The Suburban Jungle

We spend our weekends roughing it off-grid - we have been cleaning up and rebuilding a 40 acre farm for the last 8 months. ( Our Farm Blog can be found here .) It's hard work and the one thing you really miss when you are off grid is good food. Food storage is pretty mediocre without electricity and cooking is limited. Sandwiches are pretty common (and pretty boring!) All other choices are either super basic (think plain veggies or fruit) or massively processed and unhealthy. So when a few packages of Think Jerky found their way to my home, I took them with me to the farm. What is Think Jerky? Food that makes you stop and think before you eat. Made from animals that lived a life they were supposed to live - on pasture, free to roam, no hormones etc. The ingredients are pretty good too - no soybean oils, nitrates, or other gunk. Food should taste good and be as unadulterated as possible! Being a basic gal - the classic was my favorite flavor. Second - I'd go for

Imagine the stares I received at the pool this summer as I read  Death Need Not be Fatal  while my children swam. I blame the cover. Seriously - a curiously happy old man lying in a coffin - and the words d eath . But hey, that's how I roll. Weird books, weird habits, weird life. Just by looking at the book, I had no idea what it would be about. Death is a broad subject. After the first few pages, it was clear that the book was written by an old guy - the guy on the cover! I instantly wondered why someone would write a book in their 80s/90s then just as instantly realized "why not?" Life is not just about making/spending money. It's actually about the doing. Doing things, creating, experiencing. That's what life is really about - and that's what you'll find in this book. A history of the author's "doings." Plus the author's views on death and a few of the times the death of others have changed his story. The book is frank and I bel

Let’s face it, everybody loves hiking, well they love the idea of going into to the woods to get away, but most people don’t actually go hiking. It is always on the want-to-do list but never quite reaches the finish line. The truth is there is a lot of preparation  that can go into a hike, whether it’s day hiking or longer sessions of thru-hiking, and people usually put off getting prepared and getting out in nature. What Do You Need for a Hike First thing you need for a hike is to get prepared. Walking everyday, starting at 15 minutes and increasing the length of the walk by five to ten minutes incrementally is the best way to build up the cardiovascular reserves necessary for long hikes. Slowly start adding weight to the walk, get used to your backpack, and break in those new hiking boots. Starting off cold can lead to a terrible time with constant needs to rest, blisters and sores all over your feet, and pain in your knees and back from not getting adjusted to the weight of the