RSS

Monthly Archives: February 2012

The Feeding of Poultry…a 1924 Perspective

29 Feb

(Note: The text and images are taken from “A Study of Farm Animals,” by Charles S. Plumb, 1924)

A white orpington, 1924

The foods suitable for fowls vary widely in kind and character. In fact, farm poultry will eat almost anything that has any nutritive value. So adaptable are fowls to local conditions, that, as a rule, they are fed the cheapest and most common foods grown in the region in which they are kept. Very naturally, in America corn is most commonly fed, with wheat or its by-products next in favor. In Japan, rice is the food generally used. The kind of food, however, should vary according to the age and condition of the birds, and the purpose for which they are kept. If for fattening, then a carbonaceous food is best; but if for eggs, then that of a protein nature should be used. Protein foods recommended for fowls are meat scraps, fish meal, and milk of various forms. The common grains and cereal by-products, such as corn, wheat, oats, bran, middlings (the leftovers from milling whole wheat), etc., supply the necessary carbohydrates.

Green foods for fowls causes them to respond very rapidly in increased growth or egg production. When on a range of good grass no other green food need be provided, but during the winter season succulent food is most desirable. Coarse vegetables are often sliced or chopped into small pieces before feeding, although entire cabbages or roots may be hung in the house or fastened to nails on the walls, from which points they will be picked to pieces. In recent years sprouted oats have been used in a small way for feed, especially for young chicks. The common plan is to make a wooden rack-like arrangement, to contain series of shallow pans. The desired amount of oats is put into a vessel and covered with warm water and let stand over night. The surplus water is then drained off and the oats are spread over the pans to a depth of one half to three fourths of an inch. The oats should then be placed in a room, preferably a basement or cellar, having a temperature of 60 to 65 degrees. The oats should be sprinkled daily with tepid water and, to provide drainage, should be perforated with small holes. In about ten days the sprouts will be ready to feed to the chickens, but they should be used sparingly in the first of the feeding.

Rations for egg production used in different sections of the United States, vary more or less, according to material available. The following rations are recommended by various authorities engaged in research work in feeding fowls.

RATION NO. 1

Chicken anatomy from 1924 (Click to enlarge)

Mash:

  • 16 lbs corn meal
  • 6 1/2 lb meat scrap
  • 1 lb bran
  • 1 lb middlings

Scratch Mixture:

  • 1 lb cracked corn
  • 1 lb wheat
  • 1 lb oats

RATION NO. 2

Mash:

  • 2 lbs corn or barley meal
  • 1 lb bran
  • 1 lb middlings
  • 1 lb meat or fish scrap

Scratch Mixture:

  • 2 lbs cracked corn
  • 1 lb oats
  • 1 lb wheat or barley

A fine white leghorn from 1924

.

Feed the grain mixture morning and afternoon in a deep litter of straw. Feed sparingly in the morning, but give the hens all they will eat in the afternoon. Feed the dry mash in a hopper which is open at all times. Keep grit and shell in open hoppers. Feed green food once a day.

It will be noticed that in all the above rations, corn , wheat, oats, and wheat bran or middlings are the standard foods used. Meat meal or beef scrap, skimmed milk, and clover or alfalfa are always desirable. In the far West Kafir corn or millet seed may be used to advantage. When barley is commonly grown, this is to be recommended as a feed, and may be used in place of corn, if desired.


 
1 Comment

Posted by on February 29, 2012 in Animals, Historic Reflections, Homesteading

 

Tags: , , ,

The Best Canned Bacon: Plain, Maple, Tabasco

27 Feb

Tabasco bacon, right out of the can and ready to eat: truly one of the seven wonders of the world.

Let me just start out by saying that I spent hours pouring over other peoples’ videos and recipes to learn how to can bacon. I tried them all out and found them sorely lacking. I then proceeded to can about 20 pounds of bacon on my own to come up with the perfect canned bacon, which in my opinion just didn’t exist…until now.

And canning bacon is worth the effort. It’s a great way to make your own customized flavored bacon with ease, and it’s just handy to have pre-cooked bacon on-hand for recipes and snacks. It’s great while traveling or car-camping, and it’s nice to have canned bacon when the electricity goes out, or the weather makes it impossible to make it to the store.

All the recipes and methods I found for canning bacon involved taking strips of raw bacon, slapping them down on parchment paper, rolling them up tight, jamming the role into a quart-sized jar, and canning for 90 minutes. I tried this method and it missed the mark for several reasons:

  • While the bacon was cooked through it didn’t look cooked and it didn’t act cooked. It looked close to being raw, with the color of the meat and fat resembling what it did before it was put into the jar. It also remained limp. So while it was technically edible, it wasn’t appetizing.
  • To get it remotely close to being appetizing, after prying the canned bacon from the jar you had to fry it in a pan to crisp it up. But I found that taking the bacon straight from the jar to the frying pan caused a lot of popping and general grease rebellion. The moisture build up in the jar caused by the canning process just didn’t mix well with frying bacon, and the bacon didn’t fry up the same as raw bacon, either.
  • The jar was full of bacon grease but it also had moisture mixed in with the grease,which just made the grease more of an annoyance than a useful ingredient with which to cook other dishes. You really had to scrape the grease off the bacon, or wait to fry all the bacon up at once to gain access to the grease. It just didn’t work well. Trust me on this.
  • After the canned bacon was removed from the jar, I found that it fell apart readily in the frying pan while trying to crisp it. So I was left with parts of bacon strips instead of strips.
  • In short, it was a pain in the ass.

I wanted my canned bacon to meet certain criteria so I could eat it with the most enjoyment and least amount of hassle, and use it in recipes to the best possible advantage:

  • I wanted it to look and taste awesome straight from the jar.
  • I wanted it to retain the crisp and caramelized goodness that comes from fresh-fried bacon.
  • I wanted to be able to use it immediately in recipes and as snacks without having to cook it again.
The secret to meeting these criteria is to fry the bacon before canning. This solves all of the above issues, plus it allows room to include enhancements with the canned bacon, including making bacon bits ready for recipes and making flavored bacon. Here’s what I did for each:
.
(Note: Make sure you follow the pressure canning guidelines found at the National Center for Home Food Preservation called  ”Selecting, Preparing and Canning Meat: Strips, Cubes or Chunks of Meat” found here. You cannot safely can meat without a pressure canner and canning bacon, though it is done often, is not recommended so you need to decide for yourself if you want to do this. Many can bacon strips without problems.)
.
CANNED BACON STRIPS
.
Here are step-by-step instructions for the process:
.
One pound of thick-cut bacon fits perfectly into a pint-sized, wide-mouthed jar (this will likely hold true for regular bacon, too). Weigh the bacon raw. Before cooking you will need to cut the bacon strips in half so they fit in the jar, but I find this to be a benefit after opening the bacon instead of dealing with full strips. The half-strips are easier to manage for recipes and they are easy to throw in a frying pan for a quick heat-up. Also, opening a pound of bacon at one time is sufficient; if you used a quart-sized jar you’d likely have to deal with two pounds of cooked bacon at once, which seems like a lot to handle at one time.
.

Weigh about 1 pound of bacon for a pint-sized, wide-mouthed jar.

.
Fry the bacon in a skillet on medium heat until almost cooked through. It will continue to cook after you remove it from the pan and you don’t want it to be over-done. Remember that you’ll be pressure canning this bacon for well over an hour and while that cooking won’t contribute to the browning of the bacon, it will cook it a bit more.
.

Fry the bacon until almost cooked through.

.
After your bacon is cooked, lay it on a plate with some paper towels to soak up the extra grease. While it is draining, cut a 24″ piece of brown parchment paper and lay it on your counter. Lay your bacon strips out on the paper as shown below. Notice that there are several inches of paper left at the end — this will ensure that your bacon is nicely tucked in while you roll your bacon package. If you use thin-cut bacon you will have more slices of bacon to put on the parchment paper. It’s ok to overlap them on the paper. You just want to make sure that you still leave about 3″ of paper at the end.
.

Lay your bacon on 24″ of brown parchment paper.

.
Now it’s time to add any desired flavoring to the bacon. Two of my favorites are Tabasco sauce and 100% pure maple syrup. For the Tabasco sauce, just take a bottle of Tabasco and sprinkle it liberally over the bacon. Have a really heavy hand with this — if you want Tabasco bacon why go half way? For the maple syrup, it’s important to only use 100% pure maple syrup; synthetic syrups just don’t stand up under the rigors of pressure canning. I use Grade B syrup and it works great and is easier on the budget. Make sure you brush plenty on to the bacon here, too.
.
You can consider other flavorings for your bacon besides just maple syrup and Tabasco sauce, including brown sugar, chili powder, cayenne pepper, dried thyme, dried basil, cinnamon, or a mixture. For dried herbs and spices, just sprinkle them liberally over your bacon before rolling.
.

Now you can add flavors to your bacon. Here I’m giving the bacon a 100% pure maple syrup wash.

.
Now it’s time to start packaging your bacon for the jar! You’ll notice that the width of the parchment paper allows you to fold it in thirds around the bacon. Just take both sides of the paper and fold them around your bacon. Use your hands to press the paper lightly around the bacon to ensure that the sides are creased in preparation for rolling the bacon.
.

Fold the parchment paper in thirds over your bacon.

.
When you roll up your bacon, start at the end that has the bacon closest to the edge of your parchment paper. When you start rolling, make sure your first few turns are nice and tight. The bacon almost rolls itself, but you do need to guide the parchment paper, ensuring that the folds remain in tact. You want your roll to be firm, but don’t smash the bacon. There’s no need for that and why do you want to punish perfectly good bacon in that way? You’ll notice that when you get to the end of your roll that the extra paper left when you laid your bacon strips on the parchment paper secures your bundle.
.

Roll your bacon up nice and tight, without smashing your strips to smithereens. You should love your food, not torture it.

.
Your roll of bacon will look adorable, and it will fit neatly into a wide-mouthed, pint-sized canning jar, which you have already sterilized and prepared for canning (follow standard protocol for pressure canning meats, which can be found at the National Center for Home Food Preservation). You might need to nudge the roll in the jar a bit, but you should not have to jam it into the jar; if you do your parchment paper will tear and your bacon will be crying out in agony. This is the reason it’s so important to use a wide-mouthed jar; a narrow-mouthed jar will obviously cause problems when you try to insert your roll. If you find it is too hard to push the bacon into the jar, unroll it and remove a few pieces of your bacon, re-roll your bundle and try again until it fits snugly but is still easy to insert into the jar.
.

A completed roll of bacon, ready for the jar.

.
Place a lid on your jar and it’s ready for pressure canning (see below.)
.

The roll fits neatly into a pint-sized, wide-mouthed jar.

.
CANNED BACON BITS
.
To make a jar of bacon bits, take your raw bacon and cut it (kitchen scissors are easiest) into large pieces about 1″ square. Cook through and place into your jars; it’s not necessary to use parchment paper when canning bacon bits. Before placing them into the jar you can add flavorings like pure maple syrup, Tabasco sauce, brown sugar, pepper, or herbs like thyme or basil. Screw the lid on and pressure can (see below).
.
PRESSURE CANNING
.
Now it’s time to pressure can your bacon. You’ll need to process your meat following the times and pressure guidelines presented in “Selecting, Preparing, and Canning Meat” found here.
.

Make sure you label your cans of bacon with a sharpie before putting them in the pressure canner.

.

Follow standard protocol for pressure canning meat.

.

Maple syrup bacon, pressure canned and pulled from the jar the next day.

.
USING YOUR BACON
.
Now is the fun part. After you open the jars of pressure-canned bacon there are different things you can do:
.
  • Eat it right out of the jar. It will actually be difficult to prevent yourself from doing this. Bacon will disappear before your eyes, I guarantee it. Be ready to take on a strict running regimen to keep up.
  • Use the bacon bits in all manner of dishes, straight from the jar. From salads to casseroles to soups, and even as an ingredient in breads and corn muffins, the bacon bits can’t be beat when it comes to cooking versatility.
  • The bacon strips can be used in a similar way, but are great for sandwiches and to enhance other dishes, such as laying strips between pieces of fish, or as a tasty ingredient in tacos. The possibilities are endless!
  • Reheat it for breakfast. This is a no-brainer…it’s bacon.
  • Take your canned bacon camping with you. The jar might weigh too much for backpacking, but for car camping it’s a dream!
  • Stockpile canned bacon in case of emergencies such as electrical outages or heavy storms when you can’t make it to the store.
  • Accept the inevitable accolades from friends and family.
.

Yoders Canned Bacon from Camping Survival if you can’t can your own.

NO PRESSURE CANNER?

.
If you want the benefits of canned bacon but don’t have a pressure canner, there are pre-canned bacon products available. Our favorite is from Camping Survival, which sells Yoders Canned Bacon. This bacon doesn’t have the amazing caramelization our version does, but for camping trips or to have on hand for recipes or if the electricity goes out, it’s good stuff if you can’t, or don’t want to, can your own.
.
.
 
55 Comments

Posted by on February 27, 2012 in Kitchen Tips, Outdoor and Survival, Recipes

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Using Wild Yeast Sourdough: Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

25 Feb

Brown sugar, pecans, coconut flakes, cinnamon, melted butter, and sourdough starter turn humble pancakes into an event.

I made these up one morning while pondering whether I should make sourdough pancakes or sourdough cinnamon rolls for breakfast. I really wanted the cinnamon rolls but I was feeling lazy, so I did the obvious and spun them both into one fabulous dish having the speed of pancakes with the taste of cinnamon rolls. It was one of those time when being lazy allowed for the invention of an impressive quick breakfast or brunch for family and friends alike. They’re too good not to share with others!

If you have sourdough starter in your refrigerator, these are easier than pie to whip up and they are delicious! They have that wonderful sour background to the flavor, which balances out the sweet cinnamon roll ingredients. Kids might not appreciate this subtlety, but you will. You can also make these without the sourdough for a more standard pancake experience; I’ve included both recipes here:

SOURDOUGH VERSION

(Note: If you haven’t yet read my previous Spins on collecting your own wild yeast starter and you want to learn more, read: Collecting and Maintaining Wild Yeast Sourdough Starter, and Using Wild Yeast Sourdough Starter: Basic Bread.)

If you have used your starter in the past week, take it out of the refrigerator the morning you want to make your pancakes. Dump all the starter into a bowl and add a cup of flour and a cup of warm water to the bowl and stir. Let it sit for about 30 minutes or until it warms up and you see some activity in your yeast. It doesn’t have to be at a full boil or anything, just enough for the yeast to be awake. (Skip the next paragraph and proceed.)

If you haven’t used your sourdough starter in the past week, remove it from the refrigerator the night before you want to make your pancakes. Place it into a bowl and add a cup of flour and a cup of warm water and stir. Cover with a dry cloth and let it sit in a warmish spot overnight to activate and proceed as follows.

Take a cup or two of your starter, place it in a clean jar and return it to the refrigerator for future use. You’ll want to make sure you have about two cups of starter remaining in your bowl. If you don’t, add enough flour to make about two cups. Take this opportunity to adjust the consistency of your batter. Since each person’s starter will have a different consistency coming out of the refrigerator, there is no hard and fast rule for this. You just need to make sure the consistency is something along the lines of cake batter.

Cinnamon and brown sugar darken the rich batter, while nuts and coconut add tooth and texture.

Sourdough Ingredients:

  • 2 cups sourdough starter
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup dried coconut
  • 1/4 cup pecans, lightly chopped
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter for the batter
  • 1/4 cup melted butter for stacking

Mix all of your ingredients together until well-combined. Heat a frying pan on medium heat, and oil lightly. Pour the batter into the heated frying pan, making sure it is well-mixed to include equal amounts of chunky nuts and coconut into each pancake. Brown each cake on the first side until bubbles show throughout the cooking pancake, then flip to brown the other side.

Stack each pancake as it comes out of the pan, layering each pancake with a bit of melted butter and a sprinkle of brown sugar. The brown sugar and butter make a rich syrup all their own as the brown sugar melts. Applaud and serve.

STRAIGHT-UP PANCAKE VERSION

If you don’t have sourdough starter, or you don’t want the sour notes that the starter will lend to your cinnamon roll pancakes, here’s a recipe just for you!

Standard Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups flour (white, wheat, or a combination)
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup dried coconut
  • 1/4 cup pecans, lightly chopped
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter for the batter
  • 1/4 cup melted butter for stacking

Mix all of your ingredients together until well-combined, making sure to mix your dry ingredients first then adding the remaining ingredients. Heat a frying pan on medium heat, and oil lightly. Pour the batter into the heated frying pan, making sure it is well-mixed to include equal amounts of chunky nuts and coconut into each pancake. Brown each cake on the first side until bubbles show throughout the cooking pancake, then flip to brown the other side.

Stack each pancake as it comes out of the pan, layering each pancake with a bit of melted butter and a sprinkle of brown sugar. The brown sugar and butter make a rich syrup all their own as the brown sugar melts. Applaud and serve.

 
1 Comment

Posted by on February 25, 2012 in Recipes, Wild Yeast Sourdough

 

Tags: , , , ,

Food Preservation: Let’s Talk Ingredients

21 Feb

Acids, sugars, honey, syrups, and salts are common ingredients in food preservation.

Most people can probably list some general ingredients for preserving food: salt, vinegar, sugar, maybe one or two others. But most people have never really thought about the total “lay of the land” when it comes to ingredients that are used to preserve food worldwide. Knowing these basics, however, can open up your understanding of, and ultimate success with, preserving your own food. Let’s take the ingredients one-by-one (we’ll cover food preservation methods in a future Spin):

ACID

When people think of acid, they automatically think vinegar. Vinegar is, indeed, an important acid that is a key ingredient in food preservation. But there’s more to the world of acids than just vinegar. Lemons, citric acid, and vitamin C help to prevent discoloration when preserving food and, in the case of lemons, can help jams and jellies to set. These ingredients can also be good antioxidants, which help prevent food degradation. Acids make the physical environment in preserved food too acidic for harmful bacteria to grow effectively — vinegar is especially good at this.

In fact, vinegar is the king of acids when it comes to food preservation. Vinegar comes from the French word meaning “sour wine,” which indicates the long history of vinegar paralleling wine-making. For food preservation, there is a wide range of flavored and plain vinegar available to the homeowner. Ranging from a clear liquid (distilled white vinegar) to a rich maroon (malt vinegar), there is a vinegar to suit your food preservation needs be it a chutney, pickle, or spiced fruit.

ALCOHOL

Ah, alcohol…so many uses, so little time. Alcohol is used as an ingredient in different food preservation techniques such as pickling or with sugar to preserve fruits as jams, jellies, and spirits. The fruit and alcohol marriage, in fact, was discovered in Medieval monasteries where the preserved fruit was eaten first, then the fruit liquor enjoyed later.

Alcohol is a toxic inhibitor, meaning it prevents the spoilage of preserved foods. In fact, nothing can grow in pure alcohol and depending upon which kind of alcohol you use, it can blend wonderfully with just about any ingredient. From rum to brandy to vodka, alcohol has earned a place as one of the most useful and versatile of all food preservation ingredients.

Thick layers of fats and oils have been used as ingredients in food preservation.

FAT AND OIL

Before refrigeration fats and oils were important ingredients in food preservation. The main role was to seal in moisture and keep out oxygen, which spoils food, as a thick layer on top of the meat they were meant to keep. Butter, lard, fats from fowl, and vegetable oils all had a regular place as a food preservation ingredient.

But it can be a tricky to use fat as an ingredient to preserve foods; the layer of fat needs to be fairly thick (an inch at least) to prevent the food beneath from spoiling. It is best to get a fair amount of experience with this ingredient before counting on it as a staple in food preservation.

LYE

The function of lye is the opposite of acids; instead of making the physical environment too acid for bacterial growth, lye makes it too basic for bacterial growth. Traditionally lye was leached from hardwood ashes and was used by cultures all over the world as an ingredient to cure food. The Norwegian fish dish lutefisk uses lye and lye is used to cure olives, among others.

Modern food-grade lye can be difficult to obtain, can be expensive, and it is dangerous to use. The traditional method of leaching lye from hardwood ashes was effective in the past and lye is a wonderful ingredient for food preservation. Lye also has other uses such as in making soap and as an ingredient in other food processing such as in breads or to make hominy.

SALT

Salt is the oldest ingredient in food preservation, going back to Egyptian times when it was used to preserve both food and mummies. After the Egyptians, early Christians who could eat nothing but fish during Lent used salt to dry the fish for consumption since fresh fish was frequently difficult to get and transport.

Salt is used as an ingredient to both brine and dry meats and fish. Brine-curing meats involves soaking meat in a very strong salt water for what can be weeks at a time. Meats can also be dried by packing them well with salt, which slowly draws out the moisture. When using salt as an ingredient in preservation avoid table salt, which can have anti-caking agents that affect the quality and taste of your food. The best salts to use for preservation are preserving salt, coarse kosher salt, and kosher salt. Saltpeter is another salt essential for curing meats. Saltpeter is potassium nitrate, which was historically mined from saltpeter rock.

Sugars such as this maple syrup are probably the best known food preservation ingredient after salt.

SUGAR

Sugar is most frequently associated with preserving jams and jellies, but can also be included in pickles and chutneys to balance the flavors. Sugars as ingredients for food preservation come in many forms including granulated and preserving sugar, which are both white and produce the clearest and hardest-set jams and jellies. Other sugars include molasses and honey, maple syrup, and brown sugars of varying shades. These types of sugars add more distinct flavors to whatever is being preserved and also create softer products.

.

Read our next installment: Food Preservation: Let’s Talk Methods.

 
7 Comments

Posted by on February 21, 2012 in Food Preservation, Hobbies and Arts, Kitchen Tips

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

No Space or Money for Starting Seeds? Think Again…

18 Feb

It doesn't take a lot of space or money to create a successful seed starting nursery. This set up cost $20, and most of that was for things that can be used season after season.

Color me optimistic, but I’m calling “spring on its way.” If someone tells me it’s still winter, I’ll call them a stinkin’ liar. It’s spring and this means it’s time to start seeds in preparation for the growing season. It comes quicker than you think!

But along with being optimistic, I am also not rich enough to buy those pre-packaged seed starting kits I’ve seen in the store. I’d rather spend my money on other things like a really nice microbrew once in awhile. I also have a small house (about 800 sf total) and not much room to construct the seed-starting nursery to rival the Colosseum that I’ve seen other people manage. So my seed starting set up has to be cheap, productive, and take up little space.

Luckily, I met all of my criteria for a total cost of about $20 (not counting the cost of seeds). And over half of that cost was for a clamp lamp and a grow bulb, which I can use again. That $20 went towards constructing a heat bed, which is a way to supply warmth to the roots of developing seeds and enhance germination, and the starter medium in which I planted my seeds. The rest of the material was either recycled or used. Here’s how I did it:

.

HEAT BED HOW-TO

What you need:

  • A sturdy container for the project (I repurposed an unused plastic bin)
  • Non-clumping kitty litter or sand
  • Indoor-outdoor rope or string lights
  • Egg cartons (or your seed-starting container of choice)
  • Seed starting medium (potting soil will work)
  • Clear cover (plastic or glass) for the container

These lights, covered with a layer of kitty litter or sand, provide gentle heat for germinating seeds.

I already had an unused, under-the-bed plastic storage bin, measuring about 17″ by 36″, which was going to serve my purposes well. The plastic bin served as the base for my heat bed.

I took the bin and placed it on a bench in my closed-in porch. Then I poured half of a large bag of kitty litter into the bin and smoothed out the surface. Next, I laid one string of lights (with a 33′ string length and 100 bulbs) on top of the kitty litter, making sure the lights were mostly evenly spaced in the bin. Lastly, I covered the lights with the rest of the kitty litter and plugged the lights in to allow them to  start heating the litter (again, you can also use sand…whichever is cheaper in your area).

You can use a wide variety of containers for your heat bed, including used flats from nursery centers, sturdy cardboard boxes, or even wooden boxes. The box just needs to be deep enough to hold a layer of kitty litter/sand and lights, and sturdy enough to withstand watering your seedlings for several weeks. Aim for about a 2- to 3-inch layer of litter or sand, with the lights layered in about half way. That will hold the soil temperature at about 92F, if your ambient air temperature is in the upper 60s or low 70s. For most seeds, a 92F soil temperature is about right to enhance germination. Just make sure that the lights you use (be they rope or bulb-style) are for outdoor use; you’ll be watering your plants and your lights need to withstand that.

With my heat bed warming, it was time to plant some seeds! I had saved egg cartons for several months and used them as my seed-starting pots, separating the lid with a knife. The lids are great for starting seeds that need to be thinned after germination, like lettuce, and the carton portion is great for your other seeds. When the plants in the cartons are large enough to be planted into larger containers or transplanted outdoors, I take scissors and cut the whole egg carton apart into its individual pots and just plant the thing, carton and all (it will degrade in the soil).

Yes, you can use Styrofoam egg cartons for this, and they will retain moisture better for germinating seedlings. However, if you cover your heat bed (as you should) with a layer of clear plastic or glass to retain the all-important humidity for your seeds, this won’t be as much of a problem. Also, you can’t plant the Styrofoam directly into the garden, which means disturbing the roots of your young plants when you remove them. Lastly, there is some serious question about the Styrofoam starting to degrade and leaching the chemicals into the seedling soil, which will ultimately make its way into your garden. To me, the benefits of Styrofoam cartons (better moisture retention) are alleviated by covering the heat bed, which you have to do anyway.

Lastly, your heat bed will need a supplemental light source, unless you’re lucky enough to have a true greenhouse. Seedlings started indoors without proper lighting will just end up spindly and less healthy; it’s worth the cost to buy a supplemental light set-up to give your seedlings the best start possible. And such lighting doesn’t need to be expensive. I bought a clamp lamp and a high quality grow bulb for about $14, and I can use this season after season (depending upon how long the bulb lasts, of course).

PLANTING SEEDS

I used an organic seed starter mix for my seeds, filling each egg cup to full. It’s a good idea to invest in a seed starter mix, which is formulated for the special needs of germinating seeds but I’ve known people who use regular potting soil and that works, too. I only needed 1/2 a bag of mix for six dozen egg cartons, and it cost $3.50 a bag for organic. I have plenty of mix left for other seeds I’ll start in a few weeks or so.

A basic rule of thumb is to plant seeds (like this tomato) three times as deep as the seed's thickness. But beware, this isn't always the case.

After you have your mix ready, just follow the directions on the seed packets about how deep to sow each plant, but a general rule of thumb is to plant a seed three times as deep as the thickness of the seed. However, this isn’t always true; for instance, salvia seeds need light to germinate and therefore shouldn’t be buried in the soil at all. So if you’re a seed saver (and you should be) or just don’t have the original seed instructions handy, it’s always a good idea to have in your gardening notes the correct seed planting method for all the seeds in your arsenal. You can also look this information up online.

After my seeds were planted, I simply moved the cartons to the heat bed, watered them all well, and covered them with two pieces of acrylic a neighbor had left over from a project of his own. I’ve tried saran wrap for this in the past and it just doesn’t work. I’ve also saved the clear plastic flat covers you can sometimes get from nursery centers and these work well, too (as was their intended purpose).

This is all fine and dandy, but can all seeds be planted indoors to get a head start on planting? And when, exactly, are you supposed to start the seeds indoors? These are indeed things the wise seed starter looks into before introducing their precious seeds to soil.

INDOOR SOW OR NO?

First, I recommend going through your seeds and determine which ones really need to be direct-sown into your garden after the danger of frost has passed, versus starting seed indoors and transplanting outside. Plants recommended for direct-sow usually do not transplant well, and there can be high mortality rate if you try that route. And the older these plants are, the worse the transplant shock — and subsequent plant death — can be.

But there is some disagreement about which plants are best left for a direct-sow approach, (It couldn’t be easy, right?). For instance, some sources recommend direct seeding melons, but since I live in a chillier clime I’m planting them indoors to get a head start. After the seedlings germinate I’ll transplant them into large biodegradable pots that I can simply place into the soil with minimal root disturbance. There’s nothing wrong with experimenting on your own; horticulture is part art and some people just have a knack for doing what others say isn’t possible.

Plants that are recommended for direct-sow include lettuce, spinach, radishes, cucumbers, most squashes, peas, beans, corn, and carrots. Some flowers prefer direct-sow, too, including sunflowers, nasturtium, zinnia, bachelors button, plus a few others. But again, I’m going to start the zinnias and sunflowers indoors and transplant them. If garden centers can do it, so can I, right??!!

Covering your seeds with plastic or glass allows for moisture to be retained, which is necessary for germination and good plant health.

The timing of all this depends upon where you live and what your “last frost date” is. There are different recommendations about when you should sow plants indoors, and they are all roughly related to this date. You can visit the website of your local Cooperative Extension Service for this date. Then, you’re supposed to look at the seed packet and, if you’re lucky, it will say something like, “Sow indoors two weeks before the last frost date.”

But because I am lazy, I just go to this handy dandy resource kindly supplied by the Farmers Almanac (find it here). Just type your zip code into the Location field provided and it will spit you out a nice table that includes lists of vegetables and the recommended date to either start seed indoors or direct sow outdoors in your area. It even includes a “moon favorable date,” if you prefer to use the moon as a guide for planting. It’s a great resource and takes the hassle out of figuring out when you need to time your seed planting.


 
32 Comments

Posted by on February 18, 2012 in Garden Construction, Gardening, Great for Kids, Saving Money

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Spinfully Easy Homemade Ricotta

14 Feb

Homemade ricotta is creamy and sublime, and it only takes about 10 minutes of your time.

Really…this is so easy I’m almost embarrassed to write a Spin about it. The main reason I am writing a Spin is to extol the awesomeness that is homemade ricotta and convince you to elevate ricotta in your kitchen. Why? Because store-bought ricotta tastes like crap and it’s no wonder few people use it beyond lasagna (where it is well hidden, I might add). Yes, I’m sure there are those out there who worship the stuff, and I applaud your loyalty and iron-clad taste buds. In a survival situation, no doubt I’d want to hunker down with folk like you because you are ever optimistic, I can tell.

For everyone else, homemade ricotta will be a whole new ingredient in your kitchen. As I said, it’s ridiculously easy to make (about 10 minutes hands-on) and it’s sublime in its tastiness. You can make it creamy and moist, or crumbly and dry. You can use it in savory or sweet dishes. It can be for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. You could probably even throw it in the bathtub for an awesome skin moisturizer (I just made that up, but it sounds about right….).

First, the recipe (to see the video on this process, check out Rural Spin Makes Ricotta):

INGREDIENTS (Revised from The Home Creamery by Kathy Farrel-Kinglsey)

  • 1/2 gallon whole milk (pasteurized is fine, but avoid ultra-homogenized milk)
  • 1/4 cup white vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons cream (this is optional, depending upon if you want it really creamy, like for a dessert)

Heat your milk in a heavy-bottomed pot until it reaches 185F. Turn off the heat and stir in your vinegar and salt; you’ll immediately see the curds starting to separate from the whey. But after an initial stir, don’t stir again. Here’s what it looks like within a minute of adding the vinegar and salt:

Immediately after stirring vinegar and salt into your warmed milk, the curds separate from the whey.

.

Put the lid on it and leave it sit for two hours……….THAT’S IT! Two hours later you have ricotta:

After two hours of sitting, your ricotta has totally separated from the whey.

To separate the curds from the whey, place a colander into a large bowl and line it with butter muslin, cheese muslin, paper towels, or a dish towel — just something that will allow the whey to pass through. Using a spoon, ladle, or skimmer, remove the ricotta from the pot and place in the colander. You may end up with a little or a lot of whey in your catch-bowl, depending upon what you used to remove the cheese. You could also just place the colander in the sink if you don’t want to save the whey. But try the whey for cooking (it’s great used in breads or biscuits, stirred into soups, or used to cook beans).

Now you just need to decide what character you want your ricotta to have. If you want it for a dessert, maybe you want it to be creamier. In that case, place your drained ricotta in a bowl and add a tablespoon or two of cream. If you are going to use it in something like lasagna, or as a topping for a stew (yum), you might want it really dry; in this case you can easily take the edges of your towel or muslin and gather them up to form a pouch around the ricotta. Then, gently squeeze the pouch until the excess liquid is removed.

Here are some suggested uses for ricotta, which I have served in my kitchen:

The uses for homemade ricotta are only limited by your imagination.

  • Mix 1/2 cup ricotta with plenty of nuts, fresh fruit, and rolled oats for a great breakfast. A drizzle of maple syrup doesn’t hurt.
  • Drizzle with chocolate and top with chocolate chips for a dessert.
  • Use in the place of cottage cheese in any recipe or use.
  • Use in cheesecakes instead of cream cheese, for a less rich cheesecake with a deeper flavor.
  • Mix with a tablespoon of sour cream as a more substantial side to Mexican dishes.
  • Add to soups and stews for a rich consistency.
  • Use as a filling for ravioli (and of course lasagna).
  • Spread on toast along with honey.
  • Serve on toasted bread along with sun dried tomatoes and lettuce for a tasty lunch.
  • Mix well with peanut butter and chocolate syrup and freeze for an amazing dessert.
  • Mix with fresh herbs and garlic for tasty party spreads.
  • I could go on forever…but you get the idea.

That’s really all there is to it. I encourage you to try homemade ricotta. It’s decadent and rich, and cheaper than store-bought. And if you think you hate ricotta, please try this. You will be pleasantly surprised!

 
15 Comments

Posted by on February 14, 2012 in Great for Kids, Kitchen Tips, Recipes, Saving Money

 

Tags: , , ,

Creating a Personal Seedbank

12 Feb

Heirloom, open-pollinated plant varieties are your only bet for a successful personal seedbank.

You have probably heard of seed saving, where you save a plant’s seeds or tubers at the end of a growing season to serve as the seed source for the following year. This is great because choosing the proper plants and practicing proper seed-saving methods gives you to a free, self-perpetuating garden year after year. Saving seed also means you can share seeds with friends and neighbors, so everyone can start growing their own.

Many people, however, are not as familiar with the concept of a personal seedbank. A personal seedbank is like seed saving on steroids. You save seed for the coming season’s planting, but you also bank seed for longer storage, just in case.

What that “just in case” might be varies. Some people have created a personal seedbank as insurance against crop failures. Others believe a personal seedbank is necessary in the event of a partial (or total) societal collapse. Many people just like the idea of being sustainable and self sufficient. And, of course, seed saving can be a fun hobby.

PLANNING YOUR SEEDBANK

The most important thing to remember when planning your personal seedbank is that you can only save and store open-pollinated, non-hybridized, non-GMO seeds. Why? Because genetically modified and hybridized seeds have been dinked with by large corporations such as Monsanto, which doesn’t want you to be able to save your own seeds. Why? Because they want you to have to buy seeds from them year after year. Hybridized or GMO seeds frequently have sterile first generation offspring (F1 is a designation you might have seen). This means that while you’ll get viable plants from the seeds you buy, the seeds you save from those plants will likely be sterile. If they’re not sterile, they’ll produce offspring that are so unlike the parents with such a wide variety of characteristics that they will be a disappointment and not useful. Only buy heirloom, open-pollinated seeds from trusted sources.

The second thing to decide when planning a seedbank is what kinds of seed you want to save. The best seeds to save are from fruits and vegetables you enjoy eating the most, but experience comes into play, too. If you’re a beginning seed saver, to start it’s best to bank seeds that require the lowest skill set. This way you can focus your first growing season on learning seed saving techniques and still have viable, usable seed banked in preparation for the following growing season, at which time you’ll expand your skill. The easiest seeds to save and bank are self-pollinated seeds (see below for more info on this).

The third thing to decide when planning a seedbank is what seeds would be best to save. This can vary greatly depending upon the reason why you are choosing to create a personal seedbank. If you’re banking seed as insurance against a crop failure in your garden or to be more self sufficient, then banking what you like is the best option. If you’re banking seed as insurance against a societal collapse, then you’ll need to bank a wider variety of seeds and include many types that you may not have ever grown before, including grains like wheat or barley. Be advised, though, that in these cases it is a good idea to get some experience growing these seeds before a collapse occurs; your seedbank will be useless if you don’t know how to grow the seeds you have.

Ready-to-order seedbanks are great options until you have a chance to store your own varieties.

SEED SOURCES

If you’ve never saved seed before, you’ll have to buy your first seeds from a commercial grower or be lucky enough to have seed-saving friends who are willing to help you with your first crop. Excellent commercial sources for heirloom, open-pollinated seeds include Seed Savers Exchange, Native Seed Search, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, Sustainable Seed Company, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, and Abundant Life Seeds, among others.

Another alternative is to buy a pre-made seedbank that is already packaged and set for storage. This is a great idea for those who want a head start on their seedbank and have some insurance on-hand until a self-made seedbank has been created (which can take several years). A good source for a seedbank such as this is sold by Camping Survival. They sell a 6-can set that is organized by use type. For instance, the “Culinary Herb” can includes a variety of common herbs from basil to thyme, and the “Ancient Grains” can includes barley, flax, amaranth, and others. The ‘Medicinal Herbs” can is especially beneficial to have and is often overlooked in seedbanks.

SELF-POLLINATED SEEDS

The best and easiest seeds to save (and therefore bank) are self-pollinated seeds, which include tomatoes, beans, lettuce, peas, chicory, and endive. These plants have reliable seed set the same year they are planted, and they are self-pollinating. Self-pollinated seeds fertilize themselves, meaning the pollen from a plant’s flower fertilizes the stigma on that same flower. No muss, no fuss. There are few worries about cross-pollination or accidental hybridization. You get the same variety of tomato or bean year after year, though it is recommended to separate varieties by a row, just in case.

Self pollination is one way seeds of concern to home growers reproduce; the other two modes of reproduction are insects and wind pollination. This is where things can get tricky, because in these cases pollen from a plant up to a mile away can fertilize a plant in your garden. This increases the chance of hybridized plants, whose seeds will not breed true when planted. Because of this, insect- and wind-pollinated plants such as corn or onions have to be manipulated by the grower to ensure that pollination is limited to same varieties.

WIND- AND INSECT-POLLINATED SEEDS

More experienced seed savers can take on plants that require more intervention to insure that saved seed breeds true.  Crops such as corn, cucumber, radish, spinach, and squashes (among others) produce seed the same year they are planted, but require the grower to intervene to prevent unwanted hybridization. This intervention can come in the form of hand-pollinating the plants to prevent cross-pollination, or making sure there is considerable distance between the variety you are growing and other varieties (this distance can vary between 100 feet and a mile, depending upon the plant).

Biennial vegetable seeds set seed the year after they are planted, and as a result expert seed savers can take on the two-year commitment needed to save these seeds. Biennial vegetables include onions, carrots, cabbages, beets, swiss chard, turnips, celery, leeks, and others. Instead of harvesting at the end of the first growing season, the plants need to be successfully overwintered the same year they are planted (this can vary depending upon if you live in the north or south). The second growing season is when the plants will flower and set seed. These plants also need to be separated from other varieties to avoid cross-pollination.

Seeds like beans, peas, and cucumber can be dried and frozen and remain viable for storage.

ORTHODOX SEEDS

No, this has nothing to do with religion. What it does have to do with is how well a seed withstands the freezing and drying conditions that are necessary to maintain a seedbank. Orthodox seeds can be dried and frozen for storage and remain viable for a period of time, but some seeds take to this better than others. Some seeds can be stored up to 10 years or more, others begin to lose viability after one year. For most common vegetable plants, three to five years is about as long as they can be stored, though some plants (like parsnips) really need to be used within a year or two.

Ideally, seeds need to be dried to less than 7% moisture and, for maximum storage length, frozen to no warmer than zero degrees Farenheit (a home freezer may reach this temperature). The lower the temperature, however, the longer seeds will remain viable. Most vegetables known to the home gardener are orthodox seeds, such as peas, corn, and tomatoes. In fact, about 80% of plant species are orthodox seeds.

Recalcitrant seeds can’t be dried for storage and must be planted immediately. Tropical plants such as mangoes, coconuts, and tea are recalcitrant. Intermediate seeds can take some drying for short-term storage, but they are not viable options for a personal seed bank. Examples of intermediate seeds include coffee, papaya, and others.

SEED SAVING SPECIFICS

The best free online resource for learning how to save specific vegetable seeds can be found at the International Seed Saving Institute. They have a complete seed-saving guide that you can find here, which includes how to address the pollination needs of individual plants and harvest the seeds to best advantage. I’ll be writing plant-specific seed-saving Spins this growing season, but for now ISSI is a great resource.

If you have a personal seedbank story that you’d like to share, please do so in the comments!

 
6 Comments

Posted by on February 12, 2012 in Fun Experiments, Gardening, Outdoor and Survival, Saving Money

 

Tags: , , , ,

Spinach and Quinoa Casserole

10 Feb

Any grain can be used in this hearty, filling casserole but we used quinoa for its ease and speed!

What the hell is quinoa, you ask? It’s a grain-like food that is frequently thought to be related to grains like rice, maize, and wheat. However quinoa, which is a species of goosefoot (Chenopodium sp.), is really more closely related to plants such as spinach and beets than grains. As such, it packs a ton of nutritional benefits including being a complete protein with all nine essential amino acids. It’s also a great source of manganese, iron, magnesium, phosphorous, Vitamin E, and fiber. Other benefits of quinoa are that it is easy to cook, cooks in 15 minutes, and it is versatile, making for a quick side dish when paired with other ingredients of your choice.

If you don’t have access to quinoa, rice and barely are great substitutes in this dish. But no matter if you use quinoa or a grain, this casserole is delicious, filling, and is a quick and hearty meal for the family. The main benefit with quinoa, though, is as an alternative source for meat-like protein. In areas where meat is particularly expensive, if you are trying to eat healthier forms of protein, or if you’re a vegetarian, it’s hard to beat the benefits of quinoa.

INGREDIENTS:

(This recipe serves 2 as a meal or 4 as a side dish. Double it to serve 4 as a meal!)

  • 1 package frozen spinach
  • 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa, cooked following package instructions and set aside until assembly (substitute rice or barley if you like).
  • 1 cup cheese, grated (we used white cheddar, but you can use whatever cheese you wish, or a combination of cheeses)
  • 3 slices bacon, chopped into bite-sized pieces
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 1 teaspoon chili flakes (if you don’t like spicy food, use chili flakes only to taste)
  • 2 teaspoons fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 375F oven

Remove your spinach from the package and place it in a colander to thaw and drain. I generally place a heavy bowl on top of the spinach to press out the extra moisture as it thaws–it’s like killing three birds with one stone (thawing, draining, and pressing). I’m lazy like that.

Cook the onions, garlic, chili flakes, and parsley until sublime.

After your spinach has thawed, place it in a bowl large enough to accommodate the spinach and your remaining ingredients. Then take your chopped bacon and saute it in a skillet until cooked through and as crisp as you like it. Remove the bacon and set aside onto a paper towel-lined dish. Pour off all but about a tablespoon of the bacon fat.

Add to the skillet your chopped onion, garlic, parsley, and chili flakes and cook until the onions are wilted and browned. Deglaze your pan with the wine and add everything to the bowl along with your spinach. Also add your quinoa (or rice or barley), cooked bacon, grated cheese (reserve some for the top), salt, and pepper. Mix well to incorporate.

Preheat your oven to 375F. While the oven is preheating, let your ingredients sit for about 15 minutes. Drain off any excess liquid that accumulates in the bowl by tilting the bowl and using a large spoon to hold the ingredients in as you pour off the liquid. You don’t want it all to be bone dry, but you don’t want your casserole to be watery, either.

Transfer your mix into an appropriately sized baking dish and sprinkle the top with your reserved cheese. Place, uncovered, in your preheated 375F oven and bake until the cheese is melted and bubbly and everything is heated through (about 20 to 30 minutes).

 
4 Comments

Posted by on February 10, 2012 in Recipes

 

Tags: , , , ,

Cheap and Decadent Turnip Gratin

08 Feb

(Guest Spin and Photos by Umut Newbury, Lawrence, Kansas)

Turnips are cheap like potatoes, yet make for some decadent dishes, like this gratin.

Turnips are cheap. And tasty. And because of this they started making a comeback a few years ago as a go-to vegetable for the unemployed and otherwise frugally minded. It’s a wonderful root vegetable, but when it comes to root vegetables, most people would rather stay in the comfort zone of potatoes and carrots. Even carrots (outside of being a scant ingredient in chicken noodle soup) are sometimes pushing it in mainstream American food culture.

So, what of the other poor, unpopular cousins of the root vegetable world, like turnips, beets, or kohlrabi? Even when they show up in traditional grocery stores, early spring farmers markets, or CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) delivery boxes of well-meaning healthy eaters, they usually end up in the compost pile. Why? Most people have no idea what to do with them. That’s a shame because turnips and other root vegetables, when harvested in their prime, are crisp, tender and delicious; and could be turned into a number of economical and hearty family-pleasing dishes. And even when they have been out of the ground for awhile, they can be a very delicious and economical addition to all manner of casseroles, soups, and other cold-season kitchen creations.

This is why I was thrilled to receive a small bag of turnips as a gift from a friendly organic farmer, Stephanie Thomas of Spring Creek Farm in Baldwin, Kansas, last week. Here in the Heartland (even with the unusually warm winter we’ve been experiencing) colorful, fresh, local vegetables have been unavailable since before Thanksgiving. There may have been a few winter squashes and sweet potatoes left over from the end of the growing season, but for the most part, local produce in December and January amounts to exotic greens at best. So, any produce that can turn into something other than a salad is more appreciated in the dead of winter, especially if it can save me money.

Turnips are great raw for those with an open mind and palate. You can slice them and minimally season them for a great snack or grate them to use in salads, along with carrots. But, if you want to win the hearts and minds of skeptical turnip eaters everywhere, the surest way to accomplish this is by way of the awesome gratin. This recipe originally appeared in Gourmet magazine, but is very versatile and forgiving; I adapted it to conform to what happened to be in my pantry at the time. This is another way to save money: use what you have on hand! And you can have a hot meal on the table in about 45 minutes, with about 10 minutes of actual hands-on time on your part.

INGREDIENTS

(Adapted from the October, 2007 Gourmet magazine recipe)

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 1/2 pounds turnips, thinly sliced
  • 1 tablespoon thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon sage
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 cup heavy cream (or Alfredo sauce, or milk, or whatever you happen to have on hand)
  • 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (This amount can be decreased as calories and budget allow…it’s still tasty even with minimal cheese!)

Simple ingredients from the pantry for a hearty and economical family dinner.

Here’s our Spin on this recipe: Preheat oven to 450F. Thinly slice the turnips. Butter a round baking dish and arrange turnip slices in a circle, tightly overlapping each slice. Pour half of the cream (in this particular case, we were out of cream and substituted Alfredo sauce), the cheese and the spices (we were also out of sage, so we increased the thyme and cayenne) over the turnips. Repeat layers. Bake for 10 minutes at 450F. Reduce oven temperature to 400F and continue baking for another half an hour until the gratin is bubbly and nice and golden on top. (For the carnivores, we’re pretty sure a sprinkling of bacon on top would be an added bonus!) Cool for 10-15 minutes and enjoy!

The original directions from Gourmet say: “Preheat oven to 450F. Melt butter in an ovenproof 12-inch skillet. Slice turnips, arrange in a thin layer, overlapping. Sprinkle 1/3 (to ½) of spices and cheese. Repeat layers, cook for 10 minutes. Add cream, cook for 20 minutes. Bake for 10-15 minutes.”

 
3 Comments

Posted by on February 8, 2012 in Farm Profile, Recipes, Saving Money

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

15 Ways to Paracord Power

06 Feb

Paracord's construction gives it strength and durability, and opens the door for multiple uses.

For those of you who have no idea what paracord is (and I didn’t up until a year or two ago), it’s like the duct tape of the fiber world. Paracord is nylon rope that was originally used in parachutes in World War II, which is where the name came from (originally it was parachute cord). Now it is a versatile utility cording that is still used extensively in the military, but is also gaining in popularity for personal use. Military-grade paracord is so useful that it deserves a Spin so those without military connections can learn about and make use of this great material.

Military-grade paracrod comes in six different types. We’re going to focus on the best quality one that is most readily available to civilians: a variation of the military Type III paracord frequently called Mil-spec 550 paracord. Construction of 550 paracord is done by taking seven two-ply threads of nylon and wrapping them in a shell braided from 32 nylon strands. This composite construction gives paracord a tensile strength of 550 pounds (when the seven internal threads are removed the outer sheath has a tensile strength of 200 pounds). Not only that, but paracord is mildew and rot resistant, and it’s only 1/8″ thick, making it great for a variety of uses. Here are some examples of the uses of paracord, many of which focus on ways to help you survive if you get lost hiking, or otherwise find yourself in a survival situation:

A paracord bracelet is like having safety around your wrist.

1) Crafts and parawear: Braiding bracelets, belts, lanyards, or any object you can think of with paracord is easy, and since it comes in so many great colors it looks cool, too (not to mention the durability). And you’ll have paracord on you all the time, which is a great way to keep a little safety around your waist, wrist, key chain, or more. If needed, say to tie down a load on the roof of your car, all you need to do is unweave the bracelet or belt and voila! You are ready for the task at hand! This is especially useful for camping and hiking, where you can wear some safety so it doesn’t take up room in your pack.

2) Dog collars and leashes: You can braid great custom dog leashes and collars out of paracord; paracord’s strength and rot-resistance make it ideal for this purpose.

3) A saw: That’s right! By pulling on a length of paracord fast enough to create actionable friction, you can saw some things in half, such as two-inch wide tubular webbing! Check out this brief video from Estela Wilderness Education, LLC for a demonstration.

4) Catching food: Paracord is so versatile it can be used to catch animal food, big or small. You can cut a length of paracord and remove one of the internal two-ply threads for use as fishing line, or use the in-tact cord for animal snares and traps.

5) Useful thread: The internal threads are also thin enough to sew on loose buttons or torn seams in clothing or tents, and even as dental floss.

6) Camp construction and utility: In any sort of camping situation (intended or not) paracord has too many uses to mention. Because of its strength and rot resistance, it can be used for things like pole lashing, pulling logs, hoisting food into trees for protection, and for guy strings and shelter ridge lines for tents or temporary shelters. The only limit is your ability to adapt and improvise!

7) Making fire: Since paracord itself is nylon it won’t burn for you but it does catch heat so it can be used as tinder to light larger pieces of kindling. And, you can use paracord as the necessary string in a bow-drill, a primitive way to make fire if needed. Here’s information on making and using a bow drill from Nature Skills.

8) Medical emergencies: In the unfortunate circumstance that you get hurt while camping or hiking, paracord can literally save your life or the life of a friend. It can be used as a tourniquet, a sling, or to lash splints together on a broken limb. You can even string the paracord between two sapling trunks to make a stretcher of sorts.

9) Automobile fix: No, really! You can take 550 paracord and use it as a temporary replacement for something like a fan belt. Just be sure to knot the cord every few inches, otherwise the slippery nature of the cord will cause it to slip off.

10) Rappelling: No, paracord is not great as a regular climbing rope, but in an emergency situation you can rappel or otherwise haul your body weight with 550 paracord (provided you don’t weight more than 550 pounds).

11) Woven items: With enough skill you can weave things from paracord such as water bottle holders, fishing nets, bird nets, or other traps.

12) Pulley systems: Around the house or in the woods, having a good block and tackle pulley system can allow you to haul and lift weights much heavier than you could without pulley assistance; paracord is great in pulleys.

13) Weaving rope: If paracord isn’t strong enough for you, you can use it to braid even stronger rope for hauling or pulley purposes, such as to remove a stuck vehicle. This is an option if you are in a situation where you don’t have proper rope available.

14) Wrapping stuff: Paracord is a great material to use for all manner of handle-making, from knives to luggage to hatchets, tools, and more. Anything you want wrapped can be quickly covered with paracord!

15) Making weapons: Having to make primitive weaponry on-the-fly for killing food or protecting yourself is never something we want to have to do, but it’s nice to know that with paracord on hand you are covered.

Paracord shoelaces eliminate the need for melting the ends.

Not all paracord is created equal. Much of the paracord that is available is substandard quality that is not up to military specs and as a result will not provide the benefits outlined in this article, so don’t go buying it from some place like Walmart and expect it to perform for you in any useful capacity. I recommend buying your paracord from Camping Survival. This site provides mil-spec 550 paracord at a great price not to mention proper paracord shoelaces (with aglets so you don’t have to melt the ends), bracelets, belts, and kits to make your own braided paracord items.

 
2 Comments

Posted by on February 6, 2012 in Fun Experiments, Hobbies and Arts, Outdoor and Survival

 

Tags: , , , ,

← Older posts
 
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 988 other followers