Independence Skills Our Grandparents Knew: 101+ Lost Skills for Self-Reliance, Smart Saving, and Everyday Living

Our grandparents could churn butter, patch a pair of jeans, fix a dripping faucet and get through a week without power. Most of us were never shown how.The Independence Skills Our Grandparents Knew brings those skills back, one page at a time. Each skill has a clear illustration, a short note on how people did it a century ago, a list of what you need, numbered steps with real measurements and temperatures, and the one mistake most beginners make. You don't need a farm. Almost everything here works in an ordinary kitchen, apartment or backyard.What you will learnThe farm kitchen: churn butter, make farmer's cheese and yogurt, keep a sourdough starter, render lard, make bone broth and jamGrow and cook: pick a garden spot, grow easy vegetables and herbs in pots, build a compost pile, save seeds, bake bread, cook beans and grains, build a brick rocket stovePreserve the harvest: water-bath and pressure canning from tested recipes, freezing, drying fruit, pickles, sauerkraut, a cool-room root store, jerky made to USDA standardsKeep house and mend: clean without making toxic fumes, wash clothes by hand, care for cast iron, remove stains, sew buttons and seams, patch jeans, darn a sockFix it yourself: use a handsaw and screwdriver properly, sharpen tools, fix a sticking door, reglaze a window, stop a running toilet, clear a drain, find your water shutoff and reset a breakerSpend less, make more: a budget you will use, groceries planned around what you own, buying used, knots, soap, candles, a knitted dishcloth and a rag rugEmergencies and the outdoors: get through a power outage, store water and a two-week pantry, pack a go bag, stop heavy bleeding, hands-only CPR, read a map and compass, and what to do if you get stranded outdoorsKeep the old ways going: a small flock of laying Read more