A Practical Guide to Making Firewood from a Fallen Tree in Your Garden

A Practical Guide to Making Firewood

Many of you may have gardens littered with fallen trees from strong winds or lightning. What are you going to do with all these fallen trees? The simple answer is: make firewood. There are certainly many alternatives to firewood in this day-and-age, such as gas and electricity.  However, firewood is a very budget-friendly source of fuel in comparison to gas and oil. You may feel unsure of the how to turn fallen trees into neatly-chopped firewood. If this is the case, then this article was written especially for you!

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Home Economics, Deer Processing and the Value of a Buck, Part II

Home Economics Part II: Dear Processing and the Value of a Buck

Home Economics

Deer Processing and the Value of a Buck, Part II

Up here in cold country, venison in the freezer is good insurance.  That not only applies for beautiful NW Montana, but for anyone who spends the short afternoons of Autumn boiling hog bodies, dragging a deer carcass or plucking feathers only to tirelessly cut, chop and/or grind up meat.  If that is you, you know the value of food put up for the winter.  The subject of home economics is indeed one often learned by watching others or it might be taught by the unavoidable mathematics of stores on the shelf divided by mouths to feed. 

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Home Economics, Deer Processing and the Value of a Buck, Part I

Value of a Buck part 1

Christmas came and went this year with splendid simplicity and great memories with family and friends.  Chaya and I took some time to pick up some books that are perpetually on the night stand throughout some of the busier parts of the year.  One topic that has always been of interest to us here at Pantry Paratus is the subject of Home Economics, and so I was especially curious when I came across a tweet by Michael Pollan citing this Huffington Post article

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Grow and Harvest Yarrow for Insect Bites and Stings

I started beekeeping with two hives, and one was very calm and docile.  The other? Uh, no, turns out they were Africanized and put me into the hospital.  That’s another story you can read about here.  But until we actually figured it out, we were finding ourselves with stings from just “more aggressive than normal” bees.  Of everything we tried to soothe our skin, our family found Yarrow to be the most effective non-drowsy option.   

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Making Healthy Food Decisions for Your Family

Making Healthy Food Decisions

Eating healthy is difficult these days, mainly because it’s hard to know what “healthy food” is. There are so many fad diets and theories on the “best” diet for optimum health that it’s hard to know where to start. Add this to the fact that many “nutritional” labels can be misleading, and it’s really difficult to know whether your efforts are even effective or not. Below are some tips on making healthy food decisions for your family.

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Florida will make these emergency preparedness items tax exempt

We have talked about emergency preparedness a lot on our site lately.  We believe in kitchen self-sufficiency and traditional skills because they are healthy, economical, environmentally friendlier than packaged foods, and…because they ensure a greater sense of security in the face of disaster.  Disaster preparedness is on our minds this time of year, knowing that we are just around the corner from Tornado Season and Hurricane Season in many parts of our country.

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Things Besides Food to Have for Short-Term Emergencies

things besides food to have for short-term emergencies

Snow storms, grid-down situations, extreme temperatures and social unrest, there are plenty of reasons you could be forced to stay inside your home for a few days, maybe even a week. Emergencies happen all the time and there’s no reason to assume they won’t affect you at some point, even though, until now, they were things that happened to “other people”.  It’s time to get ready for short-term emergencies.

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Financial Preparedness: 3 Tips for Your Children’s Future

Financial Preparedness

When my husband and I were sorting through my late mother-in-law’s final arrangements, I realized we hadn’t done nearly enough in our own future planning. It was scary to imagine a situation where my children would be on their own, and it brought up a lot of worst case scenarios I never wanted to think about. But preparing for any situation is crucial to my family’s well-being, especially to my children’s future, and in the end I feel a lot better knowing we’ve taken care of everything.

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10 Reasons Why Dogs Are Good for Kids

10 Reasons Why Dogs are Good for Kids

Christmas is in the air, and with nearly days before the season of love and giving, parents are clamoring gift shops and toys stores looking for the perfect gift to give their children. Although it might be fun and easy to simply buy a toy car, a train set, or a gadget to satisfy the so-called “immediate wants” of children, these items will eventually be either broken or lose the interest of the child. Plus, given the new world we live in, most children nowadays don’t get to experience the outdoors, but simply get stuck inside the house playing with their “toys.”

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8 DIY Natural Moisturizer Recipes for Soft Hydrated Skin

DIY Natural Moisturizers

Soft, hydrated skin is elegant, dare I say alluring.  It’s easily recognizable as a result of the evident radiance. But here is the question: “Is it possible for me to have such soft and hydrated skin–and without harsh products?”  The availability of DIY natural moisturizers that can be put together without complications make it possible for you to groom such enviable skin. We’re going to give you 8 natural moisturizer recipes!

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