"Homestead Blessings" - videos on skills in the home

[Tim]

This video series is advertised on the American Family Association website.

It looks neat. It would be nice if there were some other videos geared more towards the men, like woodwork.

 

[LadyFlynt]

Let's see...the HGTV, the fishing and hunting channels, the Food Network, and there is even a couple of cool shows on weapons

 

[Tim]

Let's see...the HGTV, the fishing and hunting channels, the Food Network, and there is even a couple of cool shows on weapons

Actually, I was really referring to activities that are family-focused and help the family to be self-sufficient. If you can make soap and bake your own bread, you can save money and enjoy directly the fruit of your labors. If you can work with wood, for example, to make your own furniture such as a table and chairs, you are similarly thrifty and self-sufficient. That is the notion that comes to mind when I hear the word 'homestead'. I haven't seen the videos, but that is the approach that I would hope they would take.

I don't think you really get that on specialty channels, although the things you mentioned certainly present material that men like and women like.

 

[LawrenceU]

This may sound wacky, but trust me they are a gold mine! Go buy a set of Foxfire books. You can pick up old copies fairly cheaply. You'll get a good dose of Southern Appalachian culture along with a lot of information on skills that are very useful but passing away. They contain everything from gardening, weaving, various types of woodworking, building firearms, . . . . to making moonshine. Really, they cover a lot of material.

 

[Tim]

From Wikipedia:

The series is an effort to document the lifestyle, culture, and skills of people in southern Appalachia in a mixture of how-to information and first-person narratives and oral history.

Topics covered in the books include:

* apple butter
* banjos
* basket weaving
* beekeeping
* butter churning
* corn shucking
* dulcimers
* faith healing
* fiddle making
* haints
* American ginseng cultivation
* long rifle and flintlock making
* hide tanning
* hog dressing
* hunting tales
* log cabin building
* moonshining
* midwives
* old-time burial customs
* planting "by the signs"
* preserving foods
* sassafras tea
* snake handling and lore
* soap making
* spinning
* square dancing
* wagon making
* weaving
* wild food gathering
* witches
* wood carving.

I don't know about 'faith healing', 'moonshine', 'witches', 'snake handling', though!

 

[OPC'n]

Let's see...the HGTV, the fishing and hunting channels, the Food Network, and there is even a couple of cool shows on weapons

 

[Joseph Scibbe]

Norm Abram and the New Yankee Workshop is a great program to teach you about wood working.

New Yankee Workshop - Featuring the Craftsmanship of Master Carpenter Norm Abram

 

[LadyFlynt]

You would be surprised what you can learn. I came from a non cooking background. I've learned a lot on my own and even MORE lately with those channels. I teach my children. I also do a lot of research on the internet...there are videos online of almost everything

 

[LawrenceU]

If you want to really get into woodworking check out Roy Underhill's show.

The Woodwright's Shop