Even if you do not grow pumpkins on your homestead, they can be picked up at deep discounts right before and after Halloween at your local farmers market.  Don’t be afraid of getting too much.  You can preserve your own pumpkin and have a supply year-round.

Homemade Canned Pumpkin

• pumpkin, any size
• water
• zest and juice of one lemon

1. Wash the pumpkin to remove any dirt.  Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds.  Peel the skin from the flesh.
2. Cut the pumpkin flesh into small cubes.  Place them in a large pot.  Add water to two inches below the pumpkin.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Lower heat and simmer for one hour, until you can easily pierce the pumpkin with a fork.
3. Let the pumpkin drain in a colander.  Once drained, puree the pumpkin in batches in a blender until it is the consistency of applesauce.
4. Put the pureed pumpkin back in the pot and bring it to a simmer.  Cook for another 15 minutes, until slightly thickened.  Remove from heat.  Add the lemon zest and juice and stir to blend.
5. Ladle into sterilized jars and tighten lids to finger tight.  Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.

Because pumpkin desserts are what we are most familiar with, that is where we are going to start.  This pumpkin poke cake is super easy, as it begins with a cake mix, and the pumpkin pie recipe is a delicious twist on a classic.

Pumpkin Caramel Poke Cake

• 1 box spice mix cake
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 cup water
• 3 eggs
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ¾ cup caramel sauce
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 ½ cup whipped topping

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a 9 x 13” cake pan.
2. Mix together cake mix, pumpkin, water, eggs, and oil until smooth.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
3. While the cake is still hot, poke holes in the cake with the end of a wooden spoon.  Heat ½ cup of caramel to warm and pour over the holes in the cake.  Let the cake cool completely.
4. Cream together the cream cheese, milk, and powdered sugar until creamy.  Fold in the whipped topping.  Spread over the cake.
5. Drizzle the rest of the caramel over the cake.  Refrigerate any leftovers.

Chocolate Pumpkin Pie

• 9-inch pie crust
• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 14 ounces pumpkin puree
• 12 ounces evaporated milk
• 3 cups packed light brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¾ teaspoon ginger
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• pinch of ground cloves
• pinch of salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Prebake the pie shell for 15 minutes.
2. In a double boiler, melt semisweet chocolate, bittersweet chocolate, and butter.  Stir frequently until smooth.  Remove from heat.
3. In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients.  Fold in melted chocolate.   Pour the mixture into your prepared crust.  Bake until the center is almost set, approximately one hour.

Now that you have two fantastic desserts, have you ever thought of having pumpkin for breakfast?  The pumpkin granola is a sweet and salty mix that can be eaten with milk like cereal or tossed over some yogurt.  The recipe makes approximately nine cups.  Pumpkin breakfast sausage is surprisingly delicious.  You can double the recipe, as they lend themselves really well to freezing.

Pumpkin Granola

• 6 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1 cup pecan halves
• 1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 cup olive oil
• 1 cup maple syrup
• 2-3 teaspoons salt
• 1-2 teaspoons cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix the dry ingredients together.  Whisk the wet ingredients and spices together.  Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and stir to thoroughly combine.
3. Divide mixture between two large rimmed sheet pans.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Stir and bake another 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven.  The granola will continue to crisp up as it cools.

Pumpkin Breakfast Sausage

• 1 pound lean ground pork
• ¾ cup pumpkin puree
• ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne or red pepper flakes
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon sage
• ½ teaspoon salt

1. Combine all ingredients.  Form into equal-sized patties.
2. Heat skillet over medium-high heat and lightly coat with oil.
3. Sear patties 3-4 minutes per side, until cooked through.

Some of the most interesting and delicious pumpkin recipes are savory.  Savory pumpkin recipes are standard in other parts of the world.  The simplest place to start is with pumpkin soup.  From there we will progress to empanadas and curry.

Pumpkin Soup

• 6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 ½ teaspoon salt
• 4 cups pumpkin puree
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• ½ teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1 garlic clove
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 10 peppercorns

1. Heat chicken or vegetable stock, salt, pumpkin, onion, thyme, garlic, and peppercorns.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes uncovered.
2. Puree one cup at a time in a blender.
3. Return to pot and bring to a boil again.  Reduce heat to low and simmer another 30 minutes, uncovered.  Stir in heavy cream.
4. Ladle into bowls and top with chopped parsley.

Cheesy Pumpkin Empanadas

Dough:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ Tablespoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 9 Tablespoons cold vegetable shortening or lard
• 2/3 – 1 cup milk

Filling:

1. 1 Tablespoon vegetable shortening or lard
2. 1 cup chopped onion
3. 1 Tablespoon packed brown sugar
4. ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
5. ½ teaspoon salt
6. 2 cups pumpkin puree
7. ½ cup ricotta cheese
8. 2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
9. Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor.  Add cold shortening.  Process until evenly blended.  Pulse while adding milk, one tablespoon at a time.  Add just enough milk to hold the dough together when pressed together.  Shape dough into 3 equal-sized balls.  Flatten each ball into a disk and cover with plastic wrap.  Chill for 30 minutes.
10. To prepare filling, heat vegetable shortening or lard in a large skillet over medium heat.  Cook the onion until tender.  Stir in brown sugar, thyme and salt until evenly blended.  Stir in pumpkin, ricotta cheese, and parmesan cheese.
11. Heat one inch of vegetable oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat.  Divide each ball of dough into four equal-sized pieces.  Roll each piece into a 6’ circle.  Brush edges with water.  Spoon ¼ cup of filling on one side of each circle.  Fold the dough over the filling and seal edges with a fork, or by crimping the dough together as you would a pie crust.
12. Cook in hot oil for 4-5 minutes, until golden brown, turning halfway through cooking time.  Drain on paper towels and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Pumpkin Curry with Chicken

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1” pieces
• 1 medium onion, choppedd2 medium carrots, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, diced
• 2 Tablespoons freshly ground ginger
• 1 Tablespoon ground turmeric
• 1 cup cubed pumpkin
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 8 ounces green beans, trimmed and cut into 2” pieces
• 2 Tablespoons red curry paste
• 13.5 ounces full fat coconut milk
• 1 cup water
• 1 Tablespoon lime juice
• fresh cilantro, chopped

1. Heat one tablespoon of oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add chicken cubes and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Cook until chicken is cooked through, about five minutes.  Remove chicken from pan.
2. Add remaining oil in a pot.  Cook the onion and carrots five minutes, or until tender.  Add garlic, ginger, and turmeric.  Stir to blend.
3. Add pumpkin, bell pepper, and green beans.  Cook one minute.  Add cooked chicken, red curry paste, and water.  Stir to combine well.
4. Bring the mixture to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low and cook 10-15 minutes, until pumpkin is tender and the sauce has thickened.
5. Remove from heat.  Add lime juice.  Top with cilantro and serve with rice.

Pumpkin is so nutritious and versatile that it is a shame to only eat it once or twice a year in a holiday pie.  This season I encourage you to try not only these pumpkin recipes but also to create your own family favorites.  If you don’t have pumpkin, most varieties of winter squash will stand in nicely.  Happy autumn!

Check out Pumpkin Palooza 2: Five More Sweet & Savory Pumpkin Recipes.  You might also like these pumpkin recipes:

Mom’s Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin Pie Rice Krispie Treats

The post Pumpkin Palooza: Sweet & Savory Pumpkin Recipes to Try This Fall appeared first on Homestead.org.

Last year, I read A Poison Like No Other: How Microplastics Corrupted Our Planet and Our Bodies by Matt Simon. While I knew we were consuming more and more microplastics and that they had some serious effects, I hadn’t really understood the scope of the problem until reading this book. It was both an engaging and horrifying read, highlighting how our plastic crisis might affect the health of younger generations. Since reading that book, I’ve been slowly making more of an effort to reduce the plastic in our lives. Here’s how to avoid microplastics on your homestead.

1. Don’t Store, Prepare, or Heat Food in Plastic

One of the best places to start reducing plastic in your life is in the kitchen. Not surprisingly, food stored in plastic containers contains more microplastics than food stored in glass or metal. This includes your plastic Tupperware at home, plastic packaging from the store, and even canned foods, which are plastic-lined metal containers.

Scientists have also found that the higher the temperature, the more plastics (and other chemicals) are released. Microwaving food in plastic containers, even “good quality” ones, can increase your microplastic consumption. The same goes for heating food in non-stick cookware, especially if its coating is scratched or damaged.

Today, we try to purchase food without plastic whenever possible (though that’s tough in our rural area), grow as much of our own food as we can, and store our food in an eclectic collection of glass and metal containers. We each have a metal water bottle, and we prepare our food with a mix of wooden, cast iron, and stainless steel cookware and utensils.

Other big offenders for microplastics in food include plastic wrap and other plastic kitchenware like straws, cups, water bottles, cutting boards, spatulas, and spoons. Amazing cooks and chefs around the world managed with no plastic in the kitchen for generations, and we can too.

2. Eat Whole Foods to Avoid Microplastics in Food

Thankfully, most homesteaders strive to eat whole foods, but now there’s an even greater reason to. Scientists have found that the more processed your food is, the higher the levels of microplastics are likely to be present. Microplastics are introduced into food at every step of the processing chain. Opting for whole foods instead of ultra-processed foods can reduce your microplastic consumption. While it can be tough on the budget, organic food also tends to be lower in plastic. Pesticides often contain microplastics and contaminate produce on conventional farms.

I’ll admit, I’m not perfect and still occasionally grab ultra-processed snacks (hello, potato chips), but mostly I try to stick to whole foods. It’s better for your budget, your health, and the planet.

3. Change How You Brew Tea and Coffee

Microplastics in tea bags and coffee filters are another sneaky way that plastic is seeping into your home and life. Several recent studies have found that tea bags release billions of microplastic particles into your tea. My husband and I drink a lot of tea, particularly in the winter, and to us, the convenience isn’t worth the risk.

Instead, we’ve switched to loose-leaf tea. We grow some of our own herbal tea, like mint and chamomile. We also purchase some as part of our bulk food order from a small store in Ohio. Whatever we can’t find there, we order from Mountain Rose Herbs. Their tea comes in nice metal containers.

We use metal tea strainers to make our tea. I have one of the globe-shaped ones on a chain from a local shop, and my husband uses one from Mountain Rose Herbs that sits on the mug’s rim.

Similarly, many disposable and reusable coffee filters contain plastic, even the ones that look like they’re made from paper. To avoid these, opt for a stainless steel coffee filter or percolator or French press with metal components. We love our percolator we picked up at a local second-hand store. It’s wonderful for making coffee on the wood stove on chilly winter mornings.

4. Use a Water Filter

Devastatingly, scientists are now finding microplastics in rainwater and groundwater. Thankfully, a new study has found that using a filter can make an enormous difference, removing up to 90% of microplastics, even if that filter is just a budget-friendly pitcher type.

We’ve been using a filter for years for our rainwater, so this isn’t new for us. A filter is definitely worth it, especially if you can find one made of stainless steel like ours.

5. Seek Out Plastic-Free Cosmetics and Toiletries

When thinking about how to avoid microplastics, we often focus on the kitchen, but plastic has taken over our bathrooms too. Today, many of our cosmetics, soaps, and other toiletries are packaged in plastic or contain microplastics. As these are the products we place on our skin, it’s especially important to find plastic-free alternatives.

My husband makes most of our soap at home, and there are some great zero-waste recipes for things like toothpaste and makeup. Even if you don’t have the time or energy for the DIY route, there are now several companies selling plastic-free alternatives in metal or paper packaging. Female homesteaders may also want to look into alternatives to pads and tampons, both of which are made of plastic, like cloth pads, period underwear, or menstrual cups.

6. Choose Toys Made from Natural Materials for Young Children

One of the saddest parts of reading A Poison Like No Other was realizing that we really don’t understand how this plastic exposure will affect younger generations. We’re seeing the negative impacts of microplastic exposure in older adults, and those adults likely had a childhood that was much lower in plastic exposure than today’s kids. In 1950, the world produced two million tonnes of plastic each year. We now produce over 450 million tonnes annually.

This youngest generation will experience a life that’s filled with plastic from infancy, and we don’t fully understand what that will mean. Opting for toys made from natural materials is one way to reduce plastic in your kids’ lives. It’s especially critical for children under the age of three who put toys in their mouths.

7. Avoid Plastic in the Garden

Microplastics in agriculture have become increasingly common, and it’s no wonder. Industrial agriculture uses so much plastic that there’s now a word for it: “plasticulture.” Black plastic mulch warms the soil and keeps it free from weeds, plastic flats hold tender seedlings, clear plastic warms hoop houses, and plastic drip tape gets rolled out each spring and thrown away each fall. While it’s tough to change our industrial food system, we can change what we do on our homesteads.

To avoid plastic, use biodegradable mulches like straw, old leaves, or wood chips. Instead of seed trays, use paper pots, soil blocks, or compostable pots. While hoop houses are tough to replace, glass cold frames and greenhouses are excellent small-scale DIY projects. Using soaker hoses or purchasing and reusing thick drip tape can eliminate some plastic waste. You can also opt for tools like hoes and watering cans that have all-metal and wooden components.

8. Opt for Natural Flooring to Reduce Microplastics in Your Home

The air in our homes is now full of microplastics, and a large part of that may come from our flooring. The worst offenders? It’s not carpet. It’s the hard synthetic flooring, like the wood alternatives available at most home supply stores.

Sadly, it’s children who are most affected by microplastics in the air in homes. Microplastics and dust are heavy, so they stay closer to the floor, at a perfect level for young children to breathe in.

Running out to replace your floors isn’t possible for most folks, but if you’re building a new homestead or renovating an old property, selecting natural flooring will help reduce microplastics in your home. Real wood and tile are great options. In some homes, these types of flooring can feel cold, but you can pair them with area rugs. Again, when buying rugs, look for those made from natural materials like wool and sisal.

If you’re building a homestead from scratch, you can also take this a step further and opt for natural materials like wood or cob for the entire build.

9. Up Your Cleaning Routine

Most homesteaders I know would rather spend more time in the garden or barn and less time indoors cleaning, but recent evidence suggests it can make a big difference in your health. Microplastics often get caught up in dust on our home’s surfaces and float through the air in our homes. Using a vacuum with a HEPA filter, which catches tiny particles, and dusting often with a damp cloth can reduce the microplastics you’re breathing in at your home.

How you clean also matters when you’re trying to reduce microplastics in your home. Commercial cleaners often container microplastics and come in plastic packaging. Homemade cleaning options, like those made from baking soda and vinegar, are great alternatives.

Plastic sponges are another major source of microplastics. A recent study found that they release up to 6.5 million pieces of microplastic per gram. This number gets even worse when, like most people, you add soap and hot water to the mix!

Cotton washcloths are a cheap, easy alternative. They last a long time, and whenever they get too dirty, you can toss them in the washing machine. For strong scrubbing power, steel wool is a great plastic-free option.

10. Stop Buying New Plastic Clothing When Possible

Switching to an entirely natural wardrobe isn’t always affordable or even practical. I certainly can’t afford to replace every piece in my closet with new linen, wool, or cotton garments, nor would I really want to. My sports bra, which contains both polyester and spandex, makes running more comfortable, and those quick-dry shorts I have are a lifesaver on multi-day kayaking trips. Plus, throwing away these items to buy new ones just contributes to more waste in landfills, more pollution from the garment industry, and likely more human suffering.

Instead, I try to keep these garments as long as possible, using them until they’re truly worn out. When I need new clothes, I try to opt for used and natural fibers where I can.

One of the most interesting things I learned from A Poison Like No Other is that newer synthetic garments shed far more plastic than older ones. I would have thought the opposite was true — that they may shed more as they break down  — but science shows otherwise. So keep wearing that Patagonia fleece until you can’t anymore before you run out and buy a new one.

Sadly, there is no way to avoid all microplastics, but you can reduce them on your homestead. Making changes can be challenging, but slowly adding these swaps to your homesteading lifestyle over the next year can make an enormous difference.

The post 10 Ways to Reduce Microplastics on Your Homestead appeared first on Homestead.org.

The following recipes are timed based on my slow cooker.  As you know, all crock pots cook differently, based on their age, size, and brand.  Keep an eye on a jam the first time you try one of these recipes and adjust the heat settings and timing accordingly.  Once you feel comfortable, you can let the jams cook while you sleep.

Blueberries are one of the first fruits available.  They can be expensive if you don’t have your own blueberry bushes to plunder.  One way to get all the blueberries you could possibly want is to visit a pick-your-own blueberry farm.  The following recipes are not overly sweet.  They both taste great on scones or pancakes.

Blueberry Mint Butter

• 5 pounds blueberries
• 4 cups sugar
• zest and juice of one lemon
• 2-3 sprigs of fresh mint

Rinse and drain blueberries.  Place them in the crock pot, along with the remaining ingredients.  Stir to mix well.  Cook on high for two hours.

Turn the heat to medium.  Place two butter knives across the top of the crock pot and set the lid on top of the knives.  This will protect your workspace from splatter while allowing the steam to escape.  Cook on medium for eight to ten hours, until mixture has reduced by half.

Remove and discard mint sprigs.  Using a hand-held blender, process until completely smooth.

Sterilize six one-pint jars, lids, and rings.  Ladle hot blueberry butter into the sterilized jars.  Wipe the rims and apply lids and rings.  Put jars in the canner and cover with one inch of water.  Process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes.

Let cool on a folded towel for 12-24 hours.  Once sealed, they are shelf-stable for up to one year.

Gingered Blueberry Bourbon Jam

• 5 pounds blueberries
• 3 ½ cups sugar
• zest and juice of two lemons
• 2 Tbsp. grated ginger
• 4 Tbsp. bourbon

Put all ingredients in the crock pot.  Stir to mix well.  Cover the crock pot loosely and cook on medium heat for ten to twelve hours, until it has cooked down to desired consistency.

Sterilize six one-pint jars, lids, and rings.  Ladle hot jam into sterilized jars.  Wipe the rims and apply lids and rings.  Put jars in the canner and cover with one inch of water.  Process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes.

Let cool on a folded towel for 12-24 hours.  Once sealed, they are shelf-stable for up to one year.

Peaches are easy to find in farmer’s markets across the country.  Many farmers are willing to give their slightly bruised or overripe peaches away for a song.  Buy as many peaches as you are able.  Once peeled and sliced, they hold up well in the freezer until you are ready to use them.  If using frozen peaches for the following recipe, simply thaw first.

Peach Slow-cooker Jam

• 4 pounds peaches, washed, peeled, and sliced
• 1 ¼ cups honey
• ¼ cup white wine or water
• zest and juice of one lemon

Combine all ingredients in the crock pot.  Stir to mix well.  Cover and cook on high for one hour.

Turn heat to medium.  Place two knives across the top of your crock pot and set the lid on top, allowing the steam to escape.  Cook for six to eight hours.  Using a potato masher, mash the peaches until they are the consistency you desire.

Sterilize four one-pint jars, lids, and rims.  Ladle the hot peach jam into the sterilized jars and wipe clean.  Apply lids and rims to finger tightness.  Place in the canner and cover with two inches of water.  Bring the water to a boil and process in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes.

Let cool on a folded towel for 12-24 minutes.  Properly sealed jars will store for up to a year.

For an interesting twist on this recipe, add one sprig of fresh rosemary while cooking.  Pull the sprig out before ladling into the jars.  Rosemary-Peach jam is terrific on vanilla ice cream and is a hit when served at a brunch.

Pears and apples are readily available.  We are lucky to have wild pears growing all around us.  If you do not have pear or apple trees of your own, take advantage of the farmers that do.  It’s hard to find a farmer who isn’t willing to let you glean their orchards.

Vanilla Pear Jam

• 8 cups peeled, cored, and chopped pears
• 2 vanilla beans, split and scrape
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• zest and juice of one lemon

Put pears, vanilla bean paste, and sugars in the crock pot.  Stir to blend well.  Cover and cook on medium heat for two hours.

Add lemon zest and juice.  Remove lid and continue cooking for eight to ten hours, stirring occasionally.  Once the jam has cooked down to the consistency you like, use a potato masher to gently mash the pears.  This jam does not need to be completely smooth so just mash until you are happy with the texture.

Sterilize four one-pint jars, lids, and rims.  Ladle the hot pear jam into the sterilized jars.  Clean the rims and apply the lids and rings to finger tightness.  Place jars in the canner and cover with two inches of water.  Bring the water to a boil and process jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Let cool on a folded towel for 12 hours.  Ensure that the jars are properly sealed.  Use sealed jars within a year.  If a jar has not sealed, store in the refrigerator and eat as soon as possible.

Salted Caramel Pear Crockpot Jam

• 10 cups peeled, cored, and chopped pears
• ¼ cup water
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 2 cups packed dark brown sugar
• ½ tsp. cinnamon
• ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
• zest and lemon of one lemon
• ½ tsp. sea salt

Put pears, water, sugars, cinnamon, and nutmeg in crock pot.  Stir to blend well.  Cover and cook on high heat for two hours.

Turn heat to medium.  Place two knives across the top of the crock pot and set the lid on top.  Cook until the mixture has reduced by half, eight to ten hours.  Add the zest and juice of the lemon and sea salt.  Stir to blend.

Sterilize six one-pint jars, lids, and rims.  Ladle pear jam into the sterilized jars.  Wipe the jar rims and apply the lids and rings to finger tightness.  Place jars in the canner and cover with two inches of water.  Bring the water to a boil and process jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Allow to cool on a folded towel for 12 hours.  Store any jars that have not properly sealed in the refrigerator.  The jars that have sealed are stable for up to one year.

Apple Jam in the Crockpot

• 5 pounds apples (peeled, cored, coarsely chopped)
• ¼ cup water
• 6 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 ½ cups light brown sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon

Put apples, water, lemon juice and brown sugar in a large crock pot.  Stir to blend well.  Prop lid open with a wooden spoon handle.  Cook on low heat for 8 hours.

Stir in salt and cinnamon.  Cook on low an additional hour.

During the last hour of cooking, sterilize your jars, lids and rims.  Ladle jam into prepared jars.  Wipe rims and apply lids and rings.  Process for 10 minutes in a hot water bath.

Let cool on a folded towel for 12-24 hours.  Gently push the center of lid to ensure it has sealed properly.  If sealed, it is shelf-safe for up to one year.  If it has not sealed, store in the refrigerator.

Caramel Apple Jam

• 6 cups apple, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• ½ tsp. cinnamon
• ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
• ½ tsp. butter

Put all ingredients in the crockpot and stir to mix well.  Cover crock pot loosely in order to allow the steam to escape and the jam to cook down.  Cook on medium heat for eight to ten hours, until mixture has cooked down and has the consistency you want.

If you want a completely smooth jam, use a hand blender.  This makes it too much like apple butter for me.  I like to leave apple pieces in this jam.  It not only provides a great texture, but it looks beautiful in the jars for gift giving.

Sterilize six one-pint jars, lids, and rims.  Ladle the hot apple jam into the sterilized jars.  Wipe the rims and apply the lids and rings.  Place in the canner and cover with an inch of water.  Bring the water to a boil and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Let cool on a folded towel for 12-24 hours.  Properly sealed jars will store for up to one year.  Jars that have not properly sealed should be stored in the refrigerator and eaten first.

Crockpot Apple Butter

• 8 quarts applesauce
• 2 Tbsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground cloves
• ½ tsp. allspice
• 4 cups sugar

Combine 5 ½ quarts of applesauce, cinnamon, ground cloves, allspice, and two cups of sugar in your crock pot. Stir to mix well.  Lay two knives across the top of the crock pot and set lid on top of the knives.  Cook on high for one hour.  Turn the heat to medium and cook for eight to ten hours, depending on how hot your crock pot cooks, until the applesauce mixture has reduced by half.  At this point, add the remaining applesauce (2 ½ quarts) and two cups sugar.  Stir to mix well and cook on high for three hours.  If you want your apple butter to be thicker, cook longer, uncovered, until it reaches the desired consistency.

Meanwhile, sterilize six one-pint jars, lids, and rings.

You can leave the apple butter the way it is or blend it with a hand blender or potato masher for a smoother texture.  Once you are satisfied with the texture and consistency of the apple butter, ladle it into your sterilized jars. Clean the rims and apply lids and rings to finger tightness.  Put in canner and cover with at least one inch of water and bring the water to a boil.  Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.

Let cool on a folded towel for 12-24 hours.  Test the jars to ensure they are sealed.  This apple butter will keep for up to a year.

That’s it!  It couldn’t be simpler to put up fruit to enjoy later without heating up your home.  Have fun with these slow-cooker jam and butter recipes.

Once you get the basic idea, adjust the ingredients to suit your taste.  Enjoy!

The post Slow-Cooker Jams and Fruit Butters appeared first on Homestead.org.

Our first year looked a little different.

After nearly four years of planning, researching, dreaming, and saving, my husband Brian and I finally made the move to our remote Northern Ontario homestead in mid-April. The property had actually been ours for almost a year, but arriving as permanent residents for the first time felt like crossing a finish line.

As we got closer to the property, somewhere around fifty miles out, snowflakes started falling.

Brian looked over at me. I looked at him. Then we both burst out laughing.

“Welcome to Canada.”

It seemed like nature was determined to make a memorable first impression.

The early-spring flurries quickly turned into teeming rain that didn’t stop for nearly three weeks. Apart from a slightly damp mattress and a few soggy boxes, most of our things couldn’t be unpacked. We sat in our small cabin, waiting anxiously to start any of the hundreds of projects we had carefully planned.

At the time, our small cabin was only dried in. We had no solar electricity, no running water, no refrigerator, and very few comforts. We were living in a construction project while staring out the windows at a landscape that refused to cooperate.

It was a rough introduction to homesteading.

Looking back now, though, it was probably the perfect one.

The first lesson arrived before we had even planted a seed.

We learned quickly that nature doesn’t care about your timeline. No matter how carefully you plan, how many books you read, or how many spreadsheets you create, the weather gets the final vote.

The Frost That Took Everything

Like most new homesteaders, we started our first garden with equal parts enthusiasm and optimism.

We lovingly started seedlings indoors. Tomatoes, peppers, corn, spinach, onions, lettuce—more than one hundred little plants that represented months of anticipation.

By the time planting season arrived, we had finally built our first garden bed. The seedlings were thriving. The weather was warm. Things were finally starting to come together.

Then the frost came. The truly frustrating part wasn’t that we ignored a forecast or took a risk. There was no warning.

When we went to bed around midnight, it was nearly 60 degrees outside. No frost warnings. No indication that anything unusual was about to happen.

The next morning, I stepped outside and saw it immediately: Heavy frost. Everywhere.

I took off running toward the garden, slipping and sliding through the frosty grass. By the time I reached the beds, most of the plants were already wilted. Some had started turning black.

Every single plant was gone. Not damaged, not struggling, just gone.

My first reaction felt more like grief than disappointment.

Anyone who has spent weeks nurturing seedlings understands that odd attachment that grows. You watch them emerge. You protect them. You celebrate every new leaf.

Then the panic set in.

We were already dealing with a short growing season. Starting over wasn’t part of the plan. Then again, neither was frost in what should have been safe planting weather. That was the moment I learned one of the most important lessons of homesteading: Always have a backup plan.

Today, we start a second batch of seedlings, two to three weeks after the first. If disaster strikes, we’re covered. If everything survives, we sell the extras.

Experience may be a tough teacher, but it tends to be effective.

The Six Sad Jars

By late August, we had clawed our way back from the frost disaster. Our garden wasn’t exactly thriving, but it was surviving.

When berry season arrived, we gathered wild berries from along our road and proudly spent the afternoon preserving them.

We had visions of homemade breakfasts in the middle of winter. Fresh berries spooned over yogurt on cold February mornings. The kind of harvest every homesteader dreams about.

Then we finished canning.

Six jars.

That was it.

After months of work, planning, gardening, and dreaming, our entire preserving season amounted to six somewhat pathetic jars sitting on an otherwise empty shelf.

Brian and I stood there staring at them. There was a long silence. Finally, I looked at him and said something along the lines of, “Well, that should keep us for a while.”

We laughed because there wasn’t much else to do.

While that half dozen jars of preserves could have easily been seen as a failure, they certainly taught us something valuable — Success on a homestead isn’t always measured in volume. Sometimes it’s measured in persistence.

Those jars weren’t impressive. But they represented a season where we kept going despite setbacks, disappointment, and plenty of failure.

The Tornado

Just when we thought we’d had our share of surprises, nature had one more lesson prepared for us.

This one arrived with a panic-inducing tornado warning.

Brian was away for work when the alerts started appearing on my phone. Thunderstorms had been forecast, but tornadoes weren’t something I expected to deal with that day, or any other day.

I grabbed the dog and cat, threw them into the truck, and headed for our neighbor’s house about a kilometer away.

Unlike our cabin, they had a basement. Within minutes, we were in it.

The storm itself was violent and fast. Then it was over.

The moment the danger passed, we stepped outside and began assessing the damage.

The road leading back to our property was blocked. Then another blockage. And another.

By the time we reached our land, it took three of us with chainsaws several hours to clear enough fallen trees to get through with a vehicle.

Hundreds of trees had come down. Many were twisted together in massive tangled piles.

As I got closer to our cabin, my stomach sank.

Our home sits in a relatively small clearing surrounded by forest. Looking at the destruction around us, I was convinced something had been hit.

More than forty trees had fallen throughout the clearing. Some missed the cabin by mere centimeters. Others narrowly avoided the solar array, the woodshed, the trucks, the backhoe, and our new garden structure.

Miraculously, nothing was damaged.

Not the house. Not the equipment. Not even the materials for the addition, which we had spent two years preparing.

The relief was overwhelming, and so were the cleanup efforts.

The tornado forced us to abandon plans for the residential addition we had intended to build that season. Lumber had been milled. Foundations had been started. The timeline was gone.

For a while, that felt like failure, but now we see it differently.

Sometimes success is surviving the storm and adapting to what comes next.

The Bear-Proof Fortress

No rookie-homesteading-season would be complete without a healthy dose of humility. Ours arrived in the form of a black bear.

Determined to protect our garbage, I spent two days building what I believed was a bear-proof garbage enclosure.

Using scrap limbs from trees we had cleared, I constructed a sturdy container around the garbage cans.

It looked fantastic, and I was shamelessly proud of it. At one point, I even climbed on top and jumped up and down to demonstrate its strength. There may have been some bragging.

Less than twelve hours later, the enclosure was shredded. Garbage was scattered throughout the clearing. The bear had essentially treated my masterpiece as if it were made of popsicle sticks.

It was one of those classic moments where you realize nature has been playing this game much longer than you have.

We were going to need a “bigger boat”. Or at least a stronger garbage container.

What We Learned

The strangest thing about our first year on the homestead was that nearly none of our plans worked out as we imagined, and yet we had the best time. Our garden failed, our construction plans had to be put off for another year, the weather ignored our expectations, and the local wildlife mocked my engineering skills — and yet, somehow, we survived. We just adjusted our plan and tried to go forward with enthusiasm and a good sense of humor.

Going forward, we adjusted our planting schedule by using backup seedlings and stopped planting anything permanently until after June 1st. We began covering vulnerable plants when temperatures looked even remotely questionable. And, most importantly, we learned to pivot quickly, accepting that certain things are beyond our control.

The Real Point of Homesteading

If I could go back and talk to the version of myself sitting inside that unfinished cabin during those first three weeks of rain, I’d tell her to relax.

The dream isn’t falling apart. It’s just beginning.

Many people imagine homesteading as a destination. They picture the finished house, the productive gardens, the stocked pantry, and the perfect social media photographs.

While those moments exist, they aren’t the lifestyle. They’re only small snapshots, and everything else that builds your homestead is found in between those moments. It could be the frost that kills your first garden, a tornado that changes your long-term plans, or a fat and sassy Black bear that humbles your confidence.

If there is one thing our Rookie year taught us, it’s this: The goal isn’t to create a perfect homestead — it’s to learn how to build a life that can weather imperfect days. And trust me, there will be plenty of those.

So, to every new homesteader standing on the edge of this adventure, my advice is simple: Buckle up. Something will go wrong.

But if you can learn to adapt, laugh, and keep going, you’ll discover that the journey itself is the best part of the whole experience.

Author Bio: Aly Nickling Riddle is a freelance writer, speaker, and full-time homesteader living on a 40-acre property in Northeastern Ontario. After spending years researching the move to a self-sufficient lifestyle, Aly and her husband traded convenience for adventure and now share honest, practical insights about the realities of homesteading. She is the author of Homesteading: Is It the Lifestyle for You?, a guide designed to help aspiring homesteaders evaluate whether the lifestyle is the right fit before making the leap.

The post The First Frost: Lessons from Our Rookie Year on the Homestead appeared first on Homestead.org.

But do fires really just pop up whenever you rub sticks together for a few minutes?  I once witnessed a demonstration at Wolf Creek Indian Village by a guy dressed in Native American garb.  He rubbed sticks together and started a spark that lit a fluffy piece of shredded bark; he held the burning fluff in his hand for an instant and blew on it, causing smoke to plummet out, then the fluff ignited into flames.  It was like magic!

However, I find this scenario completely ridiculous now that I have a woodstove and have gone through the experience of trying to start and maintain a fire.  Even with the use of a lighter, fire starter logs, lighter fluid, and crumpled papers, building a fire that lasts for more than a few minutes is a challenge and a learning process.

Now that I know this, I believe that a scenario from the show “Naked and Afraid” is more realistic.  In case you have never seen it, don’t worry—this is a survivalist reality show, not pornography (the private areas are pixelated).  But even so, perhaps their self-consciousness over their nakedness is somehow hindering them in building a fire.  After all, the guy at the Indian village was wearing some pretty swanky buckskins.  All I know is that people on Naked and Afraid usually spend an average of two to three days trying to build a fire by rubbing sticks together.  By the time they succeed, they are usually naked and dying, because they can’t sterilize the water they gathered in their palm-frond bowls.

I’ve also heard the theory that the first man may have discovered fire when a tree or some dry grass was struck by lightning.  I guess that is plausible.  I just can’t figure out what prompted him to run out and throw a piece of meat on it.  Maybe the lightning caught the tree on fire, and the caveman threw a carcass on top of it to put it out; the sweet smell of burning flesh triggered his appetite and, well, the rest is history.  Maybe I should put a lightning rod on my woodstove…

There is actually quite a bit of science involved in building a good fire.  I mean, even if you have a lighter or matches, the process of getting a fire going—and keeping it going—to warm your house on a constant basis involves many factors like the type of wood you use and how well aged it is; how it is cut; how it is stacked in the stove; the tinder you use; how your chimney is set up for drawing air currents; and whether the doors or windows of your house are opened or closed.  Then you have to make sure you hold your tongue in the right position when you light it.  Well, maybe not that last part.

I decided to install a woodstove because I looked around at all of the fallen trees on my little hilltop and started imagining my electric bills withering down to nothing.  But first I needed to find a way to cut those trees up.  I found that axes aren’t nearly as easy to use as they appear to be in the old westerns, and when it came to using an old chainsaw someone gave me, I found myself to be pull-cord challenged.  So I went out and bought an electric pole saw and about 60 feet of extension cord.

The first winter, I trudged through the woods behind my house looking for fallen trees and stretching the cord as far as I could.  Some trees would cut like butter, while others pinched the chain on my saw, causing it to fall off.  I suspect this has to do with a combination of impatience, lack of chainsawing technique, the fact that I bought the cheapest chainsaw on the shelf, and my inability to understand certain concepts that seem so clear to others, such as “tighten the screw on the chainsaw, but do not tighten it too much.”  I have problems with those shades of gray.

At any rate, whenever my chain fell off, I would have to pull off my gloves and protective glasses, pull out my wrench, and go through the process of putting the chain back on.  Needless to say, at first I was pretty excited to find that certain logs I encountered in the woods were downright soft and fell apart like a well-cooked pot-roast.  This is when I first learned the term “punky.”  No, this time it doesn’t refer to disgruntled teenagers playing loud music, but soft rotten wood that burns quickly, but way too quickly.  It is also often full of ants, termites, and grubs, who tend to scream, grab their baggage, and run for the hills (or your floorboards, in the case of the termites) once the flames start licking at their sticky little feet.  I guess that sort of foretells another problem with punky wood: the bugs that have any sense will jump off and hide in your house before you stick them in the woodstove.

For a few years, I ran out of trees that were within the length of my extension cord, so I ordered my wood from some people who advertise in the trading journal.  Those people would explain to me which woods they had available and whether they were woods that burned high and fast or low and slow, so I began wondering how I could identify the trees around my house.

First, I got out the old leaf key to determine what type of trees I had. Unfortunately, fallen trees rarely have leaves, so I began to try to analyze the bark (I also wondered if I should be sniffing the wood like I once saw Al Borland do on the show Home Improvement, or perhaps licking it).   I’ve still got a long way to go in figuring out how to identify wood, but I did find some information on the Internet about what types of wood are best.

After scouring the internet for information, the best and most complete advice I found on which woods are best was from a chimney sweep.  I found a website for Master Sweep Chimney Service in Redwood Valley, California, and it had a very comprehensive guide to log types and other burning issues, such as what causes the most creosote build-up in your chimney.  Well, I guess it makes sense that the guy who has to clean the stuff out learns what causes the biggest mess!

All of my life I have been told that you shouldn’t burn pine because the sap causes creosote to build up in your chimney, but Chimney Sweep Guy explains in his article that it is all about the drying process.  It turns out that moisture, not sap, is what causes creosote, but pine that hasn’t been aged at least a year will hold that water in the sap.  He explains that if the pine is aged for at least a year, it will cause less creosote buildup than many other woods, because at that point, the dried sap acts as an accelerant and it burns really fast and hot, which in turn heats up the chimney more, causing less condensation of water, which is what actually causes creosote buildup.  On the other hand, if not dried properly, pine will hold more water in its sap, and this is why fresh pine causes creosote buildup.  He says pine and fir are usually fine after drying for one year, but hardwoods such as oak need to be dried for over a year and up to three years.

When it comes to choosing logs, you have to decide if you want a fast, hot fire or a slow, long one.  For me, it’s a matter of economy and the ability to sleep through the night without having to restoke the fire.  Steve Nix, a professional forester and natural resource consultant who maintains a forestry/forest/tree information website for About.com, explains that you will get longer-lasting fires from wood that is very dense, such as hardwoods.  So if you happen to have the advantage of being able to see what leaves are on a tree before you cut it, then you should know that hardwoods come from trees that have broad leaves (deciduous) and softwoods come from trees like pine, fir, et cetera (evergreens) which have needles instead of leaves.

For those who understand physics, Nix lists the following as the best burning firewood species.  He lists their BTUs per cord and their density, both of which are a bit Greek to me, so I ran to the dictionary to find out what a BTU is.  BTU stands for British Thermal Unit and is based on the amount of energy needed to cool or heat one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit.

Best Burning Woods for Heating:

Hickory – 25 to 28 million BTUs/cord – density 37 to 58 lbs./cu.ft.

Oak – 24 to 28 million BTUs/cord – density 37 to 58 lbs./cu.ft.

Black Locust – 27 million BTUs/cord – density 43 lbs./cu.ft.

Beech – 24 to 27 million BTUs/cord – density 32 to 56 lbs./cu.ft.

White Ash – 24 million BTUs/cord – density 43 lbs./cu.ft.

Drying logs

I spent last summer cutting up all of the trees that had fallen in my woods, assuming I would be able to use them this winter.  I thought, for sure, they had been lying around for long enough to be properly dried.  However, when I began searching for answers, I found that the required length of drying time mentioned previously is only part of the drying process.

Just lying in a horizontal position for a year doesn’t necessarily dry out your wood.  The logs should be halved or quartered and stacked, uncovered, in the driest place possible, up off the ground, not too close to the house to protect it from possible termites.  Even though the nice, fresh cuts look prettier, the grayer-looking wood with lots of cracks is the wood that is properly dried.

In addition to the higher creosote issue with wet wood, I found at Wood-stove.org that the more moisture is in a log, the more energy it takes to heat it.  Freshly cut logs are supposed to have about 50% moisture before they are dried and 20% after, meaning they will generate around twice the energy when they are dry because they won’t be using that energy to heat the water inside.  Wow!  I think I understand now!  I believe that may be the cause of one of the problems I have with keeping a fire going.  Unless it is wood that I have purchased by the cord, most of my wood really hasn’t been aged properly.

Ignition

When it comes to lighting your fire, I’ve heard tell you can make fires with flint, steel wool, and a battery; rubbing sticks together; or with a magnifying glass.  I saw Anthony Hopkins do the magnifying glass thing in a movie once.  That was cool.  But, assuming I’m in the comfort of my own home, I prefer to do it the old-fashioned way, with a lighter and a piece of paper or maybe one of those long matches.

Kindling

When it comes to kindling, I’ve tried it all.  I’ve hacked the bark off of logs for kindling, gathered sticks, crumbled up old students’ essays, and I’ve purchased those fire-starter logs.

One winter, I collected the cardboard tubes from inside my toilet paper and paper towels and filled them with the sawdust I created when cutting the logs.  It all seems to work pretty well as far as the initial rush of flames, but the wood products are more sustainable than the toilet paper tubes.

In scientific terms, it is said that “kindling should have a large surface-to-volume ratio, and more bulk than timber, so it will ignite easily,” which means that a bunch of twigs works well because the twigs have a lot of surface area in between and around them, thus more places for air to get in, and fire loves oxygen.  I found that information at a wikiHow site, which I find ironic because as an adjunct English professor, I always tell my students not to use such sites for their research.  It makes sense, though, and the information was edited by Michael, Jack Herrick, Lisa Radon, Ben Rubenstein, and 157 others.  I don’t actually know Michael, Jack, Lisa, or Ben, but those 157 others sort of tipped the scales in their favor.

Tinder

Tinder is the fast-burning stuff you usually ignite first so that it will ignite the bigger logs and get your fire going.  It’s the shredded bark the guy at the Indian village used, or anything fluffy that lights easily, from shredded paper to dryer lint.

I must note that I have a preference for those small brown fire starters that you can purchase for about a dollar and divide into fourths.  But a quick search of the internet also showed me many, many ideas for how to make your own fire starters.  I found something about using coffee grounds, paraffin, and molasses melted together and poured into wax paper cupcake holders.  Another suggested cotton balls rolled in petroleum jelly; and then there was sawdust and paraffin; dryer lint and candle wax; pinecones and paraffin… The big question is: is the most commonly used ingredient (paraffin) cheap enough to warrant the effort of making homemade fire-starters?  Well, I looked it up, and a 10-pound slab of paraffin is about $18.85, and then you will need coffee grounds (presumably free after using for coffee) and molasses for a couple of dollars a jar, while a ready-made box of fire starters is $26.66 for 9 pounds.  So, if you’ve got some time on your hands, it might save you a little bit of money.

(Call it pessimistic, but I’m always a little skeptical of everything that people say saves money.  For instance, when I see shows about extreme couponing, I wonder if these people are really saving any money considering the gas and time that they spend, and whether they ever get wholesome food like meat, fruit, and vegetables, or if they only get 15 tons of Twinkies to store in their garage until they expire.  But at the same time, you have to consider the fun factor.  Many of those extreme couponers see this as a fun hobby they can share with their friends, trade coupons, shop together, and so forth.  I get that.  But I digress.  Back to the fire!)

Air and Smokey Air

The last thing I feel should be mentioned regarding the maintenance of a fire in your woodstove is air.  There are a few different theories out there about air and ways to get enough airflow to feed your fire, but then, with air, comes the problem of smoke.  Wood that hasn’t been seasoned properly may smoke more than usual, or it could have to do with the up-and-down drafts from your chimney, or maybe your chimney isn’t drawing right because it is too cold.

You can help a chimney draw by crumbling up some paper, lighting it, and holding it up your chimney, if you have access that way.  With woodstoves, that isn’t quite as easy as it is with fireplaces.  Also, some say leaving a window cracked in the room can help balance out the air circulation and help the chimney draw better.

I personally have found the issues of air and smoke to be my biggest fire-starting problems.  I try to leave the woodstove door open for a while in order to help the air circulate and get the fire burning well, but soon the room is full of smoke.  In fact, if I die in a house fire, when they come in to investigate, they’ll find that I had five smoke detectors and two carbon monoxide detectors in the house, all of which were long ago hidden in closets and covered with pillows because I just couldn’t handle the constant beeping whenever I had a fire in my woodstove.

Homestead Heating Safety

The post The Mysteries of Fire (Including How to Sustain One in Your Woodstove) appeared first on Homestead.org.

Canning pumpkin is safe and simple, but there are a few rules you must follow.  First, pumpkin must be preserved using a pressure canner.  Water bath canning will not suffice.  Second, you will be canning pumpkin to be used as an ingredient.  Home cooks should not attempt to can pumpkin puree or pie filling.  Preserve cubed pumpkin using a pressure canner and you will have it on hand when you are ready to cook.

The first thing you need to do is turn your pumpkin into pumpkin puree.  If you are using your canned pumpkin cubes, simply mash them with a fork until smooth or process in a blender.  If you are starting with a whole pumpkin, cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds and stringy flesh.  Place cut-side down on a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees until it is soft.  Scoop the flesh out and process in a blender.

Pumpkin Soup

• 4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
• 1 medium potato, peeled and chopped
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 4 cups pumpkin puree
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 11/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ½ cup heavy whipping cream

In a large stockpot, saute potato, onion, and garlic until onion is transparent.  Add pumpkin puree and cook until puree is warmed through.  Add stock, thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper.  Simmer for 30 minutes, or until potato cubes can be easily pierced with a fork.

Transfer soup in small batches to a blender and puree until smooth.  When all soup has been pureed, return to stockpot and bring back up to a simmer.  Add the whipping cream and stir until it is completely incorporated.  Serve hot. Makes 4 servings.

Pumpkin Curry

If you love food that is packed with flavor, curry is definitely something you should try.  This recipe serves four.

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil (plus more for roasting vegetables)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons ginger, grated
• 1 cup cubed pumpkin
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 2 cups fresh baby spinach
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 Tablespoons red curry sauce
• 1 Tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 14 ounce full-fat coconut milk
• Cilantro
• Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450.  Put pumpkin, carrots, and red peppers in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and cook for 20 minutes.

Add olive oil to a large skillet over medium heat and saute the garlic and ginger for two minutes, stirring constantly so it does not burn.

Add the roasted vegetables to the skillet and saute for five minutes.

Add spinach, pumpkin puree, coconut milk, curry paste and red pepper flakes.  Simmer 15 minutes, or until vegetables are very tender.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish with cilantro and serve with rice.

Pumpkin for Breakfast! Oatmeal Casserole

Yes, pumpkin is the perfect way to start the day off right.  If you really want to start the day with a bang, drizzle your serving with maple syrup or top it with a dollop of whipped cream.  This recipe makes four large servings.  This can be baked the night before and heated up in the morning.

• 2 cups pumpkin puree
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cups milk
• 2 ½ cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup raisins or craisins (optional)
• Cinnamon-sugar

Preheat oven to 375.  Grease an 8×8 baking dish.

In a large bowl, mix pumpkin puree, sugar, eggs, seasonings, and vanilla.  Add milk.

Stir in the oats and the raisins, if using.  Pour mixture into the pan and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.  Bake for 45 minutes.  Serve hot.

Pumpkin Hand Pies

Now that we have our main meals taken care of, it’s time to move on to desserts.  Pumpkin pie is a holiday staple, but can be quite messy if you have a houseful of young children.  Hand-held pies are easy to serve and easy for the smallest hands to hold.

• 1 homemade pie crust or 2 packaged crusts
• 2 cups pumpkin pie filling (homemade or store-bought)
• Vegetable oil or lard
• Cinnamon-sugar

Roll out the piecrust and cut as many 5” rounds out of the crust as you can.  You should have about 26 rounds.

Add a large tablespoon of pumpkin pie filling in the center of the round and fold into a half-moon shape.

Wet the edges of the crust to help seal and crimp with a fork.

Heat 3” of oil in a large pot to 375 degrees.  Fry hand pies, two at a time, until golden brown.  Let drain on a paper towel-covered rack.  While still warm, generously sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar, or coat with icing when cool.

Chocolate Pumpkin Bark

Making bark is fun to do with children and it is a great gift to give.  This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled, making it easy for you to get your treat bags ready for friends and family.

• ¼ cup pumpkin puree
• ½ teaspoon pumpkin spice
• 14 ounces dark chocolate chips
• 8 ounces white chocolate chips
• ¼ cup dried cranberries or dried blueberries
• ¼ cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice.

Melt chocolates in separate bowls.

Stir the pumpkin puree into the melted white chocolate.

Spread a thick layer of dark chocolate over parchment paper.  Swirl in the white chocolate mixture.  Sprinkle with dried fruit and chopped nuts.

Place in the refrigerator for twenty minutes to harden before breaking into pieces.  Serve at room temperature.

These are just a few of the hundreds of ways you can incorporate pumpkin into your diet.  Bring your pumpkins in from the front porch this season and give them a place of honor at your dining room table.

If you think these recipes sound good, check out the original “Pumpkin Palooza: Sweet & Savory Pumpkin Recipes to Try This Fall“

The post Pumpkin Palooza 2: Five Sweet & Savory Pumpkin Recipes appeared first on Homestead.org.

This is Part 2 of a two-part series on converting a rent-to-own storage building into a permanent, livable, house or cabin. You can read “Secrets to Turning a Rent-to-Own Storage Building into a House, Part One” here.

If you read and followed Part 1, then you learned how to buy a rent-to-own shell with the right additions and adjustments, such as raising the interior walls to 8 feet. You learned how to evaluate your land for the location. You learned some issues regarding water, septic, and electricity. If you paid attention you learned how to place the windows on your building for the most energy efficiency. I’m hoping you also had the builder recess the front door for storm protection.

Now you are ready to start building the interior of the cabin. This article discusses the main areas of construction with an emphasis on what you might miss or do wrong if you aren’t paying attention. Obviously, you can’t learn every aspect of construction in a short article. However, it turns out that you can make a lot of mistakes and still be happy with the results. Just don’t make the wrong mistakes. Let’s get started.

Building Codes and Permits

I am approaching this as a true homestead build. That means I am assuming you don’t need permits and there are very few—if any—building codes where you are building. That’s a big assumption. I live in the country in East Texas. I do not live in a city and the only “codes” that apply to me revolve around the septic system (which I did not install).

I also do not care about any sort of resale issues or home insurance issues. If those things matter to you then a do-it-yourself build might be problematic. So, there’s my only warning. Also, I’m not a construction guy. I’m a homesteader. So, if you know I’m wrong because you’re a pro, then there you go. It’s just an article. It’ll be OK.

Electricity

You need to have electricity to build your cabin. Nobody is going to build a cabin with hand saws and hammers. You need electricity for the tools, and for lighting once the sun goes down. When I started my build I did not have electricity on site. The electric company wasn’t going to bring the electricity for at least a month. I used a generator. However, I wired the generator INTO the breaker box that I installed in the building. That gave me both options and the ability to check my circuits as I built.

You don’t need to do it this way, but I found it very convenient. I installed my breaker box. You should get a 100 amp breaker box and install it based on how you planned your layout. I put mine in the walk-in closet.

I then used a 220-volt generator extension cord that I wired directly into my breaker box using a 50-amp breaker. This powered the entire breaker box from the generator. I then ran a couple of basic plugs inside the cabin that I could use for construction and lighting.

I can’t teach you how to run electricity in an article. My basic advice is as follows:

1. It’s not as complicated as you think it is. It’s just running wires.
2. Electricity is dangerous if you aren’t aware of what you are doing, but it’s not rocket science.
3. I have some experience with basic wiring because I have wired other buildings that I made, and I installed my own solar power array.
4. I found it much more flexible to do my own wiring because I could integrate it AS I BUILT the cabin. I didn’t need to pay someone to do it all at once and then have no flexibility later.
5. You should DRAW OUT on a piece of paper what circuits and appliances and lights and plugs you will need. You will have to do this whether you install it or someone else does.
6. You will forget things! Which is why I wired the cabin myself. I could add circuits that I forgot originally… like the bathroom exhaust vent and heat lamp.

Draw out your electrical system. Make a list of everything that will need power. This includes all lights, ceiling fans, bathroom and kitchen exhaust vents, refrigerator, garbage disposal or dishwasher, laundry room, and stove (if it is electric). Don’t forget outside wiring for porch lights and outside plugs.

You need four tools to wire your cabin. You will need some good wire cutters, a good wire stripper, a box cutter, and a 9-in-1 or 11 in 1 screwdriver. This tool gives you everything you need for any electrical work, including screwing nuts, breakers, and outlets.

That’s my advice about electricity. But don’t go crazy pulling wires through walls or headers until you do blocking!

I installed one plug right next to my breaker box, and I pulled one plug through the ceiling to the other side of the cabin for an additional plug. That was it until I installed blocking.

Blocking, Blocking, Blocking

Your cabin will look like it has the proper studs and joists needed to just start throwing up drywall and installing everything. It does not!

When you install drywall (or whatever you use) for the walls and ceiling, you need to ensure that every edge has a 2×4 to which you can screw the drywall. This will not be the case in a basic storage building. First, the corners will need an additional stud to screw drywall from one direction or the other. Also, the “ends” of the building will require you to install an overhanging piece of wood (2×4 or 2×6) so that you can screw the ceiling boards.

Every door and wall you add to your cabin will need to have blocking so that drywall for all the walls can be properly secured. You will want to install blocking to attach any cabinets in the bathroom and kitchen. Blocking is also required for the “wet wall” of the shower to install the fixtures.

Go watch YouTube videos on how to do blocking. Installing blocking before you start drilling holes to run your electrical line or plumbing is imperative. You could run your wires and pipes only to realize that you forgot to install a blocking stud first. Or even worse, go to hang your ceiling only to find that there is nowhere to screw it off! That’s bad. Blocking, blocking, blocking.

Drill Your Holes for Electricity and Plumbing on the Perimeter

Once my blocking was done, I drilled all the holes to run the electrical wire. I also installed all the boxes. Whether or not you actually pull the wire at this point is based on your wall insulation plans. Again, if you are scared, then you can hire an electrician. But have your blocking finished first and a complete drawing and list of appliances.

This involved drilling ½” or larger holes through the studs. I drilled ¾” holes. Some of my electricity ran through the ceiling, so I drilled through the top plate to bring electricity down into the wall.

Wall Insulation

Whether you install insulation before you pull the wires or after depends on what type of insulation you are installing. I used batt insulation for my cabin in both the walls and ceiling. So I installed all the wall batting before I pulled my electrical wires.

If you are going to use expanded foam spray-in insulation, then you will need to have all your wires already pulled and all of your electrical boxes installed, even if you haven’t installed plugs yet.

One thing that almost all storage buildings lack is any sort of moisture barrier installed in the walls, such as a house wrap. That means the building is more prone to moisture than a house that is wrapped. One way to fix that is to have expanded foam spray-in insulation installed. It is waterproof and will seal up your walls. Talk to your installer about what has to be done before they show up.

It’s not a bad idea to buy a case of tube caulking and to go around all the outside of your cabin and caulk everything: doors, windows, and any horizontal joints.

When to Lay Flooring

I laid my flooring very early in the process of my build. Give some thought to when you want to lay your flooring based on what flooring you will use and your expertise.

I’m bad at flooring. I’m not good at making it fit around walls and doors. I also just laid vinyl flooring. So, very early in the process, I laid my floor. That way I could do it in one big roll. It’s probably a bad idea. But I liked doing it that way. I then built my walls on top of the laid floor.

The downside of this is that it exposes the floor to being damaged during construction. The upside is that it makes laying the floor very easy. I chose easy.

If you are going to put vinyl flooring down, then you will need to skim the floor with high-quality ¼” plywood first. These are “storage building” floors. They have nails and knots and voids. You need to cover up all the defects and keep the nail heads from backing out over time. I would skim the floor before installing ANY flooring personally. When you skim it, use a pneumatic staple gun and about a million staples. That way the skim floor won’t bulge up due to moisture and heat changes.

Managing Materials

I used between 100 and 200 2x4s in my build plus lots and lots of drywall. I also had kitchen cabinets, countertops, appliances, bathroom shower stall, water heater, electrical supplies, ceiling fans, lights, plus a lot more.

Have a system for managing these materials. They have to stay dry, and they have to be managed in a way that keeps them out of the way during construction. I stored a lot of these materials inside the cabin as I built it, but I had a plan on how to move them around as the build was completed—sort of like one of those little square-moving hand puzzles you played with as a kid.

I found that it was worth paying to have my construction materials delivered. I own a 24’ trailer, but I still paid for delivery. It saves both time and effort. It saved me having to load materials onto a cart at Home Depot, then load them on my trailer, then unload them off my trailer before using them. With delivery, I just had to use them.

Building Walls

YouTube is a great source on how to build walls and door openings. I would give one suggestion, however. Use screws, not nails. Particularly use T25 screws. Why? If you aren’t experienced, then you WILL make mistakes. It’s easier to unscrew something than it is to unnail it. I haven’t used a nail in construction for 15 years. Use T-25 screws.

You have your layout. Check it again. Triple-check everything as you are installing internal walls. When I was installing my kitchen wall I measured and taped the outline of the refrigerator on the floor to make sure I had enough space for it. I also bought the shower pan for my shower and put it on the floor as I was building the bathroom wall. This made sure it fit perfectly.

A one-inch mistake with wall placement might be no biggie, or it might require a complete teardown and rebuild. Double-check all of your door placements as well. Are the doors opening in the right direction? Will they hit something? How about your kitchen cabinets? Make sure everything is going to fit exactly to your plan before installing the wall.

Remember blocking? After the wall is installed, make sure you have places to finish off drywall at the corners and the ceiling. Did you just put up a kitchen wall? Install the blocking for the cabinets now.

Finishing Plumbing and Electricity Rough-In

The walls are up, so now it’s time to finish pulling wiring, installing electrical boxes, and running plumbing. Remember, where water comes in, it will also have to go out. Don’t forget the drains. What about the dishwasher and ice maker?

Where is your water heater located? What about the clothes washing machine? Did you pull proper 220 volt wires for your dryer and electric stove? What voltage is your AC unit? I have both 120-volt and 220-volt window AC units on my homestead. You need to know what you are installing. Did you put in the right kinds of plugs for all of your appliances? Too many plugs are better than too few.

If you install plumbing, make sure it is all strapped down and secure. Are you installing shower plumbing? Watch a YouTube video to make sure it’s installed properly.

If you go slow, use a checklist, and watch YouTube videos, then you’ll probably be OK. My attitude was I can always hire a professional to fix a problem cheaper than paying them to do everything for me. That may be a bad idea, but it works for me. I didn’t have to hire anyone to help me.

Ceiling Insulation

After you have pulled all of your wires and have all of your walls built, you can install your ceiling insulation. If you put in ceiling joists (like I recommend in Part 1) then you can install 10” ceiling insulation batts. They will keep you toasty.

Installing Drywall

Did you put everything in the walls and ceiling that you needed? What about exhaust vents? I put an exhaust vent in a really weird place in my cabin. If you look at the floor plan in Part 1 of this series, you will see that my floor plan has one long central wall.

I decided to put an exhaust vent between my bedroom wall and my walk-in closet. My logic was that I wanted to be able to circulate air. It looked to me like there was no way heat would ever get into my closet, so my clothes would be cold in the winter. Plus, I wanted my cabin to be all the same temperature. I have a heater and AC in my bedroom, and I have a heater and AC in the living room. I installed a vent to get that air into my closet and bathroom. This creates a circular air pattern in my cabin that keeps it all comfy.

My point is to get everything installed before you put up the drywall.

The CEILING goes in FIRST. The walls go in Second. That’s how drywall works.

Can you guess how fun it is to try to hold drywall over your head while fitting it in place and then screwing it? It’s NOT. I rented a drywall hoist. You should also. It makes installing ceiling drywall a snap.

You don’t need one for the walls. If you are a professional, then one day is all you need. If you’ve never put up a ceiling, then you will probably need the hoist for two days. You will make lots of mistakes and need to take breaks. But maybe you can do it one day. For a 16×40’ building, you will only be installing 640 square feet on the ceiling alone.

If you put in blocking, then the drywall will go up pretty easily. The tools you need for drywall are a drywall T-Square and a razor knife. I use my handy T25 screws and a standard screw gun because I hate drywall screws. Professionals use a drywall screw gun and drywall screws. They will use it constantly. I only hang drywall 2-3 times in a lifetime. But to each his own.

I put up 12’ sheets of drywall wherever possible. None of my bedroom walls are longer than 12’, so I only have 6 joints in the entire room that I had to tape and bed. 12′ sheets of drywall are harder to move and heavier, but I prefer to have fewer joints. I still had to use plenty of 8’ sheets as well, so no plan is perfect. The fewer joints that need tape and bed and sanding and jointing, the better. Trust me!

How to hang drywall? Watch YouTube videos.

You Are Halfway Done! Yes, Really.

One thinks that a cabin is almost complete once the walls go up. One would be very wrong. Taping and mudding take a long time. Then you have to start installing the kitchen and bathroom. Do you see the in-ceiling lights in the picture? I had to remember to place all of the boxes for those lights before I put up the drywall. I then used a 4” hole saw on a drill to cut a hole. Finally, I pulled the wire down from the box, connected it to the fixture, and popped it in place. This is why you need lists and detailed plans for everything you do.

Finishing Your Cabin

This article is done. I took you as far as I could. I hope you installed blocking. Just keep going step by step. The rest is self-explanatory. You will install the kitchen cabinets. Plumb the sink and shower. Then you can put up paint and trim. Install all the bits and pieces for the plugs and switches and lights. Did you put in a reinforced box to hold the ceiling fan? Ceiling fans are the most energy-efficient appliance you can own.

How Much?

The details are what take up half your time and a lot of your budget. My cabin isn’t 100% finished, yet I live in it. Eventually, I will finish putting in trim, but I don’t need it right now. It took me about eight weeks to go from a shell to something that I could move into and live in. It cost me about $12,000 to do most of the work (before COVID inflation). I still have not put in ANY trim around the doors and windows. I have not put in any floor molding or crown molding. I still have not attached the stove exhaust vent.

I have the insulation that I need to install under the floor, but I still haven’t done that either. There are lots of bits and pieces that have not been done yet, but I don’t care. If my wife lived in the cabin with me, I’m sure I would have done them by now, but she doesn’t. She lives next door to me in her own place. I did build a porch and fenced in the yard for my dog training.

I spent about 8 weeks on the main cabin build. 80% of it was done alone. 20%, I needed a hand from my son or wife to lift large things or hold something while I screwed it.  I don’t think I could have done it any faster, to be honest; I have more time than most people with a real job. So plan the time accordingly.

My main build happened in April and May of 2021—during COVID. I ordered my building in August of 2020 (before the prices for everything went up). I bought 90% of my lumber before lumber prices went up as well. That’s why I used credit cards. I knew that any amount of interest paid before inflation hit (by using rent-to-own and credit cards) would more than make up for the inflation that was coming down the pipe.

My suspicions about inflation were right, by the way. My $15,000 (cash price) cabin would have cost $22,000 just 9 months later. It was right to buy it sooner and pay the interest. I went ahead and paid my cabin off after 1 year, instead of 3, which saved me a bunch of interest as well. I put most of the materials on credit cards. I paid them off in a year, but using credit cards allowed me to pay $4 for each 2×4 before inflation instead of $9 each after. So, the real answer to “how long does it take and how much does it cost” is… it depends.

Would I do it again? Absolutely. Having someone else build the shell professionally, and then finishing it in a do-it-myself manner makes perfect financial and time sense to me. I hate mortgages. If you don’t mind paying a mortgage, then it might make sense to have a real house built. But for me, I’m happy.

The whole thing (including paying for it all) from start to finish took about 12 months…. “Wait, I thought you said it took 8 weeks?” The literal inside build took 8 weeks. I actually ordered the cabin in August of 2020. It wasn’t delivered until November of 2020. After it was delivered, I did the trenching for water and electricity. In early 2021, the electricity company showed up and put electricity to my new meter for the cabin. I also had already purchased much of the materials for the build in an effort to beat inflation.

Finally, in April of 2021, I started the build. By June 1st, I was living in the cabin, even though it still needed (and needs) some finishing. But I got it done, and that makes me happy.

Good luck with your build.

The post Secrets to Turning a Rent-to-Own Storage Building into a House, Part Two appeared first on Homestead.org.

As someone who remembers making phone calls with four numbers, before prefixes and area codes, I could be one of those grumpy oldsters. But like many an oldster, I’ve been curious to see what life was like way before my time. A lot of homesteaders also have this curiosity. They live in cabins, grow their own food, raise chickens for eggs, and keep a cow for milk, and… have a cellphone hidden away, purely for emergencies, of course.

But looking at life from the point of view of devices is to miss the big picture, like looking for a certain brushstroke in a painting by Rembrandt or Wyeth. The real question—what did we used to do?—is not answered by a negative like “we didn’t have phones” or “we didn’t watch TV.” It’s answered by positives, important positives.

Recently I came across a book that seems to hold a lot of positive, accessible, doable answers to what we did, and what we can still do, when we leave our devices in the drawer for a while. The book—How to Do Things—is a reprint of a book first published in 1919—yes, 100 years ago—a time when about 50 percent of Americans lived in rural areas, when “the grid” was unavailable, and even telephones, though invented and in use, were a rarity in private homes, with small communities perhaps having one or two to share. The “candlestick” telephone often portrayed in vintage movies was invented in 1919.

How to Do Things was a collection of short articles gathered by the national magazine, Farm Journal, which began publication in 1877 and is still in business today. The Journal was doubtless an exciting addition to life on a remote farm, bringing its readers in touch with other people, ideas and even moneymaking prospects. HTDT was the brainchild of a Pennsylvania Quaker farmer and journalist, Wilmer Atkinson; the newly minted edition, subtitled “A Timeless Guide to a Simpler Life,” was edited by William Campbell. This description is offered on the book’s back cover:

“Written by farmers and craftsmen, with original text and illustrations from the 1919 first edition, this 100th-anniversary volume presents a new generation with expert guidance on every facet of homesteading.”

HTDT jumps right in with what might have been thought of as a rather more modern activity, “Mailing Lists That Make Money.” For instance, we are told of a farmer who, “using a typewriter”, contacted seed sellers with an offer on his seed corn. Another such agro-entrepreneur made a catalog of his hickory nut crop, thus creating a “parcel-post trade.” Parallels to internet enterprise will not be missed, I am sure, by some of our more ambitious readers, and may remind us that “things to do” can become “ways to make money” as you have often noted in the articles on Homestead.org.

There are innumerable tips in HTDT regarding animal husbandry (funny word, hmm?): these include making a mask for your hog to keep him from eating your chicks. There is a guide for figuring what creatures are killing your chickens and how to deal with them, whether it be skunk, weasel or fox: dig your chicken house foundations underground, surround it with a stone wall, and keep a good guard dog on patrol. Another way to keep avian pests away: tie your cat (gently) to a run near your berry patch to ward off the birds that thrive on berries. (I like this idea after two years of helplessly watching our succulent blackberries disappear in bird beaks. Now I just need to find a cat that my good guard dog will tolerate!)

If you’re looking for some indoor activities, HTDT has plenty. There are instructions for canning and cheesemaking, and recipes for holiday sweetmeats, steamed bread, corn chowder, cream soups, Louisiana cornbread, a rather exotic-sounding fish flake soufflé, and a specialty called Red Bunny, that simply combines butter, American cheese, and tomatoes melted together and poured on toast (gonna try that one!).

Another pleasant, indoor autumn- or rainy-day thing to do is to make a window garden. Full instructions included. Interesting that farmers 100 years ago packed indoor plants in sphagnum moss, which was deemed both useful in retaining water around the plants but also attractive—nowadays we may use colored mulch, but the principle is the same.

Our forebears of the last century, lacking insulation, used their “spare” time to fill the space between inner and outer walls with… newspaper. Newspaper was also used for shading plants.HTDT, some of its contributions written as it was by amateurs in the writing field but doers in the real fields, can be both conversational and amusing, as in one segment about “Planning the Porch” in which a husband and wife “discuss” how to build that important add-on, covering everything from dimensions to breeze-catching (the man wins this one).

Of course, farm children are rarely idle, and our forebears learned from an early age how to cook, sew, clean, “whip rugs” and even “tinker up things now and then.”

But when all the work was done, there were other things to do in 1919. Parties were encouraged and indoor games were popular. HTDT includes many such parlor favorites. One was very simply a smiling contest—the one who can smile the longest is the winner. The opposite was “The Continuous Glum” in which the audience dares the participants not to laugh while making funny faces and telling jokes to force someone to lose. The intellect is tickled with the “Game of Telegrams” in which ten letters chosen at random and players are challenged to make a (preferably silly) sentence in which each letter is the start of a word. The example given is A L P O C R G D E H with the possible answer: “All ladies passing our car receive good dinners eaten hot.”

A game that showed up in carnivals was apparently “invented” at home: throwing a ball into a basket. In the carnival, the basket was rigged to bounce the ball back out, but our grandparents undoubtedly played this simply to reward the prowess of those with a good pitching arm. I like the “standing high jump” in which contestants jump for a donut hanging in a doorway. A similar challenge involves eating buns hanging on a gently swaying clothesline—with your hands behind your back. Potato peeling and carving contests were popular, along with a race accomplished while holding a large potato in one hand with a sewing pin (I recall a version of this from my 1950s childhood, holding potatoes in a spoon). There are games, pantomime, and mind-reading. All of these games and party plans would have given your parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents some things to do, and all would probably be fun to try—if you can put down that device for a while!

Since autos were in use, though, like phones, a relative rarity in 1919, there are a few automotive tips for Farm Journal/HTDT readers. The difference in today’s auto emergencies can be readily grasped in the section on how to make a small fire, with sand and gasoline, to illuminate the work of changing a tire (or repairing a punctured one) at night—nope, no headlights. Another fire-lit farm invention is a barrel for boiling water. It features an iron pipe stuck in the barrel’s bottom, with a plug on the outside end. The pipe is heated with a kindling fire and “you’ll have scalding water in about 30 minutes.”

Electricity is mentioned once in HTDT, its virtues extolled as “The New Farm Helper.” Electricity can save on the cost of labor, and save energy on household chores like churning, chopping, watering, pumping, and running machines like an automatic milker. HTDT offers the notion that “we are going to witness—are witnessing—the introduction of this modern force at a rate that foretells great and helpful changes…..” Can—will—the same be said of our internet-driven devices? Well, yes, of course.  We cherish our microwaves, our egg sorters, and our tractors operated by remote control. Like electricity, like the auto, these marvelous new inventions give us more time to…..

…fill in the blank!

The post How to Do Things – 1919 Style appeared first on Homestead.org.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 c. salted butter, melted
• 1 c. smooth peanut butter
• 2 c. graham cracker crumbs (about 12-15 crackers)
• 1 3/4 c. powdered sugar
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1 t. vanilla
• One 11.5 oz. bag of milk chocolate chips (about 2 c.)

In a large bowl, combine everything but the chocolate chips into a wet but spreadable batter.  Spread the mixture into a 9×13 pan and spread evenly with a spatula.

Next, melt the chocolate chips, either using a double-boil method or the microwave at half power (if you microwave, be sure to stir it every 30 seconds or so to prevent scorching).  Pour the melted chocolate over the peanut butter and spread evenly.  Jiggle the pan a little to smooth out any bumps and refrigerate for an hour or more.

Wasn’t that easy?  Now, just slice them up to your desired size and dig in!

Want more chocolate peanut butter love? Check out these Peanut-butter Chocolate Valentines.

The Best Lemon Bars

The post Easy, No-bake Reese’s Bars appeared first on Homestead.org.

Where I live, you can’t go far without seeing a place that sells “rent-to-own” wooden or metal storage buildings. They are built in a way that makes them very easy to repossess, so they can be offered with “no credit check” to just about anyone with a bank account. I have purchased three of the wood buildings and three of the metal buildings over the years. I converted each of the wood buildings into liveable spaces.

Why Not Build Your Own Building From Scratch?

Building your own structure from the ground up is possible, and it is cheaper than buying a storage building. Building it yourself gives you better layout options. You can build in whatever shape you want, and you have complete control.

The downside of building your own house is a lack of experience and skill. I’ve seen skilled workers build a 640-square-foot building in a day. It would take me a month, and I would mess it up. It’s not “hard” to build a building like this. You could go look at one at the local dealer, take pictures and notes, and probably work out how to build it yourself. If you feel comfortable doing that, then go for it. I, personally, have built a number of buildings from scratch, and I wanted professionals to build my “retirement” house for me. It’s not a chicken coop, and it needs to last 30 years.

When you rent-to-own a portable building like the one shown here, you also free up your current cash to use to finish out the inside. I have “some” money. When I took all of my savings and extra cash, I had enough to finish the interior of my cabin. I did not have enough to both build it and finish it out. That’s another reason why I chose a rent-to-own portable building as a base. It gave me the opportunity to pay the building off over three years (or more; I chose three).

The interest rate on a rent-to-own building will make your eyes bleed. Typically, if you pay the building off in three to four years, the building will cost TWICE what the cash price would be. The cabin shown in this article could be purchased for about $15,000 cash or paid off over three years for about $25,000. But anyone can buy one regardless of credit. If you have great credit, then it would be better to get a personal loan from the bank and buy the building for cash. Those of us with less than great credit just swallow hard and make the payments. It’s a HOUSE! And it will be paid off in three or four years, not thirty.

As a side note, a 30-year mortgage on a $150,000 house at 3.5% interest also has a total payoff of $250,000. So, tomato, tomahto.

Choosing Wood or Metal

Typically, the wood buildings are a much better choice than the metal buildings. The metal buildings are not nearly as watertight, and they “sweat” or condense moisture out of the air onto the inside of the metal. Unless I knew exactly how to make a metal building dry and airtight, I would not make a cabin or house out of a metal storage building. Also, the wood buildings are placed on raised foundations, which makes them more flood-proof and easier to install plumbing.

The wood buildings are more expensive than the metal ones, but they are really well built and can be made into a cabin “easily.” I put “easily” in quotes because the devil is in the details. I would choose a wood building for my cabin. It’s a great platform to start with.

Land, Water, Electricity, Septic

Before you get the building, you need a rock-solid plan on how usable the land actually is, plus water supply, electrical supply, and how to deal with waste. Local building codes may limit what type of building can be used as a residence. I live in the country in Texas. The only codes I have to deal with are regarding septic systems. Just about anything else is fair game.

From a distance, all fields look lush and ready to just plop a house on. This is often not the case. Rain and water management are very important. In my case, I put my cabin deep in my east pasture. I have driven in this pasture plenty of times. However, once the cabin was placed and I drove back and forth to it multiple times a day during rainy weather, I realized that I needed a $4,000 gravel driveway installed. When the rainy season arrives, nice dirt tracks often turn into soupy mud. Plan accordingly.

Where is the water supply? I served on the board of directors for the local water company. It’s amazing how often people don’t think about water until it’s too late. They are often shocked to learn that they have to pay large fees to get water moved to the other side of the road. Sometimes people can’t get water at all for some reason or another. Find the water company and talk to them BEFORE committing to the land or the cabin location. Do the same with the electric company.

Land that already has water and electricity “on-site” is worth its weight, not only from a cost perspective but it also saves you from a world of hassle.

Even if water and electricity are already on site, you must plan for how you will get it to the actual cabin. How hard will it be to trench? Where I live, the land is sand and clay… easy digging. I rented a trencher for the morning and was done by lunch. Other areas may be rocky or filled with tree roots. How will the water and electricity get run to the cabin? It’s very important. Also, have a locator service come to check for existing lines before you dig.

What will happen with the water that LEAVES the cabin? Cabins produce GREY water (sinks, showers, washing machines) and BLACK water (toilets). Know what your local authority requires. Where I live, we can just let greywater run out on the ground. We made a little greywater pond. However, blackwater (sewage) is highly regulated.

We have a septic tank on our farm, but it is nowhere near the new cabin location. I had no interest in spending the money to put in a legal septic system and no interest in making an improper septic system. So we use a composting toilet. This is a toilet that uses a composting medium (ground coconut husks) to neutralize the poop. We bought a really nice one from Nature’s Head that cost $1,000. It works great.

Many people make their own composting toilet out of a 5-gallon bucket and sawdust or dry leaves. While this may be useful short-term, I think a proper composting toilet with rubber seals and an active ventilation system is the minimum one would want for a permanent home. $1,000 for a Nature’s Head model may sound expensive, but if you divide that by the amount of time you will use it, it’s cheaper than the toilet paper that will go into it. That being said, self-made composting toilets are also a truly viable option. Barring that, install a septic tank.

Energy Efficiency through Cabin and Window Placement

Look at how the sun goes over your land. I live in Texas, where heat is a problem. The vast majority of the heat comes from the south and west sides of buildings. The south is the worst. So I placed my cabin so the narrow end of the cabin faces south. I put no windows on the south-facing wall. I only put one small window on the west-facing wall. I put huge, beautiful windows on the east and north walls of my cabin. This gives me the best views with the most efficiency.

If I lived in the north, I might have done the opposite and faced my windows south and west to maximize heat gain in the winter. When you are placing and finishing your own building, take the time to make deliberate choices. Don’t just face the front of the building toward the road because everyone else did. Proper placement can save hundreds of dollars per year in heating and cooling costs.

Choosing How to Have the Building Built

You can customize how your building is built. First, upgrade all the windows from storage building grade to house grade windows. Also, lose the storage building door and replace it with a house door. That’s easy.

GET 8-FOOT INTERIOR WALLS!!! Most storage buildings come with 8’ EXTERIOR walls. That means the interior walls are shorter than that. Pay the extra money to get proper 8” interior walls in your new cabin. If you don’t, then you will regret it. Trust me.

Next, look at the interior. Does the building have proper rafters, or is it completely open? Unless you are really going to use that extra ceiling space, I highly recommend asking them to install proper 2’ on-center rafters in your building. The open ceiling “lofted” look is appealing, but it is very inefficient and makes building interior walls and running electricity tougher.

With proper rafters, you have space for 10” ceiling insulation. With a lofted ceiling, you only get about 5” of insulation. With proper rafters, you have space to run electrical wires, AC ducts, or anything else between the ceiling and the roof. With lofted ceilings, you don’t have any options. With proper rafters and 8’ interior walls, you can easily build rooms with pre-cut studs, standard drywall sheets, etc.

I use window AC units to cool my building. Instead of taking up window space to install them, I had the builder cut and frame out a hole through the wall on each end of the building for the AC units. This allows me to use my windows freely. It’s a minor additional expense that is well worth the trouble.

It is worth having them (the guys building the building) do as much of the work as practical. It is possible to get an entirely finished cabin delivered. Just move in! This is expensive. It is also possible just to get the basic shell with no changes. That requires you to do a lot of the basic construction that you could have avoided. The money saved is often minimal and not worth the trouble. Choose how much you can have them do for you. You may want them to stud out the walls for you!

At the least, I would have them replace the windows with house-grade windows, replace the door with a house door, and raise the interior wall height to 8’. I would also strongly consider having them install proper ceiling rafters.

Finally, if they can create a 2-foot recessed area for the front door, I would recommend it. If the door is flush with the outside wall, then heavy rain will get into your house. If you can have them recess the door 2” and give you a small landing/porch, that is best. Otherwise, plan on putting an awning or porch on the place ASAP. The rain will blow in under the door otherwise, ruining your floor.

WHEW! That was a lot, and the building hasn’t even arrived yet!

Most wooden buildings need no site prep. They use large blocks as foundations and support the building well on undisturbed ground. Ask the rental company, but no “foundation prep” or “leveling” is required on generally flat locations.

They will either build the building off-site and deliver it on a truck, or they will build your building on site. Most commonly, the largest building you can buy is 16’ x 40’. This is often the largest building that can be transported on a trailer. I have seen them go as wide as 18’ and as long as 50’, but it is rare. The basic buildings are generally 16×40’ or smaller.

What can you do with 640 square feet?

I went online to a site called Floorplanner.com to lay out the floor plan for my cabin build. There are many sites like this. It is very important to spend a lot of time on your floor plan. Good floor planners have an inventory of furniture, appliances, and fixtures. This allows you to lay everything out exactly. You want to make good use of the floor space in your cabin. A few inches can make a big difference, or make a big headache! So take your time.

After I planned my cabin online, I used tape to lay it all out on the floor. I actually did this on a display unit at the rent-to-own lot before I ordered my building. This allowed me to be 100% certain of what I was doing.

I did make some adjustments as I built. For instance, I pulled the wall behind the kitchen counters (center on the right) forward but left a deep area for the refrigerator. This lined the cabinet fronts up with the front of the refrigerator. I also shortened the wall slightly in front of the door for better flow into the room.

You can see from the following pictures how the furniture layout in the software matched what actually happened. First in the bedroom, then in the living room. You may see how the rooms still required a little work. For example, they need some more trim or outlet covers. The cabin is still being finished as I have money for bits and pieces.

Conclusion to Part 1

Part 1 of this series was an overview of decisions to make before starting construction on your portable building to cabin conversion. Some of these secrets are not obvious and can make all the difference. In the living room picture above, you can see how the window AC unit integrates into the wall. Once I add trim, it will simply disappear into the wall. Having the builders frame out the hole helped me not have to build that myself, and I didn’t have to put the AC in a window! Having the front door inset with a 2-foot-deep porch saved me from having my cabin floor flood during hard rains.

You can also see how taking my time to plan the design and do a full-scale layout—including furniture—helped ensure that everything fit properly with plenty of room for walking around. This also allowed me to properly do the next steps of the build, which include: materials lists, budgets, and doing the interior work myself.

I finished this cabin entirely by myself with just some occasional assistance from my son to help me lift heavy things like large drywall sheets. It is possible to build a nice home by yourself with the right guidance. The next section will talk about how to ensure you don’t miss critical steps that will cause major problems later in your build.

I chose to build a cabin that I can live in for the rest of my life. That means proper amenities like a full-size shower and kitchen, nice finishes, and enough space to live comfortably. While I like the idea of “tiny houses,” I, personally, need some elbow room, particularly when the weather outside is cold or wet for weeks on end. I’m not camping. This is my home.

What’s Next?

How long does it take to finish a cabin like this? How much does it cost to finish a building like this? What items are commonly priced wrong, built wrong, and done wrong that will cause major headaches after the fact? What are the secrets to building the interior quickly, easily, and inexpensively?

Those are questions for the next installment! I will see you then.

Read “Secrets to Turning a Rent-to-Own Storage Building into a House, Part Two” here.

The post Secrets to Turning a Rent-to-Own Storage Building into a House, Part One appeared first on Homestead.org.