How to make wheat bread from scratch

Making Wheat Bread is easier than you might think.

Watch the video below to learn how.



Recipe for Wheat Bread:

Mix:
5 cups water
2/3 cup oil
2/3 cup honey

Add:
5 cups flour

Mix

Mix these ingredients add to flour/water mixture
2 rounded Tbsp yeast
2 rounded Tbsp dough enhancer
2 rounded Tbsp wheat gluten
2 Tbsp salt

Add enough flour to mixture that it starts to really pull away from the sides. I usually do 4 cups wheat flour and 2 cups white flour.

Mix for 6 minutes.

Take dough out and knead by hand. Separate into 3 equal sections.
Spray bread pans and add dough
Let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes
Turn oven on to 350.
Cook bread for 30 minutes.
Take out of pans and rub butter on top.

** This bread freezes great. We usually leave one loaf out and freeze the other two.

275 Gallon Water Totes for Rain Harvesting Project

I purchased 4, 275 gallon water totes this last week for my rain harvesting system. That is a total of 1100 gallons I will be able to store at any given time.

I will be using the water from these totes for:

1. Gardening water
2. Emergency water storage

These Totes originally carried Agave. So I will first harvest the Agave that I can and then set up the system. I will not be cleaning out the tanks before I build the harvesting system. The Agave will give my plants a little boost of sugar.

Agave found in the tanks:

Note: Did you know that I amounts of sugar in your plants will help to prevent freeze. Interesting...

Storage Totes Stats:

• Stack up to 3 high.
• 6" diameter fill cap, 2" diameter drain
• 48 inch L x 40 inch W x 46 inch H
• 275 gallon capacity
• Empty weight = 128 pounds
• Chemical-resistant HDPE tank surrounded by a galvanized steel cage

Best Garden Tools Ever

This is our Dewit Cultivator.

I purchased both the shovel and the cultivator. Here are some reasons why I love these tools:

1. Lifetime warranty
2. Won't bend when I use them
3. Hand made from Holland
4. Made with steel
5. Is crafted for the Job.

Here is where I purchased my tools. Gardentoolcompany.com

These people have all the tools you would ever need. They are legit.

ps. I don't get any compensation for this review. I only want to pass on the best tools to help you out.

Some pics of the Cultivator:

Flower Bed Gardening

We planted 24 dozen tulips last fall and now we are starting to reap the rewards. Other than some weeding, our flower beds look great.

Food Storage is Great, but a Living Storage is Better

Procrastination is the enemy of action. Watching the news, reading the paper and even visiting with neighbors constantly reminds me to be self-reliant. In my search for self-sufficiency, I have discovered a different idea of sustainability. People believe that if they have food storage they can withstand the trials of life (unemployment…). They are right; we can prepare ourselves for those inconvenient times where we just don’t have the means.

The type of self-sufficiency that is on my mind is more of a living idea instead of a food storage (stagnant) idea.

What if we could grow our own food, not just collecting food storage but, having something that can subsidize your life in the present, not just for some future trial? What if we could better understand how to create food, how to grow it, how to cook it? We would be better off if we understood.

Build your knowledge of self-sustainability by developing the systems that can help sustain life. Not relying so much on the grocery system for survival. Why wait for the trial before you set up the process. You can do it now while the going is good, while you have employment, and while you have the ability to prepare. In time of great need, the government won’t be there for you. If a natural disaster, war or even an Solar Flare does happen, government will be to concerned about the welfare of their own families to respond to the needs of yours, and rightly so.

Here are a few projects that everyone should think about doing:

1. Water Collection System / Rain Harvesting System
2. Buy a wood burning stove "heat for your house"
3. Grow food instead of a lawn "at least in the backyard"
4. Raise egg laying chickens
5. Have a beehive
6. Have fruit and nut trees

How to treat a baby chick with diarrhea

Today I cleaned my baby chicks. They had crusted over poop on their tails to the point that they where all clogged up. This could be a gross video for some viewers.

How to build a Rocket Stove

Check out my rocket stove design in this video. Super easy instructions to help you create your own.



Benefits:

1. Cheap "if not free to build"
2. Low smoke exhaust due to high temperature burn.
3. Take minimal wood to operate. Literally cool meals with twigs.
4. This stove took me about 1 hour from start to finish, including breaks to film my progress.

Some pictures of the process: