Research Update — Deer Hide Tanning Instructions, Part 1

I am continuing my first foray into deer hide tanning. In this post, I’ll outline the methods that I’m following. Tanning has three main steps with a few additions (given in parentheses): skinning and fleshing, (salting and rinsing, refleshing, hair removal,) pickling and neutralizing, and softening. We’ll go through these step by step. Before we … More Research Update — Deer Hide Tanning Instructions, Part 1

DIY Project — Making Char Cloth for Low-Tech Fire Kindling — Contribution from Fred Sutherland

I’m happy to have the chance to share what I know about making char cloth, a material used to help start fires over a hundred years before modern matches and lighters, on the Low Tech Blog. Char cloth is simply carbonized cloth that, when it is lit, will hold a smoldering hot ember for several … More DIY Project — Making Char Cloth for Low-Tech Fire Kindling — Contribution from Fred Sutherland

DIY Project — Jerky

We’re continuing to talk about meat this week. Without refrigeration or freezing, many of us would have trouble keeping meat from spoiling. Potted or canned meat is one option to preserve the harvest, but it doesn’t have the allure or flavor profile of smoked or dried meat. Drying techniques preserve foods by robbing microbes of … More DIY Project — Jerky

Failure — 2016 Edition

The F-word. It happens. Even if we had the benefit of hands-on mentors, we’d still experience failure. We’ve had a number of failures this year and we’d like to share them with you. In addition to avoiding our missteps, you’ll benefit from hearing the solutions we’ve found. Greenhouse Tomatoes We have squirrels here and last … More Failure — 2016 Edition

DIY Project — Apple Cider Fermentation

Before prohibition, cider was the most popular drink in America. Cider ferments when yeast eats sugar in the apple juice and excretes carbon dioxide and alcohol. Ingredients and Materials 1-gal. glass bottle*/† Airlock and one-hole stopper — either three piece or bubbler* Potassium metabisulfite* (optional sterilizer) Autosiphon* (optional) Four wine (700-ml) or eight pint-sized fliptop … More DIY Project — Apple Cider Fermentation