Sewing, a skill that lasts a lifetime, is an integral part of the homestead lifestyle. The hands-on, learn-as-you-go experience of creating something useful and beautiful with your own hands, is simply irreplaceable. For decades, homesteaders excelled at mending and sewing to ensure their families were warm and properly clothed. For today’s modern homesteader, sewing is
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How To Add Nitrogen To Soil & 5 Natural Methods To Try in Your Garden
When you just start gardening, your knowledge of how to do it may be deceptively simple. Take a seed, put it in some soil, add water, and voila! Couldn’t be easier, right? And while this approach is a wonderful way to start, the beginner may notice that some sprouts do better than others. Surely there’s
12 Garden Tools to Start Spring Right
Can you feel it? That shift in the wind? The faint whiff of waking soil resounding with the chorus of sprightly spring peepers in the forest? Winter’s losing its grip, and for those of us with gardens and itchy green thumbs, the final thaw can’t come soon enough. It’s time to bust out the tools
Introduction to Worm Farming
If you’re interested in cultivating dynamic, healthy, nutrient-rich soil, and are keen to incorporate nature’s natural composters, worm farming may be a perfect option for you. While rather less common than most soil invigorators, worm farming may be the most beneficial option (and in the long run, the least amount of work). Interested? Read on
14 More Tough Plants That Can Survive Drought
This summer has been unusually hot (in case you haven’t noticed). In my part of the Ozarks, it’s been bone dry to boot. That deadly combination of searing heat and clear skies has sent my state and many others into a serious drought that ceaselessly claimed vegetal casualties. Though many of us tried to water
How To Deal With Egg-Eating Chickens
Is there any image more quintessentially “homestead” than a coop surrounded by clucking chickens? Being able to walk to the coop, basket in hand, and return with tomorrow’s breakfast, is a true homesteader’s delight. But what happens when you go to the coop and find the nesting boxes unexpectedly empty for days on end? Your
Can I Compost Pizza Boxes?
Learn about compostable pizza boxes, how to prepare them, and the optimal composting conditions using this guide. Explore alternative disposal options, recycling tips, and creative upcycling ideas for pizza boxes.
Can I Compost Paper Plates?
Learn which paper plate types and sources are compostable. Correct preparation, and optimal composting conditions are crucial factors to produce the best compost quality from compostable paper plates!
Can I Compost Egg Cartons?
We discuss how to compost egg cartons, the optimal conditions, and other composting alternatives to sustainably handle egg carton wastes. If you’ve been wondering whether you can compost your egg cartons, this richly detailed guide provides the answers.
An Introduction to Kunekune Pigs
Pigs are eccentric animals to have as pets, and they’re interesting animals to have on a farm. Considering their size, one might think it’s crazy to have a pig for a pet. However, you can find smaller breeds with incredible attitudes and huge personalities — if you have suitable accommodations for them. The kunekune pig
Can I Compost Avocado?
Avocado is a popular fruit, flexible for various dishes. The resulting avocado wastes, however, can be used for composting, instead of contributing to landfill wastes.
Can I Compost Cardboard?
Instead of sending away your cardboard scraps to landfills, consider turning them into nutrient-rich compost. Learn the advantages and disadvantages of cardboard in compost and explore other sustainable alternatives if a home compost isn’t possible.
Paper Matters
Paper appears to be high on the agenda of a number of organizations this week. It’s necessary. Paper is so ubiquitous – from tissues to toilet paper to memo pads to catalogs to the mess on your desk – that it is easy to forget, or perhaps more convenient to ignore, that paper manufacturing has
Another Green Living Option: Hand Wash Your Clothes
… and easily trade cost and environmental impact, for time! “Do laundry”… what does that mean to most of us? It means carting a large pile of clothes in a bin or basket to one’s home washer and dryer, or if you’re one of the many unfortunate bunch like me, you cart it to a
23 Genius Epsom Salt Uses For Your Home, Garden, And Wellness
Epsom salt established its name 1600 years ago from the location where it was first discovered in Epsom Common, Surrey, England. It is most commonly marketed as bath products: powder, granules, crystal, flakes, and bath bombs. Although similar to common table salt in color and texture, Epsom salt and table salt are distinctly different. Epsom
Cordwood Homes
Cordwood Homes and Barns
Masonry Heaters: Benefits, How They Work, And Photos
When you think of heating with fire, the first image that might leap to your mind is a crackling wood stove, the mainstay of cozy homesteading living rooms everywhere. But despite it’s current ubiquity in back-to-the-land imagery, the wood stove is a relatively recent invention, having been invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1742. If you
Tiny House, Big Living
One look at this tiny house and you feel as if you are about to enter a doll house! With bright pink walls, Villa Hermina clearly stands out from the rest of the cottages in the area. Situated outside the southern Czech town of Černín, it was created by HSH Architekti, which unfortunately is now defunct.
Shed of the Year
Shed of the Year Contest
Tiny House Kitchens
The design of a tiny house kitchen is a personal matter. Your final design will depend on your own individual needs and the needs of those who’ll live with you. If you want to build or buy a tiny house but don’t know a lot about design, there are some things you should look out
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 options? We decided on a two-part strategy: Our writer road-tested the service, which she wanted to try anyway. Meanwhile, we compared the
World Water Week: 10 DIY Conservation Tips
Although Americans have access to some of the cleanest, most prolific water supplies, we waste more than anyone in the world. Let’s change that today!
Washing Your Hands – Just Do it, Already!
Why will you not wash your hands? Seriously, it’s not that hard. It doesn’t take that long. And everyone else in the bathroom is going to give you the side-eye if you don’t do it. Also, you need to use soap. That “running your hands under the water and then drying them” thing doesn’t actually
Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products
Too many cleaning products contain chemicals that are extremely harmful to the environment and its inhabitants, including humans. Eco-friendly cleaning products are an easy alternative and solution! The ozone, water, air, land, and the entire ecosystem are all affected by the choices we make as humans, including what products we use. Today I am going
Pendant Lighting: 30 Rustic, Modern, And Farmhouse Options
We’ve all been there. You move into a new house or apartment, and everything seems perfect until you realize just how dark certain parts of your home are. Or, you find your dream home, but the 90s light fixtures are begging for an update. When you’re lighting your home, your options include recessed lighting, chandeliers,
20 DIY Countertops For Your Kitchen Remodel
When you first bought your house, the kitchen might have been the selling point. You loved the open layout, the large island for entertaining guests, the wood floors, and the sleek countertops. Then 10 years later, you find yourself wondering what happened to that gorgeous kitchen you fell in love with. Though there might be
20 DIY Wall Art Ideas To Give Your Home Some Personality
Wall art provides the finishing touch to a room and can pull an entire space together. The addition of wall art creates a focal point, adds texture, offers a splash of color, and shows the unique personality that makes your space feel like home. Here are 20 amazing DIY wall art projects to spruce up
40 Smart Uses For Dryer Sheets In Your Home And Garden
When you put laundry in a dryer, static builds up on the clothes, sheets, and towels that bounce and tumble in the heat. Throwing in a dryer sheet can reduce static cling and leave your clothes smelling fresh. That said, dryer sheets have gained a bad reputation because they contain quaternary ammonium compounds that can
15 DIY Cabin Plans
It’s fun to purchase a relaxing cabin or cottage by the lake, but not everyone has the money to do so. Fortunately, there are alternatives, and if you are good with your hands, you can build a DIY cabin. It will save you a lot of money in the long run. Important Details to Consider
Glass Bottle Walls
glass bottle buildings, glass bottle building inspiration
Another Man’s Treasure – Learning to Love Freecycle
The Freecycle movement, started in Tucson, has spread world-wide keeping thousands of items out of landfills and trash piles. Freecycle has taken the phrase, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” to heart by providing a forum for people with everything including the kitchen sink that they don’t need any more to find people who
Preparing for Evacuation with Pets
The Red Cross and the SPCA recommend that in addition to an Emergency Kit for you and your family, you create one for your pets. This is important step can help to save your pets live and your peace of mind. Many animal related groups have chimed in to build on the Red Cross list
Buying Baby Chicks: A First-Timer’s Guide
Raising your own backyard chickens makes you feel connected to the source of your food, and proud of every egg you eat. There are lots of resources to help you get started if you are a first-time chicken owner. Here, we will look at where and how to go about buying baby chicks. Even if
Koch Brothers’ Products
Koch Brothers Products and Pollution
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
Outdoor Beds
Outdoor beds are trending, but you may be wondering, “Why an outdoor bed and not just a hammock, chair, or bench?” Prepare to list your bench set for sale, dear reader. Aside from the most obvious use for outdoor beds (the ability to lay down outside on something other than grass, dirt, brick, concrete, or
6 Reasons To Raise Sheep
My parents raised sheep for several years when I was a kid. They were my favorite of the animals we experimented raising on our hobby farm. Watching the sheep give birth was absolutely amazing and the baby lambs made the most adorable pets! My siblings, friends, and I also got a lot of entertainment attempting
Keeping Chickens In Winter: A Guide To Healthy, Happy Snow Birds
If you have chickens clucking around your backyard in the summer, you must know a thing or two about them. However, those long winter months are a different story. Some people don’t know what keeping chickens in winter really requires. Here are a few tips on how to care for your chickens when the weather
Booted Bantam
Description A quiet, calm, and easily-handled bird, these chickens were made to be held and shown off. Their delicate good looks, wide range of potential colors and dedicated breeder clubs have made this the supermodel of the chicken world. If you are interested in exhibiting bantams, there is a huge community associated with this lovely
Brahma
Description With a heavy brow that gives it a uniquely aquiline mien and fluffy feathered feet, this large bird will certainly turn heads. Don’t let it’s imposing size intimidate you, though! Few chickens are as gentle and willing to be handled as these huggable hens. Their incredibly calm dispositions make them a fabulously friendly addition
Best Flannel Sheets
To get the most comfortable night’s sleep possible, you have to be laying on the most comfortable set of sheets and pillowcases available. The warmth of flannel sheets help you relax more quickly, and drift off into a satisfying, restorative sleep, from which you’ll emerge ready for the opportunities of a new day. Buy The
How Long Do Chickens Live?
When you pick up half a dozen fluffy, charming little chicks from the feed store and bring them home, it can be hard to remember—or to explain to your kids—that backyard chickens, like all creatures, eventually age and die. But how long do chickens live anyway, and why do they die? Here are some basics
Indigenous Microorganisms (IMO)
It can be difficult to have a symbiotic relationship with microorganisms when you live in a world where Purell hand sanitizer dispensers line the wall of every doctor’s office and the words “bacteria” or “fungus” cause fear. It wasn’t until I took a soil science class at the Evergreen State College, where I was exposed
Growing Roses
Roses are popular and beautiful flowering shrubs in many homestead gardens. However, starting a rose garden can seem like a bit of an intimidating challenge for new gardeners. It isn’t as hard as you might think. In fact, with planning and proper planting, most anyone can cultivate a successful rose garden. There is no argument
Town Blocks Wal-Mart With Community-Owned Department Store
Residents knew that if Walmart was allowed to build its 120,000 sq. foot store in Saranac Lake, local businesses would be forced to close their doors forever.
DIY Worm Composting Solution for Under $20
Living off the grid – whether by choice or by chance – is all about efficiency. You need to learn to make the most of your land, your water, and even your food waste. That’s where worm composting comes in. Worm composting makes use of mealworms and earthworms to create a valuable soil additive called
Natural Anti-Fungal
A few weeks ago we noticed a rash on my little nephew’s foot. One look at his foot and I knew it was ringworm. Ringworm can be recognized by the round, worm-shaped rash. The area is usually red and the worm-like fungi are somewhat raised and bumpy. Sometimes it can be dry and scaly. I
Five Key Limitations of Organic Farming
(updated 8/22/11) Yesterday I posted about what I believe to be the five best things about Organic farming. These are attributes that I seriously believe are good ideas for how we should farm, and ideas that make sense to increasingly bring into mainstream agriculture (more cover cropping, more diverse rotations, more focus on building the
Shikibuton
Japan has a long history of developing thoughtful, tidy design ideas. That’s why the traditional bedroom setup in Japan is perfect for anyone who lives in a tiny house or any other sort of close quarters. Why You Should Use A Shikibuton Before we get into that, think about a typical Western tiny house or
The Many Varieties Of Mint
The little, red squirrel was determined, I’ll say that much. He, I assume it was a he because he couldn’t take a hint and go away, kept jumping on the patio door window and trying to climb inside. He wanted to join me while I watched the evening news. I don’t know why; there was