Upcycled Homesteading | A Guide For The Creative Homeowner

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Home Self Sufficiency Emergency Prep How To Upcycled Homesteading | A Guide For The Creative Homeowner

Need a guide to upcycling? If you do, this list will help you learn how to get started with upcycled homesteading, so you can always keep your home green and self sufficient!

Upcycling goes beyond plastic bottles and paper waste. You can upcycle found objects from all around your homestead. Upcycle them to save money, and to conserve resources. Keep reading for an upcycling guide that you can apply to your homestead.

A Guide to Upcycled Homesteading

As far as I’m concerned, the homestead is one of the best places to try your hand at upcycled living. No city ordinances to contend with, no HOAs telling you what to do, just pure, clean, green living. There are thousands of ways you can upcycle on the homestead, but for the sake of time, we’re just going to focus on three.

Upcycling in the Garden

Taking old objects that no longer have a purpose and turning them into something cool for the garden is one of my favorite ways to upcycle. Items found around the house, garage, shed, or thrift stores can be made into raised beds, trellises, garden markers, and more.

It’s the perfect way to personalize and add character to your garden! I’ve gathered a few tutorials below that will hopefully inspire you to get creative and throw together a new project for the garden.

1. Drawer Porch Planter

via My Repurposed Life

2. Dresser Garden

via Shelterness

3. Strawberry Pallet Planter

via Lovely Greens

4. Log Planter

via A Proverbs 31 Wife

5. Upcycled Bench Planter

via My Creative Days

6. Pallet Vertical Garden

via Design Sponge

7. 17 Upcycled Trellis Ideas

via Balcony Garden Web

8. Recycled Spoon Garden Markers

via Domestic Simplicity

9. Mason Jar Lid Garden Markers

via the Prudent Garden

10. DIY River Rock Garden Markers

via West Valley Moms Blog

11. Clay Garden Markers

via Wit & Whistle

12. Painted Plates Garden Art

via Infarrantly Creative

13. DIY Butterfly Garden Ornament

via Bugaboo City

14. Bottlecap Flowers

via Crafts by Amanda

15. Teapot Garden Feature

via Confessions of a Serial Do-It-Yourselfer

Upcycled Animal Containment

Raising animals has become more popular in the last decade, particularly as the horrors of factory farming have come to light. Creating upcycle homes for your animals takes a bit of elbow grease, but it’s worth it in the end. Just be warned — there are definitely pallets in your future.

16. Building Chicken Coops From Upcycled Materials

via Neighborhood Notes

17. 9 Tips to Upcycle an Old Vehicle into a Chicken Tractor

via Hobby Farms

18. How to Build a Pallet Pig Fence

via Realeyes Homestead

19. How to Make a Pallet Goat Barn

via the Owner-Builder Network

20. Pallet Barn

via Jetson Green

An Upcycled House

From upcycling your clothes to upcycling your furniture, there are so, so, SO many ways to upcycle in your home. However, have you ever considered living in an upcycled house? Folks have been coming up with some pretty genius ways to use upcycled materials to build their homes, and the results are truly amazing.

21. 30 Stunning Shipping Container Homes

via Digital Trends

22. 7 Things You Need to Know Before Building a Shipping Container Home

via Corkd

23. Upcycled Silo Homes

via Decoist

24. Tiny Home Made From Recycled Pallets

via Wimp

25. The Bus House: the Ultimate Act of Upcycling?

via Sustain a Blog

26. DIY Bus Conversion: Before You Get Started

via Shalom Mama

27. Salvaged Building Materials Can Be Real Deals. Here’s How to Know

via Houselogic

28. How to Use Salvaged Building Materials in New Construction

via This Old House

Upcycling on the homestead helps to reduce needless waste, kicks your creativity up a notch, and saves money to boot. By putting your mind to completing even a few of these projects, not only will you give your home character unlike any other, you’ll also be helping the planet. What’s better than that?

Still up for one more upcycling idea for your homestead? Then check out this video from Homesteading Ways.

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The Ancient 3-Ingredient Home Remedy Used During The Time Of Christ

The following blog post The Ancient 3-Ingredient Home Remedy Used During The Time Of Christ Find more on: http://ift.tt/1Qfw8v0

Pliny the Younger, the author and politicians of the late 2nd century – meaning it likely was used during the time of Christ.

Raw vinegar is full of antioxidants and is a natural probiotic, but it’s also been shown to sooth sore throats, improve digestion, reduce cholesterol, help guard against cancer and maintain a healthy weight. As a natural antibiotic, it can help clear out your throat and digestive system of harmful pathogens, allowing you get better faster. Raw cider vinegar has also been shown to help the body absorb nutrients from the foods you eat.

Just 30 Grams Of This Survival Superfood Provides More Nutrition Than An Entire Meal!

Image source: Pixabay.com

Raw honey is a nutrient powerhouse, full of antioxidants, minerals and enzymes that promote health and wellness. It’s used throughout the world for its antimicrobial and anti-fungal properties, as well as an immune system booster. Research shows that it can be just as effective as commercial cough syrup in treating coughs and sore throats. Taken regularly, raw honey can act as an allergy shot to reduce your sensitivity to pollen and allergens in your environment over time.

The herbs used in oxymel vary based on your goals, but in general, they’re often herbs designed to improve your immune response, or address a respiratory condition such as cough, cold, flu or sore throat. Whichever herbs you choose, do your homework, and make sure they reflect your needs, and the needs of your family; great choices include sage, thyme, rosemary, oregano, mint, Echinacea, ginger, elecampane, fennel, garlic, mullein, hyssop, wild cherry bark and horseradish. Sweeter nutrient-rich and health-promoting fruits are sometimes included, as well, including elderberries or sea berries.

One famous version, referred to as “fire cider,” is made with ginger, garlic, cayenne and horseradish. Other times, elderberry, ginger and Echinacea are combined for immune support. Another mixture is a cough syrup/respiratory blend that includes wild cherry bark, elecampane root, rose hips, ginger, slippery elm bark and peppermint.

Pre-mixed remedies sell in health food stores and online for as much as $5 per ounce, but can be mixed at home for pennies and a little patience. Recipes vary widely, but a common formula includes 1 part dried herbs steeped in 2 parts honey and 2 parts vinegar. Leave in a cool dark place for at least a month, and then strain. Feel free to use more honey if your tastes require a sweeter version to overcome the herb flavors you’ve chosen, or if you simply have trouble with vinegar. Likewise, recipes with up to 5 parts vinegar and 1 part honey are also acceptable for those who like a little extra zing in their medicine.

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Some people choose to steep the honey with the herb in one jar, and then the vinegar with the herb in a separate jar, only mixing them at the end. That way, they can have an infused honey and an infused vinegar which also have a variety of uses, and they don’t have to commit all of the infusion to being an oxymel mixture.

While they’re generally pleasant to use on their own as a medicine by simply taking them on a spoon as you would a cough syrup, they can also be incorporated into meals to turn your food into medicine. Oxymel is a great way to enjoy sweetness without negative effects on your blood sugar. Raw vinegar has also been shown to balance blood sugar levels and improve insulin sensitivity in diabetics, which will help to balance out the effects of the honey on your system. With that in mind, these medicines make a great addition to cold sparkling water to make a medicinal spritzer, or when used to top a salad as a sweet and tangy dressing. Recipes using sweet herbs (such as elderberry) make excellent pancake syrups or yogurt/dessert toppings.

However you choose to take your oxymel, know that you’re participating in a medicinal tradition that goes back millennia, and taking your health into your own hands by crafting your own homemade medicine.

Have you ever made or used oxymel? What advice would you add? Share it in the section below:

Harness The Power Of Nature’s Most Remarkable Healer: Vinegar

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DIY Skeleton Lawn Decor for Halloween

DIY Skeleton Lawn Decor for Halloween was first published to http://ift.tt/1nr27gs

Ready to decorate the household in the proper Halloween spirit? The next idea will both impress you and give you inspiration. Making a skeleton scene on the lawn can be a creative project for this year’s Halloween. After you successfully purchased the skeletons, available here… (be warned this process may take a while) you can begin the DIY project. In order to position the skeletons in a fun and exciting position, you will need old wire clothing hangers cut to pieces you want, some fishing wire and line. A garden stake will also be required to position the bottom half of the skeleton properly into the ground. When you’ve managed to secure the arms with the wires the shape will begin to take form and the whole thing will look awesome! You can be as creative as you like, making use of props, like a shovel or a `body bag` made from a black garbage bag. The scene showcased here is one you can replicate in its entirety or just draw inspiration from it and create your own.

>>> Full Body Halloween Skeleton for Best Halloween Decoration

Photo courtesy: Helpful Homemade

Full Body Halloween Skeleton here…

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Private Wells Are Running Bone Dry In This State – But It’s Not Where You Think

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Image source: Pixabay.com

Some residents of one New England state are learning the hard way that water is a scarce resource.

Maine – and not the American West as might be expected — is experiencing an extreme drought that is causing wells used by homeowners to go dry.

Resident Bob Boynton had to use his neighbor’s garden hose to flush his toilet after his 14-foot well ran dry. It had been a reliable source of water for 25 years until it suddenly stopped in late September, Boynton said.

“I always thought it was going to last forever,” Boynton told The Morning Sentinel. “It really caught me off guard.”

Boynton was watering his lawn just days before the well ran out of water. He first noticed a problem when the sprinkler started spraying air instead of water.

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Like many of his neighbors in Standish, Maine, Boynton ended up calling a driller and paying for a new, deeper well. Families that cannot afford new wells are hauling water from public sources, eating instead of cooking and skipping showers.

Others are hiring water companies to fill their wells with water. Water company owner Warren Hood told The Morning Sentinel he receives up to 10 calls a day from households with no water.

“This is the worst I’ve ever seen,” Hood said. “People are desperate.”

Across New England

A wide swath of New England, including Southern Maine, is now in the midst of an extreme drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The rest of the region is experiencing a severe drought.

The drought is now so bad that the York Water District in southern Maine is piping in water from the Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Wells Water District, The Morning Sentinel reported. York took that step after its reservoir dropped by four feet.

Rainfall in York County, Maine is 13.85 inches below normal, which is causing ponds and other bodies of water to dry up. The county normally receives 49.63 inches of precipitation a year, but only received 35.78 in the last year.

Around 44 percent of Maine residents rely on wells. Wells in Vermont and New Hampshire also have gone dry, the Associated Press reported.

“One of the common things we hear is that people have been in their homes for 20 to 30 years and they have never had their wells run dry,” Judy St. Onge, who delivers water for customers, told The Morning Sentinel.

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17 Old Halloween Superstitions And Symbols From Around The World

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Home Projects Crafts Holiday Halloween 17 Old Halloween Superstitions And Symbols From Around The World

With the upcoming holiday fast approaching, it’s easy to get caught up with all of our own wonderful Halloween traditions, but have you ever wondered how this spooky day is celebrated around the world? Read on and learn the old Halloween superstitions from around the globe!

First celebrated by the Irish, Halloween can be traced back to the Celtic festival of Samhain, which means “summer’s end” in Gaelic. It may seem like it’s all about costumes and candies nowadays, but Halloween also has deep roots in spooky superstitions since its beginning, dating back about 2000 years ago. Read on to find out the old Halloween superstitions from around the world.

17 Old Halloween Superstitions From Around The World

It said that on Halloween day, the boundaries of the living and the dead overlapped and the dead could return back to cause chaos in the living world.

Because of this, many cultures around the world celebrate the dead and pray for their souls on this day to be able to rest in peace for all eternity. The Halloween superstitions from around the world are all fascinating and will surely give you that spooky chill that we all crave during this festive season.

Places:

1. Ireland

image via bjws

The old Celtic custom was to light bonfires on Halloween, and after these had worn out to make a circle of the ashes of each fire. Just inside this circle, every individual from the different families that had made a fire would put a stone.

In the event that, on the following day, any stone was out of its place, or had been harmed, it was held to be an indication that the one who owned the disrupted stone would die within twelve months.

2. Germany

In Germany, people also pray for the souls of their dead at Halloween. What is special, however, is that they additionally put all the knives of the house away. This is done because they do not want to risk harm befalling the returning spirits.

3. China

image via triphobo

China’s Halloween festival is known as Teng Chieh. This festival celebrates the dead, in which they offer food and water to the photos of the deceased. They also light lanterns in order to light the way of the spirits as they travel the earth on Halloween night.

4. Mexico

image via tails of wonders

In Mexico, Halloween is celebrated on a large scale and is known as “El Dia de los Muertos.” It is a joyous and happy holiday that starts on October 31st and ends on November 2nd.

It is a time to remember friends and family who have died, who are believed to come home during Halloween. They create altars in their homes and decorate it with candles, flowers and favorite foods of their deceased.

5. Austria

image via oxford culture mania

In Austria, some people will leave a lighted lamp, bread, and water on the table before retiring on Halloween night. Such things will welcome the souls back to earth on a night, which for the Austrians, was thought to overflow with cosmic energies.

6. Hong Kong

image via HK digit

The Halloween festivity in Hong Kong is known as “Yue Lan” (Festival of the Hungry Ghosts) and is a period when it is believed that spirits wander the world for twenty-four hours. A few people burn pictures of fruit, believing these pictures would reach the spirit world and convey solace to the ghosts.

7. Czechoslovakia

In Czechoslovakia, chairs are set by the fireside. There is a chair for every relative and one for every relative’s soul.

8. Scotland

In Scotland, the custom is to peel an apple and toss the peel behind you. It is believed that the shape that the peel reveals will become the primary letter of your future spouse’s name.

9. UK and North America

In numerous parts of UK and North America, it is believed that if a young, unmarried individual gazes into a dull mirror, they will locate their future life partner behind their shoulder. However, if the spouse is going to pass on soon, people are likely to find a skeleton looking back at them.

Symbols:

10. Bats

Medieval legends additionally depicted bats as witches’ familiars, and seeing a bat on Halloween was thought to be a significant threatening sign. One myth was that if a bat was spotted flying around one’s home three times, it implied that somebody in that house would die soon.

Another myth was that if a bat flew into your home on Halloween, it was an indication that your home was haunted because ghosts had given the bat access.

11. Black Cats

As Halloween superstitions go, this one is fairly well known. It said that a black cat is a symbol of bad luck, as the medieval myth goes that Satan turned himself into a cat when socializing with witches. The black cat’s bad reputation dates back to the Dark Ages when witch hunts were commonplace.

12. Spiders

Spiders are known to be a common source of fear. Spiders make for dreadful, crawly Halloween staples. They join the ranks of bats and black cats in folklore as being evil associates of witches during medieval times.

One superstition is that if a spider falls into a lit candle and is devoured by the fire, witches are close-by. Furthermore, on the off chance that you detect a creepy spider on Halloween, it implies that the soul of a deceased loved one is watching over you.

13. Witches

The traditional image of a worn witch with a pointy black hat and warty nose blending a supernatural potion in her cauldron really originates from a pagan goddess known as “the crone” who was respected during Samhain.

The crone was also called “the old one” and the “Earth mother,” who symbolized knowledge, change, and the turning of the seasons.

14. Halloween Birthdays

It is said that children born on Halloween have the gift of both seeing and talking to spirits.

15. Hearing Footsteps

image via drodd

Another Halloween superstition is that if you hear footsteps behind you on this day, don’t dare to look back. It is Death and soon you will be dead.

16. Cemeteries

image via wikipedia

The act of holding ones breath while driving by a cemetery prevents evil spirits from entering your body. Additionally, at the point when passing a burial ground or a house where somebody has died, turn your pockets inside out to ensure you don’t bring home the ghost in your pocket.

Another old superstition reveals that if a body is moved to a different grave from its original, it will be claimed by the devil.

17. Fancy To Meet A Witch

On the eve of Halloween, put your clothes on inside out and walk backwards. This is said to help the person meet a witch.

Want to learn the Halloween history? Let’s watch this video from National Geographic

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Our Ancestors Used Farm Animals VERY Differently Than We Do

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Image source: BoswellFarms.com

In modern society, we walk or drive down the street to find all kinds of food, many of them unrecognizable to our pioneer ancestors. (Thai noodles?)

For the hardy pioneers, however, a few animals could mean the difference between starvation or survival. Even if animals were too plentiful to be fed through the winter, they could be slaughtered as the season progressed and then sold for cash, which could then be used to buy staples such as flour or corn. Animals even could be bartered for other necessary items.

Most homesteaders have livestock of some kind, but if times get worse, it might be a good idea to know all the ways our ancestors used animals. You might be surprised.

Farm Animals

In order to survive the harsh winters, many pioneers had a hard rule that went something like: “It works or it’s food.” So while dogs were kept, they were considered working animals. Eating dogs is not something most people would do; however, in a pinch most people will eat just about anything.

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This means that our ancestors kept animals that either worked for them or that they ate.

• Pigs – These were always a favorite as they ate just about anything and are also easy to breed. The fat from pigs could be used for soap and lamp fuel, and one good-sized hog could feed a family for a long time, with bacon to spare! Pigs were usually allowed to forage in the woods and were not always kept in pens or barns.
• Chickens – Always a favorite, chickens provide both eggs and meat. They are easy to keep because most of the year, they can simply forage for insects. Grain need only be provided during the coldest winter months.
• Sheep – For the pioneers, sheep were valued for their wool, which provided clothing, but also for the meat. Lambs were more commonly consumed than adult sheep, but this isn’t to say that when other food sources became scarce, that a sheep wasn’t butchered to make stew.
• Cows – Cows were highly valued, but they were expensive to keep in the winter if you did not have enough hay stored. Some pioneers took their chances and left cattle out in the woods to survive the harsh winters. Stories of pioneer families forced to butcher and sell most of their cattle during a hard winter were not unusual.
• Horses – While most of us like to think of the pioneers owning beautiful horses like the ones we see in the movies, most horses were working horses, such as Clydesdale or draft horses. These were intended for pulling wagons and plows. Some pioneers were fortunate enough to have a horse just for riding, but horses also mean hay and grain in the winter months, making them fairly expensive.
• Mules – Mules have more stamina that most horses and are more surefooted when it comes to rocky or mountainous terrain, but like horses, they, too, need grain to keep them in top condition.
• Oxen – This was generally the animal of choice for pioneers making their way to the West coast. If they survived the trip, oxen could then be used to plow fields and pull wagons. Oxen are not very fast, but they eat whatever vegetation is available and need only hay in the winter months. Also, because they aren’t very fast, Native people were not really interested in them and if they escaped a barn, they were fairly easy to catch.

Other Food Animals

Some animals that were popular food items during pioneer times aren’t eaten quite so often today. Some of these are:

• Rabbits – Easy to breed, cheap and easy to feed. The fur could also be used to line boots, jackets, or to make blankets.
• Turkeys – Although pioneers did not take turkeys with them on their journey, someone figured out that if you caught a pair or took some chicks and raised them, they were quite similar to chickens. Today, most of us only eat turkey for special occasions, such as Thanksgiving, but for the pioneers, turkey meat was consumed about as often as a chicken.
• Geese or ducks – While most ducks were hunted or trapped, a few domestic ducks found their way to the plates of the pioneer, along with geese. Geese are very easy to keep, especially if the land has its own pond or lake. No extra feeding is required, although many pioneers did supplement with grain to keep the goose fat.
• Doves and/or quail – Doves and quail are not much meat, but they eat relatively little and breed quickly. Added to meager soups or stews, doves and quail would be a welcomed source of meat.

Miscellaneous Animals

As mentioned, if animals weren’t being kept for food, they needed to be kept for work. A few animals that were often kept strictly for work were:

• Dogs – Especially hunting dogs or herding dogs, although even a mutt would keep raccoons, wild dogs, bears and intruders from coming on the property. Hunting dogs and herding dogs were especially valuable. They would often be bred, and the pups sold for cash or in exchange for other items or work.
• Cats – Not the pillow princesses we see today, cats kept in pioneer times were mostly for keeping mice and other rodents out of barns, houses and food storage areas. Although they might enjoy the fireplace during the winter months, they were rarely fed, as they were expected to find their own food.
• Donkeys – These animals might be small, but they can carry a fairly heavy load and are very sure-footed. For carrying small amounts of items to and from the market, donkeys are hard to beat. They are not picky eaters and are fairly easy to keep.
• Bees – Some pioneer farmers came to realize the importance bees had on their orchards and kept a few hives. Of course, in addition to pollination, bees offered honey, which was a real treat for the pioneer who generally relied only on maple syrup from trees or molasses for a sweet treat.

Our ancestors were tougher than we ever imagined. You won’t find many gerbils or hamsters mentioned in the history of the pioneers!

What thoughts would you add about pioneers and animals? Which ones do you think would be most important today? Share your opinion in the section below:

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