So, you want to build a tiny house. You’ve spent countless hours envisioning a tiny house life. Your Pinterest searching days are dwindling; maybe you’ve saved a handful for inspiration. You’ve decided on the size, design, and amenities for your tiny house. Now, you contemplate the gap between you and your tiny house. To bridge that gap,
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Arizona Solar
Going solar? Good call. It’s the right choice for your pocketbook and for the climate. If everyone in Arizona used solar power, it would take 117 billion pounds of carbon out of the atmosphere every year—according to the EPA’s greenhouse gas calculator, that’s the equivalent of planting a forest that would cover nearly two-thirds of
Nebraska Solar
Going solar? Good call. It’s the right choice for your pocketbook and for the climate. If everyone in Nebraska used solar power, it would take 56 billion pounds of carbon out of the atmosphere every year—according to the EPA’s greenhouse gas calculator, that’s the equivalent of planting a forest that would cover nearly half of
20 Pumpkins You Should Have Planted This Year
In September you’ll start to see bins full of orange pumpkins at the grocery store. Why settle such a monochrome display? More than 30 different varieties of squash are grown in the U.S. These specialty pumpkins are for decorating, soup, even cutting slices off at eating raw. Find one to grow next year. Black Futsu
Outdoor Patio Furniture
More people are choosing to spend their limited leisure time with Mother Nature, in the form of backyard living. Enjoying our backyards has long been part of sunny summer days and crisp autumn nights, but now, we’re extending more of our indoor living activities into the outdoors. Things like outdoor kitchens and bars, televisions, furniture
The Solar Roof That Will Cost The Same As Shingle Roofs
The way Elon Musk tells it, today’s solar panels have the same problem electric cars once did—they look funny and don’t work that well. He doesn’t think solar-paneled roofs will truly take off until they’re as attractive and as inexpensive as other kinds of roofs. He made his point—with lifesize visual aids—in October 2016 on
Corded Electric Lawn Mower Reviews
A corded electric lawn mower is simply the cheapest, easiest, quietest—and most earth-friendly—option for power mowing your lawn. Yeah, it has a cord, and we’ll talk about that, but first the good news. Corded Mowers Are Your Least Expensive Electric Lawn Mower Option Let’s start with price. Corded electric mower prices range from $85-$250, much
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 Cook Leeks
Leeks are a must-grow star of the winter garden. Leeks are milder in flavor and have a longer growing season than onions, another member of the allium family. Because the edible bulb of a leek grows underground, it can withstand far colder temperatures than onions. Depending on where you live, you can keep leeks in the
Best Padlock
It’s a sad but true fact—whether you live in the city, suburbs, or country, thieves will come looking for your garden and power tools. A solid storage unit with a strong padlock is usually all you need to deter them. Let’s go through our top picks, followed by some basic criteria to look at when
Companion Planting For Summer Squash
Summer squash does everything but plant itself. If you seek a vegetable that is easy to grow, flavorful, and nutritious, look no further. You can help summer squash thrive by planting it with companion plants. If you have planted zucchini, pattypan, longneck, or yellow crookneck squash, you know what vigorous growers and prolific producers summer squash can be. Summer
Companion Planting For Celery
You can help your celery crop thrive with companion planting. Companion planting is a centuries-old method of organic gardening that places plants that support the growth and development of each other, near each other. Companion plants deter harmful insect pests, attract beneficial pollinators, provide support and shade, enhance the soil, suppress weeds, and conserve moisture.
Companion Planting For Turnips
Turnips are great for any garden, and you can use companion planting to help them grow even better. Permaculture Research Institute describes companion planting as “A gardening method which makes use of the synergistic properties found in nature: cooperation between plants to achieve optimum health and viability.” View this post on Instagram A post shared
Frugal Homesteading Tips For Stretching The Family Food Budget
Many Americans experience the tight squeeze of tough economic times. In many parts of the nation, unemployment statistics may unexpectedly soar to an all-time high. When this happens, jobs are hard to find. If you are in a situation where you need to cut back on living expenses to stretch your budget, reducing the amount
Biochar
When I first heard all the hype surrounding biochar, it was hard for me to believe that a material that looked as simple as charcoal could be the solution to some really serious issues. Biochar may be overlooked as simple pieces of charcoal, but don’t let its humble appearance fool you. From biochar’s ability to
Chicken Tractor Plans
When it comes to housing your flock of chickens, there are many options, but one of the most flexible is the chicken tractor. A chicken tractor is a portable coop that has many of the benefits of a stationary coop as well as a number of added benefits. Building the best structure for you and
Growing Elderberries
A member of the honeysuckle family, the common elderberry (Sambucus nigra subsp. canadensis), also known as American elder, wild elder, sweet elder, dwarf elder, hairy blue elderflower, European elder or Tree of Music, is a dense, woody shrub. It grows wild across the northern reaches of the United States and in the southern provinces of
Homestead Stories: Memories Of Carving Pumpkins
The shape isn’t perfect – it never is. It’s rather flat on one side since that’s the way it laid on the ground while it grew. Its shape adds character. At least, one can imagine that it does. Washed and then dried, it sits on the kitchen table awaiting its demise. Or, perhaps, its re-creation
Electric Fireplaces
There’s no denying that the ambiance of a fireplace has almost no equal. There’s something special about sitting in front of a fireplace that invites us to linger a little longer. However, having the maintenance of a real fireplace, along with it not being terribly environmentally friendly, makes some people reconsider having one at all.
Bartering 101: How To Trade For Things You Need
Bartering can be a great way to get something you need and build up a community at the same time. For bartering to be successful, keep these simple guidelines in mind.
Blast From the Past? Las Vegas Home Features Epic Bomb Shelter! (w/ video)
Remember “Blast from the Past“, that late-90s cold-war parody/rom-com that starred Brendan Fraser and Alicia Silverstone and told the story of a family that built a lavish underground bomb shelter beneath their LA home to ride out the apocalypse in? It was pretty terrible, but the weird thing about that movie is that it could
DIY How-to: Build a $300 in-Ground Greenhouse (w/ plans)
Farmers have been trying to extend the growing season of their crops for hundreds of years. So far, the greenhouse has been the dominant technology, since it doesn’t usually require electricity to operate. The problem with setting up an off-the-grid greenhouse is that the typical, “glazed glass” structure can be prohibitively expensive to construct. That’s
Beets: From Growing And Preparing To Canning and Cooking
When I was very young, my mom taught me how to can and pickle beets, and I have continued to do so since my husband loves pickled beets. I have always wanted to eat beets, but I’ve never been a fan of the earthy flavor. Beets are such a healthy vegetable supplying large amounts of
Geckos In The Garden
Do geckos call your homestead home? Household geckos are said to bring harmony, good luck, and good fortune to the household. Killing a gecko invokes an unhappy chain of bad luck events of long duration. If you have geckos in your garden, celebrate their presence but try not to invite them indoors. A small to
Growing Carrots
Carrots are an easy-to-grow, easy-to-store root crop. Valued for more than a thousand years, the humble carrot gives color, texture, substance, flavor, and life to a diverse array of dishes. Serve grated to complement salads and sandwiches or chopped to add tone and substance to soups, stews, and casseroles. Sliced, steamed carrots, glazed with butter
Cabbage Vs. Lettuce: Important Differences You Need To Know
Ever wonder whether to serve cabbage or lettuce? Well, in the cabbage vs. lettuce debate you need wonder no more.
Growing Cabbage
Cabbage, a dietary staple in cultures around the world, is a hardy, green leaf vegetable packed full of vitamins. Although it establishes itself easily, cabbage can be somewhat challenging to grow. A magnet for many garden pests, cabbage requires cool temperatures, fertile soil, excellent drainage, and plenty of moisture. Plant Description A member of the
Self Watering Planters
Every gardener has that one plant that seems to have a never-ending thirst. You water it, tend to all your other plants, and next thing you know, the soil is all dried up again! Plants that like (or tolerate) wet soil include mint, snowdrops, canna, astilbe, and calla lilies. This soil preference makes all of
How To Cure Meat
Most meat eaters have had salumi, ham, lox, pancetta, beef jerky, or bacon. All those foods fall into the same category of cured meats, but we don’t often stop to think about what curing means and how it affects the meat. Are cured meats healthy? What does curing meat actually involve, and how do you
Best Garden Hoe
The garden hoe is one of the most classic and essential gardening tools. No tool has surpassed—let alone matched—this ancient tool in the critical gardening tasks of tilling, planting, and uprooting. A gardener of any skill level will use their hoe on most days that they’re in the yard. A tool this essential should be
Eco-Friendly Homemade Ice Melt Solutions
If you reside in a region where the temperature drops below freezing, you know firsthand the dangers of ice accumulation. When the winter winds blow, temperatures drop, and the rain turns to sleet or snow; driveways, sidewalks, and steps become hazardous. Homemade ice melt solutions and anti-icing products help prevent snow and ice from bonding
Understanding GMO Foods
The first time I heard the phrase “GMO” 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
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Entrée Exchange Groups
If there is economy in scale, an entrée exchange group embodies it. The idea is that if five families participate, each family makes five of the same meals, meet up and trade, and go home with four meals plus your own. By making multiples of the same meal you can save on preparation time and ingredients. Forming an entree exchange
Urban Chicken Laws in Washington
Here are the chicken laws for cities throughout Washington state. This list is mostly compiled via submissions from our readers. Do you know city or county rules that aren’t completed here? Leave a comment on this page and help out your fellow homesteaders! By City: Aberdeen – No information yet – please let us know if you
Koch Brothers’ Products
Koch Brothers Products and Pollution
Salvaged and Painted Stairs
Salvaged and Painted Stairs
Cob Construction
Cob Under Construction
Integrated Solar
building-integrated photovoltaics or BIPVs
The 4 Types of Solar Cookers
Downing trees or gathering sticks to fuel stoves is a major cause of deforestation and desertification. But if you could get that fuel free from the sun… The Panel Solar Cooker The Panel Solar Cooker uses reflective panels to focus sunlight onto a pot. These work best in tropical climates or in the warmer months
Food Choices Affect the Climate
Food Choices Affect the Climate
Charcoal Stick Filters
Charcoal Stick Filters
Hugelkultur: What It Is & Inspiration For Your Permaculture Garden
Instead of putting those small branches, leaves, and grass clippings in bags by the curbside…build a hugelkultur bed. Simply mound logs, branches, leaves, grass clippings, straw, cardboard, petroleum-free newspaper, manure, compost, or whatever other biomass and organic matter you have available, top with soil, and plant your veggies or perennial plants. What you’ll get in return
Seed Companies
List of safe seed companies that sell non-gmo, open pollinated, untreated, heirloom seed. How to steer clear of Monsanto seed. Buying non gmo seed.
Perfluorinated Compounds
Perfluorinated Compounds
BP Oil Spill
BP oil spill and Gulf wildlife
Hedge Laying
Over two thousand years older than chain link. A living hedge not only keeps livestock fenced but also prevents soil erosion and water runoff. Living hedges are good wind blocks and snow collectors as well as habitat to birds, insects and small mammals. And they sequester carbon, rather than produce it, such as during the
Human Urine As Fertilizer
A study out of Finland has found that plants fertilized with urine performed four times as well as nonfertilized plants and just as well as plants given commercial mineral fertilizer. Urine plus wood ash (collected from a wood stove) produced as well, yet with the added benefit of reducing the acidity of the soil. The
Easy Lemon Cucumber Refrigerator Pickles
I’m new to pickling, but my lemon cucumbers are at their peak so I used them for this pickle experiment, with surprisingly tasty results.