August 2021 - Jeff Cassman

How To Save Tomato Seeds From Your Garden’s Tomatoes (Video)

There are a number of reasons why someone might want to save their tomato seeds. The first is simple economics. Saving seeds from this year’s crop to plant again next year means I won’t have to purchase tomato seeds again!

But when we save our tomato seeds, we’re saving more than just money.

Preserving Heirlooms

Some of the best, most flavorful tomatoes that we can grow are known as heirlooms. An heirloom is simply a variety that has been saved and passed down from one generation to the next for at least fifty years.

Every time we save and share our tomato seeds, we’re doing our part to preserve those varieties

Tomatoes don’t necessarily need to be heirlooms for us to save their seeds. The key to success is to grow and save seeds from open-pollinated varieties. Seeds from an open-pollinated variety produce offspring that are identical to the parent plant.

What You Need to Save Tomato Seeds

There’s very little equipment required to save tomato seeds. The first thing you’ll need, of course, is ripe tomatoes. When a tomato is ripe, the seeds are ready to harvest and the fruit will signal its ripeness by changing colors, from green to red. Or orange, yellow, striped or even purple depending on the variety of tomato that you are growing!

You will also need a cutting board, knife and a container to ferment your tomato seeds in. A canning jar will do the trick, but you can always reuse any jar or container from the kitchen.

How to Extract & Ferment Seeds

When you save tomato seeds, you first need to ferment in order to remove the jelly-like coating that surrounds thes. This coating contains growth inhibitor chemicals, and removing it from our seeds will significantly increase germination rates next season.

Cut your tomato open and squeeze the seeds and juice out of the fruit and into your container. You can also use a small spoon or scoop for this job of you prefer. Add a little bit of water to the jar, cover, then set the container on a window sill for a few days to ferment.

Be sure to label the jar with the name of the variety!

Once the seeds are properly fermented, you’ll notice a white mold beginning to form at the top of the water. This is the signal that your tomato seeds are ready! At this stage, just add a little bit more water to the jar and swirl the liquid around to mix it up well.

Getting Your Seeds

The contents of the jar will separate, with the mold, growth inhibitors, immature seeds and other undesirables floating to the top, and nothing but healthy, viable…

Real Life Survival Story: Baofeng, the Little Ham Radio That Could –

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by Aden Tate

It was a beautiful summer day in Vermont, and Alden Summer Jones was making his way down the Long Trail – America’s oldest hiking trail. It’s a 273-mile trek across the highest mountains in Vermont – across the entire length of Vermont as well – and all without making contact with any cities or towns (though it does cross a few roads).

After a length of hiking through the trail, Alden’s blood sugar dropped too low. He passed out and began to suffer a seizure. Thankfully, a fellow hiker was nearby who just happened to be an EMT. The EMT rushed to Alden to deliver aid. After Alden regained consciousness, the EMT decided that further aid was going to be needed. They needed a rescue.

Unfortunately, one of the chief qualities that adds to the appeal of the Long Trail – *its remoteness – also meant having zero cell reception throughout many parts of it. That’s precisely what Alden and the EMT realized as they tried to call for help.

*Long Trail is one of the most remote hiking experiences in America.

But Alden had an ace up his sleeve: he was a ham radio operator.

And it just so happened that Alden had brought along his HT (handy-talky) radio with him. Alden’s radio was a Baofeng – easily the most hated radio brand amongst serious ham radio aficionados out there. In a disaster situation, though, Alden proved that even something as scorned as a Baofeng could save lives. Alden tuned in to a local repeater on Mt. Greylock, where he put out a call for a rescue. Two men, Ron Wonderlick and Matthew Sacco, were sitting at home listening to the radio traffic on the local repeater that day and heard Alden’s call for help.

After a brief discussion between Matthew and Ron, Matthew decided to go mobile. He grabbed his radio gear, jumped in his vehicle, and drove off to the parking lot of the Long Trail (after contacting emergency services). Matthew met the Incident Command Leader for the SAR operation at the parking lot, offering his services as a radio operator to help. The rescue operation agreed. Matthew first attempted to contact the Mt. Greylock repeater that Alden had used initially to make his call for help.

Time to get creative.

Getting a hold of the repeater was tricky, and Matthew knew if he couldn’t reach it, the rescue operation would only have a much more difficult time. He initially tried his HT unit.

It didn’t work.

Then…

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Paul Samuelson on Freedom | David Gordon

Some economists are good at political philosophy as well. Mises and Rothbard of course come to mind, but the good philosophers aren’t confined to Austrian school economists. Amartya Sen and Kenneth Arrow know what they are talking about when it comes to philosophy, agree with them or not. But some eminent economists don’t, and, judging by Nicholas Wapshott’s new book, Samuelson Friedman (Norton, 2021), the most famous American economist of the twentieth century, Paul Samuelson, was not a philosophical giant. The book is a study of the Newsweek columns of Samuelson and Milton Friedman, and Samuelson doesn’t appear to have thought through philosophical issues very deeply. Friedman does much better, but I’m going to be talking only about Samuelson.

One of the clichés of anti–free market thought is the claim that human rights are more important than property rights. This is nonsense; property rights are rights of human beings to property. Samuelson accepts an extreme version of this cliché:

“The rights of property shrink as the rights of man expand,” he wrote. While some suffered because the government intervened in the market, an unfettered market had winners and losers, too, he argued. While the free market suggested that everyone was free to buy what they wanted, there was such a thing as rationing by price, which put many items well beyond the reach of those without the means. The children of those who could not afford good education, for instance, were deprived by the market setting too high a price. The “freedom” of individuals provided by the market was therefore only notional. (p. 80)

Samuelson has confused two different things. Suppose I would like to visit Paris but can’t afford an airplane ticket. I’m unable to do what I want, but no one is using force against me, or threatening to use force, to prevent me from going to Paris. I can’t go because I am unable to meet the price that the owner of the airplane has set for the use of its services. The situation would be quite different if I bought a ticket and government agents forcibly removed me from the plane. Samuelson could counter in this way: the distinction between being unable to do something because doing it requires the consent of someone else, which he declines to give, and to be forcibly prevented from doing something isn’t important. Nevertheless, there is a distinction, and Samuelson for the most part ignores it.

Indeed he soon makes even clearer that he doesn’t understand the distinction. “Samuelson saw prices merely as a means of rationing scarce goods…. Indeed, the deliberate raising and lowering of prices was often a means of guiding human behavior rather than following it. Throwing Friedman’s words back at him, Samuelson wrote, ‘libertarians fail to realize that the price system is, and ought to be, a method of coercion’” (p. 80).

There are, though, some indications that he acknowledges the distinction, but just doesn’t see why coercion, as libertarians understand it, is bad. “And even…

EPIC Joins Call for Privacy Reform from Indian Government

EPIC has joined with several international privacy and human rights advocacy groups in a statement calling for privacy reform in the wake of allegations that the Indian government used Pegasus to surveil activists, journalists, and opponents. The statement highlights the fundamental right to privacy established under both the Indian Constitution and international human rights law, condemns the illegal use of spyware, and calls for (i) an independent investigation into allegations of Pegasus use; (ii) surveillance reform ensuring independent judicial oversight and providing for judicial remedy; and (iii) establishing a data protection framework that will respect privacy rights. EPIC has previously filed suit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to obtain records of a system designed to surveil journalists⁠—the surveillance effort was subsequently suspended. In addition, EPIC has previously joined coalition letters calling for surveillance reform within the U.S. and has testified before Congress regarding the risks of commercial spyware.

How Long Will My Backyard Chicken Live For?

In this post, we will be talking about the life expectancy of backyard chickens. What is the average life span of a backyard chicken?

Chicken lifespans vary widely, with most hens generally living between 3 and 7 years. However, with ideal care, they may live even longer.

If a chicken is kept safe from predators (including dogs) and doesn’t have genetic issues, they can certainly live 10 to 12 years old.

The oldest chicken ever to have lived was called Matilda, and she was sixteen years old when she finally died. Her life circumstances were not ‘average chicken’. She belonged to a pair of stage magicians who took great care of her. Also, she never laid any eggs! She had quite a luxurious life with minimal stress- she apparently enjoyed being a ‘stage chicken’, even appearing on the Jay Leno show! You may ask, how long will my backyard hen live?

Whether you keep chickens as pets or for a fresh egg each morning, it’s important to know the life expectancy of your chickens and how long you can expect to be in the company of all your flock members.

Aside from exceptional birds like Matilda, how long can we expect our hens to live?
The lifespan of a chicken depends on many things: breed, environment, genetics and keeper are just a few things to consider.

The history of chicken life expectancy

The ancestors of our hens were wild birds, and as such, life expectancy was short. If they could survive predators, hunger, and other life-threatening events, they could actually live 2-4 years at most.

In the mid to late 1800s, the man started collecting chickens and ‘tinkering’ to meet human expectations. We irrevocably altered the chicken’s life.

We suppressed many of the wild behaviors, productivity increased, and chickens became a food source.

So nowadays, the lifespan of a backyard chicken can be anything from 3-10+ years. Their lifespan can vary depending on a lot of reasons, so keep reading to learn why.

Factors that Affect Chicken Life Expectancy

1. Commercial Hybrids vs Heritage

One of the first things to consider when trying to determine the life expectancy of your chicken is the breed. Genetics play a huge role in how long a chicken will live.

Commercially raised chickens, for example, were meant to be extremely productive in a short period of time, and when they’ve fulfilled their purpose, their lives end. Genetics have been tampered with in hybrids and their lifespan is usually much shorter than backyard flocks of heritage breeds.

2. Breed and Environment

Some breeds are hardier and savvier than others. This is relevant when it comes to free-range predator-aware birds or breeds that are meant to live in certain climates.

10 Most Popular Breeds And How Long They Live

Breed	Expected Lifespan	Popularity
Rhode Island Red	5-8 Years	#1
Silkie	7-9 Years	#2
Plymouth Rock	8-10 Years	#3
Orpington	8-10 Years	#4
Leghorn	4-6 Years	#5
Wyandotte	6-12 Years	#6
ISA Brown	2-3 Years	#7
Australorp	6-10 Years	#8
Cochin	8-10 Years	#9
Easter Egger	8-10 Years	#10

Shortest Living Breeds

The three breeds with the shortest lifespan are:

ISA Brown
White Broilers
Cornish Rock

If you keep a tight-feathered breed in sub-zero temperatures, for example, it probably won’t last long. If you keep a bantam chicken in a free-range environment, they are easy targets for all…

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7 Design Tips For Your Outdoor Space Using Backyard Design Software

Having a beautiful outdoor space is a dream for most homeowners. A livable backyard is perfect for entertaining guests, creating your own green sanctuary, and for anything else you want to use it—your space, your way indeed. Although designing an outdoor space is often done conventionally, have you tried doing so using backyard design software? Yes, this is a piece of software that lets you create a plan that you can mix and match or alter and redesign as you please.

Your Virtual Playroom

Designing can be a lot of fun, especially if it’s for a space in your home that needs a makeover. If you’ve been contemplating for a while whether you should come up with your own outdoor haven, now is the time to do so. What’s more, you can easily get a glimpse of what it’ll look like without actually doing anything to the space yet.

Should you decide to use backyard design software to draw some layouts, here are some tips you might want to consider:

Visualize First

Before thinking of a design or concept for your outdoor space, it’s a good idea to start with a clean slate and try to visualize first. Close your eyes and imagine your backyard. What do you see? Is there any particular design or focal point you want to emphasize? Can you pinpoint where you want to build a patio or a roofed structure for dining, perhaps? What colors do you think will work well with your design? How about the materials?

Those are some of the questions that could help you in visualizing your design. It might be difficult at first to get a feel of how it’ll look like, and that’s understandable. Don’t worry, though, because ideas will most probably come easy as you start using the software.

Start Drawing A 2D Layout

With backyard design software, you can draw a 2-dimensional (2D) layout for your backyard. This easy-to-read plan would include symbols representing different outdoor elements such as water features, gardens, and trees. A 2D layout also lets you have a detailed aerial view of your design.

2D plans are commonly used by professional designers, remodelers, and home builders. Yours should present a clear layout of the space, including all the elements you plan on putting in it. If you haven’t tried making one before, the software should be pretty easy to use and navigate. You can use your computer mouse to draw the floor plan from scratch. Color code each section or element as you please and modify it anytime, too.

Try Different Pre-Designed Templates

Most backyard design software options come with pre-designed templates you can play with when designing your outdoor space. These templates can give you several ideas and insights into how you want your garden to look like. They’re also a good starting point if you have no idea where or how to begin your design. Eventually, you’ll get a better grasp of the software, and you can be more creative while creating your layout.

The templates are also usually customizable,…

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3 Effective Remedies to Whiten your Teeth Naturally at Home!

Get Lifetime Rid From Yellow Teeth

Photo by Marek Studzinski on Unsplash

Yellow teeth are often seen as a sign of disgusting habits. Although, that is not entirely true. Your teeth naturally become yellow as you grow up. However, you can prevent your teeth from getting yellow by following these three super easy remedies. These effective remedies to whiten your teeth are natural, and you can easily do them at your home.

Brushing with baking soda

Photo by Diana Polekhina on Unsplash

Baking soda naturally contains such properties which can be used for whitening. Thus, it is a famous formula used in a lot of kinds of toothpaste. Brushing your teeth with baking soda helps in scrubbing away stains that make your teeth appear yellow. However, this remedy does not work in a single night. But if you use it daily, you might see a difference. Studies show that toothpaste containing baking soda is more likely to whiten your teeth than toothpaste that does not contain baking soda.

Whitening teeth with fruits:

Your teeth often seem yellow because of the surrounding plaque. However, eating raw fruits can help you rub off that plaque. Although there have not been scientific studies that prove this remedy, it has been claimed that scrubbing your teeth with fruit peels makes your teeth whiter. Although, not all peels can do this. You need to use fruits that contain citruses, such as lemon or orange.

Photo by Rudi Fargo on Unsplash

There is also another homemade remedy that requires fruit. You can make a mixture of strawberry and baking soda and apply it daily to your teeth.

Use of hydrogen peroxide:

Another reason teeth get yellow is the bacteria in your mouth. These bacteria can be produced from your saliva. But brushing your teeth with hydrogen peroxide can help kill these bacteria. This can prevent you from getting your teeth more yellow.

Signing Off:

Having a pretty smile with bright teeth like diamonds is really a blessing. Besides cleaning them regularly, one should also consult a dentist and proper treatment to make them shinier and cleaner.

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Homesteading Couple Hasn’t Bought Groceries in a Year of Self-Sufficient Living

Chris and Stef jumped into self-sufficiency last year when they decided not to buy groceries for an entire year, including staples like salt, sugar, coffee, and flour! Instead, they’ve been growing, catching, raising, and harvesting 100% of their food supply on a small 1/2 acre homestead.

We cannot wait for more people to experience this type of eye-opening change. Indeed we should all be aware of our waste production and our impact on the planet, as well as where our food comes from, especially animal products, and the environmental and ethical costs of it. Thank you for spreading such an important message. This home and property are beautiful works of love. Best of luck on your journey to total self-efficiency.

They’re only a few weeks away from completing their year-long homestead challenge and they attribute their success to hard work and to the fact that they live in the Southern Gulf Islands where they have a great growing climate and access to the ocean. Be sure to follow their@Lovin offtheLand homesteading adventures (https://www.youtube.com/c/lovinofftheland) – they’re going to continue producing most of their own food even after the challenge is done, and may even announce a brand new challenge later this year!

The couple’s four main sources of food have been:

CATCH – they catch fish, prawns, and other seafood from the ocean
GROW – they grow loads of vegetables, fruit, herbs, and spices on their land
HARVEST – they forage for things like mushrooms, berries, nuts, and seaweed
RAISE – they raise laying hens, chickens, and turkeys for eggs and meat

Eating only what they produce has drastically reduced the amount of money that Chris and Stef spend on groceries (they still buy hygiene products and other items that are not food and beverages) but a lot of the savings went directly towards building infrastructures like fencing and the chicken coop.

Another advantage of living off the land and sea like this is that they have noticed a huge reduction in the amount of household waste they’re throwing out. Food from the garden doesn’t come in a package!

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10 Tips to Keep Your Rental Property Safe

As a property owner and landlord, you are responsible for the safety of your tenants. Aside from providing them shelter, tenants need to feel protected while in the comforts of your property. If your tenants feel that you are looking out for their welfare, they will likely stay with you for a longer period of time. By boosting your rental property’s security measures, you can increase its value, strengthen your relationship with your current tenants and attract quality future renters. To guide you through this process, here are some ways to help you keep your property secure.

1. Start with the entrance

The entrance and front area of your rental property can serve as a hiding place for criminals. Make sure to trim your bushes and or any other obstructions. Your front entrance should be clear and free from any hindrances that will make your tenants vulnerable to ill-intentioned individuals.

2. Secure the doors

One of the first things that you should do is to secure your external doors. Invest in quality doors made of heavy-duty materials and avoid using doors with glass windows, hollow doors, or those made in plastic as they are easy to break and get into. Upgrade your doors’ locking mechanisms and consider installing deadbolt locks and door jammers for added security. For your tenants’ peace of mind, you can add peepholes or multiple chain locks. In addition, make sure to collect the keys from an evicted tenant and consider changing your locks frequently in case your previous tenants made a copy.

3. Focus on your windows

Your windows are vulnerable entryways in your rental property. Most windows are equipped with a locking mechanism, which makes them impossible to be opened from the outside. However, intruders can easily break the window glass and climb through, especially if your rental unit is located on the first floor of a commercial building. Make sure to install window locks to discourage burglars from breaking and entering. For more protection, you can install window sensors designed to alert you if the windows have been tampered with.

4. Add more exterior lighting

One of the easiest ways to improve your rental property’s security is to install additional external lighting. Your tenants don’t want to come home at night feeling anxious whenever they try to open the front door. Make sure to illuminate the dark areas around your property. You can use motion-sensors lighting as they can detect movement even from several feet away. They are also eco-friendly as some of them are solar-powered, so you don’t need to worry that they will run out of batteries or increase your electricity bill.

5. Install a security system

Having a security system can make your tenants feel more protected. It may seem like a significant investment, but it could spell the difference when tenants are property hunting. There are several options that you could choose from that offer a variety of features. Make sure to select the one that suits…

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Build A Garden Room For Better Health

Did you know that a garden room could be beneficial to your health? Yes, it may seem like an ambitious claim at first. But analyzing the pros and cons of the project will let you see how a garden room can benefit your health and well-being in the long run. Although most of us make plans to forego the sofa and TV for outdoor activities, it is easier said than done. In fact, building a garden room can be the beginning of a more rewarding outdoor lifestyle.

Both parents of the modern-day family have full-time jobs to support the needs of the family. Most families do the usual household chores after returning from work. It may including cleaning the house, preparing dinner, and sorting out “kid’s stuff.” By the time the kids are in bed, the parents barely have enough strength to do anything else. They may watch some TV and straight away go to bed.

Today’s children are addicted to technology with no time to explore the outdoors. Kids play games via consoles and interact with their buddies through social media portals. In fact, getting the kids out of their rooms could become a challenge for many parents. That is where a garden room can do wonders.

Most of the time, our weekly routine includes work, gym, school, supermarket, and drinks with friends, and most of these activities are based indoors. Even when we are getting out of the house for brief periods, we are still breathing stale air and relying on artificial light. Some people can even complete all their weekly activities without having to leave the four walls of their home. In fact, they have all the apparatus for an indoor existence.

Today, convenience is the main buzzword in our lives. Everything can be delivered to your doorstep after you order them online. Hence, even your need to go out for the odd errand is even rapidly decreasing. Why is it important to be outdoors? In fact, there are many benefits of spending time outdoors.

Our skin is responsible for supplying 90% of the vitamin D intake. It is done when the skin is exposed to UV light from the sun. Vitamin D plays an important role in preventing strokes, heart attacks, depression, and some forms of cancer. The best thing about vitamin D is you get the majority of the substance for free. On the other hand, the latest studies show that fresh air can enhance your heart rate and immune system. It also provides more energy and improves your mood.

Watching TV for long periods will send your brain into a more dormant state than when you are sleeping. The same is true for surfing the net, perusing Facebook statuses, or watching YouTube videos. That is why you need to exercise the brain by engaging in other activities away from your living room. Getting outdoors is the best way to do it. But there are times when you can’t go outdoors…

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