One thing I know for certain. Previous generations survived hard times because they chose to spend money wisely. The key was never spending more than you earned. And now, as I’ve grown older, I’ve noticed that life has lots of challenges ...
Read More »Lost Ways Found
3 Forgotten Ways The Pioneers Built Fires Without Wood
I’m fortunate to call the windswept prairie of the Great Plains my home. If you get out of farm country, it’s just grass as far as you can see. In fact, there are still places nearly unchanged since pioneers first ...
Read More »7 Ways The Old-Timers Knew It Was Time To Tap
Tapping trees to make syrup is an annual late-winter-into-spring tradition for many homesteaders. One of the keys to a successful syruping season is timing, and as is true with many homesteading activities, timing is all about the weather. Nowadays, we ...
Read More »Forgotten Foods The Pioneers Ate Midwinter
In our modern kitchens, we hardly feel the passing of the seasons. We have the luxury of New Zealand apples, Chilean grapes and Hawaiian pineapple, all cheap and plentiful even in January. For our ancestors, winter meals were a very ...
Read More »Cherokee Medicine Benefits For Surviving Off-The-Grid
According to the legend, all creation was one at one time. Plants, fishes, animals, humankind and even weather elements like the wind could communicate with each other. Everything worked together in harmony. All these elements submitted themselves with the goal ...
Read More »Amish People And Amish Life: Six Great “Life Lessons” We Should Learn
Visitors to my neighborhood in central Maine are often startled by the presence of Amish people. Locals, though, are accustomed to the yellow road signs with black silhouettes of horse-drawn buggies, tracks of bicycle tires and horse hooves in the ...
Read More »Use Honey To Heal Summertime Cuts and Scrapes
Honey is one of nature’s most miraculous dressings for burns, ulcers, and even open wounds. The good news is that you can use honey to heal. The best news is that honey is very easy to use. Now that the ...
Read More »WWII Pilots Said It Boosted Vision. And Native Americans Insisted It Cured Heart Problems.
It’s related to and often confused for blueberries, and has a time-honored role in both folk and herbal medicine. It is the bilberry, a delicious blue fruit that can be distinguished from blueberries by looking at the flesh. The ...
Read More »Explorers Ate It. It Stored For 50 Years. Here’s Their Recipe.
It was a food invented by the Native Americans, who depended on it when traveling on long and adventurous journeys when food was scarce, or when there simply wasn’t time to hunt and gather enough to eat. That was a ...
Read More »Your Ancestors Didn’t Eat The Same Type Of Wheat That You Do (And They Were Healthier)
You’ve likely heard the term “gluten-free” a lot in the last few years. For the millions who are allergic to modern hybrid wheat, gluten-free is not a fad, but a godsend. Whole wheat is a good alternative, right? It could ...
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