Why You Should Be A Prepper Too

A few months ago I found myself commenting on a subject that I think is very important, but that which stigma, ignorance and reality TV has given a bad name indeed: prepping.

Don't go away. Hear me out. This is something everyone needs to think about, regardless of their situation.

It was an episode of Bones, which normally is good tv, if you don't mind turning off your common sense detector (if you are even paying attention to it in amongst ogling David Boreanaz), but sometimes the show makes some really irritating assumptions, like how all preppers must be crazy, doomsday types living in a bunker with some goats and chickens and a stockpile of MREs, guns and ammo.

Seriously? They took an important, vital way of looking at life and degraded it like that?

Since I am very interested in the subject, I've decided to address the matter.

To get the ball rolling, lets open with the end of the world. The end of the world is going to be all dramatic and terrible, and simply MUST involve nuclear fall out, zombies, or asteroids, right?

WRONG. This is the real world, not Hollywood. While there is a chance of nuclear disasters and/or asteroids, the chance is much smaller than you might expect. Come back to us, and allow me to point you in a more realistic and far more personal direction.

Try these situations on for size:

-Job loss of primary breadwinner(s)
-Injury, illness or death of primary breadwinner(s)
-Injury, illness or death of child, spouse or other dependent relative
-Economic troubles, rise of food and fuel prices
-Natural or "man made" disasters resulting in loss of home and/or property

Are those scenarios starting to sound closer to home now? Like maybe, just maybe, you might be a little concerned about how your stay at home wife (or husband), kids and yourself will get by if you are laid off without warning? Or if a flood or bush fire damages or destroys your home? Or if your child or spouse is diagnosed with a serious illness requiring expensive treatment or medication, or you are injured and cannot work for an extended period of time?

Have I got your attention now?

What's in a name?

What actually is the definition of a prepper? Urban Dictionary had a couple, one a scathing account far too long for me to bother posting here, and then a shorter one:

prepper

Someone who focuses on preparedness, generally for various worst-case scenarios like peak oil or armageddon. Sometimes used to avoid the more loaded term survivalist.

Now, that's all well and good, but I think it misses the most basic point of this matter and injects a level of paranoia into the subject, so I reject that persons reality and substitute my own (to shamelessly steal a famous Mythbusters quote...)

Prepper
A person who is prepared, or striving to be prepared [for incident, natural disaster, etc]

See? It's simple. A prepper is not some crazy guy living in his basement counting shotgun shells (I dunno what that guy is). A prepper is a person who has assessed the potential problems (such as natural disasters) that may affect them and their family, and who has taken steps to guard against damage to life, limb, or property.

Doesn't that sound like a good plan?

Okay, so it's not crazy. Now what?

I advise everyone reading this to do a few things to assess what may potentially threaten your home or family. And I'm not going to suggest you carry guns either. You can do that if it suits you, but you have to figure that out on your own.

First, get to know your home.

I live here, you say. What's there to know? Well, do you know where your meter box is? The circuit breakers? Where's the water and/or gas mains? Is there a crawlspace, basement or attic? What's in those anyway? Do you know where your septic tank is (if that applies), or where the underground lines/pipes run through your yard? Do your kids know these things?

Your home is your castle, so it's only right you know every nook and cranny. I grew up in California, and in case of major earthquake emergency, my mother kept heavy wrenches by the gas valve and water main in case we needed to shut them off. Even though we've never had to turn off the gas, we have had indoor plumbing problems that required the main to be shut off until we could repair them. It's not a serious emergency, but it's serious enough when you're standing in your undies in front of the bathroom sink, in a pool of water starting to soak the hall carpet, under a shower of cold rain as you try to deflect with your hands the unstoppable power of the water geyser gushing at the ceiling on a school morning because the handle of the tap had just fallen off when you turned it on. (This happened for real folks. I am not joking. That person was me.)

So please, do yourselves a favor, and take your whole family to explore the house so you can all find and point out the important things. Because you may very well need to find your circuit breaker in the dark (but if you're prepared, you'll at least have a flashlight with working batteries!)

Second, get to know your community.

I stress this with everybody: Community is its own kind of wealth. Do you know your neighbors? Do they know you? Can your kids recognize them and know which house they live if they encounter them on a bike ride in your neighborhood?

All the village jokes aside, a strong community can really help if there is indeed an emergency. Or even if there isn't an emergency. Ever go on holiday for two weeks and wanted someone to water your garden or pick up your mail? Maybe your neighbor once helped you fix that slow leak in your tire, or helped to install lights on the garage. Perhaps you just had way too many zucchini last year, so all your neighbors got some. Whatever. Knowing the people sharing your environment ensures that, if there is an emergency (or non-emergency), someone's got your back.

It seems that we've gotten out of the habit of getting to know our neighbors. There used to be block parties, bbqs, fun nights, kids playing together in the street. Now it's like everyone is just hunkered down in their homes, getting all paranoid about "those people" who live around them.

Instead of being paranoid, be proactive in knowing who you are sharing the neighborhood with. Go knock on some doors and say hi, talk to people in the street, have a chat when you see them in their front garden. Welcome the new people moving in, maybe offer to help them move a sofa. As my sister so often said to her son: Use your words. It won't hurt, and if you're nice about it, they'll remember you.

Want some more incentive? If you know and recognize everyone on your block (and vice versa) you are more likely to foil crime. A burglar is not going to have much of a chance casing a joint if he knows three guys can spot him in a line up.

Third, get to know your area and it's disaster potential.

If you are snowed in, are you prepared?

I lived in California. Earthquakes were never too far from peoples minds. Sure, it's mostly speculation about when an earthquake will hit, but it's why my parents made sure we knew where the mains were, and where the safest place in the house would be if we had to ride an earthquake out.  My science teacher even sent us home with a check list of things we should learn about and do in the case of an earthquake. I live in Tasmania now, where the chance of earthquake is very much lower, but the chances of storm winds, bushfire and flooding are much higher.

So look into your area's disaster potential. Snowstorms/blizzards, windstorms, torrential rain, flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, fire hazards, avalanche, mudslide and landslip hazards, earthquakes, etc. Look up online, at the library, or ask you city council how you can be prepared for these disasters (many city councils have advice in that regard). If you need certain supplies to be prepared for those events (many annual), consider stocking up on things like batteries or wind up flashlights, candles, firewood, or whatever applies to your situation.

If an emergency means you have to leave your home in a hurry, put together a go bag: have food, water, important papers, updated medications, ID's and passports, a whistle, flashlight and batteries, entertainment for the kids, etc together in a backpack. Have one for each member of your family and keep them somewhere handy, such as a hall closet. Keep a similar kit in your car. For more information, Google "bug out bags", "go bags", "72-hour kits" or other variations to find links dedicated to building your bags at home.

I've done all those things. Now what?

I see a lot of people complaining about bills, food prices, gas prices, yadda yadda yadda. These are, of course, legitimate concerns to many, but I have some ideas that might help you think outside the bill envelope.


Do I really need 600 tv channels?

Seriously. Who needs 600 cable tv channels? Do you even watch a quarter of them? Why do you need to listen to music on the tv, when radio is free? When a cd is about 10-15 bucks? Hell, when iTunes is .99 cents? Some people even take it further: Why have tv channels when you can watch nearly anything you want online nowadays?


Take a look at your entertainment package and really determine whether you need it or not. You may find that paying that ungodly amount can go away if you choose to change the package into a simpler one. Imagine all the extra cash you've just saved for your food and gas bills.

Use this same procedure with your internet (well, maybe not), and phone bills. What changes can be made to these services to save you some cash? Most companies will work with you if they know you'll stick with them, but if you have to, shop around for cheaper deals.

And another thing: are you wasting a lot of water sustaining a lawn you are spending too much of your time taking care of? Help cut some water and time costs by ditching the lawn and growing food in your garden... or at least putting in a low to no water cost garden. Apply this reasoning to your heating and air conditioning systems, and hot water usage.

Remember: "Keeping up with the Jones's" is silly, social brainwashing, and not worth your money, house or family. Even if it was healthy to "keep up", you can't do so if you're broke.

I'm using a lot of gas just driving around town. Have you SEEN those prices?

Find the local city bus schedule, and map out the route that would take you from home, to work and back again. Then do the same for your local supermarket. Or, pump up the tires on that bike you wish you had more time to ride. Or walk. Or carpool. There are a number of ways you can work out to save using the petrol in your tanks. Be creative.

Canning and preserving extra food will save you money in the long run.

Food is so expensive! How am I going to afford healthy food for my family?

Well, hopefully you've freed up some cash doing the things I just mentioned above, but if you're looking for more tips, think about food storage.

It's a sad fact that most households nowadays may have only a weeks worth of food or less in their cupboards. If there was a real emergency where you couldn't leave the home (such as a snow storm) what would you do if that lasted more than a week? If you lost your job today, do you have enough food in your larder to keep your family fed until you can provide a new income?

I suggest you look at what you have in your pantry. Is there a lot of pre-made, processed stuff like Hamburger Helper or Mac N Cheese? Cans or bottles of soda pop or other sugary drinks? Are you feeding the kids cereal every morning before school?

These are all items that I'd reduce or switch out for other options. They are deceptively cheap items, can cost you your health in the long run, and provide very little nutrition. Instead, turn the money you've saved doing the above and look at the prices of things like plain white rice, plain pasta, split peas, dry soup mixes, and dry beans and lentils. These are all items that store well, and can be stretched out over several meals, and they provide a much denser nutritional profile (this is assuming, of course, that you are not gluten sensitive, in which case, replace the pasta with the other items... I'd even go so far as to say ditch the wheat all together).

Vegetables like onions, garlic and potatoes store well if kept in cool, dark places. This is also where you might consider breaking out grandmas old canning pot and jars (or buying your own), or that dehydrator that you got as a wedding present and have only used once to make banana chips. Fruit and vegetables on sale make great food storage if they are dried or canned to preserve them.

Instead of soda pop or other sugary drinks, milk, water and a few favorite fruit juices should be kept around, and kids really shouldn't be eating cereal if you expect them to do a good job in school. A couple eggs, some ham or bacon, and a glass of whole milk will give them much more fuel to power their growing brains (seriously; do not put your child on a low fat or fat free diet; that is, in my opinion, child abuse, and there is plenty of evidence out there telling you why. Do your research.)

Are you buying your lunch at work or buying your kids lunches through the school? Perhaps it's time you thought about brown bagging it. That's right: pack your food to take with you. It's healthier in the long run, because you control what goes in your lunch, and you're not spending money on costly cafe food. Likewise, ditch the Starbucks, and get yourself a good coffee mug or thermos to make your java travel friendly.

Green beans and chard, freshly picked.

Last, but definitely not least: have you got time on the weekends? Have you got some sunny space for pots, or a lawn that's eating your resources? Then you can grow a garden. Growing your own food means you can control what you eat much more easily than if you buy it at a store. You end up with the freshest veg available, because you know those tomatoes on the shelf at Safeway weren't picked 5 minutes ago, but those bright red, sweet-as-candy cherry tomatoes growing in the pot on the front porch were. Growing your own vegetables also provides essentially free veg, because once the initial cost of the seed packets or plants is put down, you can collect seeds and continue next years garden from those, thereby having no need to buy more. For more on seeds and seed saving, see my blog about it here: Saving Seeds

Gardening is something you can chat with all your neighbors about, and get the community involved in. You may even go so far as to make a plan to trade excess veg around. It's up to you and your neighbors.

If you are wondering how on earth you'll find the time for all these things, I can assure you: if it's important, if it's really that important to you and your family and your very existence, you will find the time. Once you see the improvements those changes are making in your life, and the peace of mind had knowing that, no matter what happens, you can take care of your household, you will lead a much happier existence. 

You may even find yourself looking at keeping bees, chickens or goats in your backyard... but one step at a time, eh?

Greener Cleaners: Jumping Off The Chemical Wagon

There used to be a time where the smell of Clorox Bleach meant clean to me. It wasn't a nice smell, but I knew that A) My whites were whiter, B) it killed things that made bad smells, and C) It left dishes sterilized (I worked in a commercial kitchen, and standard practice was dipping each dish in bleach water after washing and rinsing. Yum.) And window cleaner? Well, the blue stuff featured often in my house during cleaning skirmishes. Mm, all that ammonia, and streak free windows. Oh, and those cleaning wipes you used for surfaces, those were fun. And those Glade infuser room scenter things? Those were brilliant. So was the smell of laundry detergent that stuck around for days on your clean laundry, giving you the clean laundry smell for far longer than you needed it.

It wasn't until I had an encounter with some lemon aerosol furniture polish that left my throat and eyes irritated for hours that I realized maybe all this use of chemical cleaners wasn't a very good thing. I started to realize that I really didn't like my clothes smelling so strongly of detergent, and that rooms could smell clean without the use of artificial scents. (Somewhere in there I read about those room infusers actually coating your nostrils with the scent so you couldn't actually smell anything and got grossed out.)

That was about, oh...2009 or so. (Yeah yeah, shoot me. I was late to the green party.) It was simple. I worked in a store that had a range of interesting looking "natural" products, and started with a laundry detergent that had little scent and was nontoxic, and a room spray scented with lemon balm and mint, and a all purpose cleaner that smelled like cucumber (that last one I didn't enjoy so much.)

Now that I'm interested in being self sufficient, and because I'm curious about all things DIY, I have decided to share with you what greener cleaners I've put together, from scratch, to keep my home fresh and clean, and what I've learned along the way.

Household Cleaners

One of the first things you think about when spring cleaning is "Look at the state of the kitchen benches!" (Was for me anyway...what?)

What you need is a nice all purpose cleaner for surfaces that's easy to put together, smells pretty good, and does the job. I came up with a water and vinegar spray that smells good because I add multi-purpose eucalyptus oil to it.

All Purpose Cleaner

1 cup water
1 cup white vinegar
1 tsp multipurpose eucalyptus oil
Other essential oils optional

Mix together in a spray bottle, and shake well before each use. Spray on a surface, let sit a moment, and wipe off.

It's smells vinegary for a bit, but goes away, leaving the smell of the essential oils, and your counters very clean. It also works well for mold and mildew that can occur on windows, window frames, and in bathrooms (I cleaned the ceiling in my bathroom and it did a wonderful job). I also use it to freshen the toilet, and it seems to cut the grease on the stove top quite well. I also use it to clean out the kitchen bin.

My reasoning behind this mixture: The acid in the vinegar makes surfaces a little hostile to molds and mildew because they want a more neutral pH, and the eucalyptus oil acts as an anti microbial, which good for kitchens, toilets and bathrooms. You can even craft the essential oils to your needs based on their properties.

Essential oils are useful if you know their properties.

Shower Cleaner

I both love and hate tiled surfaces. They look pretty, but you have to clean the grout, which usually involved a toothbrush and elbow grease. Now that I'm older and more mature (ha ha) I have come to realize that a little hard work doesn't hurt if you want a good result (I'm pretty sure people who know me are now looking for pods).

Normally I'd use vinegar for everything thanks to it's acidity, but grout poses a unique problem: it's usually calcium based. Calcium is readily dissolved by acidic substances. You can see why it'd be a problem if I used my vinegar spray, right? Yup.

So, instead of vinegar, you can use hydrogen peroxide. It offers some bleaching and disinfecting properties, and kills mildew (which is what you are fighting with most in showers and bathrooms), and won't dissolve your grout. If you add essential oils, you get their properties as well.

1 part water
1 part hydrogen peroxide (3%)
Essential oils optional

Mix in a spray bottle. Shake with every use (especially if oils are added). Spray on your shower tiles, leave for an hour, and wash off.

If the problem areas are especially stubborn, there's good old elbow grease: use some baking soda and an old toothbrush, and start scrubbing.

Drain Cleaner

I used to work in a commercial kitchen environment. One of our daily tasks was cleaning the floor drains. But because it was also a retail bakery, with underpaid, disgruntled employees, some of these things got left for a while, and the drains was one of them. And, oh, the result was not nice. I can remember standing in front of the espresso machine making a coffee for a guy chatting to me over the top of the machine, and it was everything I could do to keep from turning my head in disgust, because I thought he had the worst halitosis in the history of the universe.

I maligned the poor guy, unfortunately. Turns out, the floor drain the espresso machine drained into was the culprit. It was so horrible, we refused to go near it for days more, but I finally said enough was enough, and I got down on my very valuable hands and knees scrubbed it hard with baking soda (it was gunked up, and I wanted the abrasive effect), poured hot water down it to rinse, and then finally hit it with bleach. Then I did this for every other drain in the bakery, just so we could prevent this from happening again in the near future.

If drains are blocked really badly, people tend to break out the big guns, like Draino (a component of which is caustic soda) or bleach (like me with the drains at work). But I propose a gentler method that's used more often in a maintenance regime.

Drain Cleaner #1

1 cup baking soda
1 cup white vinegar
1 liter boiling water

Pour the baking soda down the drains in question. Pour the vinegar after, and then plug or cover the drain. Leave for an hour or so. Unplug the drains and pour the boiling water after.

Drain Cleaner #2

1 cup plain, live cultured yogurt
Water

Pour the yogurt down the drain and leave for a while. It's said the bacteria latch onto the gunge in your drain and eat at it to break it down. I suppose this is a similar action to the enzymatic drain cleaners you can find on the store shelves. After you've given it some time to work, just rinse with water, or follow up with drain cleaner #1.

Last but not least, get a little brush and scrub the mouth of the drain with baking soda to clean up the stuff that builds up there. Rinse, and know that your drains will not be stinky for at least a little while. If you do this at least once a week, you might not have to worry about smelly drains ever.

Soaps

Soap is a great subject, and one that I've gotten into recently with a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction. In fact, it's such a great subject, that I've already written to other posts about it, but I'll reiterate them here for you. You can also click the links and check out the original blogs.

Laundry Soap

Remember I said that I decided I didn't like the fragrance of laundry detergent? It's because it sucks, and it makes my nose itch and my throat feel funny. I'm not allergic to anything fragrance wise, it's just how cloying the scent is. My husband uses Cold Power, and it's nasty. It's also very vague about its ingredients. I decided that it'd be better to make my own and know what was in it than trust a big company to do it for me.

After reading a bunch of stuff about people who were making their own laundry soap, I decided to have a go. At first I just used the store bought laundry soap bars which, unfortunately had a scent (that was dumb, I know; but the scent was at least less powerful, and didn't stick around on the clothes afterward). This particular recipe is good for those who only wash clothes with cold water (though I imagine it works just fine with hot as well).

Mixing up a batch of laundry detergent

DIY Laundry Soap

For a single batch, you need:

1 cup washing soda
1 cup Borax
1 bar of soap, grated (approximately 1 to 1 1/2 cups)
Eucalyptus and Tea Tree oils (other oils can be used if you so desire)

Mix all the ingredients together, breaking up the lumps as needed. Add as much of the essential oils you feel the batch needs to smell the way you like. Mix in well to incorporate the scent throughout the dry mix. Store in an air tight container (in my case, a wonderfully re-purposed Moccona instant coffee jar). I keep it in the wash house, on the shelf above the washing machine with a Tablespoon measure scoop in it.

To use, use 1T for a lightly soiled load, and 2T for heavily soiled clothes.

Bar Soap

Now that you've got the laundry soap down, you might think about what bar soap you're using. You can easily buy Ivory, Fels-Naptha, Zote, or other brands of laundry bar soap, but if you want to have a go at making your own, I suggest this simple lard soap recipe for both laundry and other cleaning purposes.

Fresh cut lard soap.

Make Your Own Soap

Simple Lard Soap

Ingredients

450g of lard
171g water 
60g lye

1. Melt the lard in a saucepan over medium-low heat.

2. While the fat melts, weigh the water in a pitcher (make sure you zero the scale with the empty pitcher first!) Sprinkle in the lye, and gently swirl to dissolve. (Don't breathe the fumes.)

3. Allow the melted fat and lye water to cool for a while, until you can touch the sides of the containers without burning yourself.

4. Pour the lye water into the saucepan. Place an immersion blender in the pan until it touches the bottom. (This first batch of mine was actually mixed by hand, with a silicone dipped whisk. The stick blender is much better.) Turn on the blender on the lowest speed, and beware of splashing (do this in the sink or put down several layers of newspaper). Blend until you see a "trace," which means until it's thick enough that you can kind of see where you've been and drips stay visible on the surface for a second or two. Think of the consistency of cake batter, or perhaps pudding.

5. Pour into a mold of your choice (in my case, the plastic lunchbox with a lid).

6. Let it sit for at least 8 hours, or over night. Then you may carefully loosen the block of soap with a thin knife, and pop it out onto a cutting surface. Cut into bars, and store in a cool, dry place to cure for a couple weeks before use.

Now that you have made your simple lard soap, you have a basis for which to build your soap making experience. Why? Because commercial bar soap can be just as loaded with fragrances, detergents, chemical additives and who knows what else, that's going directly onto your skin (the largest, most absorbent organ of your whole body). I personally have come up with a blend of lard and coconut oil that makes for a very nice soap that lathers well, and a totally divine oatmeal and honey soap which is made with a blend of olive and coconut oils. Have fun coming up with new fat and oil combinations, additions, and scents when making your bar soaps. The sky is the limit (and maybe the bank account!)

If you want to learn more about soap making, head on over to SoapCalc and start today.

I hope this post helped you to think outside the can or bottle or box of chemicals that our every day lives seem to be so inundated with. My hope is that, if enough people can be shown how easy and cheap it is to make their own products at home, it would encourage the big companies to realize that their chemical laden toxic sludge is dangerous and that know one wants or needs it. Sadly, this is just a fantasy of mine, but hey, a woman can dream!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: What You Can Do To Help

Everyone has heard the phrase "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" some time in their lives, usually fairly early on as the primer schools try to make their kids aware of various recycling programs (at least, that's how it started for me). We've all seen, heard, or read something about the rise of litter all over public parks and beaches, landfills filling up, birds choking on debris, turtles, dolphins and other animals getting caught up in discarded trash in the seas, and of course, the raft of refuse floating in the middle of the ocean somewhere.

The fact of the matter is, everyone needs to start thinking about this, or we are going to be over run by our own leavings in the not-so-far-away future (we're well on our way now). There has been an explosion in packaged goods and exports that has resulted in- you guessed it- an explosion of trash.

Reduce

You may think to yourself "How can I possibly reduce my output into this world?" Well, it takes some time and clever thinking. First, you must think about what are you creating. I'll give you a hint: look in your trash bin. Are you using a lot of processed foods that come with brightly colored cardboard boxes and plastic inserts? Are you throwing away glass mayo and jam jars that could be recycling or reused? Are there plastic tubs, plastic baggies, newspapers, empty tins, plastic or Styrofoam meat trays, an excess of food scraps? Are you filling your bin so quickly that you have to take it out more than once a week?

Did you say yes to any of those things? If you did, then you need to think about reducing your output. If you are buying a lot of packaged, processed foods, look at how you can replace them with options that aren't so plastic wrapped. Buy fresh foods and veggies, and store them in reusable containers instead of plastic wrap or coated paper. Ask that your meats, fish, and cheeses be weighed in a reusable container to avoid unnecessary plastic and Styrofoam use. Carry your groceries in cloth totes. Grow a garden for your fruit and veggies, and use your edible food scraps for compost. Learn to make things from scratch (like condiments such as mayo, sauces, etc) so that you are not constantly buying the containers of such at the store and creating more waste.

I'm only here to get you started in the right direction. For other ideas, it is best if you Google "zero waste household". There are plenty of people out there with many great ideas on how to reduce your output. This blog, Zero Waste Home, is an excellent place to start.

Reuse

Those of you living in Australia (or at least, Tasmania) know that the beginning of November means the end of plastic shopping bags and the beginning of an era where everyone takes their groceries home in reusable cloth bags (despite the fact that Coles supermarkets are a little "unclear on the concept", as instead of using free thin plastic bags, they now sell $0.15 cent heavy plastic bags... which makes no sense). While that may partially solve the plastic bag issue (only not really), what about all the other stuff?

Glass
Glass is easily recycled, but you can also use it for a number of uses around your home, especially jars that have lids intact.

-Use for rinsing kids paintbrushes
-Use with lids to sort and store odds and ends such as buttons, paperclips, or other small objects
-Cut a slot in a mayo jar lid and have your kids decorate the jar to create their very own coin banks
-Use small jars to make candle holders; just decorate and place a tea light inside
-Use baby food jars as hardware storage in your shed: screw the lids to a shelf and then just twist the jars onto the lids
-Create solar light projects with canning jars that have been chipped and can't be used for canning
-Store dried herbs, jerky, or roasted nuts in large jars with lids, or, even better, those Moccona coffee jars
-Store your homemade laundry detergent in a large lidded jar
-Use jars to make pickled onions, refrigerator pickles, or pickled eggs
-Use jam jars to create snail traps for your garden
-Use empty glass condiment bottles for your own homemade condiments, and empty glass drinks bottles to make your own kombucha or ginger beer

Paper and Cardboard
-Use newspapers and broken down cardboard boxes as a layer of mulch in your garden beds
-Use shredded paper in your worm farm or compost
-Use light cardboard as a base for creating templates for sewing projects or stencils
-Use shredded newspaper to make papier-mâché
-Use egg cartons as seed starting trays; just fill with soil and plant (or, give them to your chicken raising friends)
-Toilet paper tubes make great seed starters! Just fill with soil, plant the seed, and when the seedling is big enough, plant the whole thing in the ground, tube and all 

Cans
Due to the problem of BPA in the lining of the steel cans our food comes in, I wouldn't suggest reusing them for any cooking, storage or other food related purpose. I am personally on a mission to limit our need for tinned foods, so that we can ensure a safer, less toxic lifestyle. However, there are still some of those cans banging around, so lets see if we can't find some uses for them. I know from experience that cans can be used for a variety of DIY projects, if you are crafty and clever. If not, just toss them in your recycle bin.

-Decorate clean cans to make pencil holders for the kids
-Clean and reuse to store bolts, paperclips or other small items
-Make a Tin Can Rocket Stove
-Make a Tin Can Camping Stove
-Make a Tin Can Tin Man
-Use aluminum drinks cans to build a Soda Can Solar Heater

Plastic Containers
Plastic tubs are things I prefer to avoid as much as possible, but they do come in handy sometimes. Yogurt containers (both large and small), margarine/butter tubs, cream cheese or other "party dip" containers all have a use in the home:

-Use the liter size yogurt tubs as a container for freezing soups or broths
-Use single size yogurt cups with lids as paint cups for kids projects
-Use the small containers from your margarine or cream cheese to store your left overs, or to create single sized servings of frozen foods
-Use plastic ice cream tubs to store dried pasta, beans, or popcorn kernels
-Use larger containers for the kitchen compost
-Use plastic meat trays as water dishes for seed starting trays
-Cut plastic milk jugs in half (at the bottom of the handle), poke holes in the lid, invert the top into the bottom, and use as a self watering seed starting pot; add soil, seed, and water
-Use two liter clear plastic juice bottles as cloches; just cut the bottom off, remove the lid, and place over the plant; or, cut in half and use as a larger self watering plant

Food Scraps
I highly suggest get your household a compost bin, worm bin, or Bokashi bin. There are several advantages to this: You get rid of the smelly component of your trash bin by removing the decomposing items, reduce the likelihood of pests visiting your bins, and it helps to create a better garden for your home. There are many ways you can go about it:

Hot composting
To build a hot compost pile, you need an area that will allow for a roughly one meter square pile: anything larger compacts too much and interferes with decomposition, and anything smaller doesn't heat up. When assembling your materials, you need to consider the ratios. For a good pile you want about 25 parts brown (carbon-rich) material such as straw, dry leaves, or prunings off your trees, and 1 part green (nitrogen-rich) materials, such as lawn clippings, weeds, kitchen scraps, etc. Layer these materials and dampen each if they are dry; moisture is important to the process as well. You want your pile to be roughly one meter tall. Finish off with a layer of brown material, and leave it be. it should heat up within hours and be cooking along properly in a couple days. In two weeks, turn the pile, and in 6 weeks it should be ready to use. The advantage of using a hot composting method is that it kills off any pathogens that might have hitched a ride with your plant material.

Cold composting
The average household bin is a cold composter, in essence, a bin with an open bottom (giving worms from the soil free access to the scraps) and a lid to keep larger pests out. This is where all your veggie peelings go, as well as lawn clippings, old plants, etc. Because it is a cold method, and being added to continuously, it is in different stages of decomposition, which results in a slower breakdown of the materials and a less nutrient dense compost. It also means that you should not add diseased plants, as it will not kill the pathogens off, and that any seeds you add (such as the pumpkin pulp) will sprout later on.

Vermicomposting
Vermicomposting, or vermiculture, is the business of composting with worms. This method is good because you can have a bin inside your home where you have easy access to it, and you can provide pretty much all the materials (expect maybe the bin, depending on what style you want to go for). Worms can be fed all kinds of fruit and vegetable waste (but may have issues with onion and garlic skins), coffee grounds with the their filters, and tea bags. There is some debate about whether or not to add fatty material, meat or bones. Some say the worms need a protein source, so if you do go that route, make sure it's a very small amount, otherwise you could end up with a very smelly mess, and that would be bad. Worms also need a form of grit, which you can supply in the form of cornmeal, coffee grounds, or finely crushed eggshells. They also need bedding, which can be provided in the form of shredded paper or cardboard, peat moss or commercial worm bedding. You also want the right kind of worms: Eisenia foetida, otherwise known as tiger worms.

Bokashi Bins
Bokashi bins are the ultimate small space composting option. A Japanese invention, bokashi literally means "fermentation": it basically pickles your food waste. With the help of friendly bacteria laced through a bran mixture, it ferments all edible waste (cooked and uncooked, including dairy and meat) into a liquid compost. You layer food waste and the inoculated bran until the bin is full (it's advised you have two bins). When one bin is full you let it sit to finish it's job while you fill the second one. It is, however, more of an involved investment, as you need to order more of the inoculated bran to keep it going.

TIP: Got lots of eggshells? Dry them out and crush them into small fragments and use in your garden as a slug and snail repellent. Just sprinkle them around plants prone to gastropds, and the sharp fragments will make approaching the plant very uncomfortable for the invaders.

There are other composting methods, but these are the most basic concepts. You can research lasagne beds, sheet mulching, and other methods on your own. Remember: Google is your friend. :)

Recycle

If you cannot find a use for things around your home, or you just don't have the time or space for a tin can tin man, then please try to put all your recyclables in the recycle bin your city council provides. If you have the option you might think about taking them to the recycling centers to get some pocket money from your collection (my brother does this with all the soda cans he collects). If you have a lot of jars, cardboard, newspaper etc, things that other people might find useful, then consider joining your local freecycle, Craigs List, Gumtree, or other classifieds advertiser to alert others that these supplies are in their local area. 

Here are some other things you should consider when discarding wisely:

-If you buy six pack drinks cans, then cut up the rings of the plastic loops to avoid birds or other animals getting caught in them; any milk bottle rings should be cut as well
-All batteries, car tires, motor oils, paints, paint strippers, pesticides and other toxic substances must be disposed of safely and properly. Please ask your city council how, when and where you need to dispose of these items
-When washing your car, use only biodegradable soaps, or no soap at all to avoid contamination of storm drain water... and please do not dispose of anything other than pure water down those drains!
-Mercury vapor and halogen type light bulbs must also be disposed of carefully to avoid contaminating the environment
-Televisions, laptops, phones and other electronics should be delivered to a business or organization that dismantles them for their components. Your local council should know who to call.
-Old vehicles, boats, motors and other objects can be sold for parts, projects or for scrap

Never think that you can't help the world and it's problems. If you start off being more conscious of your recycling and disposal habits, then your spouse will follow suit, and so will your kids. Talk to your relatives and neighbors about this subject, get your community involved in a local recycling program or litter pick up day. If we all go home and do this today, maybe together we can all make a difference.

Resources
http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s3301097.htm
http://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/resources/vermicompost107.shtml
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/jan/27/bokashi-bin-compost-alys-fowler

Make Your Own Seasonings

Ever since I became interested in this whole self sufficiency thing, I've been wanting to try growing and making my own seasoning mixes and spice blends. Something about the glory of growing your own onions, garlic, herbs, spices and vegetables, drying them, and grinding them with the mortar and pestle into flakes or powders, blending them to a perfect mix to enhance your cooking, storing them in a perfect line up of jewel-like spice jars...

Seriously though. Why make your own seasoning mixes? Because it's awesome. And fun. And you can avoid things like over priced packets from the stores with anti-caking agents, and who knows what else in them. And it's the perfect use for the mortar and pestle your husband bought you when you got married, and then sat collecting dust for a long time because you didn't have anything to grind in it... okay, that might have just been me.

It almost means you control what goes into the mix. Fresh herbs and spices pack the most flavor punch but to be honest, if you don't want to grow the onions and garlic, you are perfectly justified in using store bought varieties (shop the sales baby). Same with bulk spices, or with hard to grow things (because who can grow black pepper or cumin in their yard? Actually... *cough* I'm going to try growing cumin... *cough*)

Where do you even begin though? Well, it helps to have a kitchen with some useful gadgets and tools.

A dehydrator is a biggie. I have the deluxe Fowlers-Vacola machine, but any machine would do fine. Or, alternatively, you can dehydrate things in your oven or in a solar dehydrator if you don't have humidity issues. Things like good knives, a garlic press, a mortar and pestle or a food processor, are all useful tools. Those little glass spice jars, washed and saved from store bought spices, are extremely helpful, but not strictly necessary. Patience, however, is a biggie. it takes time to dry things.

And, last but never least, some recipes you can try!

Garlic Powder/Flakes

Crush as much garlic as you want. I prefer doing at least two whole bulbs. Make sure they are fresh and mold free. Just peel and push through the garlic press, or grind to a paste in the food processor. Smear the garlic paste onto a fruit roll up sheet and dry on the "Fruit/Vegetable" setting of your dehydrator (generally about 135F/58C), for several hours, until you can flake the garlic off the sheet. It should be crispy, not tough.

If you want garlic flakes, break them up into flakes and leave as is. If you want powder, place the garlic flakes in the mortar or food processor and grind until you have a powder. Place in a jar, label and seal.

Onion Powder

Similar story to the garlic. Chop three or four onions into small pieces, then puree in the food processor (like making an onion smoothie). When it's very finely textured, smear it on a fruit roll up sheet and dry until crispy (it will take a little longer; onion has way more water than garlic does). Then you just flake the dried onion off, grind into a powder, label and store.

Onion Flakes

Slightly different procedure. Top, tail, peel and halve one kilo of onions, and slice each half into narrow slices. Break apart the layers and place in a large microwave safe bowl. Try not to hurt yourself with the knife while you're blinded with onion tears. Place a bit of water in the bottom and cover loosely with a spatter guard, and nuke those evil *expletive deleted* for three minutes on high. Wash your hands thoroughly. And your face. And your cutting board. Try not to cry some more.

When the time is up, toss them quickly with tongs and nuke again for another three minutes. They should be limp by this time. You definitely showed them who's boss. Drain the water off and place the onion slices on the dehydrator trays. Don't let them fall through, and dry until they are crispy and golden.

Finally, we can make our onion flakes: take however many of the dried slices you want, and crush them carefully to get more flakes and less powder. This is where a mortar and pestle come in handy: it's easier to control the processing time.

Store the flakes in a spice jar, and the onion slices in a larger jar.

Garlic/Onion Salt

Easy stuff. Garlic or Onion Salt can be made with 3 parts salt and 1 part garlic or onion powder. Just mix the two together and store in a clean jar.

Chili Powder/Paprika

Chilies and paprika are all peppers. If you are lucky enough to be able to grow either, you can dry them both and grind them to a powder for use in your cooking. (Paprika can be smoked as well, to give it a nice flavor). Try doing something fun, and making green chili powder for use in salsa verde type dishes.

Mexican Seasoning

Slightly more involved now, as we're using bulk spices from the spice section at the supermarket.

1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder (or 2 tsp onion flakes)
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp crushed black pepper

Mix well and store in an airtight jar.

Italian Seasoning

All your favorite herbs can be grown and used for Italian cooking. Make sure you include rosemary, basil, oregano, marjoram and thyme in your garden if you wish to make your own from scratch. If not, you can purchase them from the supermarket and make your own blend.

2T Rosemary
2T Basil
2T Thyme
2T Marjoram
2T Oregano

Optional:
1T Chili Flakes
1T Onion Flakes
1T Garlic Flakes

Mix and store in a jar.

Seasoning Salt

I made this yesterday and had it on a roast chicken and it was fantastic. I think it would work great for any meat.

3 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp dried parsley flakes
1/2 tsp crushed black pepper

Store in a jar and enjoy.

I hope these have given you ideas on how to use both store bought and home grown herbs and spices in your seasoning mixes. May your cooking always be interesting and flavorful!

Make Your Own Soap

I swear, my favorite blogs are the ones where I can share with others "MYO" ideas (that's "Make Your Own" for the uninitiated).

My favorite subject recently has been soap making. There's a lot of trepidation about soap making, especially to those who have heard horror stories regarding lye, or accidents with overheating the fats, or whatever. I know, because I was one of those people. I wasn't exactly scared of the whole process, but I was certainly leery of what seemed like complicated instructions and concerned about making mistakes.

I put it off for weeks. For real! I was taking my procrastination skills to a whole new level in regards to making my own soap. Believe it or not though, I have to thank my husband for giving me that little push I needed to get started. What did this wonder man do?

He bought me some plastic containers and utensils to use for mixing and molding the soap. He also bought me an emulsion blender.

I was stoked. Shiploads (love that place) had all the plastic things (molds, bowl, whisk, etc) for a little less than $10. Coles supermarket had the stick blender (brilliant ones too, with the removable shaft for ease of washing) for $10 as well. It was an unforgettable score, because for twenty bucks, I was suddenly in business.

Well... maybe not quite yet. I still needed to get my fats. One step at a time though!

A fairly tidy workspace: Everything in reach.

The Basics

Don't be scared. The equipment is pretty straight forward. To prepare for making your own soap, you need a few things:


-Some old clothes (in case you get some on you) And that includes shoes, in case of major spills
-An old towel, in case you either A) need to wipe up spills, or B) In case you choose to wrap the mold once you've poured the soap
-Gloves (a pair of latex or vinyl gloves are fine; you can use the rubber dish-washing gloves too. My advice: use the latex. They are thinner, fit more closely, and give you a surer grip on objects- hence, you're less likely to have accidents)
-Eye protection (I just wear my glasses, and make sure I'm extra careful with my mixing; otherwise, get some goggles)
-Mixing bowl (glass or plastic, large enough to contain your batch without being too full)
-A mold (be it a plastic container, or a hand-made mold, or whatever)
-A stirrer (I have a silicone dipped metal whisk, but stirring by hand is hard and takes a long time; the stick blender does the job much better)
-A silicone scraper or spatula (to scrape all the soapy goodness out of the bowl into the mold)
-Old newspapers (to protect your work area)
-A work area, be it an old table, the top of your washing machine, or somewhere outside. Make sure you can provide good ventilation
-A digital scale. You need an accurate way to measure the ingredients
-Measuring jugs for fats and water
-Measuring spoons or instruments dedicated to soap making only

Once you've got that lot sorted out, you're prepared to check out what you need for ingredients.

A simple lunchbox with a lid makes a great mold for soap.

The Chemistry

There's nothing magic about soap making, really. It's basically chemistry.

Soap is created by the reaction of a strong alkaline solution (usually sodium hydroxide) breaking down fat molecules. Soap is a kind of salt compound; when the chemical reaction occurs, the bonds of the two solutions are broken, and the sodium attaches to the fatty acids, whilst the hydrogen and oxygen attach to the glycerol.

Even if you don't really understand the molecular chemistry of it all though, just know this: water + lye + fat = soap. In fact, the only thing you really need to know about making soap is the proportions of water and lye to the fats you are using, as that will determine how your soap turns out. That in itself is a very involved subject.

The rest of soap making is mechanical. You must have a means to mix the soap to the right consistency. For small batches of soap, elbow grease would work fine, but for bigger batches, or those with arm or shoulder problems, it's advised you purchase the handy dandy stick blender for this project. Most can be found very cheaply nowadays, and I highly recommend the ones that have the detachable shaft; clean up is much easier.

Why do I need to stir so much? you ask. Well, for one, to incorporate the ingredients thoroughly so that you can avoid pockets of lye water in your soap, but also to get the soap to turn out properly, you have to "bring it to trace". When you hit trace, your soap goes from being a liquid mess to a thicker batter, similar to cake batter or pudding. To tell if you have reached trace, lift your stirring instrument out of the batter and if you can see the raised impressions of the mixer, you've got trace. It's just like beating egg whites or cream, but be careful: over mixing can cause you soap to seize in your bowl, and then you have a mess on your hands.

Once you have reached trace, you can pour into your mold.

Lye

Lye in soap is typically sodium hydroxide, although liquid soaps use potassium hydroxide because it results in a softer end product. Most lye is available under the name "caustic soda", and usually comes in granules.

Fun Fact: When our ancestors made their own lye from wood ashes, it was actually potassium hydroxide!

It is extremely alkaline, and very dangerous if you get it on you. It reacts very quickly to the moisture and oils on your skin, causing severe burns, so if there's one thing you take away from this blog, it's that you really need to be careful when working with lye. You must ensure your work area is well ventilated, as the fumes can cause lung and eye irritation, and it's best if you mark all utensils, measuring jugs, bowls and containers as "for soap making only", to ensure that no cross contamination can occur with your regular kitchen utensils. Wear gloves and long sleeves to avoid splashes, and always, always, ALWAYS add the lye to the water, never the other way around, to avoid any possible "volcanic" reactions.

As a safety precaution, I will even take the jug of water and the lye outside to mix it there, to avoid any accidents inside.

For those of you still thinking the goggles and gloves and clothes are a little bit overkill, remember: Better safe than sorry.

Water

There is a bit of a debate over what kind of water to use. Many will say distilled water is best, as it's very pure, with nothing that can react and cause discoloration in the soap. That may be true, but I find it much simpler to use tap water. Occasionally I might filter it through the Brita filter, but whether that makes a difference, I don't know. However, if you have water that is high in minerals or other dissolved agents (due to type of city water or well water), it might be best if you used the distilled anyway, especially if you are trying to make "selling soaps" that you want to keep pretty. If you are feeling clever enough, you might even make your own distilled water.

Water is the usual solution the lye is dissolved in. Because the reaction between the lye and water is very volatile, the water will get very hot (hence my doing it outside). Water must also be weighed via solid measure methods (with your digital scale), just like your fats and lye.

Other liquids can be used in soap making, such as milk, coconut milk, or teas, but I've kept it simple so far by just using water.

Fats

There is an almost endless variety of fats you can use for your soap. In my supermarket alone I can find olive oil, coconut oil, rice bran oil, avocado oil, macadamia oil, sesame oil, lard, butter/ghee and tallow, as well as all the usual sunflower, canola, corn and blended "crap" oils (as I call them). Never mind all the oil varieties available at the health food store or from online merchants. There are also "butters" you can use, such as shea, aloe and cocoa.

Not all fats are created equal. Each fat has a different property it offers to your soap. They also vary greatly in price and quality. Generally, cheap oils produce cheap soaps. But I don't think spending hundreds of dollars on oils to create soaps is a very sustainable or wise plan either. You can make your own lard and tallow in your kitchen if you feel like being industrious and frugal, but it's not a requirement. if you are interested in rendering lard or tallow for this purpose, check out this other blog I wrote on the subject: Living High On The Hog: Rendering And Using Lard

Lard in it's finest form.

For the sake of simplicity, and to keep this a "beginners" lesson, I'll stick to the easy to find ingredients. No use confusing matters just yet!

When I started making soap, I thought "How can I make this affordable and easy?" I decided that I would stick to plain fats that I could get locally, in the supermarket. I chose lard (I live in Australia, so it's found in the refrigerated section) and a coconut oil product called Copha, which is a hydrogenated oil blended with soya lecithin to improve its hardness (also an Australian product). I was too nervous to try my hand at olive oil soaps at the time.

Seeing as Copha can't be found everywhere, (and because for my very first batch of soap I wasn't sure how the altered coconut oil product would affect the soap) I opted for a single batch of lard soap, and so my chosen recipe for you to try is lard only. My goal was to create a batch of unscented soap for washing powder, and I read that the lard soap would be excellent for that.

Other Ingredients

You can choose to add other ingredients to your soap. No one is stopping you from experimenting with oatmeal, honey, dried herbs, essential oils or fragrances, fine sand, salt, coffee grounds, beer or colorants. There are countless companies online selling these products that you are free to look up. I suggest you do plenty of research to figure out which ones you might like to try. There are many groups on Facebook, online forums and websites with recipes and advice. If you are looking for inspiration, this website has a great list: soap-body-and-spa.com

Curing

Most soaps benefit from curing, which means you leave them to sit in a cool dry place for a few weeks to help evaporate the extra water. It results in a harder, longer lasting bar of soap. Cold processed soap (as the method below is) isn't heated other than the initial melting of the fats to make them liquid, so the extra water is not cooked out of them as it would be in hot process soap. It is suggested you leave them two to four weeks to cure into a nice hard bar, but if you are excited (like I was) to give it a try, you can use them after a couple of days (they don't last very long that way, but it's long enough to give the others time to cure while you're happily using the one in the dish).

Simple Lard Soap

Simple Lard Soap

This soap is a good cleaning soap. Use it for scrubbing stains, for cleaning household messes, grate it into laundry powder, or just keep it by the tap to wash your hands with.

Ingredients

450g of lard
171g water 
60g lye

1. Melt the lard in a saucepan over medium-low heat.

2. While the fat melts, weigh the water in a pitcher (make sure you zero the scale with the empty pitcher first!) Sprinkle in the lye, and gently swirl to dissolve. (Don't breathe the fumes.)

3. Allow the melted fat and lye water to cool for a while, until you can touch the sides of the containers without burning yourself.

4. Pour the lye water into the saucepan. Place an immersion blender in the pan until it touches the bottom. (This first batch of mine was actually mixed by hand, with a silicone dipped whisk. The stick blender is much better.) Turn on the blender on the lowest speed, and beware of splashing (do this in the sink or put down several layers of newspaper). Blend until you see a "trace," which means until it's thick enough that you can kind of see where you've been and drips stay visible on the surface for a second or two. Think of the consistency of cake batter, or perhaps pudding.

5. Pour into a mold of your choice (in my case, the plastic lunchbox with a lid).

6. Let it sit for at least 8 hours, or over night. Then you may carefully loosen the block of soap with a thin knife, and pop it out onto a cutting surface. Cut into bars, and store in a cool, dry place to cure for a couple weeks before use.

Enjoy your soap and your new found skill!