I love Off the Grid News. They have a lot of articles I find relevant. Although they are a little more intense with the issues than I am, I do appreciate their keeping me abreast of the current events as far as law, and things that go on around us that will affect us in some way or another. Here is a great article on Labor Saving Devices that I was happy to find that I have at least half of.
I love my grain mill to pieces! We purchased a Family Grain mill From Everythingkitchens.com. I went ahead and got the mill with the hand crank and for motorizing it, I purchased the Kitchen-Aid adapter. I have been so pleased with this mill. Ive used it on various types of grains like wheat, rye, kamut, and corn (nothing compares to really FRESH corn meal for corn bread!) Ive also used it to powder up larger amounts of herbs and spices for cooking that would have taken too long in my mortar and pestle (my fresh ground cumin love affair continues!) I've tried it for making and experimenting with different types of flours, such as rice flour, oat flour, almond flour, and some others. In all situations It has really performed well. I haven't been able to try it out for butters yet. Ive seen some reviewers say they could use it for almond butters and one even used it for peanut butter, others say it just clogs.
The mill is so easy to use that my son with light cerebral palsy can use it to grind our sprouted wheat with his weaker hand! All the children (7 and under) love to help with it. The grind goes from course (cracking corn) to fine which can be suitable for using for noodle flour. Two passes gives me flour fine enough for bread.
The other thing I'm privileged to have is a wringer, and rapid washer. One January about two years ago we had our washer give out on us. We were in some financially hard times and had to wait about a month before we could afford even a used washer. Until then I had to hand wash all of our clothes with my rapid washer and wringer. I also potty trained my oldest that was in cloth diapers still. I understand why ladies long ago had their children potty trained SO much earlier. Lehmans now carries a breathing washer that is similar to the rapid washer, but is made of a sturdy plastic. I also used a new or very well cleaned and bleached toilet plunger.
My third acquisition from this list is an old 1948 singer sewing machine. It is electric, but I'm looking out for a treadle base and hand wheel to convert it. I'd also like to get a hold of an old zig-zag and button hole attachment as my model is only a straight stitch. I'll try to add some pictures when I can find my card reader.
We have a fairly good set of tools, thought we'd need to get a larger place to organize them better. Specialized tools and crafting skills are a good thing to learn as they could be good bartering services.
Perhaps later I'll post a list of things that we have collected, and things I'm aiming to get for our families preparedness. I'd like to have pictures, so it may take a while to get them all up.
Thanks for stopping by today. Hope you have a great day!
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