Let’s face it. Most of us spend a portion of our day looking at a screen of some form – computers, tablets, the latest smartphone. Technologically speaking, we are more connected than we have ever been. We get news 24/7. We can watch videos on just about anything with a quick internet search. Continue reading
It’s an exercise which far too many people are finding themselves doing. Open the refrigerator, take out the bag of veggies or tray of meat, and check whether the contents are involved in the latest food recall.
As night fell, I realize how exhausted I was. Do you know what my family and I spent the last week doing? Packing, boxing, schlepping, unpacking and unboxing, more schlepping. Stuff. Just lots of stuff. We are downsizing and as we move from a larger home to a smaller one, we are going through all of our stuff. Continue reading
Has anyone ever measured the garbage output of the average Amish family? There’s no need. They already create far less trash than the average American family.
Why? Because the Amish lifestyle is the ultimate in low-impact zero-waste living. Continue reading
Editor’s Note: Hannah started building her yurt last spring where she now lives. She recorded the beginning of her adventure during the process and is now sharing it with us. Enjoy!
These days are very exciting, because I’m starting to build a yurt to live in. I’ve never built a semi-permanent dwelling before, and to be totally honest I don’t have a lot of construction experience. For this project, I get to learn as I go, taking the advice of neighbors, and, luckily, there’s some room for fudging. Continue reading
This past summer, we moved into my grandma’s house after she passed away. I had grown up exploring the nooks and crannies of her old brick house, eating after-school snacks and a homemade supper with her and my grandpa nearly every day. When my husband and I first walked into the house, I knew there would be treasure to unearth. Continue reading
Around this time last year, my extended family gathered at my grandmother’s house for a belated Christmas celebration. As tradition has it, my grandma’s cozy basement was filled with tables and chairs, homemade sugar cookies (Grandma makes the best!), and a boisterous noise that erupted every few minutes as members of my family traded stories and laughs. Continue reading
YouTube vloggers Doug and Stacy (“Off Grid with Doug and Stacy”) have taken the homesteading world by storm. Their down-to-earth charm and common-sense advice speaks to anyone longing to throw off their stressful job and live a simpler life. Continue reading
A few falls ago, one of my husband’s coworkers invited us to come out with buckets to pick apples from the trees in his overwhelmed backyard. We came home happy with three five-gallon buckets full. Then came the endless task of processing them, and figuring out what the heck we were going to do when we got sick of apple pies.
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At every turn, we read articles (ironically, usually on our phones) telling us how awful human interaction has become due to handheld devices. This isn’t new; my brother had a walkman perpetually running starting about 1990. Continue reading
