As I discussed on our Facebook page (for those who haven’t seen the post or “liked” us, find us here!), I was contemplating a customized, printable series which could be incredibly useful should internet access be lost. You can find nearly anything you need on the internet information-wise.
But what if you could no longer access the internet? What if, one day, it just goes up in smoke, for whatever reason? What if the small blogs of today (which offer the most value, in my opinion, as they are the ones that contain personal experience and trial & error) that provide some of this obscure, hard to find information disappear from the search engines?
(TL;DR: printables are at the bottom!)
This was the inspiration behind this free printable series: a reference manual, a crash course, a gold-mine of little known tips for homesteading.
What if all of those charts, diagrams, conversions, bullet lists, and tables that you refer to are no longer accessible? Unfortunately, I’ve found that a vast majority of books (homesteading books included) don’t offer all of the information that you need; they don’t even come close. For this reason, I do not own very many of those books. It would cost thousands upon thousands of dollars to yield even a tenth of the information that I intend to place in this binder series. They might have some good information in them, but that information simply isn’t worth the asking price, unless it is a field guide to foraging, a mushroom guide, or something similar to the Ball canning books.
Yet, the internet is an absolute treasure trove of information; all of my research has lead me to some fascinating theories and successful experiments, and of course, my own personal experience only sweetens the pot. I want a guide that is capable of taking a completely dependent person and leading them through the trials of homesteading, minimizing their losses and potential mistakes along the way.
Now that I’ve explained the WHY of this Homestead Survival Binder Series, let’s discuss the what! Note: this series will be very out of order for a while; I’m still drafting it, and truthfully, I’ve barely scratched the surface. The best way to start a project is to jump in head first, so I did! I drafted these two printables, and you may need to edit page numbers in the future. However, we will label them in the order that I create them, for now; in the future, be watching for a post where I categorize and number all of these printables, so that all of our binders are in sync!
And yes; I know they’re not perfect, or beautifully illustrated, but I’m still getting used to the software that I downloaded for this very purpose. The important part is that the information is there! I do welcome some constructive criticism, such as some important tips I may have left out. I’d be happy to work them in! This is a long term community project that I hope will benefit many people, so please share, share, share our blog posts; the more people that arrive, print, and use this binder, the more requests and tips I’ll receive to improve and build upon it.
Subscribe here, and you’ll be notified via email when more printables are live- and you’ll receive blog post notifications, as well. I don’t send out many emails (keeping up with a newsletter is an art!), but you will get updates on these printables as they become available!
Printable #1
In #1, we discuss one of the most important skills in homesteading: saving pure seed. If you cannot save pure seed, you do not have a reliable source of seed for crops in coming years. If you have no other source of pure seed, this is a major problem. While you might not have to worry about this now, it’s important to have a reference guide should you ever need to save pure seed. Besides, pure seed is worth more, especially when it comes to trading.
Link to PDF File:
Printable #2
In #2, we move along to processing wet seeds. Since seeds can’t always be simply dried and saved like okra seeds, this is a close second to saving pure seed. Fermenting seeds prepares them for storage; in addition, I list the seeds that should be fermented against those that don’t have to be!
Link to PDF File:
Fermenting Seed for Seed Saving
Please leave your feedback/questions/requests in the comments below, or on our Facebook update regarding this series! Thank you!
