Canning
How I can dill pickles that stay crisp
Slicing cucumbers and a week in the crisper drawer will give you boiled zucchini in a jar. Here is the method that finally gave me a snap.
MEMara EllisonAug 7, 2026
From the shelves
Methods people actually use — canning, water, storage, and the rest of a prepared life.
Canning
Fridge dill pickles that snap in two days
I wanted pickles on a Tuesday and I did not want to drag the canner out. These stay in the fridge. They are not shelf-stable. If you want jars that live in the cellar, that is a…
Canning
Easy Ketchup
Homemade Tomato Ketchup for Canning: Fresh, Tangy, and Better Than Store-Bought There’s something deeply satisfying about turning a mountain of ripe summer tomatoes into jars of…
Energy
Cooking on a wood stove when the grid goes quiet
A cold house and a full freezer is a bad pairing. Learn the stove while the lights still work, then the outage is just a change of fuel.
JHJune Harlow
Aug 16, 2026
Garden
Saving seed so next year is not a guess
You do not need a seed bank. You need one dry week, a pencil, and the discipline to only save from plants that earned it.
WOWren Okoye
Aug 15, 2026
First aid
The first-aid kit I actually use off-grid
Skip the 400-piece box from the big-box aisle. Build around bleeding, breaks, burns, and the medications you already take.
JHJune Harlow
Aug 14, 2026
Canning
Pressure canning versus water bath: when each is safe
Acidity is the line, not tradition and not how your aunt did green beans in 1978. Here is the rule I teach in every class.
MEMara Ellison
Aug 13, 2026
Water
Rain barrels that do not breed mosquitoes
A screened lid and an overflow that actually goes somewhere are not extras. They are the difference between a cistern and a nursery.
CWCal Whitaker
Aug 12, 2026
Storage
Building a hillside root cellar for under $800
You do not need a bunker contractor. A bank of earth, a drain, and enough thermal mass will hold 50 degrees through a Virginia winter.
EVElias Voss
Aug 11, 2026
Water
A six-month water store that will not taste like plastic
Three barrels is not a plan. Rotation, treatment, and a way to get the water out are the plan. Here is a garage setup that has lasted me five summers.
CWCal Whitaker
Aug 9, 2026