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Why You Need a Pond on Your Homestead

Building a pond is immensely useful and beneficial for the homestead or garden. While there are a few points to consider, such as cost and labor, there is so much that a healthy pond brings to the table. A Habitat for Wildlife Providing your local pond-dwelling creatures with clean water for a home environment and breeding site is a great way to positively impact your region’s ecosystem. The following pond components are especially beneficial to animals: A shallow portion for bathing/wading birds and migrating amphibians. Native plants, which provide shade, food and cover for diverse pond life. Large […]

Top Five Reasons to Homestead (Wherever You Are)

“Homesteading” typically means living on a homestead, raising animals and growing your own food, and being independent and self-sufficient. As the global economy seems to teter on the brink of total collapse, modern life becomes more and more reliant on large-scale grids subject to fail, and urban environments are becoming increasingly dangerous, more and more people are becoming drawn to the idea of homesteading. Now, as we’ve often discussed, you don’t need to own your own land to homestead. There are many ways you can homestead right where you are. And here are the top five reasons why you should […]

Homesteading Before Having a Homestead

You might be wondering about the title. How is it possible to start becoming a homesteader before you have land and an actual homestead? It is easier than you might think and it is actually a good idea to do this before you buy a large plot of land. This simply means that you are starting to learn some of the skills you will need as a homesteader, if you do not already know them. It also means that you will be implementing some of these elements into your current lifestyle. You need to start thinking about the different ways […]

Getting To Know Your Homestead Neighbors

When you move into a new homestead and begin to settle down, you certainly have quite a few things on your mind and on your plate. You are making sure that the planting is done, the livestock is settling in and that the house is running efficiently. Even though you might love the idea of being completely on your own, you should still take the time and put in the effort to meet your neighbors. It is always an enlightening experience, and it could be very beneficial to you. Head out and meet the neighbors, whether they are just down […]

Seed Saving Tips (Infographic)

Seed saving is one of the most important skills to have for self-reliance. If done properly, one packet of seeds could last for generations. One of the biggest reasons to seed save is that if you choose the seeds from a healthy, productive plant, is that you are choosing the plant with the genes that will thrive in your particular environment, and, over time, it will become perfect for your gardening zone. “Heirloom” seeds are seeds that have been collected and re-planted each year by farmers for generations, and ideally you could create your own! Not every seed will be […]

Reducing Your Electric Bill

If you have an electric dryer you may be able to reduce your electric bill this time of year and still stay warm. This video demonstrates and explains how get heat and a comfortable level of humidity in your home using a simple device that you can manufacture yourself at home. The only material you need is a 5-gallon bucket with lid, dryer hose dock, and hose clamps. The only tools you need are a box cutter and a drill. The basic premise of the device, called a dyer lint box or lint bucket, is to use the hot air […]

How to Homestead When You Live in An Apartment

For many wannabe homesteaders, an apartment probably seems like the last place you’d be able to homestead. And of course, you won’t be able to grow (very much) food of your own, raise livestock, or live off the land. There are however, many things you can do to make your apartment a mini-homestead. While you’ll still be reliant on the outside world, the truth is, most homesteaders still are too, and no matter what your living arrangement, there’s always something you can do to be more self-reliant. Here are some tips for apartment homesteading that anyone can do: 1. Grow […]

Succession Staggered Planting

As a home gardener, your goal is to grow fresh vegetables that you and your family can enjoy from spring until fall. Regardless of whether you’re growing a traditional garden in your backyard or are among those using the space-saving raised bed style of gardening, succession planting will enable you to enjoy a more bountiful, long-term harvest. Succession planting is a simple concept that can be done in two different ways. One method is to stagger the time frame in which you plant the same type of vegetable. The second method is to harvest one crop, then plant a different […]

Simple Steps to Getting Your Homestead Off-Grid

Living on an off-grid homestead is no small matter. It might take years of planning, research and hard work. Hopefully if you do own property you’ve already considered how possible it might be to live off-grid, or if you are shopping around, this is what you’re thinking about long term. “Off-grid” is a catch-all term that largely refers to being off the municipal and/or county energy grids. Having water on your property, either from catchment, a well, or purchased and transported to your property from another private citizen, generating your own electricity, and relying on energy sources such as gas […]

Farm Chores for Children By Age

It’s so wonderful for children to grow up on a homestead. Fresh air, animals, learning about nature and plants, and also, work ethic! Children are never too young to participate in homestead duties. Here’s a list of ideas for children, by age group, to get involved in farm chores. Hey, they’re another mouth to feed, why not put them to work? Toddlers Toddlers will most likely need to be closely supervised, but they’re often eager to help out and get involved. Some tasks they can do and be involved in are filling up feed buckets or water troughs, throwing scratch […]

Harvesting Sugar Cane (Video)

Sugar is a huge part of the American diet, and yet a lot of people don’t even think about how it grows or how it’s harvested. Entire nations and states have had their entire economies centered around sugar, a very valuable commodity that is pretty labor-intensive. These days, big agro sugar cane fields have plenty of industrial equipment to make this labor-intensive crop easier to plant, tend and harvest. I thought this video of harvesting sugar cane on a homestead was pretty cool. I love seeing how things are/were done without big industrial equipment, especially by small homesteaders. Check it […]

Best Animals to Raise for a Homesteader

You want to become truly self-sufficient. Even though you might have a beautiful garden with all the vegetables you need, if you are still buying meat and dairy from the grocery store, you aren’t very self-sufficient at all. In this post, we’ll be looking at some of the best animals for a small homesteader to raise that can do more than just provide meat. Goats Having goats on the property is always a good idea, as even just a single goat can provide you with between two and four quarts of milk each day. The milk can be used to […]

Growing An Edible Garden Landscape

Gardening is a hobby that can be enjoyed by everyone. With the numerous types of accessible gardening methods available, physical limitations or mobility concerns should not prohibit you from growing a garden. An online search of photos of accessible gardens that creative individuals have designed will give you some ideas as to how you might want to design your garden. Keep in mind that accessible gardening is just like traditional gardening in that the design you choose and the plants you include can be tailored to your individual preference. Raised beds are a popular form of accessible garden. When you […]

Adding Calcium to Your Garden

Calcium is an essential nutrient for a healthy garden. If your soil is lacking in calcium your plants will not be able to transport other soil minerals to the leaves and fruit. Obviously, this could lead to a variety of health issues for your plants including blossom end rot. Having to purchase fertilizers can be avoided by adding natural sources of calcium to your garden soil and compost that you might already have, and might even otherwise be throwing away. Eggshells Eggshells are a great source of calcium for your garden that most of us already have. The calcium […]

3 Tips for Steady Potato Harvests

If you don’t have a root cellar, then you probably don’t want to have a 100-pound potato harvest. But that doesn’t mean that you don’t want to grow 100 pounds of potatoes or more. Instead of planting for one large harvest of potatoes, here are 3 tips for getting a steady supply of smaller harvests that could easily exceed the amount you could get from one large harvest. Plant Early While waiting until after the last frost to plant some crops might be the way to go, potatoes can handle cold soil well. If your zone is particularly cold or […]

DIY PVC Hoop House (Video Instructions)

It’s getting cold, and your crops are certainly feeling it when they are left exposed. A greenhouse is a great thing to have, but they are also expensive. A cheaper alternative is a hoop house. There are lots of videos that people have put online of their hoop houses and how they built them, but they all seem to still involve framing out the back and front with lumber and putting a swinging door on. These luxuries can double the cost and difficulty of constructing it for those that aren’t carpenters or don’t have the tools necessary. Here is […]

3 Things You Should Stop Doing in Your Garden

There is no one right way to garden, everyone’s resources differ and everyone’s approach will also differ. That being said, there are some practices that will tend to yield better results, and there are some that should be avoided. This is a list 3 things that people commonly do in their garden that you should not be doing in yours, and why. Tilling Tilling hard, or weed-covered ground to get it ready for row planting is a common practice. But it can be counterproductive to the reasons why most people chose to do it. First, it can destroy soil […]

Benefits of Homesteading for the Kids

Kids today are very different from kids a hundred years ago, and the idea of homesteading and sustainable living might seem very foreign to them. This is especially true if you are introducing this sort of lifestyle to a child who has already passed a couple of years old. However, living sustainably is very important, and you need to be the one to guide the children. One of the first things you have to do is show them the importance of sustainable living. Explain to them why it is so important that they learn to reuse items and to learn […]

3 Ways to Save on Raising a Dog

Dogs can be expensive to keep, but they don’t have to be! You can maintain a high quality of life for your dog while cutting costs at the same time. Here are three ways to save money on raising a dog. Selection The first cost to consider is the price of the dog itself. A specialty breed can easily cost you thousands of dollars, and that’s just to get the dog. Then there are the health complications that go along with dogs that have been bred for specific traits. One the other hand, you can get a rescue dog […]

Everyday Laundry Hacks for Off-Grid Living

Your clothes are not only going to get dirtier faster when living off-grid, but you will quickly find out how much more difficult it is to get them clean again, and how drying them can be even harder. Washing an average sized load of clothes by hand will take you close to an hour, then there is hanging them. And of course, while you are occupied with your laundry, you aren’t taking care of any of your other projects that all need your attention. Laundry is definitely a big chore without a machine! These are a few simple and practical […]