Author Archives: Slocum's Creak

With the price of eggs more people are taking to keeping chicken as a way to offset the cost of eggs. Where I live 2 1/2 dozen eggs are now just shy of $20. They was $7 at the start of last Summer. I had gone into a farm supply store looking for the brewContinue reading “Chicken coop”

  A great way to save and store food stuffs for long term storage, canning and vacuum sealing are great ways of saving food.   I’ve had and used a vacuum sealer for many years. We started using one to cut out loss to freezer burn.   At the start I didn’t realize freezer burnContinue reading “Vacuum sealing food.”

  I have read there are about 35 species of elm trees. Of course covering all of them would be a lengthy process and is a bit beyond the scope of this blog.   And not all of them are important to homesteading, which is my primary focus.   American Elm is used for makingContinue reading “Elm trees”

Above is a picture of the one I ended up getting. It was around $25 at Walmart. The blades are really sharp and it has sliced everything I’ve thrown at it. From paper thin to around 1/4″ or so. It has four settings but to be honest, I’m not sure what they are. I generallyContinue reading “Mandolin”

I’ve done something a bit different today. To be honest I was hoping it would just show the whole booklet. It’s 44 pages and feels like it takes forever to download. However that being said, this is good information. It was put out in 1917 by the United States and Bureau of Plant Industry. BackContinue reading “Small vegetable gardening.”

Last year I found a tree growing in my yard, I’m assuming a bird or squirrel dropped the seed it started from. It’s pushing 12′ now. All Summer I’d give it a good long soaking about every week. After looking into it I figured out it was a shag bark hickory tree. I had aboutContinue reading “Shag bark hickory trees”

So anyways the gist of this entry, assuming I can ever finish. My 3 year old helper was pointing out the many, many grammatical mistakes while sitting on my lap and asking if he can fix them while reaching for my key pad. Lol Starting again on this post, it’s been nearly two years sinceContinue reading “Time for a cold frame?”

Like many I have limited storage space. So I’ve been moving more towards dehydrating  and vacuum packing. There’s advantages in both space saving and longer term storage of produce that would spoil rather quickly in comparison to fresh.   Early on I posted a little about dehydrating, while I had used a dehydrator for yearsContinue reading “Dehydrated Food revisited.”

I’m a bit premature with this one for sure but I’m gearing up to start my seedlings. I waited last season until I was supposed to have. However much of what I started last season from seed failed to produce. We had a pretty toasty Summer and it just got too hot too fast, soContinue reading “Starting seeds”

  I have often seen others questioning how they can best recycle or repurpose their old tin cans. Some of the cans that processed foods come in are aluminum and shouldn’t be a problem to recycle. Though that may depend on the salvage yard you have access to.   The one that is local toContinue reading “Recycling tin cans”