Electric washing machines use a lot of resources. Even โhigh-efficiencyโ washing machines use at least 10 gallons of water per load and require 500 watts of electricity. And they take up a lot of space. Fortunately, there is a time-honored, sustainable, and smaller alternative. Hand-crank washers and hand wringers are easy to use and use
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How To Capture And Use Wild Yeast
I have a secret weapon in my kitchen. It makes my daily bread taste amazing (and far more digestible than anything store-bought). As long as I take care of the starter, this weapon is an endless material. And the best part of all? Itโs free for the taking. Iโm talking about wild yeast — a
13 Creative DIY Screen Door Ideas and Important Details to Consider
Installing a screen door allows a delightful cross breeze through the whole house without the worry of insects invading your living space. Screen doors keep bugs, birds, bats, and airborne debris from entering the home while allowing for light, air, and outdoor views. However, screen doors only perform that function if the screen is undamaged,
Omo Valley Tribes
Imagine growing up without artwork on the walls, minimal paper and no pens but surrounded by bodies, nature, colored minerals and all sorts of animals with amazing designs. The Ultimate Canvas: The Human Body In the remote Omo valley in Africa, where the earliest known Homo sapiens remains have been found, indigenous tribes have been
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
Vegan Gift Guide: 25+ Items For Every Vegan On Your List
More and more people are turning to veganism as a compassionate and health-conscious lifestyle, so that means you probably have at least a few veg-heads in your life. And at some point, you’re going to have an occasion to give a gift to those vegan friends, family, or office mates. And to remove any anxiety
Environment
Flooring Ideas: 18 Eco-Friendly Options For Your Next Home Renovation
If youโre doing a home renovation or are in the market for some new flooring, youโre in luck. Right now, it appears that just about every type of flooring company has some exciting option youโre bound to love. Before choosing your flooring there are a few things to keep in mind. First, be sure that
15 Natural DIY Perfume Ideas
Did you know there are over 4,000 chemicals that are used to create fragrances in skincare and beauty products? And since these fragrance blends are considered trade secrets, companies aren’t required to disclose the specific ingredients on their labels. I don’t know about you, but for me, that is reason enough to consider more natural
What Is Toothache Grass?
If you live in the Southeastern United States, you may be familiar with a unique endemic plant. Toothache grass has been used for many centuries to help alleviate local aches and pains associated with toothaches (as the name implies). It is fire dependent, and it thrives (and can only be found) in fire-maintained environments with
Safe Cosmetics
Safe Cosmetics
How To Humanely Kill A Chicken
People learn to kill chickens for many reasons. As interest in local and ethical food increases, many meat-eaters have challenged themselves to raise and slaughter their own meat. People who keep backyard chickens for eggs often kill older chickens when they have passed their prime laying age. Even people who keep chickens as pets may
Bench Ideas
Public benches, pictures of benches, bench inspiration
Toxins in Leather Shoes
Toxins in Leather Shoes
Homestead Stories: The Poison Garden
There are a lot of beautiful plants in the world. Some have medicinal purposes, others are edible, and there are those that are purely decorative. There are also many plants that are dangerously poisonous, โlook, donโt touchโ garden beauties. So what about planting a poison garden dedicated solely to them? While doing some recent research
A Helpful Homesteader’s Guide to Harvesting Sunflower Seeds
The humongous, cheery blooms of sunflowers, nodding head and shoulders over the garden gate, is a welcome addition to any food plot or house corner. But these sun-following flowers arenโt just for show — they provide protein-rich, delicious seeds for both humans and animals. Hereโs our guide for harvesting sunflower seeds as well as cooking
6 Deer Repellents You Need To Try
Just. One. Deer. Thatโs all it takes to undo hours and hours of painstaking yard work. Just one deer can wreak havoc on a beautiful garden. Those vegetables? Flowers? Uprooted. Well-raked planters? Trampled. Fortunately, there are several low-impact ways to deter and repel deer. You donโt have to resort to poison or nasty chemical solutions
What Do Goats Eat?
Many of usโparticularly those who didnโt grow up on a farmโhave 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
๐ฎ Arts & Crafts
Outdoor Stone Ovens: What Are They, How Do They Work, And Photos
We’ve recently put out quite a few articles on ways that you can build an oven to cook food with the most ancient of methods: fire. So far, we’ve got articles on Outdoor Brick Ovens, (largely indoor) Masonry Ovens, and Outdoor Earthen Ovens. But of all the materials that you can build with, nothing speaks
How To Raise Pigs
Pigs are by far my favorite homestead animal. They are curious, affectionate, and incredibly smart. Those are also the characteristics that make them uniquely challenging. The first time I ever saw a pig I was 12, travelling in Eastern Europe. The pig had gotten out and was being chased around a courtyard by four or
New Android App Helps People Crowd-Source Free Drinking Water
Google and the Pacific Institute are teaming up to create a smartphone application that would allow users to share locations of public water fountains in an effort to combat bottled water consumption.
Raising Goats
Goats are sweet, social, mischievous and stubborn. They are a favorite of urban homesteaders who want fresh milk but canโt keep a cow. Homesteaders favor milking goats as a food source because of their milk’s mild flavor and moderate output. Even people (like me) who donโt like โgoatโ flavor in milk and cheese are startled
Ground Rules for Foraging Safely
Foraging is more than a hobby. Itโs a means of sustenance, and for some of us, it really is a way of life. Pretty much everyone has an idea that some wild plants are edible whether they work in a city high-rise or hoe weeds on the farm. Even in this strange modern age, many
Our Dead Trees Became Living Fungal Art
Fungi are remarkable, and after many trees fell in our yard we discovered the beauty of living fungal art. Trees–theyโre beautiful when healthy, but even long-living, solid trees can meet an untimely end. When we moved onto our one-acre country lot, we were thrilled with the bits of forest that surrounded our house. Not only
Swimming Ponds: A More Natural Approach to Swimming Pools
Natural Pools or Natural Swimming Ponds
Biodiversity Organizations
Biodiversity Organizations, Conservation Organizations, Ecology Organizations.
Homestead Stories: Weird Trees
โLook at this tree!โ I passed the image to my friend. It was a blustery, rainy day, and a good time to sit indoors and plan our next gardening adventure. I was looking for unusual trees to add to my ever-expanding forest, though I knew many of the “unusual” trees wouldnโt do well in my
Tiny House Interiors
Creativity is essential when planning and designing the interior of your tiny house. Trying to incorporate your kitchen, bedroom, living room and bathroom into an average of 200 sq. ft. is tricky. With the rise in people living tiny, there has been an increase in innovative designs that have come out to help incorporate all
Black Walnut Trees
The black walnut tree is a part of the tree species Juglandaceae. While theyโre native to some parts of Canada, you will most likely find black walnut trees in the United States. In the states, black walnut trees are found in Georgia, Florida, South Dakota, and Texas. In Canada, you are most likely to see
How To Grow The Yarrow Plant
Native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, the yarrow plant is a hardy herbaceous perennial that’s a member of the Asteraceae plant family. Also known as old manโs pepper, common yarrow, nosebleed plant, or soldierโs woundwort, the erect, flowering plant is considered by many to be an invasive weed. Many homesteaders, though, appreciate the
Underground Greenhouse: Uses and Benefits
As long as gardeners have existed, they’ve sought to extend their growing seasons beyond the limits of winter’s shutdown. Gardening history is dotted with an arsenal of methods created to rebuff frost and snow, such as cold frames, greenhouses, row covers, carefully-placed compost piles, and cloches. A relatively recent entry in the fight to defy
Stick Sculpture
The materials for your next project are just lying on the ground. The Stick Sculpture Of Patrick Dougherty Combining his carpentry skills with his love of nature, Patrick Dougherty began to learn about primitive building techniques and to experiment with tree saplings as construction material beginning about 1980. He quickly moved from small single pieces
Organic Farming Would Be Better In Terms of Climate Change Impact. Right?
I’m probably going to irritate some people with this post. I apologize in advance because that is not at all my intention. For those readers that don’t think climate change is a real problem, I respect the fact that there is uncertainty in that science, but if the majority position of climate scientists is true, the stakes
Topsoil: Civilization & Foundation Eroding
By Lester R. Brown The thin layer of topsoil that covers the planetโs land surface is the foundation of civilization. This soil, typically 6 inches or so deep, was formed over long stretches of geological time as new soil formation exceeded the natural rate of erosion. But sometime within the last century, as human and
Lessons Learned From Our First Year of Cabin Life
Last year, my husband and I moved from Austin, Texas to a little log cabin in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We changed our entire lives over the course of 20 days: quit our jobs, sold most of what we owned, and moved across the country. Not to mention, I was seven months pregnant at the time.
Metal Fire Pits
Few things express summer more than the smell of a campfire while sitting out under the stars. Add some marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers and you have the perfect setup for a summer evening. While many of us would love to go out camping, itโs not always possible. You donโt have to skip the smores
Appenzeller
A Hardy, Lovely Breed The Appenzeller Spitzhauben breed was named for the Alpine Appenzell region where it was developed and the crestโs similarity to the ceremonial Spitzhauben hats traditionally worn by women of the region. These eye-catching birds are most often found with black-tipped, white feathers, making them look somewhat like dalmatian dogs in chicken form!
Angelo Musco
Mimics nature’s structures with the human form…hundreds of models, multiplied millions of times. Angelo was born in Naples, Italy and moved to New York City in 1997. Ovum, 2011. The human body (2 million of them in this image) is the artistโs medium. “He melds bodies like hundreds of brush strokes, creating large compositions that
Can I Compost Cigarette Butts?
Learn about the comprehensive guide on composting cigarette butts and why it’s not recommended. Discover the harmful chemicals and microplastics present in used cigarettes, the impact on the composting process, and the potential environmental hazards. Explore alternative disposal options, such as industrial recycling and transitioning to plant-based filters, to mitigate the detrimental effects of cigarette butt waste.
American Game Fowl
Heโs A Fighter, Not A Lover Scrappy, stately, and bad-to-the-bone, the fiercely territorial nature of the cocks of this breed are an indication of their historical use as fighting birds. Though this practice is now illegal in every state of the USA as of August 2008, no one told the chickens it was time to
Homestead Stories: The Burglar Bear
We were living down the canyon in a big, round house with a 45-minute drive one way just to get to the grocery store. So we grew some of our own produce and raised chickens (and a duck) for eggs. Living out in the woods with gardens surrounding your house and a small flock of
The Real Costs of Bottled Water
Bottled water is sold to us as a fresh, healthy, and pure product. Yet in reality, when you buy a bottle of water you’re may just be buying back your local tap water at a mark-up of up to 1000 times the actual cost. Not only is bottled water no better for you than plain old tap water, but the environmental cost of the packaging used to beautify it is a serious issue.
10 Existential Threats To Global Agriculture
I tend to be a “glass half full” sort of person, particularly about the prospects of successfully feeding the 9-10 billion people we expect by 2050. My optimism is based on daily contact with the innovative public and private entities who develop technology for agriculture. It is also based on the track record of small
Plastic Bottle Homes and Greenhouses
Plastic bottle houses, PET houses, recycled plastic home, plastic bottle building
Insect Hotel
What Is An Insect Hotel? Insect hotels are winter lodgings for your backyard crawling and flying bugs. Usually made of found or upcycled materials around your yard, these hotels consist of different suites catered to each little bug’s preferred lodging taste. Most hotels are constructed with a strong protective frame of wood boards or pallets and
13 Beneficial Chicken-Friendly Plants To Grow Next To Coops
If you’ve had chickens for long, you probably have noticed that they eat all day long. They peck and scratch at the soil and eat every last bit of our kitchen scraps and leftovers. Letting your chickens free-range, or giving them access to plenty of natural vegetation and/or rotating their grazing parameters, is the key
No Till Gardening: To Till or Not to Till?
You may have heard a phrase that makes you wonder if youโre doing your garden bed prep correctly. No till gardening is a trendy idea right now and you may be wonderingโwhat the heck is it? How do I do it? Will I grow better food? Letโs take a look at what no till gardening means,
Greenhouses from Old Windows and Doors
Calling all used awning windows, bay windows, storm doors, and clerestories back to service. 1) Recycled Window Greenhouse, Minnesota Greenhouse made from recycled windows by Jan and Ed Vitse of New Look Floral (a garden and floral business) in Rochester, MN. This little gem, made from recycled windows was built in 2003. The structure is 12
Insteading Giveaway – December 2019
Regardless of whether you had a large harvest of food from the garden this year, or simply found a lot of cucumbers on sale at the grocery store, preserving food is an excellent way to provide yourself with a little more self-sufficiency in the winter months. While canning and dehydrating are common methods of food