Here is another batch of links I have been saving up for … uh, I dunno why I save such things, but here they are.
Make your own glues
This really clever article, thinking and practical recipes is a great find. I know I want to save them all, and gather up these ingredients.
Good Things To Keep On Hand For Adhesive Making
Flour
Alum
Corn Syrup
Salt
Glycerin
Gum Arabic
Clove Oil
Gelatin
Containers With The Ability To Remain Airtight
Squeeze Bottles For Dispensing Easily and Precisely
The Best Glue Alternatives and Substitutes
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Can You Make Soap Without Using Lye?
(Here’s a Secret, Easy Way!)
Natural Body & Home
When I first became interested in making soap for our home, I was really worried about using lye. It’s caustic, extremely poisonous, and very dangerous if it’s not used correctly. Therefore, I researched every single way possible to make soap without lye. What is the answer to the question, “Can you make soap without using lye?” The simple answers are: Yes and No.
**You may also be interested in these soap making articles: How to Make Your Own Hot Process Soap: A Picture Tutorial, Lavender-Rosemary Vanilla Hot Process Soap, Cold Process vs. Hot Process: Which is Better? and LOTS more on the blog!
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Top 5 Easy-to-ID Edible Backyard Weeds
Like the white picket fence that surrounds it, a thick, green, weed-free American lawn is a symbol of suburban success. But for all the pulling, mowing, weed-whacking, and spraying of poison we do to kill these fast-spreading invaders, few homeowners stop to learn exactly what the plants are that they’re so dutifully destroying. If they did, they’d learn that most of the peskiest and most common backyard weeds are also nutritious, delicious edible plants.
Even for people who can identify some edible weeds, a frequent assumption seems to be that while they’d be great to know in a survival situation, wild edible plants would need to be choked down just for the nutrition, and couldn’t be prepared in a tasty or satisfying way. The reality is, harvested at the right time and cooked the right way, wild edible veggies are at least as delicious as anything you’d buy at the store.
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Wandering in the New World
Let’s explore the concept of wandering. If you’ve been involved in the world of preparedness for any length of time, you’re familiar with terms like “Bug-Out Location” (BOL) and “Bugging-In”, and you have probably read or participated in discussions about ways to go about securing your house/neighborhood/compound/town. Humans as a species tend to be social animals, and gathering in fixed locations in large groups has always had many advantages, including security, stable relationships, sharing of labor, farming, et cetera. But there have always been individuals and small groups who prefer (or are forced) to minimize their interactions with “society” and not be tied to any specific location.
These have traditionally been called wanderers, travelers, gypsies, nomads, et cetera. While these types of itinerant peoples have existed in one form or another for centuries, the pressures of modern society and the desire of governments to exercise an ever-increasing degree of control over people’s lives has made such an existence extremely difficult. However, in a post-TEOTWAWKI world, those factors would all but disappear, making such a lifestyle much more possible and potentially necessary for some people. This article is meant as a thought exercise in exploring a wandering lifestyle in such a scenario.
Rationale
The first thing to consider is why you would want to adopt such a lifestyle. Maybe you’ve always been a loner or a wanderer and prefer not to put down any permanent roots. Perhaps the group you were part of (or planning to be part of) didn’t make it through the SHTF event, or most of them succumbed to some type of subsequent disaster. Maybe weather patterns have changed and you can no longer sustain yourself in your current location. Keep in mind that an itinerant lifestyle isn’t necessarily just for individuals; it may involve a small group of people moving around for various reasons. Take a look at the gypsies in Europe and the nomads in middle-eastern deserts, for some examples. In a post-SHTF world, a wandering lifestyle may provide both advantages and disadvantages: