Fresh eggs, warm from the coop, laid by a contented flock of beautiful birds. It’s the stuff of self-sufficient dreams, isn’t it? A flock of laying hens is integral to the fabric of the homestead, giving you a wonderful source of nutrition for a small amount of infrastructure and work. But for those who are […]
Rooster Spurs: What They Are And What To Do With Them
If I were to ask people on the street what makes a rooster a rooster, what do you think they might say? I guarantee most would mention their crow, the large wattles and comb, or the impressive and beautiful feathering. And of course, all those answers are correct, but there is one more important feature […]
9 Beautiful Water Plants For Your Aquatic Garden Or Pond
Spring has come. For the winter-weary gardener, the chance to finally get back out into the wonderful world of soil and sprouts is exhilarating. Within a few short weeks, garden beds are awake and planted, pots are filled and placed back on the porch, and flower beds are tenderly mulched. And then … all that […]
Growing Swiss Chard
If a garden was a high school movie drama, tomatoes would be the prom queen cheerleader, corn would be the basketball star jock, fennel would be the weird kid who dislocates his fingers and thinks it’s entertaining, and Swiss chard would be the really nice, helpful girl who just isn’t popular. And I think that’s […]
The Best Chicken Waterers For Your Flock
It’s early morning, and I’m out around the homestead, quietly doing my normal chores. If you listen closely through the birdsong, you’ll hear the sound of a metal bucket clunking against my boots, transporting something precious. I filled it slowly from the rain barrel, listening to my small flock of chickens clamoring in their coop. […]
10 Types Of Moss For Your Garden
There’s something mysterious and intriguing about moss. Maybe it’s because of the way it drapes over trees and rocks in places like the Hoh Rain Forest of Washington state. It looks like a land outside time. Or maybe it’s a bit of residual childlike wonder from the days we were small enough to crouch on […]
Raising Tennessee Fainting Goats
My first interaction with fainting goats was unintentional. I was jogging along a park trail, watching the trees go by while enjoying the quiet rhythm of my pounding feet. That reverie was jostled into confusion, however, by the sound of something screaming. It wasn’t human, and as I looked for the source, a goat blundered […]
Raising Boer Goats
My husband and I like to look through our local farm listings to find tools or animals for the homestead. It gives us the chance to make friends, learn information about our area, and acquire stock that is more acclimated to our Ozark home. The last time we were scrolling through the pages of tractors, […]
Powdery Mildew: What It Is, How To Identify It, And Treatment Methods
You walk into the garden, wiping sweat from your forehead in the summer’s boggy heat. The peppers are dangling like hidden jewels beneath their glossy leaves. The okra is dazzling with its tropical, hollyhock-like blooms. And the tomatoes are looking fine — even though you flicked a hornworm to your chickens as a treat. But […]
How To Make Yogurt (And Why You Should)
Yogurt is an ancient food that in recent years, has seemed to become an entity unto itself. Walking down the yogurt aisle at any grocery store (yes, it has its own aisle) is an adventure in persuasive marketing. Every plastic tub begs for your attention because it is more protein-rich, probiotic, or healthier than the […]
Marek’s Disease: What It Is & How To Prevent It
If you are new to keeping chickens, you will eventually have to do some reading on the diseases that can befall your flock. In the lists of common ailments, you’ll encounter plenty of problems to keep in the back of your mind as you observe your birds. Some are serious but easily understood. Problems like […]
Grinding Your Own Flour
One of my favorite college coffeehouses was across the street from a milling company. I spent many hours sketching and sipping their various brews, the mood-lit ambiance of the cafe constantly underscored by the low hum of unseen machines turning grain into flour. Anyone who parked more than an hour on the that street would […]
Chicken Molting: What It Is And What To Expect
It’s a beautiful day with the first fall feelings. Maybe the asters and goldenrod have begun to bloom, and you noticed monarch butterflies headed south. There’s a good, crisp smell to the air — but as you near the chicken coop, your heart drops! There are feathers everywhere. A panicked headcount soon reveals that all […]
16 Cheap Fence Ideas For The Suburbs And The Country
When buying a new property — whether in the city, suburbs, or country — you may also inherit broken-down, ugly, or absent fences. With a small patch of land, this may lead to privacy concerns. On a larger acreage homestead, bad or nonexistent fencing can lead to problems like your sheep escaping and eating the neighbor’s […]
Growing Peas
Every vegetable that bursts out of the ground is a gift to me. The wispy little feathers of emerging carrots, the blink-and-they’re-there sprouts of lightning-quick radishes, and the first true leaves of a tomato plant — heralding the impatient wait for it to grow and produce the fresh tomatoes of summer. Peas, however, are extra-special. […]
Jazz Up Your Flock With Chickens That Lay Blue Eggs
Before I got into caring for my own flock as a homesteader, my understanding of chicken eggs was pretty much unchanged from childhood. There were the white ones that I could buy in a Styrofoam package at the Mega-Mart, and the brown ones that my dad sometimes brought home from his friend “in the country.” Now […]
Chicken Wormers: A Helpful Guide For How To Identify & Treat Chicken Worms
New animals are an exciting addition to the homestead, but there’s always a risk when outsiders come into the fold. You never know what extra parasites may accompany them, and potentially damage your healthy herd or flock. This was the case with our new Brahma hen. We loved her beetle-green feathers and quirky feathered feet, […]
How To Grow, Harvest, And Use The Humble Fennel Plant
We didn’t go to farmers’ markets often when I was a kid. When we did, my dad always purchased a fennel bulb with the huge spray of feathery leaves that make it so attractive. I think he liked how it looked sticking out of the bag he carried. He would rip off a few leaves, […]
Growing Eggplant
“What’s in your sandwich? It looks gross.” It’s a weird moment realizing you are THAT KID at school lunch. Surrounded by bologna, pb&j, and ham and cheese, the shiny, black skin poking out of my eggplant parmesan sandwich did look a bit unusual, I guess. With my Sicilian father often puttering at the stove, eggplant had been […]
Growing Gourds
To those unfamiliar, there may not seem to be much difference between a gourd and squash. Fruit-wise, they share a lot of similar attributes — cool shapes, hard rind, seeds hidden inside, and beautiful colors. But once you try to grow one, you will quickly notice the enormously long, trailing vines, the beautiful, night-blooming flowers, […]
Growing Peppers
Peter Piper may have picked an inexplicably pickled peck of peppers (were they fermenting on the plants or something?) but in order to pick a peck, they first needed to be planted. Thankfully, the process of cultivating and harvesting peppers is a good deal simpler than the tongue-twisters they inspire! Planting Peppers Considering that store-bought […]
Why Duck Eggs Are The Best Thing You’ve Never Eaten (Yet!)
Everyone always talks about the proverbial first appearance of the chicken and her egg, but where are the philosophical wonderings about duck eggs? Indeed, these wonderful waterfowl have been a part of farms and homesteads as long as chickens, but their eggs are yet to break into popular culture and everyday cuisine. Truly, this is […]
Getting Started With Off-Grid Water Systems For A More Self-Reliant Homestead
In my experience, it seems that discussions about off-grid water systems only take place in niche communities of homesteaders or preppers. If you were to bring it up in “normal” workplace conversation, I guarantee you’d get at least one set of raised “what a weirdo” eyebrows. But considering just how crucial water is to life […]
7 Chicken Predators And How To Protect Your Flock
When I still lived in the city, I dreamed of chickens. I browsed breed lists like a bride-to-be looks through wedding catalogs. I anticipated morning egg gathering, rooster crows, egg-laying cackles, and lots of free fertilizer! But for all my research, I had no idea what it would feel like to face what I grimly call “predator […]
How To Grow, Maintain, And Harvest The Okra Plant
Okra seems to be one of the foods synonymous with the south — alongside fried chicken, collard greens, and cast-iron cornbread. And indeed, the warm-weather crop does best in places where the temperatures are sizzling! This delicious, nutritious, and versatile vegetable need not be constrained below the Mason-Dixon Line, however. Growers all over the country […]
Deer-Resistant Plants
Deer are graceful, nearly ethereal creatures. Their silent forest ways and magnificent appearance may inspire paintings and poetry, novels and songs. But for the hard-working gardener, they may more likely inspire enraged streams of cursing, because deer are also opportunistic jerks who readily translate the hard work invested in a garden into a free, all-night […]
How to Make a Bruise Poultice
On the homestead, getting dinged-up by daily activities is just a part of life. You’d be hard-pressed to ever find me without some sort of cut or bruise somewhere! Sometimes, those minor wounds can be surprisingly incapacitating. Just ask someone with a paper cut or hangnail that’s in the exact wrong spot! And even though […]
Raising Nigerian Dwarf Goats
Before I really knew the term “homesteading,” and before I knew that I’d be working on 12 beautiful acres in the Ozarks, I knew one thing: I wanted goats. And when I finally did move to those Ozark hills, it wasn’t long before two beautiful little Nigerian Dwarf goats were housed in our barn. Deciding […]
Planting, Growing, and Maintaining Chestnut Trees
“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire …” is a phrase most Americans can sing along to without even thinking, but there is so much more to these amazing trees than Christmas lyrics. Much more than a seasonal treat, the chestnut tree has a fascinating history, a tragic past, and a deserving place on the homestead. […]
The Scoop on Organic Fertilizer: Is It Right for Your Garden?
Nothing could be simpler, or more complex, than organic fertilizer. Garden stores make it seem like it’s something that you buy in bags. Big Agriculture makes it seem like it’s something that’s less efficient than chemical fertilizers, and therefore useless unless you have a special interest for using it. Online, the options for organic fertilizer […]
Hand Water Pumps: A Guide
“So let me get this straight. You want me to pull the electric pump out so you can put in a manual pump?” My husband and I nodded at the man who had come to remove our broken electric pump. He scratched the back of his head, a funny sort of half-smile creasing his cheeks. “You know, […]
Moving from City to Country: The Long-Term Transition
When we moved from a city of 200,000 to a homestead in a hilly, Ozark town of 2,000 residents, my husband and I fully anticipated there would be an adjustment period. As I wrote in my first article for Insteading, there are many moments of “culture shock” that could affect this urban-fled, aspiring country bumpkin. […]
How To Make Compost Tea
Compost tea is enjoying a huge surge of popularity in the gardening world. Sometimes called the “liquid gold” of gardening, this nutrient-rich, microbe-rich liquid is hailed as a disease preventative for your garden and a super-boost of nutrition for your soil. But what is this “tea” in the first place, and why is it such […]
Caffeine-Free Coffee Substitutes That You Can Forage In The Backyard
Coffee is something I really used to enjoy. In my memories, that roasted, dark liquid is synonymous with warm cafes, good conversation, and air perfumed with delicious aromas. But now that I’m more than a decade past college, I’m finding that my appreciation for the flavor of this ubiquitous American beverage is quickly being eclipsed […]
5 Perennial Herbs For Fresh Garden Flavor All Year Long
Those of us with green thumbs may feel a bit of the winter blues once the first hard frost hits. Though the tender sprigs of our favorite basil and dill may look beautiful as the dawn strikes their fatally crystallized leaves, we know that soon those formerly verdant garden beds will be shriveled into a […]
7 Indoor Trees To Add Some Greenery To Your Home
When one thinks of trees, visions of vast swaths of forested mountains, steamy jungles, or frosty taigas may come to mind. But not every tree needs a scenic backdrop to flourish—some can be content to live in your home with you. And you have to admit, few things can enliven a bitty apartment or a […]
Growing Kale
Kale has become somewhat synonymous with the modern health movement, but this nutrient-packed green has been a bastion of good eating for centuries. In fact, there’s an old Scottish story that tells of a young doctor, traveling in search of a town to start his practice. He was advised, “If you see kale growing in […]
How To Get Rid Of Yellow Jackets
When you’re working your own land, there’s an inevitable moment when you find yourself butting heads with nature. You may discover a nasty poison ivy rash, a particularly troublesome patch of morning glory that you just can’t seem to eradicate, or a copperhead den smack dab in the middle of your field. But of all […]
Guinea Fowl
My sister and her husband recently visited our homestead, and upon being “greeted” by our male guinea, my brother-in-law exclaimed good-naturedly, “Oh look, it’s a space chicken!” And really, that’s pretty much how it feels to meet a guinea for the first time. Though the guinea fowl has been on farms and homesteads for centuries, […]
Pruning Apple Trees
Apple trees truly are giving trees. In spring, their fragrant, pale blossoms dot the landscape with a welcome, hopeful change from the soggy grays and browns of late winter. In summer, their lush foliage offers shade from the bright sun. In fall, their juicy fruit is the stuff of the best memories—hay rides at the […]
What Do Ducks Eat?
Ducks, like chickens, are omnivores. So what do ducks eat? Typically, ducks eat foraged food including weeds, seeds, grasses, slugs, and other pests. Ducks also eat natural, homemade feed or commercial feed. To know what ducks want and need to eat, look no further than a wetland in your local park. There, in the early morning, you’ll […]
Shade Plants: 15 Garden Greats To Grow In Full Or Partial Shade
You are a garden warrior. You have taken the ground allotted to you in your acreage, however big or small, and have tilled the rough sod into soft, pillowy submission. Your compost has been aged to perfection and spread with care. The pH of your garden beds is impeccable. Leaf miners, cabbage borers, and slugs […]
Frugal Living: Everything You Need To Know
It’s no secret that modern living is a bit of a morass of consumerism, waste, and debt. In a world where the latest smartphone debuts less than a year after its previous iteration, where the Joneses are always one step ahead of you, and where mountains of plastic are clogging up waterways and oceans, the […]
Living Off-Grid: What It’s Actually Like
In our modern day, with cable TV shows banking off of the “weirdness” of living off the grid, the very phrase “Off-Grid” images of end-of-the-world preppers stocking up MREs and ammo, wild-haired hermits digging in the dirt for acorns and mushrooms, or maybe criminals attempting to elude capture. But if you visited our off-grid homestead, […]
Homestead Stories: The Day I Butchered My First Duck
Our Pekin duck was a problem. Belligerent and lascivious, he had taken the peace of our small flock and turned it on its head. Our ducks had stopped producing eggs due to his voracious affections, and his “favorite” had the bald spots on her head and the foaming eye to prove it. The rest of […]
What Do Goats Eat?
Many of us—particularly those who didn’t grow up on a farm—have some strange stereotypes embedded in our minds about what farms are like. All cows are black and white, all farmers wear overalls, all barns are painted red. One of the oddest ones I remember inheriting is the idea that goats enjoy munching on tin […]
5 Easy Egg Substitutes For When The Chickens Have Stopped Laying
As happens on many homesteads, our chickens have stopped laying with the shorter winter days. We decided to let them follow their natural rhythms with the seasons and haven’t put a light in their coop to keep the eggs coming. We figure, if they naturally take a break for the season, we’ll let them follow […]
Lessons From Facing Death On The Homestead
As a small girl in my suburban neighborhood, dealing with death was something unusual. So when my pet fish died, tears were shed and a solemn, toilet-side funeral was held, complete with speeches! Any time I found a dead baby bird in the spring, my long-suffering father would kindly wrap it in tissues and bury […]
Why Manure Is The Unsung Hero of the Homestead
When I lived in the city, I had the luxury of ignoring poop. If a neighbor’s dog left it on my tiny lawn, it was a rude, unusual inconvenience. Aside from what I delicately flushed into oblivion with the touch of a lever, my experiences with poop were largely nonexistent. My suburban upbringing trained me […]
How To Make A Healing Salve From Backyard “Weeds”
Before I was interested in natural ways of healing, I had no problem reaching for the common OTC cough syrups, ointments, and multi-syllabic pills available at my local big box store. However, as I learned more about the side effects of synthetic additives, petroleum-based ointments, and hormone-disrupting chemicals, I started wondering about the safety and […]
