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  • wren pumping water with manual hand pump

    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, […] More

  • michelle's homestead

    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. […] More

  • foraged coffee

    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 […] More

  • homestead clothesline

    Why You Should Start Using A Clothesline

    When I think of using a clothesline, I think of a conversation I had when I still lived in the city. While hanging my laundry, my neighbor’s little boy poked his head through the fence. ”Whatchoo doing?” “Hanging up my laundry.” “Ain’t you got a dryer?” “We got rid of it. The sun and the […] More

  • rainwater barrel and plant

    Rainwater Harvesting: The Basics And Why You Should Start Today

    Lead contamination. Chlorine and fluoride. E.coli. Fracking pollutants. Toxins and pharmaceuticals. There are so many things that might be mixed in the water that flows from the faucet, that turning on the tap may feel more like playing a chemical form of Russian roulette than getting a drink. But what if I told you that […] More

  • bulk food in jars

    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 […] More

  • solar panels

    Living Off-Grid: What It’s Actually Like

    When people learn that my husband and I moved our family to the Ozarks to go off-grid, we sometimes get interesting responses. Living off-grid evokes 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 […] More

  • school buses

    10 Amazing School Bus Conversions

    Converting a school bus into a permanent residence is a bit like a coming-of-age story. You take a school bus, probably one very similar to the one you rode in elementary school, gut it entirely, and build a tiny home out of it. To me, the whole process just feels very charming, sustainable, and appealing. […] More

  • findhorn community nature sanctuary

    Wofati

    There’s a charm to underground homes and so-called ‘hobbit homes’, but many former owners of such buildings have moved out due to problems with moisture and related conditions. But, earth might be the best insulator available, and it’s definitely the cheapest. Permaculturalist Paul Wheaton, owner of the forums at permies.com as well as richsoil.com, set […] More

  • acorns in hand

    Eating Acorns: From Foraging To Cooking & Recipes

    This summer, my family and I moved to our homestead. We were not able to get a garden into the rocky, wild ground, but somehow we’ve had a fantastic fall harvest and have started accumulating jars of dry goods from the plenty. How was this possible? One surprising word… acorns. When we had first discussed […] More

  • 15 Earth Homes

    Some earth homes take advantage of something called thermal mass, which basically means that the mass of a structure has some capacity to store heat. So the mass of a home can stay at a more constant temperature than temperatures outside the home due to the presence and absence of sunlight in a 24-hour period. Obviously, […] More

  • Living Off The Grid

    Living off the grid might seem like a dream come true for some of us. No longer tied to electricity or natural gas coming for a utility, we have greater choices for locations and saving money over the long-term. If you are someone who wants to set down roots away from the traffic and bustle […] More

  • How To: Dig a Fresh Water Well

    One way to ensure long-term water is to drive a water well, which, if you’re willing to do the work, could provide you and yours will clean water for years. More

  • Share Your Black-Market Antibiotics: Goodbye World and the Myth of Community

    Are you seriously supposed to share those black-market antibiotics that you worked REALLY hard to acquire with whatever random person happens to get strep throat after SHTF? In the 2013 post-Apocalyptic film Goodbye World, the answer is yes. In Goodbye World, we’ll ignore the suspiciously gaudy affluence of a multi-storied off-the-grid home run by two […] More

  • Book Review: Practical Projects for Self-Sufficiency

    Let’s say that self-sufficiency is a spectrum. You like to garden? You’re on the low end of the spectrum. You can the produce from that garden? You’re a little higher on the spectrum. You irrigate your garden with captured rainwater? Higher still. Fertilize your garden with humanure? You’re really high on the spectrum; there aren’t […] More

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