/2 cups of water

You will also need:  cheese grater, large pot, large funnel, liquid soap dispenser (I used recycled empty ones)

Directions:

1.  Grate the bar of soap using the cheese grater.

2.  Boil 3 liters of water.

3.  Add the grated soap and stir well.

4.  Add the glycerin.

5.  Continue boiling until the soap melts.  The water will be a bit bubbly but overall somewhat clear.

6.  Let stand overnight.

6.  When I checked it the next day, the liquid had become filmy.  It needed to be mixed so I used a fork to stir it up.

 

 

 

 

 

6.  Using a large funnel, pour the liquid soap into a large empty jug for storage (best done over the sink.)  The liquid tends to pour in large quantities so do it very slowly.  Once it’s in a more manageable container, fill up a recycled soap dispenser.   Don’t forget to wash your cheese grater and all other utensils before using for food.

I estimated how much this whole project cost:  $4 for the soap and a few cents worth of glycerin (it was $3 for the small bottle of glycerin):  $7 total initial outlay made 3 liters of liquid soap, which equates to about $40 of liquid soap.

More importantly, did it work?  I had never tried this before so I wasn’t sure if it would turn out well.  I tested the new hand soap:  it lathered up just enough and smelled clean.  It felt a lot like store bought liquid soap but not as strong and drying.

Additional Notes:  This was my first try so I am not sure how other soaps would work.  I would think other soap brands would work just as well, as long as they are not overly moisturized such as Dove soap, as that would change the consistency.  I also thought adding a few drops of your favorite essential oil would work.  If you like it extra sudsy, use a foaming soap dispenser. 

 

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Confessions of a Bread Machine Convert

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We eat a lot of bread at the Apartment Prepper household so one of the first “self sufficiency” skills I tried out was making your own Artisan Bread.  I had a pretty good result with the making my bread from scratch but continued to buy packaged bread for sandwiches.

First, a story from the past.  I actually had a bread machine years ago, in my “pre-prepping” days.  But I didn’t have the right mindset, and always felt that store bought was better.  When I actually tried making a loaf, I did not read the instructions carefully and used a recipe that was not created for bread machines.   The recipe was too much for the machine’s capacity.  Some of the liquid ingredients of the dough overflowed out of the pan, short circuiting the unit.   I decided the bread machine wasn’t for me.

Now for the present day.  I had just learned to make bread from scratch when I read Survival Woman’s article Making Bread in a Breadmaker is Not Just for Wimps.  I was inspired to revisit the bread machine.  Months later, and after many successful loaves, I can now “fess up.”

Advantages

  •  You always know what ingredients goes into your bread.  I use organic flour and have confidence there are no other unpleasant ingredients such as “hair components.”
  • You cannot beat the convenience of having fresh bread anytime you like.  Because most machines can be pre-programmed, I can have a fresh bread ready for dinner after a long day at work.
  • The money savings is fantastic.  Fresh bread ingredients are inexpensive and you will see a reduction in your budget.  Also, fresh bread gives a cheap meal such as soup or pasta, a special touch so you will find yourself eating out less.
  • Smells and tastes good.  Once you find the recipes that work for you, the bread is very tasty and the whole house smells good.

Disadvantages

  • Uses counterspace.  Before purchasing the bread machine, I got rid of a couple of appliances such as a George Foreman grill and the blender to free up space for the bread machine.
  • No preservatives equals less shelf life.  I know having no preservatives sounds more of an advantage, but because your homemade bread does not contain preservatives, it generally stays fresh only about three days at the most.  If you keep it longer, it will get moldy very quickly.
  • Dependent upon electricity.  If the power grid goes down, the machine is useless.  However, if you have learned to make bread from scratch, then you can always fall back on those skills should you need to.

Tips for Success

Shop around before you buy.  New bread machines cost between $90 to $150 but you can find nearly new ones on Craigslist for around $15 to $25.  Most of the advertised bread machines in my area are either new or used only once; most of them still have the original packaging and manuals.

You need to be precise in measuring all ingredients in the bread machine.

Read the manual and follow all instructions to the letter.

Experiment with various recipes.  I tried the recipe in Survival Woman’s article and it turned out great.  I also found good recipes in the Cuisinart website that also earned rave reviews.

My Favorite Bread Machine Recipe

1 cup warm water:  tap water heated in the microwave for 40 seconds

2 tablespoons sugar

1 envelope packet of yeast

3 cups bread flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

Add warm water to the bread machine pan.  Add the sugar into the water and mix well.  Add the yeast and it will bubble up.  Add the flour, and finally the salt.  Set the bread machine to a 1.5 pound loaf, medium crust, at the Basic Bread setting.  Mine usually takes a little over three hours to complete.  When ready, take out the bread and serve.

This bread stays fresh about three days at the most.

 

 

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Self Sufficiency Project: Preserving Eggs

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I like eggs for breakfast, especially “over easy” eggs.  Dehydrated eggs are great for scrambled eggs but I have not found a dehydrated egg product that can make eggs over easy.  So when I saw that Doomsday Preppers episode with Kellene Bishop explaining you can indeed preserve whole eggs, I knew I had to investigate further.

I checked online and found her site and the Safely Preserving Eggs post.  All you really need are fresh eggs and mineral oil, so I went and bought them.  Mineral oil is found in the first aid section of a pharmacy or even the grocery store, next to stomach remedies.   I did some more checking and found the article Preserving Eggs for the Long Term that included some caveats about preserving only eggs laid within 24 hours.  Unfortunately I do not have access to egg laying hens, so I had to settle for what I can find in the city.

Here are the steps that I took:

  1. I found out that you can check an egg’s freshness by dropping it in a jar of water.  If it sinks, then it is fresh.  If it floats then it is no longer fresh.  So I tested the egg prior to oiling it.

This egg sank so it is fresh.

2.  I dried the egg and put on some gloves.

3.  I poured about a quarter size amount of mineral oil into my palm and rubbed it all over the egg, and repeated the process on six eggs.

That’s it!  I am leaving the eggs on the counter and I will check them weekly.  I will turn the container over once a week to ensure the coating stays even.  I am not sure how they will turn out.  It is starting to get humid and warm around here.  With air-conditioning, the temperature in the kitchen is around 75-78 degrees.  I will test the eggs for freshness in two weeks.  In the meantime I will do some more research on other ways to preserve eggs such as pickling etc.

I will definitely keep you posted!

Update after two months:  So far the eggs are still fresh.  No unpleasant odors or changes; I tested one and it sinks to the bottom of the cup of water so it is still good.
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