This is an open letter to the brambleberries of the world, particularly those blackberries growing along the edge of my ravine. Dearest Brambleberries: It is with great perplexity that I write to you. There is an understanding between berrykind and humankind that has endured for thousands of years. You produce delicious, sweet fruit. We eat
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Preparing for Cold Weather Predators
Predators are just trying to live their best life. As the weather turns from summer to autumn, the temperatures begin to drop, and as winter creeps in, it becomes more difficult for predators to find food. We go to the markets to buy whatever it is we need to care for ourselves. Unfortunately, humans have
How To Integrate Goats Into The Homestead
A multipurpose, engaging, and entertaining animal with a great many uses ranging from companionship to commercial meat production, the domestic goat is an excellent addition to most any homestead. Novice homesteaders discover that raising goats for their milk, meat, and fiber can be a financially rewarding experience. However, caring for them can also be a
10 Off-Grid Projects You Can Finish This Weekend
Going off-grid is a huge endeavor and one that could take years to accomplish as you search for land, make the move, and set up your self-reliant system. If you’re just getting started, it can seem like an insurmountable task to think about all that needs to be done. And if you don’t have your
Homestead Stories: The Many Shades of Sunflowers
I had just transplanted my sunflower seedlings when a friendly neighbor popped over. “Don’t forget to stake them up,” she suggested — always full of useful advice. “And place plastic forks all around them. Squirrels will dig up seedlings in search of the seed.” “Nasty squirrels,” I grumbled. She was right about them. I use
Alternative Libraries: Check Out Things, Not Books
I find it wonderful that libraries still exist in the modern age. Though the world sometimes seems unstable, angry, and poised to tear down whatever we currently don’t like, there still exists a public institution based entirely on free sharing and trust. Without spending a cent, you have access to hundreds of books, and what’s
What Is Hobby Farming?
Hobby farms are small-scale farms with the focus on following that farming passion to produce several benefits. This type of farming is not mainly about making money, but there is a potential for financial side hustles. Before we jump into the exciting world of hobby farming, let’s start off by differentiating between some commonly confused
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
8 Mistakes to Avoid as a New Homesteader
If you’re a new homesteader on new land, you’re in an interesting place. You’ve probably just left everything in the city, your job, your friends, your family, your inherited way of life, to start over in the country. And, like earlier generations of back-to-the-landers, you may not really know what you are doing, have had
Useful Knots for the Homestead
Once upon a time, there were things that needed to be held in place, tied down, hoisted up, and cinched shut. The humble rope — and the knots it could tie — was the answer to all of these problems and more. Ropes stretched throughout our ancestors’ histories, securing the rigging on a ship, crisscrossing
20 Fun and Useful DIY Paracord Projects
These days you’ll see paracords used for all sorts of crafting projects. It is durable yet lightweight. A lot of survivalists and homesteaders make use of paracord because it’s easy to work with. Let’s check out some fun and useful DIY paracord projects to try at home.
25 Functional and Elegant DIY Desk Ideas
Building a DIY desk not only allows you to custom make furniture that suits your unique needs, it is also an enjoyable and gratifying experience in and of itself. Not to mention, building your own desk from scratch can be more affordable than buying a new one. If you’re looking for ideas for your next
25 Free Rabbit Hutch Plans to House Your Furry Friends
Whether you’re raising meat rabbits or looking for walk-in rabbit hutch plans for your favored pets, making your own hutch can save you money and help our environment by reducing waste. Fortunately, there are plenty of options available to find what works best for you when raising rabbits. Important Details to Consider When Building a
25 Free Bird House Plans to Welcome Feathered Friends to Your Garden
Ornithologists know something that many people don’t: Birdwatching can be a peaceful and restorative experience. Encouraging birds to visit your home or yard can be challenging, however. Especially if you don’t have any houses for those feathery friends. A well-made bird house could be the ideal place for a coupling pair to build their nest
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
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,
17 Effective DIY Dishwasher Detergent Recipes
I’m probably one of the few people in this world who loves doing dishes — I love to load up the dishwasher and forget them, that is! Washing dishes by hand is an annoying and time-consuming task. And did you know it often uses more water than dishwashers? Handwashing dishes can use up to 27
20 Types Of Succulents For Your Desktop Or Rock Garden
Generally, a succulent refers to a plant with chubby, fleshy greenery. The word on its own evokes a particular image, so if you think it’s a succulent, it probably is. The thick leaves are often plump because they’re designed to retain moisture for these drought-tolerant plants. Most succulents are fairly low maintenance and produce flowers
5 Goat Fencing Options And Details To Consider
Among goat owners, there’s a well-known saying: “A fence that won’t hold water won’t hold a goat.” And though that hyperbole may seem extreme … it’s certainly proven true by the generations of goat-escapees that have tested the patience of their fence-builders. I think it’s also safe to say there is no one perfect solution for comfortably containing
Raising Pekin Ducks
When you think “duck” what image do you see? I bet for a majority of people, the endearingly chubby, orange-billed and white-feathered barnyard duck leaps (or rather waddles) into your mind’s eye. That duck is the Pekin. This duck breed is by far the most popular of the domesticated duck breeds, and its popularity has
Morel Mushroom Hunting
It’s spring in Minnesota when the trees are sporting their new green leaves and the ground is warm and damp. It’s also time to get into the woods and look for morel mushrooms. Morel hunting has become one of my favorite springtime traditions. My husband Adam, introduced me to morels several years ago. I still
20 Smoker Recipes
Heat, air, and smoke. There’s something almost primal about the satisfying taste experience of eating food infused with the flavor of wood smoke. As Chef Ben Vaughn says of smoking, “it only takes a little effort to turn the average cut of meat into something spectacular.” Not just a flavoring technique, smoking is also a
20+ DIY Bat House Plans
If you’re considering adding a bat house to your property, you likely already know the benefits of inviting these furry friends to your yard. Among their many positive qualities, the top three are their excellent pollinating abilities, their beneficial guano, and the fact that they eat mosquitoes by the thousands per day. Just one bat
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
Hammock Chairs
When the sun comes out there’s nothing more relaxing than lounging in your backyard garden. Once you’ve worked hard all spring to care for your flowers and plants, the only thing you’ll want to do is kick up your feet and relax. Hammock chairs are a great spot to chill out with a good book,
13 Useful & Fun Gifts For Chicken Keepers
As the holiday season approaches, many of us are struggling to decide what to get for our friends, to show thoughtfulness and care, without breaking the bank. This can be an especially hard decision to make if your friend is a down-to-earth, outdoorsy type who doesn’t care much about possessions. What gifts can you get
Eating Acorns: From Foraging To Cooking & Recipes
The first 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 had a fantastic fall harvest and started accumulating jars of dry goods from the plenty. How was this possible? One surprising word… acorns.
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 setting up your operation so you can sell the cheese you make. We have pure Saanen goats, Nubian goats and
How To Throw A Successful Yard Sale
Donating is great, but making money is better! These tips will help you attract customers, get rid of excess stuff, and best of all, make some extra money.
How To Start Transplants
Winter’s almost over. Have you started your plants yet? This gardener can proudly say yes! In the late winter months, serious gardeners begin asking one another this question. As the daughter of a serious gardener, I learned at a young age that if you want to grow your own peppers and tomatoes here in Minnesota,
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
Heirloom Seeds: What Are They?
Heirloom seeds are what our great-grandparents called “seeds.” My mother often complained during my childhood that you couldn’t buy tomatoes like her grandmother grew. The tomatoes in the grocery stores were hard, mealy, and tasteless. When a farmer’s market opened in our neighborhood, she would buy a bag of heirloom tomatoes every week and eat
Shed Plans
Sheds are an important asset to any garden, backyard, or homestead. They keep our spaces organized and protect our tools from the elements. Whether you’re needing a traditional, simple shed for your home and garden products or a more decorative shed to bring aesthetics to your garden, there is a design out there that is
Big Vegetables in Small Spaces – How to Start a Container Garden
If you have a deck, porch or even a window sill, you can have a garden. Container gardening can be a great way to start gardening, try something new, out wit predators, or bring kids into gardening. Having a garden, even a modest one, will bring beautiful food to your table and a sense of satisfaction.
Storage Benches
Storage benches may be one of the most versatile pieces of furniture we can own. For anyone needing to maximize space, they’re the answer to solving storage and seating problems. They can also serve as a beautiful piece of home décor. The options for storage benches are endless. We’re using them in our living rooms,
40 Fermentation Recipes
Fermentation is a time-honored tradition that dates back to the mid-1800’s when the study of yeast first began. Since then, we have created recipes that ferment everything from milk to pickles. And of course, we can’t forget about good ol’ sauerkraut! So what’s the difference between canning and fermentation? Well for one, canning requires vinegar,
Emergency Kits for Families
The recent tragedy in Japan and the vast number of weather-related power outages across the US this winter have many people concerned about what to do in case something like this happens to them. If you and yours were caught in a disaster and had to shelter inside your home for three or more days,
Cardboard Furniture
Cardboard Reuse — Cardboard Furniture
ProTip: You Need a Machete
I’ll leave out the part where I sometimes pretend to swordfight with it, because that’s super dangerous and not OK. Especially since the machete’s primary purpose is hacking, and you might think that you don’t have a lot of hacking that you need to do in your life, but you do. All that said, this
10 Delicious Vegan Sandwiches for Back to School
Sandwiches might seem like typical, boring packed-lunch fare, but these vegan sandwiches are far from it!
5 Upcycled Bird Feeders
Want to get the kids involved in environmentally-themed projects? These DIY upcycled bird feeder ideas are simple and educational.
My Chickens Survived A Montana Winter Because I Broke The Rules
One of the most pressing concerns for me, when I began raising chickens, was what to do with them in winter. Living in northwest Montana, I’m accustomed to plenty of snow, some nice arctic wind, and temperatures ranging from the high 20s to below zero. If we have a chinook in January or February, then
Creative Recycling: 5 Ways To Reuse Old Denim Jeans
It’s a shame when your favorite jeans are too old to be worn anymore. But that doesn’t mean you have to throw them away!!
Tire Art
Over 1 billion tires are manufactured annually, made of synthetic rubber, natural rubber, carbon black, polyester fabric, and steel wire. Tires stay in the environment a long time. Green-thinking artists are doing something with them. The Best Tire Art Tire Frame by Chakaia Booker Pic: newcambridgeobserver.com chakaiabooker.com Male Torso that left his path by Chakaia
Tiny Houses For Sale
Ready to live in a tiny house as soon as possible? You can buy a tiny home the same way you would buy any other home, already built and ready to move into. Many mobile tiny houses even qualify for RV financing if you don’t want to pay for it all at once. Tumbleweed RV
Sand Magnified
Sand grains magnified 110-250 times reveal each grain is unique. The tip of a spiral shell has broken off and become a grain of sand. After being repeatedly tumbled by action of the surf this spiral sand grain has become opalescent in character. It is surrounded by bits of coral, a pink shell fragment, a
Top 10 Reasons to Live in an Electricity-Free Home (PPB #27)
When I designed my cob house here at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage two years ago, I decided that I was going to live without electricity. I had no plans to buy a solar power system or a wind turbine. I was going to make the leap to live electricity-free in my home, in order to live
Raising Muscovy Ducks And Why You Probably Want Them
With their clawed feet, bizarre-looking caruncles, mohawk-like crest, and lack of quack, Muscovy ducks don’t quite fit the “bill” (if you pardon the pun) for what you might consider a “normal” duck. But on our homestead, these are the only ducks we want to keep because they have won our hearts with both their utility
Ten Ways to Change the World Through Social Media
Editor’s note: We’re pleased to welcome Max Gladwell, of MaxGladwell.com, as a regular guest writer on sustainablog. Max Gladwell covers the nexus of social media and green living. We feel that these two trends and technological developments hold tremendous promise for improving the quality of life for everyone on the planet. If you’re reading this
6 Reasons Why I Chose Clover as a Living Mulch
I mentioned in my post about building raised beds that I chose to add New Zealand white clover to the edges of the raised bed to act as a living mulch. First off, I should explain what a living mulch is, and how it differs from a cover crop: “In agriculture, a living mulch is a