The Rustic Hobbies Made Better by Technology to Adopt for Summer

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What millennials lack in genuine outdoorsy skills, they make up for in kitsch, throwback hobbies. Everyone nowadays is seeking out hobbies that our grans and grandpas would be familiar with, hobbies that harken back to a simpler time. It's motivated by a combination of factors, like environmental concerns, chasing that organic life and wanting to know more about what we're consuming. However, unlike grandparents, our generation generally doesn't have a piece of land in the picturesque countryside to gallivant around on. Pursuing a rustic hobby in the inner city requires some strategic shortcuts. We've put together a list of the best DIY hobbies that are helped along significantly by technological innovations.

PRESERVING

Preserving isn't just something our grandmas used to do before supermarkets were invented, it's actually an incredibly fun and rewarding activity (when you have the right tools). However, there's an element of foraging and gathering that even technology can't help you with (but thankfully, it's also really fun). It's ideal to figure out what berries or veggies grow seasonally in your neighbourhood or surrounding farmlands and head out with a bucket to forage or, just buy directly from farmers.

Alternatively, for city dwellers, take that same bucket down to your local farmers' market and start buying your fave produce in bulk. From there, the world is your canned oyster. Nifty gadgets like this mean you can make experimental, small-batch jams quickly without the mess. With a stack of empty jars, you can stock a pantry full of preserves for the whole year.

BREWING BEER

One of the main drawbacks to personal brewing is that it's a fiddly process. You can labour for months over your craft beer brew and still end up with an average drop that you're forced, from a combination of stubbornness and pride, to get through. But no more. For budding brewers, BrewArt have innovated a highly precise (and easy) personal brewing system.

The system is temperature controlled (from your smartphone, might we add) and automatically brews ten litres of quality beer with no fuss. It then spits it out with the world's first temperature-controlled dispenser that doesn't require CO2. Even amateur brewers will know that messing around with CO2 levels is the difference between a grimace and a sigh of delight, so have a beer robot taking care of this step means you can guarantee a show-off grade batch of beer even if it's brewed in the stuffiest of apartments.

INDOOR GARDENING

Having access to fresh, homegrown fruit and veggies might seem like a distant dream for all of us living in apartments, but there's hope. Innovations specifically to address this problem (dubbed 'apartment gardening') have come a long way. Vertical gardens, artificial lighting and self-watering herb trays all make the dream a possibility. Smartphone-controlled plant pots, like Planty, will also monitor the humidity, temperature and light, and will make recommendations based on the plant species.

Technology aside, herbs are your best bet and will give you the most return (and a big flavour hit, too ) for a smaller investment. If you have the luxury of a balcony, utilising your vertical space with trellises for climbing plants like tomatoes and passionfruit is a winner.

SOAP-MAKING

Making your own soap is an incredibly easy and rewarding exercise that'll make you think twice about throwing away your paycheque at The Body Shop. It's also great for those of you with sensitive skin — you'll know exactly what's going into your soap (no hidden nasties here). Soap is made by combining fats or oils with lye. You can even make it fancy, by simply adding fragrances or essential oils (and a swirl of colourant, if that's your thing).

There are a few methods for soap-making, and the simplest involves melting down basic pre-made soap bars and 'seasoning' them to your taste — adding fragrance and oil and resetting until you have the perfect, rustic bars. It's not exactly technologically advanced, but it will cut down your soap-making time significantly. Or you can go from scratch with bulk fats and lye. This will probably require a bit of experimentation to get the perfect balance. Once you've got the base right, the rest is like icing a cake — the possibilities are endless. Experiment with forms, environmentally friendly glitter and essential oils, and voila — an endless supply of homemade Christmas presents.

DIY FERMENTATION

Fermentation isn't exactly a new hobby but it's quickly becoming popular, mostly because it makes you feel really healthy. Fermented products have almost-magical gut health properties thanks to the probiotics and good bacteria that develop in fermented foods. And it's incredibly easy and cheap to whip up a batch of fermented whatever-you-have-lying-around. Plus, thanks to the bacteria, it lasts for ages. Fermentation jars (sold at most kitchen supply stories) are a nifty invention that create the perfect environment for filtered airflow to get the good bacteria brewing.

You can ferment all sorts of things — kimchi, sauerkraut, pickled veggies — and decant into any empty jars you have left over from your preserving sesh. If you want to go next level, try picking up a scobie on trade sites and brewing your own kombucha — your gut will thank you.

Kick off your urban hobbying by tackling beer brewing with BrewArt, which comes in two parts the BrewFlo ($699) and BeerDroid ($799) and can be found here.