Olive oil has been an important food source, lamp fuel, religious material, cosmetic, and medicine for thousands of years.More than just a salad topping, olives join wheat and grapes as the core …
DIY Wine Cellar Plans + 10 Ideas to Inspire You
When you first moved into your house or apartment, there were probably a few things on your wish list. Maybe it was a fireplace. Or perhaps, a big open kitchen. And of course, you probably had a …
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13 DIY Flavored Water Drinks to Stay Hydrated and Healthy
Stop already, you say. You've heard it all before: Drink plenty of water, stay hydrated, and stay healthy. You may think it's boring. It's old advice.But even though this is sage advice, few …
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65+ Gardening Gifts
'Tis the season of gift-giving. Since colder weather has many of us stuck inside instead of in the dirt, we figured this holiday season is the perfect time to find the best in gardening gifts …
25 Stylish DIY Kitchen Islands to Upgrade Your Space
Creating your own furniture is a great way to make a piece that's unique and special, and a DIY kitchen island is a fantastic place to start.If you are someone who enjoys DIY projects, building a …
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25+ Sustainable Stocking Stuffers To Give This Holiday Season
It's not always possible to buy that new greenhouse or build a rain garden as a holiday gift. At Insteading, we understand that garden gifts can easily run on the large and expensive side.We …
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Growing Leeks: From Starting Seeds to Blanching Bulbs
If you've never had the experience of growing leeks, you don’t know what you’re missing!This straight-laced member of the allium family has a milder flavor than onions, and it’s extremely cold …
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Canning
For several years after I started cooking and farming, I avoided canning. It intimidated me. I was afraid of making someone sick. I was overwhelmed by recipes. I didn’t have any of the special …
12 Delicious And Savory Venison Tenderloin Recipes
Serving family and friends properly cooked cuts of venison (deer, elk, moose, or antelope) is one of the finest rewards of hunting. Venison or other wild game can be prepared much the same way as you …
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25 Easy And Clever Kitchen Pantry Ideas
Your kitchen is spotless. Your counters are shiny, and your fridge is immaculate. Take a peek in your pantry, though, and you may find a different situation. It can be tough to keep things neat and …
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10 Basic Cake Decorating Tips For The Perfect DIY Dessert
I come from a large family. Blessed with parents, siblings, children, and grandchildren, I have baked a lot of birthday cakes. Until I discovered the creative world of cake decorating, my attempts …
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How To Make 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 …
10 Smart Small Kitchen Ideas
Small kitchens can be challenging. Especially when you love to cook and entertain. It's easy to feel the walls caving in when you have a few cabinets open and the pot is about to boil over and your …
30 Kitchen Shelves To Declutter Your Space
Your kitchen serves many purposes. It's the place where you make your morning cup of coffee and pack the kids' lunches. It's also where you cook your famous macaroni, and above all, spend time with …
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Homesteading Stories: Maple Sugaring
There are a lot of different types of maple trees – at least 128 species. Some grow better than others. Some are a harder wood, making them ideal for use on bowling alley floors, while others are …
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Kitchen Islands
It often feels like the kitchen is one of those rooms within our homes where we really wish we could add just a few more drawers, some extra cabinets, and a bit more surface space. If you’re not …
Homestead Stories: Memories Of Carving Pumpkins
The shape isn’t perfect – it never is. It’s rather flat on one side since that’s the way it laid on the ground while it grew. Its shape adds character. At least, one can imagine that it …
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Plantain Weed
Learning about Mother Nature’s edible and healing plants is a critical component of living a sustainable, self-sufficient, and prepared lifestyle.Broadleaf Plantain, commonly pronounced plan-tin, …
Planting Currant Bushes
Currants are a great addition to any homestead. Native to the United States, currants are a flavorful and versatile berry used in jellies, jams, wine, cordials, puddings, and pies. Currants, no matter …
Homemade Pet Food
One day, I realized that the pre-packaged food I was giving my pets wasn't healthy for them. I took the time to consider what they would be eating in the wild, and it definitely wasn't …
Raw Milk
There is nothing more bucolic and familiar in our imagination of a farm than the image of milking a cow by hand into a bucket, and then pouring a glowing glass of milk for two or three smiling …
How to Make Bone Broth
Bone broth has recently come into vogue, showing up in health food stores and gourmet restaurants—for a pretty penny. Making your own bone broth is a simple and rewarding practice for a fraction of …
Farm Sinks
It’s with good reason that homeowners are installing the farmhouse sink once again. Not only are they an aesthetically pleasing design element, they’re highly functional.The farmhouse sink has no …
How To Cook Chicken Gizzards
The gizzard is an extremely strong and tough muscle with grit inside it, which doesn’t sound appetizing, but it is actually my favorite chicken organ.It's the part of the chicken’s digestive tract …
Root Cellars: The Original Refrigerator
Root cellars are the original refrigerator. Back in the days before refrigerators were invented, homesteaders stored their produce, among other things, in the root cellar. They have been around for a …
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Growing Herbs Indoors
The long, cold, winter months or even the fate of living in a small apartment are not enough to stifle the need for fresh herbs. The smell of basil, the sight of green cilantro, is something that we …
Kitchen Stools
To have a nice island or snack bar, you'll need different seating than traditional dining areas, namely, kitchen stools. The stools you'll want depends on your style, the size of the space, and the …
Growing Onions
Onions are easy to grow, and they're the first ingredient in my culinary toolbox. Almost every dish I make starts with caramelized onions, so my garden is never complete until I have grown my season’s …
Growing Asparagus
If you had told my 10-year-old self that I would one day be deeply emotionally invested in growing asparagus, I would have said “Gross!” Love it, or hate it, this early spring crop has a unique place …
How To Cook Leeks
Leeks are a must-grow star of the winter garden. Leeks are milder in flavor and have a longer growing season than onions, another member of the allium family.Because the edible bulb of a leek grows …
Live Edge Slab Furniture
Although it may seem like the modernized live edge wood slab furniture is a relatively new trend, it began and was popularized back in the 1940’s by furniture designer George Nakashima.The …
How To Make Goat Cheese
At our goat dairy, we run summer workshops on making cheese. We like these cheeses because they don't require rennet or even aging. In this article we'll go through everything from getting the milk to …
Buying Ethical Meat At The Store
So you’re at the supermarket, standing in the chilly wasteland of the meat aisle. You’re looking at all the options and wondering how do you really know which brand or label is better for the …
Cast Iron Dutch Ovens: The Ultimate Guide
My enameled Dutch oven is my favorite cooking tool. But only since I graduated from my 20s. The impatient, impulsive, careless me and the Dutch oven were not compatible. I had a date to meet, a show …
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Kitchen Compost Bin Options
With a greater focus on the environment than ever before, more and more people are trying to figure out how they can make a positive impact. If this sounds like you, then indoor composting might be a …
DIY Soap Recipes
As an urban homesteading enthusiast, I definitely have the DIY bug. Gardening, landscaping, and chickens are all great for outdoor ideas, but in rainy Seattle it’s nice to find an indoor project too. …
Dirty Dozen Produce (And 2 To Really Avoid)
Using data from tests conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Working Group has picked their "Dirty Dozen" produce for 2016. These 12 foods contain the most dangerous …
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Best Canning Recipes
Canning is a fun project that gets your hands dirty, keeps your food fresh, and gives you a last-minute gift option when the holidays roll around.The key to successful canning is starting with a …
QUIZ: Match The Food With Its Scientific Name
Your favorite foods also go by Latin names. Can you figure out what they are? No botany degree required! The hints are all in the names. Give it a shot. …
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10 Awesome New Inventions For Homesteaders
Handy Camel Bag ClipThe problem: Most bag clips are cheaply-made and used for light stuff like bags of chips.The solution: A hardy clip that seals bags without puncturing them, since the plastic …
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Chuño
Dehydrated potato sounds pretty boring, but it’s the food that made the Incan empire possible. Tragically for Incan society, this nutritious, stable food also allowed Spanish conquistadors to wage war …
Eco-Friendly Kitchen Sinks
Seekers of eco-friendly sinks, I have some bad news and some good news. The bad news first:Affordable, new kitchen sinks aren’t 100% eco-friendly.When choosing a sink you'll be balancing …
Thrive Market Review
Editor's Note: We've been hearing awesome things about Thrive Market, but before we plunked down the $59.95 membership fee, we needed to know: Is it better than other online and local organic food …
Best Dehydrator Recipes
If you're lucky enough to have an overabundance of fruit, veggies, or meat, you also have a problem. How to preserve this bounty? Refrigeration may only keep the stuff fresh for a few days. Freezing? …
Appliances Of The Future
What will kitchens look like in 30 years? Likely, they'll need to be much more energy-efficient and take up less space. Like these!Dishwasher Under The Sink DrainDishwasher under the sink drainer …
Charcoal Stick Filters
Looking for plastic-free water filtration?Try activated charcoal sticks...the only significant difference between a Brita filter and a stick is that water is filtered through a Brita …
7 Best Veggie Burgers
Flickr pic: miikkahoo1) Beet and Bean BurgersInspired by the veggie burgers at Northstar Cafe in Columbus, OhioMakes 6 burgersIngredients1/2 cup brown rice (a bit more if you love …
Bento Box Inspiration
If you have the time; an artistic meal could only lift one's spirits. Only natural dyes, please!'Green Goddess, cool as a cucumber' by Sakurako Kitsa.www.flickr.comMashed potato snow, …
The 4 Types of Solar Cookers
Downing trees or gathering sticks to fuel stoves is a major cause of deforestation and desertification. But if you could get that fuel free from the sun...The Panel Solar CookerThe Panel …
Indoor Pizza Ovens
Dreaming! and completely decadent unless you also cook multiple items in the warmed-up masonry. If you are going to opt for a wood-fired oven in your kitchen, do investigate including a masonry …
