幸运飞行艇官方开奖记录查询 Oliver Dale, Author at GardenBeast

幸运飞行艇官方开奖记录查询 Could You Be a Homesteader? The Growing Trend of Getting Back to Basics

Oliver Dale — Fri, 06 Mar 2020 08:51:36 +0000

Have you heard the words “homesteader” or “prepper”? What about “survivalist”?

These are all words we are hearing more often in a world that seems to become scarier each day. People are learning they have to become self-sufficient and make it a point to learn the skills needed to make that happen.

As events happen in the world, people turn to some form of homesteading each day – even if they live in high rise apartment buildings. Could you be a homesteader?

Definition of a Homesteader

Being a homesteader today does not mean you are settling on government-owned land and agreeing to stay on that land for x number of years. Homesteading today means that you are learning and using skills needed to be self-sufficient.

Typically, the first skill learned and implemented is growing your own food. This is initially done by starting a vegetable and fruit-producing garden, and followed by keeping animals that either produce food – such as hens that produce eggs – or animals that are being raised as meat – such as pigs.

Not all homesteaders go farther than providing their own vegetables and fruits. Each homesteader is unique. Each homesteader learns and implements a mix of skills that work for them. Homesteaders need not learn everything or make everything they need.

They often barter with other homesteaders who have different skill sets than their own, in order to get the services or items they need for their survival or comfort.

In Search of a Simpler Life

Many homesteaders live simple lives, free of debt. They own their land and homes outright. They provide for their own needs by learning how to cook, grow things, build things, sew, hunt, bake, and so much more.

They stick to a creed often said by homesteaders – “Re-purpose, reuse, make do, or do without.” Because they adhere to this concept, they can live on very little money.

This is especially true if they are also homesteading “Off-grid.” This means they are providing their own power and water, instead of being connected to public utilities.

If homesteaders have children, they often opt to home school. Your children can go to public or private schools, and you can still be considered a homesteader – you do not have to home school.

The homesteaders who do opt to home school do so because public and private schools rarely teach children how to be self-sufficient. By homeschooling, they can not only give their children the same education they would receive at a school, but they can also teach their children skills needed to be self-sufficient, as well as teaching them the values they want to instill in their children.

It’s Not for Everyone

There are those who romanticize being a homesteader and “living off the land.” Unfortunately, they go into homesteading without realizing how much work goes into homesteading.

Cows have to be milked. Livestock must be fed. The eggs must be gathered. The chicken coop must be mucked out. The garden must be tended. The list goes on. There are chores that are not at all romantic that must be done every day. When these new homesteaders realize this, they often return to their old lives and their old way of doing things.

If you think you could be a homesteader, and you want to live a simpler life while doing a lot of hard work, make it a point to learn as much as you can before you dive in.

Decide, in advance, what you want your homestead to be like. Will you have livestock? Do you want to keep bees or worms? What about goats and chickens? Do you want a milk cow? How will you provide food and shelter for the livestock you want? Do you know how to care for the livestock?

Would you like to have an orchard of fruit trees? What vegetables will you grow? How will you preserve the fruits and vegetables you harvest? Do you know how to grow fruits and vegetables, and how to preserve them? Some things need to be learned before you jump into homesteading. Other things can only be learned by actually doing them.

Homesteading is not for everyone. Some people enjoy the hard work involved, and others absolutely hate the work. If you are flirting with the idea of homesteading, decide what you want, write down the obstacles you see between you and your goals, and get busy knocking those obstacles out of the way to achieve your dream of becoming a homesteader.

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幸运飞行艇官方开奖记录查询 Make a Paradise for Pollinators & Help the Environment by Rewilding Your Yard

Oliver Dale — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 14:15:36 +0000

It can be discouraging to even think about helping the environment these days.

After all, most of us can’t buy a forest or a desert and turn it into a preserve. The good news is, you can make a little piece of wilderness anywhere, wherever you live — and yes, make a real difference.

Our little flying friends are everywhere, even in suburbia and along city streets, and more will come if you put out food and shelter for them.

It doesn’t take much work or money to start bringing new species to your yard — or your balcony, if you live in an apartment.

Wherever you live, so long as there is any available light and water, can become a little bit of wilderness that will attract butterflies, moths, bees and other nectar-loving species.

How to Make a Paradise for Pollinators

An ideal pollinator garden will supply food plants for different life stages, safe places for the larvae to pupate, and also moisture in the form of shallow puddles or wet rocks so that adults can drink without drowning. A wide dish filled with damp sand will work, if a water feature isn’t an option. Large bushes and small trees can provide both food and night-time shelter for your insect guests.

If you don’t have room, or only have a concrete patio, miniatures in pots are good too.

Every bit of green helps, more than you can imagine. And if you do have the room, leave some bare dirt in an out-of-the-way area, with no bark mulch or gravel covering, since bumblebees and many other native bee species need it because they live in underground burrows.

Plant a variety of annuals, perennials, or both to provide blossoms for all species throughout the season. Small shrubs or vines on trellises can provide interest and shade as well as habitat, depending on how much room and budget you have. You can even share your organic kitchen garden harvest with the caterpillars, by setting aside some extra food plants like fennel or leafy greens — and, of course, not spraying any of your garden.

Milkweed is the only thing monarch butterflies eat as caterpillars, but there are many regional varieties of milkweed, and some have impressive flowers, which will attract even more types of pollinators. Yarrow and lantana, with their multiple florets and lengthy bloom season, are good nectar sources for all species. Sunflowers supply lots of nectar and pollen, and goldfinches love them too.

There are several ways to embrace nature – no matter the size of your plot

If you only have a shaded area, look for woodland plants that prefer dimmer light — combine bluebells, violets, geraniums and ferns for a charming, unexpected forest nook. Leave some leaves for mulch on the ground under them to encourage beetles, toads, and other vital members of the ecosystem to drop in.

If on the other hand, you live in a hot, dry area, consult your local college’s biology department for planting ideas and native wildflowers to use, or check out conservation sites, which often have regional guides. Many succulents have long flowering displays, and some (like aloes) are very attractive to hummingbirds as well, so you can easily have a water-wise pollinator garden.

As more butterflies, moths, bees, bee-flies, nectar-drinking wasps, and tiny birds discover your oasis, you’ll need to spend more time looking up all the new visitors. Fortunately, there are lots of websites dedicated to helping fans of nature identify these tiny helpful neighbors, along with the many printed guidebooks available at the library and bookstore.

You don’t have to have a “green thumb” or a large yard or lots of money — just a trowel, a few medium-sized pots, and some flats of annuals in a corner will provide a feast for the winged beauties amid all the manicured lawns and concrete — and a feast for your eyes, too.

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