Feeling stuck without a homestead? Start homesteading without living on a Homestead by learning new skills and preparing for your future!
Homesteading and self-reliance are on the rise try these 6 ways to more self-reliant wherever you are!
How to homestead with monthly to do lists. Homesteading tasks organized by season so you can see the yearly flow of homestead living
I was a bored, pregnant newlywed 40 miles from civilization with not enough money to drive to activities in town. That’s how it all started. Not the most epic beginning to this story, I know… Basically, the garden and kitchen projects gave me a way to pass the time without feeling like a total loser. […]
Building a Homestead Root Cellar by Brian Thomas and Teri Page. A step by step how-to guide to building your own concrete block walk-out root cellar.
For those who may not know what supplies are needed to properly and efficiently milk goats, here's a list of 7 things you need for milking.
We've all seen them. Those huge listicles with ideas for making money on your homestead. A laundry list of things that could potentially bring in income, but mostly just a few dollars here or there.
Homestead management can be difficult. Trying to stay on top of everything can feel impossible days. There is always something to do. How do you keep track of it all? Budgeting for your homestead, gardening, feeding the animals, when to buy more feed, etc. etc. etc. You need some homestead management printables! It's never fun
DETAILS: This is a gorgeous set of 4 hanging wall plaques or wall art from West Germany featuring hummel figurines. each is different - girl with chickens ,child carrying apples ,farm boy with sheep & gardening boy with boots and stick Each piece is 7.25” tall, 5.25” wide and 0.75” deep Based on the drawings of the nun M.I. Hummel (Berta Hummel) were made by the W. Goebel Porzellanfabrik of Oeslau, Germany, now Rodental, Germany. CONDITION: 9/10. Beautiful and collectible. Excellent condition.
Here's how to stock a homestead pantry in a practical way that will set you up for success in everyday life and in emergency situations.
SUPER helpful list of how to get started with some of the best ways for making money farming - even on just a SMALL homestead!
When I started this blog a couple of years ago, I never anticipated it growing into a source of income. Who knew that farming blogs could become profitable?
We've all seen them. Those huge listicles with ideas for making money on your homestead. A laundry list of things that could potentially bring in income, but mostly just a few dollars here or there.
Goals to set for your first year of homesteading that you can actually reach! One family's goal suggestions for any first year homesteader.
Our family's old homeplace kitchen on the farm has always been the gathering spot. It was always said, if you left there hungry it was your own fault. The meals were simple; homecooked and from-scratch. And there was always enough to feed an army.Most of the cooking items that had been used for generations are
When I first learned that there was someone successfully growing spices like ginger, turmeric, cumin and vanilla at home in North Carolina, my mind was honestly blown. I had honestly never considered it could even be possible to grow "exotic" spices like these at home in North America. But Tasha Greer, author of the brand
I’ve had a lot of requests from people on wanting to know how I get my day structured and organized on the homestead. Here I'm going to share
Trees can supply abundantly for the homestead and should be grown for various reasons. Not only do trees provide food, beauty, and shade, but they can also help improve soil quality, prevent erosion, and provide a habitat for wildlife. First, however, you have to plant your trees. In this article you'll get a step-by-step guide to planting trees on your homestead.
Know a beekeeper? Get their used comb or burr comb and clean and render it to get clean beeswax to use for candles and crafts.
Our April Homestead To Do List It is April and there is so much to do on The Reid Homestead! Come take a peek as I share pictures of our homestead, and list out all that we need to be working on this month. Gardening chores, animal chores and food preservation still needs to get done!
In recent years there has been a wonderful movement gaining traction is every corner of the country. People are wanting to know more about the food they are
Frost tolerant plants are the go-to choice for winter vegetables to grow. Plant these 15 cold weather plants in your fall and winter garden.
Successful beekeeping requires lots of research. These beekeeping books are perfect for beginners to begin collecting info for this journey!
Low maintenance farm animals promote sustainable practices and are a wise choice for beginners or those with limited experience in farming.
Upside down gardening is growing plants in pots suspended from the ceiling. This style of gardening started to gain popularity in 1998 when gardener
Follow this checklist to prepare the kitchen for canning season, and help put up the harvest as smoothly as possible!
Here are a few things we did when we made the transition from a consumer-driven lifestyle to a simpler one and how we learned to live on less.
This is the quintessential work on the best ways to can, freeze, pickle, dry, cure and preserve just about anything. Updated 5th edition includes the newest canning procedures, equipment and preparation times Instructions for canning, freezing, salting, smoking, drying and root cellaring Mouthwatering recipes for pickles, relishes, jams and jellies Learn to preserve food with less sugar and salt (recipes included) Well-researched tips on equipment, ingredients, health and safety issues and resources Comprehensive index Greene, Hertzberg and Vaughan 5-1/4" x 8" 454 pp.
Ideas to Create a Work-From-Home Business Letters From the Readers of MOTHER EARTH NEWS Self-employment is a dream shared by many people, but finding the right work-at-home job can be daunting. We asked our readers to tell us their successful home-based business ideas. Despite their different ways of making money, these home-business veterans offer similar […]
SUPER helpful list of how to get started with some of the best ways for making money farming - even on just a SMALL homestead!
Fodder & Sprout Growing... FYI: Before you read any further you first need to know that this post isn't about the definition of fodder and sprouting. To learn about that, first please visit this blog post...HERE...then come back and get more details on how to grow for what your purpose is for your farm. That blog post will also explain why I DO NOT grow fodder for chickens but I instead sprout for them only. So this post will be me sharing with you my system on sprouting and fodder and how I grow it along with some other ideas as well. I don't do it on a larger scale so this post is for those that need the general idea on how to start and then decide how much you want to grow. Setting Up Your "System" for Growing: 1. What kind of seeds? Figure out what you want to sprout and what seed source you are going to use. There are tons of things you can "sprout" but I choose what I can find locally and on a budget which is organic barley seeds (other seeds are wheat, chickpeas, black oil sunflower seeds, corn etc) and I am able to actually get organic barley via scratch and peck most of the time if not I buy online. To me since I can't afford to feed my farm animals on anything organic, this was kind of the alternative to being able to get some sort of organic into their systems. Makes me feel better about it and I also feel that you have less trouble with sprouting the seeds if you go with a good seed company to start out from. Scratch And Peck-Organic Barley Seeds 2. How Much Do You Want To Grow?: You can make this as big or as small as you want of an operation. I feel what I do is kind of on the medium to small side. I use a mini greenhouse on my deck and move it to the garage during the winter time. Sprouts don't need direct sunlight they just need temps of about 60-70 degrees for good growth. When it is cold it just takes a couple more days to grow. On the deck: In the Garage: (I reuse the water in the bin below...keeps me from having to track the hose in and out of the garage) 3. Sprouting Containers: For my containers I use dish pans from the dollar store and I drill holes into one end. (See Image) There are other options out there but this is what I could find locally and on a budget. If you want to go smaller scale you can use a strainer to sprout and for larger scale well you will need to do more research on that one! 4. I like doing the "tiered" affect with my system, which means I rinse the top bin and the water trickles down into the other bins and rinses them at the same time. With the system being on my deck the water will just go down into the ground/soil and there is no fussing with access water. When I do this in my garage I put a plastic tote on the bottom rack to catch any water. I can then reuse this water to keep rinsing the seeds. In doing this in order to angle the bins I put a piece of remnant 2x4 under one side (the side WITHOUT holes) of the bins. I then test it to make sure it drains into the bin below. So this is how I do my set up. Now we will talk more about how to sprout the actual seeds. How to Sprout: (there are different ways but this is the method that works for me) 1. Soak: Soak about 2 cups of seeds (place in a non holey bin) for 24 hours in lukewarm water and to prevent bacteria growth I soak in about a cup of homemade apple cider vinegar (Click Here to Learn how to Make ACV) and liquids need to be above the seeds. (People say 12 hours but I feel it sprouts quicker when soaked for 24 hours.) Also, the warm water gives the seeds a little jolt of sprouting action. 2. Drain: Pour all the contents from the "nonholey" bin into the predrilled "holey" bin. The water will drain out. 3. Level out the seeds: Spread out the seeds in the holey bin and make sure it is about level all around and I would then place this one on the top rack of my mini greenhouse and done for the day. 4. Rinsing: When my mini greenhouse is on the deck during the warmer temps I rinse twice a day but when it is in the garage I only rinse once a day. The main thing is you want to make sure all the water gets drained out to prevent mold. So before I rinse I use my vinegar spray bottle and spray the seeds before each rinse so that way when I rinse the ACV gets washed through the seeds as well and hits all the roots throughout the tub. This has helped combat any mold issues. If you have mold issues you need to maybe not water as much (try just "misting" with a hose), make sure there is good ventilation in your space, or use less seeds next time. Also, cheap seeds gives you cheap results FYI! Dont confuse mold with the sprout hairs. Read this post if you didn't read it already. How to Rinse: The first few days be careful as too much water flow will move your seedlings around into a pile. I tend to just spray the side of the bucket lightly or you can even do a "mist" setting but once the roots get established the seeds dont budge. 5. When are you done? This is your call. Below is the picture of my fodder for my rabbits and my sprouts for chickens. Estimate for this green growth for hay eating animals is about 8-10 days depending on your temps. This image is about day three for me and this is what I feed my chickens. Just toss it out and let them scratch away. I wont go any taller than this for my chickens. Here are my rabbits and their fodder. This is Rusty and his Fodder: He eats his "chunk" rather quickly! (about a cup of this a day in the morning is what I give my rabbits) So that is about it! Let me know if I missed anything by asking in the comments below! Happy Sprouting and Fodder Growing!
There is a calmness to the outdoors. There is peace when you start seeing how animals and food grow all on their own without much human interaction. It reminds you of our hope, promises, and
