Health Archives - Page 5 of 8 - Homesteader DepotHomesteader Depot

Easy and Effective All-Natural Homemade Citrus Cleaner

There are so many reasons to make your own cleaning products at home. You can save money, avoid nasty, harmful chemicals, avoid keeping toxic products under the sink if you’ve got a small child, do less damage to the environment, the list goes on. However, one of the key features of pre-made, store-bought cleaning products is their strong smell. Sometimes it can be very unpleasant and overwhelming, of course, especially if you’re not used to them anymore, but if you’re not, you might associate that clean, sweet smell of a scented cleaning product with cleanliness itself. And it actually makes sense […]

Homemade Suet Cakes for Chickens

Suet cakes are a great treat for your chickens, especially as the summer heat creeps in and they have a hard time sticking to their normal activities. Chickens love to peck and scratch, it’s truly what they live for. If you have chickens in a coop who can’t freely forage this way, they might end up getting bored and unhappy. And bored and unhappy chickens means less eggs and less delicious meat! It is vital not just for the animal’s quality of life but also for the “services” they provide you to keep them occupied and entertained. Homemade suet cakes […]

Tips For Raising Your Own Holiday Turkey

If you’ve considered how cool it would be to raise and cook your very own Thanksgiving turkey, then we at Homesteader Depot fully encourage you to do this. We are all about raising and growing your own, and this is a very fun way to get started raising poultry and save some money over the holidays! That being said, there are a couple things you should know. It’s not quite as simple as buying some baby turkeys, known as poults, and feeding them until November, then slaughtering and serving. If your goal is to have a freshly slaughtered turkey for […]

8 Health Benefits of Green Tea

Green tea is much more than the complimentary beverage offered at Chinese food restaurants! Whether you love or hate the taste, it’s worth knowing about its amazing health benefits. Green tea has been used for centuries in China and throughout Asia to treat a number of maladies and diseases, everything from regulating blood pressure to killing cancer cells. It is a wonderful natural supplement to take because it’s list of benefits is long, but it’s also quite affordable. You can get a month’s worth of green tea for a few dollars! That sure beats a lot of other expensive herbal […]

Cooking Skills Every Homesteader Should Cultivate

One of the primary reasons many people homestead is to have a closer relationship with the source of their food. You yearn to grow your own vegetables, raise your own meat and dairy, forage, and hunt; essentially, to be independent of the increasingly complicated globalized food system. These are certainly noble aspirations, and we share them here. Going back to a simpler time, to our roots, is something many of us are striving for in this modern world. Only a few generations ago, many people lived much more self-reliant and independent lives, and with the precarious situation our whole planet seems […]

The Health Benefits of Flaxseeds

Flax seeds are a pretty popular health item as of late. They can be bought either ground, in seed form, or in a highly nutritious oil. As the healthy fat craze continues, flax seed has proved itself to be a desirable form of healthy omegas-3s. I have always enjoyed it ground on top of yogurt or in multigrain bread, while I enjoy the oil in salad dressings. However, what I did not learn until recently is that flax seed oil is also used as a natural remedy. While it’s great for day-to-day health maintenance, it’s also a great natural health […]

How to Read Antique Cookbooks

Antique cookbooks are a wonderful relic of the past, and yet, if you’ve ever tried to make any of the recipes contained within, you might find yourself scratching your head. Just as lifestyles have changed drastically in the last half, even quarter century, so have the way we cook, talk about, and interact with food, and the cookbooks of yesteryear might be a bit cryptic to today’s modern cook. However, if you are a homesteader, these antique cookbooks might be very appealing to you. They are written for people who had access to the kinds of things homesteads produce, and […]

Essential Items for Your Emergency Survival Kit (Infographic)

Whether you’re a survivalist, prepper, homesteader, or simply someone who wants to create a culture of self-reliance in your home, you need to be prepared for emergencies. It can be overwhelming thinking about everything you might need to survive long-term, but it’s always prudent to simply start with the basics. Every family should have a basic emergency survival kit, and this infographic from SHTFPreparedness.com is a great guide for how to build this kit and what you should have in it. These simple items are essential for any kind of emergency, and even if you’re not set up with enough food […]

What’s The Deal With Healthy Fats?

You’ve probably heard a lot of buzz over the last few years concerning “healthy fats”. However, mainstream diet wisdom has for years been that reducing fat intake is the best way to lose weight and stay healthy. So what is it, is fat good or not? I think part of the confusion comes from a misunderstanding and misuse of the word “fat”. Fat simply sounds like it will make you fat, so many people assume that “low-fat” would, naturally, make you less fat. The problem isn’t in the macronutrient fat, the problem is in the type of fat, the recommendations for how […]

How They Feed a Family of 9 for $250 a Month (Video)

I’ve heard of low grocery bills, but this one takes the cake! One of my favorite homestead YouTubers, Big Family Homestead, share how they feed their family of 9 for a mere $250 a month. What I love about this is that so much of their diet is supplemented by their chickens. They don’t live somewhere that they can raise dairy or meat cows or pigs, but they’re able to eat lots of free chicken and eggs and it clearly has a great impact on their grocery bill! Also, they are smart with their meal planning. They plan out a […]

13 Useful Ways to Reuse Eggshells

If you raise chickens or simply eat a lot of eggs, you probably produce a lot of egg shells! And simply throwing them in the trash is a huge waste. Egg shells are loaded with beneficial nutrients and properties, and there are lots of ways to reuse them and make the most out of your chickens or grocery budget! First off, you need to make sure you store them properly. You might be able to get away with tossing them all in a 5-gallon bucket on your back porch, or, if that attracts pests or mold, you might want to […]

How to Make Sour Cream (Video)

Like so many food products we take for granted, sour cream can be naturally fermented at home! Most of us think of sour cream as a slightly decadent topping for baked potatoes or beef stroganoff, but it doesn’t have to come in a plastic tub from the supermarket. With some good quality cream, some time, and an adventurous spirit, you too can make delicious, homemade, naturally fermented sour cream right at home! Culturing experts Cultures for Health share in this short and easy-to-follow video how: If you enjoyed this, you might also like…. Long-Term Survival for Homesteaders… Natural Healing Secrets You […]

Natural Remedies for Ear Infection (Infographic)

When springtime comes it brings many wonderful benefits, but one of the downsides of this season is it’s cold and flu season. And with colds and flus can unfortunately also come the dreaded ear infection. Small children are particularly vulnerable to ear infections, and most doctors will opt immediately for antibiotics. In many cases, this is definitely the best option, but it’s always worth it to try some natural remedies first. Antibiotics can wreak havoc on small children’s digestive system and immune system, so while they can be life-saving in many cases, it’s best to use them as a last […]

Homemade Cottage Cheese (Video)

I love all things homemade, especially if it’s easy! This recipe for healthy homemade cottage cheese looks totally amazing, and I can’t wait to try it myself. The cool thing about recipes like this is that they are really simple and easy, and most of the time it takes to make them is spent straining the cheese. This cottage cheese is also very nutritious and an excellent source of healthy fat and protein. Check it out: If you enjoyed this, you might also like…. Long-Term Survival for Homesteaders… Natural Healing Secrets You Need to Know… Effective Primal Diet Hacks…

18 Ways to Become Food Independent

The ultimate goal of homesteading for many is to be completely self-sufficient, and entirely food independent. There’s nothing as empowering as growing and making your own. While getting 100% of your food from your own land might be setting one’s sights pretty high, there’s nothing wrong with aiming for it! The thing is, while most people will always rely on at least some outside sources for their food (even homesteaders back in the day did, too!), any degree of self-sufficiency you can achieve is a step in the right direction. If you are wondering what would be involved in having a […]

10 Powerful Plants That Repel Mosquitoes

While I’m thrilled for warm weather to finally return, I’m not as excited about the flying pests that come with it. As spring marches on and the land is replenished with rainfall, potential hotspots for mosquitoes are developing. In addition to checking your property for areas where water is allowed to pool (your mosquitoes will use these as their own personal birthing centers), you can take safe steps to prevent infestation with these naturally-repellent plants! Citronella Grass/Lemongrass is the source of citronella oil that is used in many commercial insect repellent products like citronella candles and tiki torches. It can […]

How to Cook With And Season Cast Iron (Video)

A good cast iron skillet is one of the most important–if not the most important kitchen tools you’ll ever own. You could probably have only a cast iron skillet and some basic utensils in your kitchen and go very far. Many people are intimidated by cast iron because it has a particular cleaning protocol, but it’s really not so complicated to care for, especially if you know what you’re doing. The YouTube channel Tasty, purveyor of those really awesome visually-appealing viral cooking videos, shares some important tips on how to care for and use the classic cast iron skillet. Enjoy! If you […]

6 Creative Ways to Use Bone Broth

You’ve probably heard of the growing popularity of bone broth lately, and if you haven’t, you should definitely know about it. It’s not really anything new, but recent trendy diets have emphasized the regular consumption of hearty, super-nutritious bone broth as a way to get essential vitamins, minerals, and, most importantly, gelatin. Gelatin is a wonderful addition to any healthy diet, but particularly beneficial for anyone concerned about bone or joint health. The great thing is it’s very cheap and easy to make, unfortunately, it’s not always so easy to find creative ways to consume it! Especially this time of year, […]

How to Make Kombucha Tea (Video)

We’ve covered a lot about culturing in the past, and kombucha tea absolutely needs to be mentioned. It is one of the easiest home cultures to make and a great place to start if you’d like to get started with culturing. Kombucha is created using a fermentation process, it contains a large number of healthy bacteria known as probiotics. These bacteria strengthen your digestive tract and support your immune system, as they absorb nutrients, fight infection, and illness. Your digestive system is the second largest part of your neurological system and with 80 percent of your immune system located in your gut, it’s no surprise […]

Why You Should Know About Leeks

Many Americans have no idea what a leek is, but they should! Many other cultures know the depth of their health benefits, as well as delicious, savory flavor. Known scientifically as Allium porrum, leeks are closely related to other aromatic vegetables such as garlic, onions, shallots, and scallions. Like these relatives, they grow from bulbs, and have dark, green, tightly wrapped leaves. They resemble very large scallions, and usually grow about 12″ tall and a few inches in diameter. Leeks can be grown year-round, but are most commonly available fall through early spring. Their flavor is similar to that of onions and shallots, […]