A Family Legacy, and the Pursuit of Independence

There are a lot of ways to respect your parents. You can emulate their behavior, or you can take what you've learned from them, and completely change the rules, and cut your own path out of life.

My husband grew up in a farming family. They're some of the hardest-working, most loving and and honest people I've ever met. His father spends his days in the fields with his brother and uncle, sweating under the steel roofs of tractors and combines as they use every drop of daylight to get the job done. Rob tells me about days as a kid spent helping on the farm in whatever ways they could, loading seed, helping in the shop, wherever their father needed them, there was him and his brother. It was a labor intensive job, but one that bore in him a strong work ethic, and an amazing bond with his family. Never have I met anyone quite as hard working and kind-hearted as the Hagest family.

Sometimes I don't think my husband ever expected to pursue a career in the agricultural industry-at least, not the way he was brought up doing it. We all grow up doing something, and we usually spend most of our lives trying to break the monotony and do something completely different. But my husband saw ways to improve the family business, ways to make it more sustainable and environmentally friendly, and now he spends his days in the yard experimenting. He uses the knowledge he gleaned from his father about farming and applies a whole new method of thinking to it, and I'm amazed at the applications he's come up with.

He's taken the ideas of a subset of agriculture, called permaculture, and applied it to a food garden, and has found some creative and simple ways to make food gardens more self-sustaining and productive, with no genetically modified seeds or pesticides of any kind. It's truly amazing.

You see, in this relationship, I'M the bleeding heart environmentalist, but after much debating and fact-checking, I've finally convinced (or rather, a series of macho-men permaculturalist podcasters have) him that it does matter what you put in the ground. After doing some of our own research, and watching plenty of dramatic and bleak documentaries, we realized that the food industry had become completely monopolized by agricultural giants that weren't just controlling 70% of the world's food supply, but that they were genetically altering our seeds to be Round Up resistant, and dumping millions of barrels of toxic poisons into the soil that produced our food. On top of that, these same CEOs that control and supply the majority of our food sit on the boards of the FDA and Health Department, further corrupting the system.

We were horrified by what we learned, but we were even more horrified by how inescapable the reach of corporate agriculture seemed. That's when we put our brains together and started working on changing things.

Rob began gleaning information on alternatives to traditional farming methods such as monoculture, and started learning about polyculture, and natural food gardens that support themselves by allowing a diversity of plants to form symbiotic relationships with one another, rather than just planting row after row of beans or whatever. We did away with chemicals, completely. It wasn't easy, and it's something we're still working on, but we don't eat anything with corn or soybean products in them now, since that is the most genetically modified crop in the US. We started to examine everything we used, and did away with chemical cleaners and fast food, and started learning about wild foraging for food.

This intellectual awakening has inspired a whole new life for us. A little over a month ago, with the tremendous support of our friends and family, we moved to the rural Little Belt Mountains in Montana. We decided we wanted to be away from the city, and start learning about living as independent of a supermarket as we could. We escaped the endless reach of corporate agriculture, and now we work every day towards changing the way we live.

It wasn't an easy change. We miss our families, and our friends. But this was one inspired by his family, in a lot of ways. Many generations ago, his grandmother moved to Indiana from Wisconsin, and began a new life on the Hagest family farm. Now, her grandson has done just that, and is building on his family's legacy of hard work and perseverance, with a new found respect for the long term repercussions of his actions. Together, we will continue to work towards complete food independence. He is his father's son, and every day, my husband works towards being a pioneer like his dad. He respects his family by taking what they've taught him, and building on it.

Hugelkultur or Wood Core Gardening.

This is not something I came up with, just something I'm really interested in.

Here is an excellent article on the topic of Hugelkultur done by Paul Wheaton  of Richsoil.com and Permies.com.

Huguelkultur: The Ultimate Raised Garden Beds

There are lots of pictures of what a hugel bed could look like and how to construct one.

If anyone else finds this as interesting as I do I would love to talk about it here with you. Or check out Permies.com where you can find many forums about hugelkultur, homesteading, and self sufficient living.

Fire Starting Series: Part One Just 1 Match

Ever since man discovered fire it has been a must for survival in one way shape or form. Whether it is to cook our food or heat our homes; to making power and getting us into town via our cars, you can't do anything without a fire of some form. In this blog series I will be discussing fire starting in many different ways. Most will be for making camping, cooking or wood stove fires but could be used for other things as well. Part one will cover starting a fire with just a single match.
I remember growing up in a home that relied on a wood stove for heat. It was wonderful. The radiant heat you got from sitting in front of it on a cold day is hard to beat. The beauty of an old, black, metal box housing your heat made me feel like a pioneer in a log cabin in the middle of the forest. There were a few down sides to a fireplace. You have to clean it regularly, the stove and the chimney. You must gather wood and then get it into the house. Finally you must start a fire.

This was a chore I loved and hated at the same time. I loved the responsibility for providing heat for the family for the night, but hated when I couldn't get it started no matter how much newspaper I used. After growing up and moving out on my own I sought to conquer this childhood demon. I heard stories of fires being started with just one match and I thought to my self "I must learn of this magic." Today I will share this magic with you.
The first thing you must do is gather some good dry kindling, or small pieces of wood bark or splinters. For this technique you will need different sizes of kindling, ranging from the grass like to stuff the size of your thumb. Most of the things you will find will be too big so you will need to split them. In our Big Sky home I have an old kitchen knife I use for splitting and getting wood shavings from sticks. Pocket knives work great as well. An ax or hatch is too big for this type of work. Just put your blade on the area you want to split, then use something heavy, like a rock, to hammer the knife through the wood.
For most sticks you will be able to use your knife, and with a few taps with your hand or fist split the stick to the sizes you need.

For smaller, harder to split sticks I find it better to lay it flat then drive the knife into the middle













Then give is a twist. This should split the stick down the grain.

Once you have a lot of different sized pieces of wood separate the by size, biggest to smallest. Once this is done pick out three pieces about the size of your index finger and about 4 to 6 inches long. Take these pieces and make an "A" in the place you want to start your fire.

The idea is to create a platform for your kindling and a pocket to insert your match.

Next I like to take three pieces about the size of a pencil led and lay them across the top of the "A" to make another platform for the kindling. It also helps keep your match pocket clear of the small kindling.

Now that our base is complete we can start building on it.
First take your smallest pieces, they should be hair-like bark or thin wood shavings. Take a handful of this and make a birds nest wad.

Then place it on the top of the "A"


Next go to the next largest pieces, they should be about the size of pencil led.


Then lay the tops on the birds nest. The idea is to spiral your kindling into a pyramid shape. This will be more obvious when we get to the bigger pieces.


Moving up the line we now add larger pieces, about the size of a pencil. You are probably starting to see why it is good to have everything separated and in order now.

Just like before add these to the top of the pile. Try to make a pyramid and remember to keep your match pocket open.
Repeat the last few steps until you have a pretty good pyramid shape going . Save some of the larger pieces, about the size of you fingers, until you get the fire going.



Now strike your match, insert it into the match pocket and watch the magic.


I will be honest I had to use two matches be cause I was trying to get pictures and wasn't able to blow on the flame. When you see it start to smoke blow lightly into the pocket and breathe life into your fire.


Use your instinct with the air, fire needs air to burn, but too much will put out your flame.


Let most of the small pieces catch fire, then add larger ones to build it up.

After building a few fires like this you will get the hang of it. You will get it down to a science of how much and what size kindling works best for you. Yes, this does take more time then piling up some random twigs and a wad of newspaper and hoping it lights. The one match magic trick may take more time to set up but it uses less material and could be a learning experience to teach your kids importance of building a fire. Of course, always make sure to tell them about the dangers that comes with fire, and to never play with matches.
Hope everyone learned a little something. Stay safe and stay warm.

P.S. Sorry for the sideways pictures. I will work on that for part 2.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Over the past couple years, my husband and I have been spending a lot of time thinking about the way we live, and the products we use on a daily basis. Through this exploration, we've discovered a lot of nasty truths about the chemicals we use on a daily basis that exist in everything from our food to our shampoo.

In our pursuit of what we call a cleaner, chemical free lifestyle, we've experimented with different ways of making our own laundry detergent. In addition to being very expensive, laundry detergent is full of all kinds of nasty chemicals that don't just wreak havoc on a water supply, but on many people's allergies and skin. The harsh chemical detergents and artificial fragrances are the root of many skin problems.

So, in light of saving any money we can, and avoiding these disgusting chemicals that do far more harm than good, we found this wonderful recipe for a highly effective homemade laundry detergent! The recipe is not your typical detergent, not quite as gooey and gelly as you might be used to, and it bubbles very little. However, rest assured, it gets your clothes clean, and doesn't leave any spots or bleach stains on delicates.

Let's get started.

1.  First, get you either a bar of Fels Naptha or Castile Soap. Fels Naptha can usually be found in the cleaning aisle, and castile soap in bar form is usually with the body bar soaps. Castile may be more difficult to find, but it bubbles a bit more than Fels Naptha, so check your health food stores if you like the bubbles!

Now grate a bar of the soap up. You only need a 1/2 cup for this recipe, but I like to just grate the whole thing up at once so I can save the rest for the next time I need to make detergent. One bar probably makes like 1 1/2 cups grated.

I use a cheese grater, and it only takes 5 or 10 minutes. Oh, and see that fancy empty yogurt container back there? I use that to keep my extra grated soap. I know, I'm spoiled.

2. So now that you've grated away, give your hand a break, and grab a big stock pot and put about 3 quarts of water in it (that's 6 cups), and put it over medium heat. Add 1/2 cup of your grated soap, and stir it occasionally. You'll want to let it "cook" til the soap is melted.

3. While your soap is melting, grab a clean 5 gallon bucket, and put 1 cup of borax and 1/2 cup of washing soda in it. Again, these are just some old fashioned cleaners that can be found in the cleaning aisle. they're very eco friendly, and gentle on people's skin.

Put the borax and washing soda in your bucket, and add 2 gallons of hot water (less than half a bucket full). Grab a spoon and stir it well. 

Now check on your grated soap mixture, it should be about melted.

4. Once all of those white chunks have dissolved, go ahead and pour the contents of your stockpot into the bucket and stir it really well. 

5. Now cover it, and let it set up overnight.

6. The next day, your mixture should have a nice gel like consistency, but don't panic if it's not like the commercial stuff, because it probably won't be. This mixture is pretty concentrated, so add enough warm water to come within 6 inches of filling the bucket, and give it a good stir.

7. Now just grab a funnel and some clean containers, and disperse! This recipe makes around 5 gallons, and you'll want to use about 1/4 cup per load, but I never measure. 

You can use essential oil to add some fragrance if you like, I prefer lavender oil myself. Just remember a little goes a long way, only a few drops per gallon should do it! It's not like commercial detergents, you won't get crazy amount of bubbles and it's not lime green, but this is a simple way to get just get your clothes plain old clean. I use it on all of my clothes, whether they're chiffon, silk, cotton, poly-crap-blends, whatever, and it's never too abrasive. And if you ever do need something a little tougher on the stains, just add a tablespoon of baking soda to your load! Sometimes the old way of doing things are the best way!

Here's the shortened version of the recipe:

1c borax

1/2 c washing soda

1/2 cup grated Fels Naptha or castile soap bar

1. Melt soap on medium heat with 3 quarts of water (or 6 cups) in large stock pot, stirring occasionally.

2. Add washing soda and borax to bucket with about 2 gallons of hot water, stir.

3. Stir melted soap mixture into bucket mixture.

4. Cover bucket and let set up over night.

5. Add an additional 2 gallons of water and stir.

6. Using a funnel, dispense into containers, add a few drops of essential oil for fragrance if desired.