This is a picture of my mom when she was my age.  She’s washing clothes with a village woman in Papua New Guinea.  We lived in this village for a short time when I was seven years old.  Laundry seems to be a huge off grid obstacle for women.  It …

Could you make a healthy meal for your family using nothing out of the refrigerator?  Could you fix your hair without your hair dryer?  Have you ever looked around your house and wondered what things you have or do because electricity exists?  How would your life change if you didn’t …

These are my hiking boots.  I’ve worn them most every day for almost two years.  They were brand new when we moved off grid and now they are pretty worn.  Previously I had only worn hiking boots a few times in my life and I’ve certainly never worn any out.  …

My seven year old loves to chew on wheat berries. He has grown up crunching them whenever it is time to mill more grain for flour. He comes running when I haul out my grain bucket and get ready to turn on my mill. I often remind him that he …

I grew up on a mission center called Ukarumpa in the highlands of Papua New Guinea.  There is one road in and out of this community of people, which by our standards would be considered a small town in the country.  It is home to around 600 people.  Anyone traveling …

A garbage disposal is very convenient. With a flip of a switch, all food waste is gone down the drain. I have not had a garbage disposal in my kitchen for more than 4 years and I really don’t miss it. When looking for pictures for this article, I was …

What other piece of cookware comes with a bright orange warning label attached to it?  One that is evidently heat safe because it doesn’t come off!  If I hadn’t known anything about pressure canning accidents, just this label alone would make me cautious.  The truth is when my brand new …

Last week, my family and I tried out our brand new All American No. 941 pressure canner.  It has a 19 quart capacity!  We had never pressure canned before and we decided to do it over a wood fire.  We had previously tested our skills by water bath canning over …

I guess wood fire canning is pretty uncommon these days, but we decided to try.  Like everything else on our homestead, we try and we learn!  We are choosing to use a fire (instead of our propane stove) for a few reasons.  We’re trying to learn to be self-sufficient.  Propane …

I’ve heard from many people that the result from canning yellow squash is not very tasty.  I’ve never done it myself, but I trust what they say.  Especially because I’ve heard it from several people.  The other day we received lots of zucchini and yellow squash, so I decided to …