For the whole year of 2021, I am challenging myself. I am going to learn 52 new self reliant skills throughout the year. Yes, that’s one new skill every week! I’m calling it the “Self Reliant Skill of the Week”. And I hope you’ll follow along!
I am going to be posting a new post here every week with the Self Reliant Skill of the Week, and a video of the results on my YouTube channel. It will be announced on Friday by roughly 5:00 pm MT on my Facebook page. Follow me there to get the reminders!
My email subscribers will also be getting a reminder on Friday. Sign up below to get those emails!
I hope you’ll follow along on my journey. I’ve been homesteading for 3 years, but there is always something new to learn!
I am especially excited about learning all of the old-fashioned, vintage skills. The ones that helped our grandparents get through hard times, like The Great Depression.
Self reliance is learning to do things on your own, to be independent. My goal is to lessen my dependence on the grocery stores, to grow and make a lot of what we consume here on the farm. To make our own income from our land. To be prepared for whatever life throws at us.
I have always been drawn to living simply. In fact, I sometimes joke that I was born a generation or two too late. My mother was born during The Great Depression, so she passed on a lot of her frugality to me. She always had a food storage, reused things that she could, and saved as much money as she could.
I believe that these vintage skills are too valuable to let slip away. So I’m embracing them! This is going to be a fun experience for me, and I think it will be fun for you too. I sincerely hope you’ll consider joining me in learning these “new” self reliant skills. Let’s do this together!
Have you ever foraged or used black walnuts? They are a wonderful tree that grows wild in many parts of the world. People typically associate black walnut with the nut that you roast or put in banana nut bread. But the shell has actually been used medicinally for ages. That’s what we’re going to be …
Benefits of Black Walnut Hull, Plus a Tincture Recipe Read More »
Ahh, tomatoes. Every home gardener grows them, right? But they can be so productive, what do you do with the huge harvests you often get? Well, if you’re smart about it, you can make some delicious homemade spaghetti sauce with them! For this Self Reliant Skill of the Week, I’m canning homemade spaghetti sauce for …
I’ve harvested a ton of cucumbers lately, so I needed something to do with them all. So for this week’s edition of the Self Reliant Skill of the Week, I’m making homemade dill pickles. I grew a mix of regular cucumbers and pickling cucumbers this year. A lot of them turned out yellow and bitter. …
Homemade Dill Pickles for the Refrigerator or Canning Read More »
Does your husband sometimes bring home random projects for you? Mine does! The other day, he brought home 6 dozen ears of sweet corn that he bought at a roadside stand. That’s right, 72 ears of corn! He then took me to the store to get more canning jars. So guess what I’m doing for …
Do you like pickled beets? It seems like everyone either hates them or love them. My daughter and I love them. So when I harvested 4 medium beets from my garden this week, I decided to do some refrigerator pickled beets. I’ve never made pickled beets, so I’m doing this for my Self Reliant Skill …
Ah, sage. The word conjures images of knowledge and wisdom. And medicinally, sage is just as wise. Sage is a wonderful herb that has many medicinal uses. It should be no surprise that I love sage. It’s one of the many herbs that I believe everyone should have in their herb garden. Today, for the …
Laundry detergent can get expensive. But I may have found a cheaper solution! If you make your own homemade laundry detergent, you get to control what goes into it, and it’s cheaper than buying ready-made detergent. This week, for the Self Reliant Skill of the Week, I made homemade laundry detergent. I’ve done a similar …
Do you have sluggish digestion? Gas? Bloating? You probably need to take herbal bitters! Herbal bitters help you digest food and absorb nutrients out of the food better. Most of the world’s people take digestive bitters, except Americans. We have changed our diets so much that they don’t include the bitter herbs and vegetables our …
I’ve decided that I need to give my body a little more love. I’m getting older, I’m getting more aches and pains, and I feel like my immune system needs some serious support. So I’ve done a little research on healing myself holistically, and decided I’m putting myself on an anti-inflammatory regimen. I am now …
There are a lot of rumors going around about a potential food shortage coming. And while I’m not going to say that I’m sure of it, I have been doing my best to prepare for it. I actually have been for years. I believe that a good way to prepare for any kind of food …
