SCOTT -- The first thing one learns when making soap is that there is a lot of stirring involved. And trickling. And waiting. And hoping not to blow anything up. But, boy, does it smell good. An eager ...

Readers, this is the fourth of 12 basic homestead skills we’ll be presenting every month throughout 2019 from Kimberlee Bastien’s new book, 52 Homestead Skills. We invite you to join Kimberlee and her ...

DIY Artisanal Soaps (Adams Media, 2016), by Alicia Grosso equips readers with everything they need to begin making their own beautiful soaps right at home. Grosso lists the main ingredients needed, ...

If you’ve ever wanted to make your own soap from scratch, this easy cold process Bastille soap recipe is the perfect place to start. It’s made from two simple oils—olive oil and coconut oil—and ...

Today I put a thin layer of wood ashes over my vegetable garden, trusting that the potash will enrich the soil with the winter rains. Our Arkansas ancestors did the same thing, but generations of ...

Back in the 1960s one of the hottest shows on television was the Beverly Hillbillies. The Clampetts, a poor, backwoods family from the Ozarks, become wealthy when oil is found on their land. This ...