When we decided to leave the city behind and start homesteading, one of the first animals I wanted was goats. But the breed of goat became a big question. Fainting, Nigerian dwarf, Pygmy –? And then I learned about Angora goats, and I knew they would become our choice. By this point, we already had
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What Do Ducks Eat?
Ducks, like chickens, are omnivores. So what do ducks eat? Typically, ducks eat foraged food including weeds, seeds, grasses, slugs, and other pests. Ducks also eat natural, homemade feedย or commercial feed.ย To know what ducks want and need to eat, look no further than a wetland in your local park. There, in the early morning, youโll
35 Fun DIY Indoor Activities For Weekends And Rainy Days
Whether the rain is pouring down from the sky or you just have a weekend without any plans, there are plenty of fun ways to keep the whole family entertained while stuck inside. Having a blast indoors doesnโt have to mean a big expense, and many of the following suggestions are perfect for both kids
Compassion in Action: How to Save a Fly
If you do not think me a bit nutty already, then be warned: the following may have you calling the men in white coats. Nevertheless, intrepid lover of living creatures little and big that I am, I risk perpetual solitary confinement in a padded room or, even worse, the reputation of an idealist and extremist
Living Willow Hedges
You can call them willow hedges but maybe a more accurate term? “Fedges” = fence + hedge. Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix (Latin for willow), a grouping of 400-ish species of deciduous trees and shrubs. Willow are native to moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Almost all
15 Of The Healthiest Meats You Should Add To Your Diet
The American Heart Association recommends limiting the intake of red meat and opting for poultry and fish. Red meat is higher in saturated fat, and a higher consumption may lead to high cholesterol and heart disease. White meats (fish, poultry), on the other hand, contain omega-3 fatty acids which have been shown to reduce heart
Community Supported Agriculture
The Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, movement is an important step in locally sourcing your food. With more and more food recalls being issued by the government and food producers on non-meat items and food prices rising along with oil prices, having locally sourced food can be a key component of a family’s budget and
Tiny House Books
While we’re pretty happy with the tiny house guide we’ve put together here at Insteading, we also recognize that it’s great to have a physical book of photographic inspiration to look at when planning your own tiny house. Here are some of our favorite tiny house books and links to their Amazon reviews. Jump To
Learning By Doing: 3 Sharing Sites That Offer Unforgettable Experiences
Exploring is fun, but it’s better when you do it with people that know a place intimately and can share their personal knowledge of what makes it awesome.
Permaculture Books
Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture, 2nd Edition Purchase Gaia’s Garden on Amazon Practical Permaculture for Home Landscapes, Your Community, and the Whole Earth Purchase Practical Permaculture on Amazon The Resilient Farm and Homestead: An Innovative Permaculture and Whole Systems Design Approach Purchase The Resilient Farm and Homestead on Amazon Permaculture for the Rest of Us: Abundant
How To Build Your Own Cheap Outdoor Pizza Oven
Last summer, I got hooked on the idea of baking pizza and bread outdoors in a wood-fired oven. Baking outside, in a super hot oven with a brick hearth, (the way bread is really meant to be baked) was a hugely appealing thought. It became very clear to me that I wanted to build a
Flame Retardants
Flame Retardants are everywhere
How The Average American Uses Energy
Inspiration Green Blog. Inspiration to green the world.
Auto Parts Art
Car Henge 38 Autos – Carhenge was built in 1987 by Jim Reinders and his family. The project was a memorial to his father, who had lived on a farm on the site. It is a faithful full scale reproduction, and accurately replicates the astronomical alignments of the original Stonehenge. Alliance, Nebraska. Visit Nebraska.ย Flickr:
Tiny House Living
As more people downsize and choose to โlive smallโ, you have to ask: Why are tiny houses so popular? People are joining the tiny house movement for many reasons. The increase in environmental concerns, financial constraints, and the overall burden of having so much โstuffโ are just a few reasons people downsize their homes. Why
The Story Of Our Waste
Each day we create an excess of waste that builds up in landfills, in our oceans, and in our bodies. Here is the story of our waste. We create a ton of waste everyday, there is no denying that fact. This is especially true if you live in the United Statesโ we would need FOUR
Understanding GMO Foods
The first time I heard the phrase โGMOโ was at a rally, and I had to ask my 9th-grade science teacher what it meant. That was before ballot initiatives demanding GMO labelling and before Non-GMO Project logos became familiar on food labels. Since then, awareness about GMOs has increased dramatically. It is an issue that
Acronyms
Green Acronyms & Abbreviations A A Ampere AAAS American Association for the Advancement of Science AABW Antarctic Bottom Water AAC Antarctic Convergence AAIW Antarctic Intermediate Water A AMS Arctic Air Mass AAMW Australasian Mediterranean Water ABL Atmospheric Boundary Layer ABW Arctic Bottom Water or Antarctic Bottom Water AC Alternating Current ACC Antarctic Circumpolar Current ACIA
Maryland Solar
Going solar? Good call. Itโs the right choice for your pocketbook and for the climate. If everyone in Maryland used solar power, it would take 45 billion pounds of carbon out of the atmosphere every yearโaccording to the EPAโs greenhouse gas calculator, thatโs the equivalent of planting a forest that would cover an area more
Missouri Solar
Going solar? Good call. Itโs the right choice for your pocketbook and for the climate. If everyone in Missouri used solar power, it would take 158 billion pounds of carbon out of the atmosphere every yearโaccording to the EPAโs greenhouse gas calculator, thatโs the equivalent of planting a forest that would cover all of the
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 recipe you can trust. We pulled these gems from our favorite homesteading and farming blogs. We also recommended the best
Why Bill Gates Would Raise Chickens
What’s the best way to get a poor family in the developing world on the road to self-sufficiency? Cash? Education? Internet access? Tech industry pioneer Bill Gates has a decidedly low-tech suggestion. In a short and sweet post on his personal blog in June 2016, Bill Gates gave four main reasons why chickens are the
Phyllis Galembo – Masquerade
Portraits of masqueraders – Galembo has spent the past twenty-five years photographing rituals and religious culture in Africa, Brazil, Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti and Mexico. Akata Dance Masqueraders, Ogoja, Nigeria, 2004, Ilfochrome, printed 2011, edition 3/5, 30″ x 30″ www.stevenkasher.com. It is the ancestor’s responsibility to compel the living to uphold the ethical standards of past
Top 10 Most Common GMO Foods
Genetically modified food is already present in the supermarkets. We don’t always know which foods are GMO and which are non-GMO. Besides looking for label, here are 10 foods that are commonly GMO.
How To Build A Sauna
So, you’ve just gotten back from sweating in a friend’s sauna and you’ve decided you gotta have one too. Just how realistic is this goal? Well, it’s definitely going to take some time and effort, but as someone who has been helping a friend build a traditional yurt sauna, I’ve learned saunas are a surprisingly
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 including gear, decor, reading โ and of course, donโt forget some of those extra homesteading specialties. Weโve compiled over 70 of
Writer’s Guidelines
About Our Audience: Insteading readers are active gardeners, beekeepers, chicken herders, permaculturalists, environmentalists, and many other things. Our readers range from newbies looking to plant their first raised bed, to advanced homesteaders who live in earthen homes powered by solar panels and produce most of what they eat. Our readers make sustainable and organic choices whenever
Planter Box Plans
Create a true gardenscape by moving your plants beyond the pot. Create your own planter boxes with these free online designs. I searched the internet to try and find a planter box to match just about any urban homestead and found some really great projects. Planter Box Plans for All Kinds of Homesteads Carpentry projects
How To Remove A Wall
Like all things thereโs a messy way and a clean way to go about demolishing a wall. In the lively and magical world of demolition construction nearly every challenge can generally be solved with a sledgehammer and an oversized lunch pail. However, the end result is usually a catastrophic mess and a heavy film of
How To Build A Barn Wood Frame
It is hard not to admire old barns that are resting, quietly in old, abandoned farm fields. I often wonder what stories they could tell. This insight would provide a pivotal history to its former owner and the landscape the barns guard with a watchful eye. A few months ago, a friend of mine was
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 children. How charming. How American. There is a serious disconnect between that image and the reality of
Cubalaya
Description Though it has the appearance and lineage of a fierce game bird, the Cubalaya does not express any of that belligerence toward its human handlers. These chickens are known for their tameness and ease of handling, which makes them rockstars on the exhibition floor! Though they were developed in Cuba for meat, eggs, and
Best Machete
As many sportsmen and wilderness trekkers already know, a machete can be an extremely handy tool. In dense brush, it can be used as a slashing tool. If necessary, wood can even be chopped by striking the spine with a heavy object to force a chopping action by the blade. It can also be used
Polycarbonate Greenhouses
“Plastic” and “durability” aren’t usually words that should go together, but in the case of greenhouses they can. Long-lasting polycarbonate is worth considering as the covering material for your greenhouse, especially when compared to the traditional use of glass. In the case of modern tempered glass, rocks and hail shatter the panes with little effort.
Rock Garden: How To Build Your Own
Does your homestead landscape have some empty space that could become a rock garden? Also known as a rockery, a rock garden adds dramatic year-round visual interest to any landscape while expanding the type of plants you can grow. Related Post: The Art Of The Dry Stack Stone Wall A rock garden, glowing with brightly
Installing An Interior Barn Door
Thereโs something mesmerizing about a heavy door gliding silently on a steel track, especially when itโs indoors. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Flooring Xtra (@flooringxtra) Recently, the Seattle based building outfit, Yellow Moon Construction, built an interior barn door using reclaimed materials found on the job site. Related Post: Recycling Old
Household Mold Removal
Gross, slimy, smelly, and dangerous to people and pets, mold is the last thing you want to see growing in your home. Mold wonโt necessarily destroy your homestead, but it can make family members and pets sick while it makes your home, barns, outbuildings, chicken coop, root cellar, livestock pens, and pump house look awful
Why Manure Is The Unsung Hero of the Homestead
When I lived in the city, I had the luxury of ignoring poop. If a neighborโs dog left it on my tiny lawn, it was a rude, unusual inconvenience. Aside from what I delicately flushed into oblivion with the touch of a lever, my experiences with poop were largely nonexistent. My suburban upbringing trained me
Disaster Preparedness For Homesteaders
Emergencies, by their very definition, are stressful. I, like many homesteaders, find myself concerned about the possibility of an emergency event such as a natural disaster, a disease outbreak, or an act of terrorism. Do you too, wonder if you have done all you can to help prepare for a catastrophic survival situation? Panic and
Adirondack Chairs
Almost no vacation would be complete without the addition of an Adirondack chair somewhere on the property. Whether youโre lounging beside the sea, or circled around a campfire with friends, an Adirondack chair is practically essential. These comfortable, spacious chairs have become staples on beaches and shorefront cottages, and weโve started to incorporate them into
Tips For Growing And Sharing Your Own Food
In the past, farming and gardening was a community-wide effort, so why not now?
4 Sustainable Reasons To Live In A Big City
Why urban density creates the perfect environment for collaborative consumption, and 4 reasons why that’s where you want to be.
Top 4 Peer-To-Peer Carsharing Services
Commerical car sharing services, like Zipcar or Phillycarshare, are perfect solutions for those living in urban areas, but what about those of us living in the suburbs or even rural areas?
Could You Make All Your Clothes For An Entire Year?
An artist from Vancouver challenged herself to just such a task, and discovered that sustainable clothing about more than just what you wear.
Four Collaborative Consumption Trends Poised To Explode In 2012
To help you explore the new and exciting sharing economy, we’ve collected four collaborative consumption trends poised to explode in the next year.
“Doing More With Less” Shows Businesses A New Path To Success
Insteading interviews Dr. Bruce Piasecki, author “Doing More With Less: The New Way To Wealth,” which hits shelves this month.
What is an Intentional Community?
Have you come across the phrase “intentional community,” but didn’t really understand what it meant? Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage resident Ma’ikwe Schaub Ludwig provides an insiders look at what it means to live in such a community.
Broken Coffee Mug Planter (and How to Propagate Rosemary)
My kids are HARD on my coffee mugs, y’all! I don’t know if it’s because I’m a mean mom and make them do the dishes (don’t feel like you have to make your kids do this, too–mine clearly do a terrible job!), or because our kitchen is floored with a stone tile that is literal murder
Families Getting Fined for Growing Food Gardens
Want to grow vegetables in your garden? You’d better watch out – you may be facing some seriously heavy fines for growing food gardens on your own land.
DIY Hand Sanitizer That’s as Good as Store-bought
This article will show you how to make a DIY hand sanitizer that’s as effective as anything you’ll find in a store.