Old Fashioned Living in a Modern Day World
After reading Forgotten Household Crafts, A Portrait of the Way We Once Lived, by John Seymour, I was inspired me to compile a list of my 10 favorite ways to incorporate old fashioned techniques and equipment in my own modern day life and I decided to share them as well as a few other fun links I found.
Old Fashioned Tips for a Modern Day World
- Explore local antique shops, online, or on eBay, and buy an antique coffee mill. There are many different varieties including some that can be hung on the kitchen wall. Not only will the hand crank version save space, it will conserve energy, and quickly become part of a morning ritual that is reminder of simpler times.
- Start a garden and grow your own food or buy it from local farms and markets when it is in season. Canning and preserving a bumper crop drastically reduces your carbon footprints, taking into consideration that glass canning jars can be recycled year after year. This will drastically reduce the amount of packaging that comes into your home.
- Grow your own herbs and use them to make homemade environmentally friendly household cleaners, teas, tinctures, vinegars for homemade dressings, soaps, and scented candles.
- Plant more flowers around your home. Not only will the flowers smell decadent and add beauty to your life, they will help sustain the rapidly decreasing population of bees.
- Learn how to make wine, cheese, or brew your own beer. The initial investment is a bit costly, but making your own is far more cost effective then buying it from the store. Homemade wine and beer make wonderful gifts and can also be bartered for other items.
- Use a vintage hand mixer when making muffins, cupcakes, and fresh whipped cream.
- Use scrap fabric to make a yo yo blanket or quilt. This is a charming way to recycle salvageable bits of those well loved garments, that are ready to be discarded.
- Hang your clothes out on the line to air dry in the breeze. Put the whites out when the sun is the brightest, as the sunshine will naturally bleach fabrics avoiding the need for harsh chemicals.
- Raise chickens for fresh eggs. What you do not eat, you can always share, sell, or barter within your community.
- Ride your bike to the market. There is something deeply satisfying about riding home with a bicycle basket filled to the brim, with your next meal. Need a new bike? Visit sites like https://www.aventon.com/products/aventon-sinch-foldable-electric-bike and find the perfect one.
More Ways to Live an Old Fashioned Life in a Modern Day World
Homespun Living is one of my new favorite blogs! I can not wait until summer so I can try the technique for Dried Tomatoes in Olive Oil or Summer Fruit Muffins using fresh strawberries.
Old Fashioned Living is great a website and community owned and hosted by a busy mother of three who still finds time to share Old Fashioned Tips in her blog. If you have unanswered questions concerning old fashioned life this is the place to go.
Lehmans’ is an Amish store that sells a wide variety of products for simple and self sufficient living including books, coffee mills, canning, gardening, candle, and soap making supplies.
Chickens in the Road Love Chicken in the Road Frugal is the New Black
Soap Making Blogs
Microholding – Making Soap & Living Well
Oats and Honey has a tutorial for making a replica of Lush’s, Buffy Body Butter which is my all time favorite soap! The instructions seem fairly simple and I can not wait to try making my own.
Natural Beauty Work Shop has an amazing selection of homemade skin care product recipes that can easily be made in your own kitchen. I am particularly intrigued by the Chocolate Milk Mud Mask, Goddess Salt Scrub, and Gingerwood Massage Oil recipes.
Gardening Blogs
