| Author |
Off the Grid/Homesteading Skills:  Lost art skills wish list  |
|
TeresaJ25
True Blue Farmgirl
975 Posts
Teresa
Medford
NY
USA
975 Posts |
 Posted - Mar 18 2014 : 10:03:33 AM
|
Sharon, I love the idea of learning one thing per year! This way you don't get overwhelmed with all that your trying to do and actually learn nothing!!
I have a very long mental list, but 2 things for sure that I will try this year are: Vermicomposting ( I already have my worms and bin set up) and I want to try and make dandelion wine.. just out of curiosity! I have made dandelion jelly and it tastes so yummy, so I am wondering what the wine would be like!
~Teresa
Farmgirl Sister #1348
Little Henhouse on the Island
http://www.SweetLambHeritage.etsy.com
Keep reading. Keep learning. Keep loving. Keep giving. Keep smiling. Keep listening. Keep forgiving. Keep praying |
 |
|
|
NancyOH1
True Blue Farmgirl
88 Posts
Nancy
Columbus
Ohio
USA
88 Posts |
Posted - Apr 16 2014 : 07:45:31 AM
|
Since joining MaryJane's Farmgirl Sisterhood I have learned so many new things and continued improving on some already learned skills. There is so much I still want to learn to do and make. I bought a solar oven last Fall and would like to learn to use it this summer. Cheesemaking, making jellies and jams, and reconnect with learning to can vegetables, soapmaking, candlemaking, and so much more.
http://leftyscraftshack.wordpress.com
|
|
|
|
Cozynana
True Blue Farmgirl
1123 Posts
Kem
1123 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2014 : 1:15:41 PM
|
Nancy, cooking with the sun is soooooo much fun. I have had a solar oven for maybe 5 years. My goal this summer is to start using it daily this year. Know that is impossible, but I can strive to do it as much as possible. Fun in the sun
|
|
|
|
NancyOH1
True Blue Farmgirl
88 Posts
Nancy
Columbus
Ohio
USA
88 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2014 : 1:35:31 PM
|
Kem,
I too hope to use it a lot this summer. Any tips and recipes would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Nancy |
|
|
|
star-schipp
True Blue Farmgirl
942 Posts
Starletta
Middletown
Indiana
USA
942 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2014 : 2:20:01 PM
|
Like everyone here, my list is long....I'm starting 2 beehives this year and am reading about growing mushrooms...and vermicomposting...and growing Christmas trees....and shrimp farming....and cheesemaking....the list goes on and on and on. LOL
If you can't feed one hundred people, then just feed one. -Mother Teresa
Star - farmgirl sister #1927
Master Food Preserver
|
|
|
|
atkinst2
True Blue Farmgirl
907 Posts
Theresa
Canal Winchester
OH
USA
907 Posts |
Posted - May 03 2014 : 7:43:30 PM
|
Like everyone else here.... my list is very long. I already do a lot of the things listed but there is so much more to learn. I guess my biggest thing is to learn the patience to live more the way I feel in my heart and the skill to tell people around me "no" more often so I can.
I already sew and knit, work with pine needles and gourds, spin and weave, make bread, butter and canning. I have a garden and even though it is small, it provides for my husband and I. I love to bow hunt and fish. I can do some woodworking, if one is not looking for anything too fancy. But there is soooo much more out there to learn! Like cheesemaking and leather tooling (done a little but not very good at it).
Well, as I said the list goes on and on!
|
|
|
|
herbquilter
True Blue Farmgirl
891 Posts
Kristine
Bonney Lake
Wa
USA
891 Posts |
Posted - May 03 2014 : 11:19:46 PM
|
I would like a wooden floor loom to make mostly rugs out of unused & worn clothes. My Grandma had rag & braided rugs in her house over wood floors and I just loved them!
Blessings,
Kristine ~ Mother of Many, Herbalist, Master Energy Intuitive
http://herbalmommasda.blogspot.com/
|
|
|
|
sariejack
Farmgirl at Heart
9 Posts
Sarah
Megargel
Texas
USA
9 Posts |
Posted - May 19 2014 : 08:24:20 AM
|
| I'd love to learn how to make rag rugs and to quilt. I have a quilt top I found at a thrift store and I'd love to make it into a proper quilt. |
|
|
|
Bear5
True Blue Farmgirl
13055 Posts
Louisiana/Texas
USA
13055 Posts |
Posted - May 20 2014 : 3:04:16 PM
|
I would LOVE to be able to quilt!!!!! Tried once. I have ten thumbs when it comes to sewing or quilting.
Marly
"It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth- and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up- that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had." Elisabeth Kurler-Ross |
|
|
|
hudsonsinaf
True Blue Farmgirl
3162 Posts
Shannon
Rozet
Wyoming
USA
3162 Posts |
Posted - May 21 2014 : 04:38:53 AM
|
Sooooo many things I want to learn! We try to add a few new things each year, based on the type of thing, for example this year we have backyard chickens and I am learning to knit. I will also be learning to make sourdough gluten free bread. so I guess basically there is usually something outside, something crafty, and something food related :) I try to do this with my kids as well.... Help them learn something in different categories. I use Keepers of the Faith with my children, and base it off of that a lot of the time. It gives me ideas for myself as well, lol.
~ Shannon
http://hudson-everydayblessings.blogspot.com/ |
|
|
|
mohawk drumlin
Farmgirl at Heart
1 Posts
Cheryl
St Johnsville
NY
USA
1 Posts |
Posted - Aug 14 2014 : 7:24:02 PM
|
I picked, pickled and canned milkweed pods today. Three sizes: medium, small and tiny. half-pint sized jars for each. I am hoping they come out like capers and caper berries. The next lost art I am looking for is making twine from nettles....
|
|
|
|
cajungal
True Blue Farmgirl
2349 Posts
Catherine Farmgirl Sister #76
Houston Area
Texas
2349 Posts |
Posted - Sep 09 2014 : 07:08:03 AM
|
Our farm is on a steady routine and flow. We're not completely self sufficient, but getting there.
On my list of things to learn is....welding and beekeeping.
One of the best compliments from one of my daughters: "Moma, you smell good...like dirt." |
|
|
|
houligan19
Farmgirl in Training
39 Posts
sarah
groton
CT
39 Posts |
Posted - Jan 14 2015 : 07:39:41 AM
|
I'm in the process of learning how to make a sort of hedgerow. It won't be completely traditional as I plan to incorporate many types of trees and bushes into the hedgerow, but there will likely be a more traditional portion of the hedgerow.
http://nepermhome.wordpress.com/ |
|
|
|
Tammyb
True Blue Farmgirl
511 Posts
Tammy
Bluffton
Ohio
USA
511 Posts |
Posted - Jan 15 2015 : 11:00:16 PM
|
Of all the things I know how to do .... I found the interest in "old fashion skills" and taught myself. Would have loved to have someone show me the how to do part of some things. But that is not always an option. But learning a new skill or perfecting one we already do is a wonderful thing. If I could learn ONE new skill in 2015 it would be how to use a loom. Have always been interested in the loom.
Live to leave a legacy
|
|
|
|
Cozynana
True Blue Farmgirl
1123 Posts
Kem
1123 Posts |
Posted - Jan 31 2015 : 12:00:56 AM
|
| Our town librarian and I are friends. I talked her into starting classes in our library. The goal is recreation, stimulation, and education. I brain stormed over 100 class ideas and matched as many teachers to classes as I could. the librarian has done an amazing job making a flyer with month calendars and events for the next 6 months. She has scheduled two book clubs, classes on crocheting a rag rug, learning older card and board games like cribbage, pitch, etc, making small journals or notepads, internet classes, lunch bites to discuss interesting topics over the lunch hours with "bring your own lunch", handmade greeting cards, barn art, emergency classes taught by local EMTs, pine needle basket weaving, presentation of weapons used in specific war by a local veteran, calligraphy, upcycling old library cardboard magazine holders, and more I am still searching for teachers for classes. If you can think of any classes that would be fun and could be taught in an afternoon or maybe up to 3 classes please post. Our goal is to have on going classes booked 6 months in advance. I am going to teach a class on life of intent and vision boards. I love crafting so have offered to do one craft a month. That should be a fun challenge. We have applied for a grant to get money to remodel the library basement so the community can utilize the kitchen and large activity room down there. The librarian is a mover and a shaker so feel confident it will happen. Like she says "Not if but when" we get the basement done. Amazing woman. She has morphed our library the hub of the community. We also have a children's story hour, a gaming area for teens, and girl scouts currently meet in the basement. For a town of 1,500 people that is unbelievable. Hopefully this summer we can do solar cooking, rocket stoves, smoking meats in a smoker, edible plant identification class, and other fun outside activities. Sorry, got caught up in the moment. This is my passion and could talk about this subject for hours. |
|
|
|
melody
True Blue Farmgirl
3329 Posts
Melody
The Great North Woods in the Land of Hiawatha
USA
3329 Posts |
Posted - Jan 31 2015 : 09:06:05 AM
|
I've done red work embroidery, quilting, and for seven years I made and sold hand-crafted soap (By the Bay Soap) but I've always wanted to learn to weave and now I am! My vintage 40's Union #36 Rag rug loom sits majestically in my bright front room loaded and ready for my next rug. It sure helps pass the long cold winter days here in the Great North Woods of Michigan!
Melody |
|
|
|
Jfollquam
Farmgirl at Heart
4 Posts
Jennifer
Glencoe
MN
USA
4 Posts |
Posted - Feb 24 2015 : 12:30:49 PM
|
| Hm, I already make my own jams and jellies. I do a lot of canning too with home grown food. I need to learn how to make bread with out the aid of a bread machine. I'm learning how to make soap. My major bucket list is , chickens, bee hives, smoking meat. I need to refine my sewing skills a bit more too. |
|
|
|
JennieArtgirl
Farmgirl at Heart
4 Posts
Jennie
Bentonville
AR
USA
4 Posts |
Posted - Jan 14 2016 : 11:50:45 PM
|
| I would love to learn how to build an underground passive solar house, solar panels, windmill, how to dig a well, make a root cellar, cheese making, how to build an ice house, and how to build an old fashioned icebox, and spring house, how to milk a cow, how to heat your home and generate electricity using heat from compost piles. How to make biofuel and convert my vehicle to run on biofuel. How to make rag quilts, tatting, hairpin lace, broom stick lace, how to capture and store rainwater from a house with no gutters, how to butcher and cut up a chicken, rabbit, and preserve the meat without any type of electricity. How to smoke meat and fish. How to garden year round, make baskets and rustic furniture, make an underground hobbit style house, how to get angora fur from rabbits, how to raise rabbits, how to spin, weave and make fabric. And so much more. |
|
|
|
Kangaroo Kate
True Blue Farmgirl
253 Posts
Teresa
Red Oak
Texas
USA
253 Posts |
Posted - Jan 16 2016 : 3:57:04 PM
|
I want to learn to spin I have a wheel but have
not had chance to get started on it. that is the
next goal of mine. I am just finishing up restoring
my 46" floor loom that was stored 2o years. and anxious
to get working on that again. I got it in 1975 time my
old friend and I get back to weaving together. I am
also going to learn to make soap from my mom she does a
really good job of it and going to teach me. that is enough
to keep me busy for a while.
there are other things on my goal list but will look to
those next year.
Dance Like No One Is
Watching. |
|
|
|
Celticheart
True Blue Farmgirl
811 Posts
Marcia
WA
USA
811 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2016 : 2:03:34 PM
|
I love the idea of learning at least one new skill each year. For me it doesn't always happen every year but I try. Since I already do most of the things like quilting, sewing, knitting, etc., I have tried to branch out more. Five or six years ago my friend and I took a soap making class, three years ago we took bee keeping classes that lasted 5 months and we each have multiple hives now. This year she's trying her hand at cheese making with her goats milk. I've been learning to make braided rugs. We live in a pretty rural area with not much availability for classes or people to teach so we often have to travel quite a ways for classes. It helps to have a co-conspirator :-)
For whatever listed earlier about wanting to learn to braid rugs do a YouTube search for braid-in rag rugs. There is a four part tutorial by an Erin Halvorsen that's fantastic. That's how I'm doing it.
"Let us never forget that the cultivation of the earth is the most important labor of man. When tillage begins, other art follows. The farmers, therefore, are the founders of civilization."
Daniel Webster
|
|
|
|
Blessed in Colorado
True Blue Farmgirl
6717 Posts
Debbie L.
Oregon
USA
6717 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2016 : 2:12:35 PM
|
I want to learn how to spin with my drop spindle, have for awhile, but for some reason I am really struggling wit it. I have even watched the YouTube tutorials. I am a knitter so I really want me to spend my own yarn.
I will not give up!
Hugs,
Deb
#1582
Blessed in Colorado
"Dream as if you will live forever...live as if you will die today." James Dean
"The truth is everyone is going hurt you. You got to find the ones worth suffering for." Bob Marley
"Friendship is when people know all about you but love you anyway."
www.etsy.com/shop/MountainWingsAntique
www.Amazon.com/Blessed in Colorado
http://myworld.ebay.com/debbt |
|
|
|
Madelena
True Blue Farmgirl
1919 Posts
Mary
Central
TX
USA
1919 Posts |
Posted - Jan 30 2016 : 4:51:51 PM
|
Hi Everyone,,
Heather, I liked your list of learning to makes soap and the solar oven. I'm going to try to make an oven this summer. It might takevseveral several tries!
Learning Dutch oven cooking is high on my list too!
I want to learn to make lye soap and I would simple LOVE to have a treadle sewing machine!!!
I haven't baked bread in a while,, but mom used to make all from scratch so it's like riding a bike, just takes a bit of practice to get it going again! Or so I'm told.
In lieu of weaving, traditional wet felting sheep wool is a quick skill to master and handmade felt has been used for clothing, saddle covers, blankets and even covering a yurt in past times.
So girls, let's work on something new and post a picture when we make our first new treasure! N
So glad to have found your group!
Mary
"There is no unbelief: Whoever plants a seed beneath the sod and waits to see it push away the clod, he trusts in God." (Kate Douglas Wiggin) |
Edited by - Madelena on Jan 30 2016 4:53:08 PM |
|
|
|
ceejay48
Farmgirl Legend/Schoolmarm/Sharpshooter
13664 Posts
CeeJay (CJ)
Dolores
Colorado
USA
13664 Posts |
|
|
AuntJamelle
True Blue Farmgirl
569 Posts
Jaime
South Bend
Indiana
USA
569 Posts |
Posted - Feb 22 2016 : 06:13:47 AM
|
Great thread!!! SO many skills I'd love to tackle! Braided rugs are amazing and I think I'm going to check out that YouTube tutorial Celticheart! (btw - love your handle!!)
Other things I've always wanted to learn: Candle making, quilting (by hand - the way my grandmother tried to teach me when I was too young to have the patience but I think I could do it now), sewing on the machine (once again - have pangs of regret for the BEAUTIFUL treadle machine same grandmother had that is now lost in time - I remember how smoothly that thing worked!)
I'd also like to improve my basic crochet and knitting skills.
Got a smoker for Christmas so will be adding that to my culinary skills this year! Cheese making is another one I want to try! And dehydrating! I've yet to use ours and really want to!
I already bake bread (no machine), garden, compost, can (including jams - not jellies yet), embroider, do small hand sewing projects, paper crafting (make my own cards, etc.)
Not sure what tatting is, off to google that! I think my other grandmother used to do that...she also crocheted lace but I don't know if I could tackle THAT!
Carding wool, spinning and weaving it would be an ULTIMATE skill set to achieve!
OH, and I would really REALLY like to learn how to ride a horse! I've done it, but am I an expert - NO - and I think that it is definitely a lost skill in many parts of the country!
|
Edited by - AuntJamelle on Feb 22 2016 06:42:44 AM |
|
|
|
Janice
True Blue Farmgirl
191 Posts
Janice
Vancouver
WA
USA
191 Posts |
Posted - Mar 22 2016 : 6:01:33 PM
|
I would love learn how the make woven lace. My Great Aunt use to make small woven lace and sew to dress or slips. Though I have not seen any dress or slip that she use to own. I was about 19 or 20 when she past. I learn later on in my life that she use to sew or alter clothes for other women to make a little extra money. I love learn about relatives and the things they use to do.
Janice
Vintage Artist
|
|
|
|
Off the Grid/Homesteading Skills: Lost art skills wish list |
|
Lost art skills wish list
