5 Homestead Layouts That Cut Chores in Half
You did the same chores today that you did yesterday. Feed, water, eggs, garden, then back inside. By the time you sat down, you were tired, but no...
How to Cook Chicken Feet: A Homesteader’s Guide From Cleaning to Plate
The first time I saved the feet on butchering day, I wasn't sure what I would do with them. For years I had tossed them into the scrap bucket...
Do Cucumbers Need a Trellis? Here’s What I’ve Learned After Growing Both Ways
My first few years growing cucumbers, I just let the vines sprawl across the ground because building a trellis felt like an extra project I didn't...
Why Your New Washing Machine Will Break in Less Than a Month
Something Changed, and You Noticed! You've probably thought this for years: stuff just doesn't last like it used to. Your parents had appliances...
What Do I Feed Newborn Chicks? Everything I Wish I’d Known
The first time a box of peeping chicks showed up on my porch, I stood there holding a bag of feed I'd grabbed off the shelf without really...
7 DIY Low-Cost Fence Options
A fence does a lot on a homestead. It keeps animals from wandering off, keeps predators away, and hopefully stops deer from eating your garden. It...
Cabbage Worms – How I Finally Got Mine Under Control
The first year I grew cabbage, I walked out one morning to find half my crop reduced to lace. I hadn't seen a single bug the week before, and...
25 Wooden Pallet Projects Every Homesteader Should Try
Spend enough time around a homestead and sooner or later you end up with a stack of wooden pallets. Sounds familiar? They turn up behind feed...
How to Plant a Banana Tree: What I Learned Growing My Own
I planted my first banana tree with far more enthusiasm than knowledge. I dug a hole about the size of the pot it came in, dropped it in, and...
Does a Faraday Cage Need to Be Grounded? Here’s What I Learned
The first time I built a Faraday cage out of an old galvanized trash can, I spent a solid afternoon arguing with myself over whether I needed to run...
I Put Cayenne Pepper in My Chicken Feed (Here’s What Happened)
I went down to pick up a rooster and four new hens a while back, from the same old fella I've been buying birds from for years. He's kept chickens...
How to Choose The Right Gas Generator for Your Homestead
Keeping the power on a homestead can be a real challenge. Especially when you have many appliances, such as a freezer, a well pump, a water heater,...
When to Harvest Watermelon: The Signs I Check Before I Ever Cut One Free
My first year growing watermelon, I cut one open three weeks too early because I got impatient watching it sit there looking huge and perfect. The...
200 Skills You Need to Become 100% Independent
I’ve been homesteading for a while, and I've learned one big lesson I want to share: There’s always something else you can buy for a homestead....
How to Make Fermented Hot Sauce: My Step-by-Step Homestead Method
Every year my pepper plants outproduce every plan I ever made for them. I can only eat so many salsas and stir-fries before the crisper drawer...
An Old Homesteader Told Me to STOP Doing These Things…
A few years after Mark and I started our homestead, we signed up for WWOOF, a program that connects people with farms and homesteads where they can...
Cattle Prods: What They’re For and Why You’ll Rarely Need One
I bought an electric cattle prod my first year running cattle because every old-timer's advice seemed to assume I already had one. I used it maybe a...
Canning Spaghetti Sauce the Safe Way: A Complete Guide
Every August my counter disappears under a mountain of tomatoes, and every August I make the same batch of spaghetti sauce to can for winter. It...
9 Crops Homesteaders Grow That Are Cheaper to Buy at the Store
You've probably heard it a hundred times: grow your own food and you'll save a fortune. And sure, a good garden can absolutely save you money. I'm...
How to Start a Permaculture Garden That Basically Runs Itself
My first vegetable garden was a straight line of raised beds, tilled every spring, weeded every week, and thirsty every single day of a hot July. It...
Ranking the Best (and Worst) Firewood in the U.S.A
Buying firewood can be frustrating when you’re not sure what you’re getting. A load might look like a good deal, but after an evening of feeding the...
The Fresh Egg Test – A Homesteader’s Guide to Checking Egg Age
I collect eggs from my own hens almost every day, and I still test a batch before I bake with it. Not because I think my girls are laying bad eggs,...
Why “Weird” Crops Make Your Garden Better
Walk through the produce section at almost any grocery store and you’ll see the same familiar lineup year after year. Tomatoes, green beans, iceberg...
How Long to Cook Corned Beef in a Slow Cooker
Corned beef shows up on my table every spring, usually alongside potatoes and carrots I pulled out of the root cellar over winter. It's a tough,...
Why Your Chickens Might Be Poisoning Their Own Eggs
You walk out to the coop in the morning, open the nest box, and there they are. Warm eggs from your own hens. You know what those birds eat, where...
Compost for Raised Bed Garden: Everything I’ve Learned Building Healthy Soil
When I built my first raised bed years ago, I made the rookie mistake of shoveling in dirt from the yard and calling it a day. My tomatoes sat there...
Reviving an Old Sourdough Starter
You open the fridge looking for something, and there it is. That poor jar of sourdough starter you pushed to the back months ago and completely...
Succulent Soil: How to Mix Your Own and Actually Get It Right
I killed my first three succulents before I figured out that the problem was never the plants, it was the soil I was using. Regular potting soil,...
How to Tell If Ground Beef Is Bad: A Homesteader’s Guide
Why Ground Beef Spoils Faster Than a Steak I learned this the hard way years ago, keeping ground beef in the fridge the same length of time I kept a...
How To Turn 2 Clay Pots Into a Fridge
The first time I heard that you could keep food cool with two clay pots, some sand, and a little water, I figured it was probably one of those...
Mylar Bags for Food Storage – Everything I’ve Learned Doing This Myself
Why I Went All In on Mylar I stored food in plain plastic bags and buckets for years before I ever touched a mylar bag, and honestly, I thought the...
25 Ways to Save the Garden Glut Before It Rots
You know the drill… One week you're waiting for the garden to finally do something, and the next you've got more zucchini, tomatoes, beans, and...
