What you will need:

• 2 Foot piece of wood about 1 inch thick
• Empty paint can
• Tin-snips
• Can of black spray paint
• 4 Screws
• Screwdriver

Directions:

1. Remove the top of the paint can and use the tin-snips to cut the paint can in half lengthwise
2. Spray paint the cans black (this will make the targets stand out more)
3. Cut the board to the appropriate size if you have not done so already
4. Lay the board flat and screw each 1/2 paint can onto the board at the appropriate space using two screws per half. The finished product should look something like the picture below.

Until next time, keep Making a Homestead, one day at a time.

The website of the week for this week is Freecycle.Org.  Freecycle.Org is an online community that gathers people together with the goal of reusing and recycling. One thing I like about Freecycle.Org is that there are so many participants and sub-communities that there is one just about everywhere. It is unique as well in its specificity, meaning that one can ask for a specific thing (usually used) and often get it. These are objects that often would just be thrown away and can’t even be recycled at normal recycling centers. And for the savvy Freecycler, there are some major treasures to be found. I personally have gotten books, movies, gardening supplies and most recently a large box of CB radio equipment. If you aren’t a member I’d highly suggest it. And hey, it’s free! Read below to see how they refer to themselves in their own words.

From the Freecycle Website:

The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 5,020 groups with 8,856,131 members around the world. It’s a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by local volunteers (them’s good people). Membership is free. To sign up, find your community by entering it into the search box above or by clicking on ‘Browse Groups’ above the search box.

http://www.freecycle.org/

Until next time, keep Making a Homestead, one day at a time.

Ingredients:

• 6 Leaves of Kale
• 4 Stalks of Celery
• 2 Green Apples
• 1 Piece of Ginger
• 1 Cucumber
• 1/2 peeled Lemon

Simply put in a juicer and it makes one serving as shown below. The different colors are the different ingredients; such as cucumbers are almost clear, while kale is bright green.

I should add a couple caveats that I think might help. For instance, the drink is much better cold, preferably over ice chips. I like to drink at least one of these a day in place of a meal, usually breakfast.  Sometimes I will mix it with distilled water and sip it throug out the day instead of snacking. It has already made quite a difference as I feel more energized and eat less in my other meals. Until next, keep Making a Homestead, one day at a time.

Materials You Will Need:

• Aluminum can
• Pair of scissors, wire cutters or multi-tool with cutters

Directions:

Step 1) Remove the tab from the top of the can with your hand or pliers. *Be careful not to cut your hand on the lip.

Step 2) Begin by making a cut on the edge where the two circles join at a 45° angle down towards the bottom of the larger circle. (Sorry for the crappy phone pics)

Step 3) Make additional cuts to remove extra metal and make the hook easier for the fish to bite.

Step 4) Use your hands or pliers to remove and bend back any extra material at the bottom of the hook.

The finished product should look like this…

You can also use the rest of the can as a reel if you have need. Or since they are so easy to make, you could make a bunch and do a trout line. That would really come in handy if you were desperate as any passive means of catching food conserves calories and frees up your time to do other things. Until next time, keep Making a Homestead, one day at a time.

• 4 Bananas (preferably ones that are over-ripe)
• 1 Stick of Butter
• 1 Egg
• 1 Cup of Sugar
• 1 1/2 Cups of Flour
• 1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
• 1 Teaspoon of Baking Soda
• 1 Pinch of Salt

Directions:

1) First preheat the oven to 350°

2) Peel and mash up the bananas in a bowl.

3) Melt the stick of butter in a frying pan.

4) Scramble an egg

5) Pour the butter, egg, vanilla extract, sugar, baking soda and salt into the bowl with the bananas and stir.

6) Pour the flour into the mix and stir it in.

7 ) Grease a bread pan.

8 ) Pour mix into the bread pan and cook in the oven for one hour.

9) ENJOY!!!

Until next time, keep Making a Homestead, one day at a time.

Below is a 3×3 bed where I tossed the tiny cloves of garlic and a few shallots that were too small to worry about planting in their individual spots.  There is also some ‘wild’ garlic planted here I got from a fellow member of the The Survival Podcast Forum. Like most of my beds it is caged in from rabbits and other pests.

I planted Oregano in one square about two years ago. Now, it has taken over 3 m0re. Luckily, the shallots don’t seem to mind. 

My vermacompost bin has been doing great. I didn’t need much worm juice over the winter so I have a bout a gallon and a half stored up. Sorry the picture below is a little fuzzy.

Below is my Elephant Garlic bed, 4×4 , which didn’t seem to mind the winter at all…

This stuff is awesome, the tops remind of pineapples.

True to its name the stalks are elephant size already. Below, is a comparison of the same stalk as above next to a pen (again, sorry for the blurry phone pic).

My Early California Softneck Garlic is going crazy too. The bed is 2×6 and I planted all squares except one where I let a Spicy Globe Basil plant go to seed.

A peek inside the cold frame below… Shallots, Collards and Lettuce

2 Types of lettuce, Green Tower head lettuce and Buttercrunch leaf lettuce, as well as a couple garlic plants below in another fenced in 2×6 bed.

The garden tub beds below are doing really good. They about a foot and a half tall, but there is only a foot or so of soil in there. I think the extra soil and the raised walls of the tub have helped to protect the plants. Both of the tubs have a mixture of garlic, lettuce and carrots.

My rosemary made it through the winter just fine and will begin its second year this year.

Lastly, I thought I’d end with some beauty; the camellias are in bloom.

Let’s take a closer look…

Until next time, keep Making a Homestead, one day at a time.

Materials needed:

• Knife
• Tape
• Plastic Bottle

Directions:

1) First gather the materials.

2) Use the knife to cut the top off the bottle. Cut along the part that it begins to taper. This way when reversed it will not fall in.

This one is a little fuzzy, but might show the angle better…

Cut until top is fully removed.

3) Now, take the top you just cut off and remove the cap if you have not already done so. Then invert it over the other part of the plastic bottle.

4) Now secure the two pieces in place with tape to keep the top from falling into the bottom.

5) The final step is just to bait it and set it outside.  To do so you can add any sweet liquid such as sugar water or leftover soda. The bugs will be attracted to the sweetness and then be unable to fly out.

*NOTE: Be mindful about which insects you are trapping and how many.  Some of what we consider ‘pests’ are actually beneficial insects and your garden benefits from their presence.

Until next time, keep Making a Homestead, one day at a time.

Download.com is our website of the week.  This is a really cool site for downloading all kinds of software and apps… for FREE.  Be it Windows, Mac, Browser or even Mobile based there are tons of free downloads to choose from.  However, I will add that not all the downloads are free, many are free trials.  Still though there is some awesome stuff on there.  For example, there are several Free anti-virus downloads ( I recommend either AVG Free or Avast Free) as well as anti-spyware software (I like Malwarebytes) and if you are having trouble watching video try VLC media player which is free and plays video of pretty much every file type under the sun.

As an added feature, the downloads are easily sorted not just by Operating System or platform, but also by number of downloads and how it ranked among the Editors and the users who downloaded it (2 different rankings using the Star system).  This system is closely monitored and constantly updated by a team of experienced professionals.  It also has a list of top daily downloads and a download blog showcasing said downloads in full.

It isn’t all cut and dry stuff though.  On Downloads.com there are tons of free games and screen savers to play with.  Some of the games are just trials, but that is a great way to see whether they are worth investing in or not. In addition to the adult first-person shooter type games, Download.com has games of all types of genres, including children’s games and puzzles to help kids learn.

Most importantly they stand by their guarantee, “All software on Download has been tested to ensure it’s 100% free of spyware, viruses, and other malware. ”

I hope this helps.  I know computers are expensive sometimes software can even double the price.  Hopefully, through this site you will be able to find some alternatives, save a little cash and maybe use it on the homestead.  Until, next time, keep Making a Homestead, one day at a time.