Back to Basics is a guide to many old-time skills. Learn gardening and cheesemaking; off-grid living; and much more! Take a look into the world before power tools and convenience foods took over!

Sometimes I wish I could learn these things, especially gardening; and in fact there\’s a community garden not far from where I live. For the time being, however; it\’s closed. Even if it were open, when can I go there? I have to go to work every day. And, am I physically capable of the work involved in keeping a garden? Do I need to provide my own gardening tools if I use a community garden? If I do, where can I keep them?

Gardening leads quite naturally to canning and freezing; and, I hope, a reduced grocery bill! But not right away. It takes time for a garden to get going well; and the beginner should start with only a few things. Thomas Jefferson is supposed to have said that, although he was an old man, he was still a young gardener. That makes me a not-yet-born gardener!

The catch with these old-time skills is that they take, well, time; and many of us don\’t have that time. As long as I\’m still in the workforce, trying to keep a garden would mean scant time for cycling. Yes, I\’d like to go Back to Basics, and learn these things; but not at the expense of my riding!