winter Archives - Homesteader DepotHomesteader Depot

Do Houseplants Need Different Care in the Winter?

Many people believe that their houseplants need the same type of care year-round. After all, they’re in an identical environment – the interior of your house – no matter what season it is. However, the opposite is true. These plants are also affected by the seasons, even though they’re not outdoors, so you need to change how you care for them. Watch Out for Low Humidity It’s perfectly normal for the air inside your house to become drier in the winter. Your furnace is to blame for this. You probably notice some signs of this, such as waking up to […]

Easy Checklist to Winterize Your Garden

As a homesteader, you may be wondering where you’re going to get the energy for preparing your garden for winter after all the hard work of harvesting the vegetables from your garden. Remember how happy you were when you realized that you wouldn’t need to buy any vegetables all winter long? Keep that in mind along with the fact that it will now be cooler to work outside. You can print out the below list to check off items as you complete them and before long you’ll be done so you can take a break for a few days. Those […]

Keeping Busy in the Cold Winter

When the days get shorter and the temperatures get colder, you might find that you are getting a little bored in the homestead. You do not have as much sun, and if you aren’t careful, you and the rest of the family, could start to suffer from the effects of cabin fever. Fortunately, you can find plenty of great ways to stay busy through the winter and have fun. In fact, with some of these ideas, you might even be able to bring in some extra money later in the year. One of the things you might want to consider […]

The Off-Grid Winter Pantry (Video)

When most people think of living off-grid, there are usually two major challenges that come to mind: winter, and food storage. Well, this video shows us that with the right amount of supplies and planning, you don’t have to worry much about either! It is seriously one of my life goals to have a pantry like this one day. YouTubers and off-grid homesteaders An American Homestead shares their well-stocked winter pantry, with preserves made from their harvest for the year. Their viewers kept asking to see what they had, so they give us a tour of their impressive pantry, ready for […]

How to Build An Off-Grid Winter Cabin for $300 (Video)

YouTubers and homesteaders Pure Living for Life shared this video last year on how they built an off-grid winter cabin for a few hundred dollars. They had been living in their RV on their property, but as temperatures started to drop they felt they needed something warmer and more secure, and a structure to put their wood stove in. What’s really cool about this structure is that they built it using reclaimed materials. They bartered for the materials in their local community, and as the leftover materials came in, they figured out how to build with what they had, which […]

Cold Frames; How and Why

Cold Frames are basically wooden boxes with no bottom and a glass top that you place on top of crops to keep them warm. In this article, I’ll give a few tips on how to get cheap material, maximize the benefits through design, and explain why you should use cold frames if you live in a zone that has harsh winters. The windows are the part of the cold frame that can make construction costly. If you were to purchase them new the cost would likely outweigh the potential gains. You can however, get lucky if you keep […]

Shooting at Homestead Shooting Range in Kananaskis (Video)

I’d love to have a homestead shooting range one day! I loved watching this short video from Kananaskis, Alberta in Canada of a short tour of a wintery homestead shooting range. One of the great things about an outdoor range like this is how much the noise echos and dissipates, which is a great improvement from indoor ranges. It’s really cool to hear the noise of his gunshots in the cold, wintery air. Of course, the other great advantage of a homestead range is distance. And as you can see from this video, he’s able to cover quite a bit […]

How to Get Vitamin D in the Winter

Our main source of essential immune-boosting Vitamin D is from the sun, so naturally, in winter time, it can be hard to get enough. This is a likely cause of increased colds and flus during the winter time. Vitamin D not only keeps you healthy, it is also important for healthy bones, teeth, hair, nails and eyesight, and helps regulate mood and hormones too. To make sure you get enough vitamin D during cold and flu season, here are some tips: Seek the sun The sun is always the best source of vitamin D, so while you might not spend […]

First Snow of Winter on the Homestead (Video)

All across the country, temperatures are dropping and snow is beginning to fall. Winter is officially almost here! Of course, for many homesteaders across the country this means a big change of pace. “Off the Grid with Doug and Stacey” is a really cute channel that documents their off-grid adventures in their tiny log cabin homestead. A few weeks ago they published a video of the sights on their first snow day of the year. It’s fun to see their authentic, simple, small homestead get covered with it’s first layer of 2016 winter snow. Enjoy! If you enjoyed this, you […]

Growing Vegetables and Herbs Indoors

When the weather gets too cold for you to grow vegetables outdoors, you might want to be adventurous and try growing a few select vegetables and herbs indoors. If you live in an apartment, condominium or townhome without any outdoor space to grow a garden, you can grow some vegetables, herbs and even tropical fruit indoors if you create the proper growing environment. Sufficient light, either natural light from a door or windows or a grow light, is essential for an indoor vegetable garden to thrive naturally. There are some LED grow lights available on amazon.com that also make for […]

Calculating Your Wood for the Winter

Many homesteaders prefer to utilize wood stoves to help offset the cost of other power sources. It can help them to limit their dependence on the electric company, and if they have solar panels as well, it could eliminate the need entirely. However, if you are going to use wood for heating and even for cooking, you need to make sure you have enough to last the entire winter. Think about how often you will be using the woodstove or the fireplace. If you will only be using it during the night, you will need to have less wood on […]

Winterizing the Chicken Coop (Video)

We love our feathered friends, so it’s important that we make sure they have the best care through the winter! This clever Chicago couple kept getting questions as to how they cared for their backyard chickens through the notoriously brutal Chicago winters, so they made a video to show what they did. Their chicken coop looks nice and cozy! Check it out: If you liked this, you might also enjoy… Ancient Healing Secrets You Can Learn at Home… Yoga and Weight Loss: What You Need to Know… How to Become a Master Woodworker..

Winter Composting Tips

A compost pile that has done fine all year long can freeze solid on you in the winter. This could leave you having to buy soil or compost in the spring when you are planting again. To avoid this, keep these tips in mind this winter for your compost pile. Build it Big A large compost pile will remain hotter than a small pile. There will be more food in it for composting organisms and the outer portion will insulate the center. When temperatures drop, worms and other organisms will simply migrate to the center of the pile until […]

DIY Vapor Rub Recipe

Cold and flu season are no fun, especially if you are experiencing bad congestion that makes it difficult to sleep, breathe and go about your daily business. Vick’s is the classic remedy for terrible congestion, but it’s actually petrolium-based, which is pretty much as bad as it sounds. Who wants to add carcongens to an over-the-counter cold remedy? This natrual and homemade alternative is not only much safer and healtier, it also smells even better and is more effecive. Also, if you make the initial purchase of these basic ingredients, the essential oils will probably last for years of many […]

How to Make a Double-Sided Draft Stop

As winter rolls in and temperatures drop, you don’t need to freeze in your own home to keep your heating bill from climbing. Drafts can be a major source of heat loss, even inside your home from unheated portions that are not in use. Here is a great instructional video with simple to follow instructions on how to make a double-sided draft stop for doors. This is only a basic demonstration, you can substitute materials to fit what you have available, like using dried pop-corn instead of the pool noodle, or an old pair of jeans instead of new fabric. […]

Winterizing Small Engines

Tools aren’t cheap, but preventative maintenance is. Don’t overlook properly winterizing your small engines this year. If you do, it could mean having to spend hundreds of dollars on repairs next spring. Instead, follow these easy steps to take care of your tools. Clean Them Spray off your mower or trimmer with a pressure washer and soapy water. If you don’t have a pressure washer just use a hose, or what you have available, and a scrub brush. Make sure you remove all debris. Spray WD-40 into any tight areas, or areas that you notice any rust. Change Oil […]

Storing and Protecting Summer Clothes

Getting ready for the winter doesn’t just require getting out your warm clothes, but also packing up your summer ones. Depending on where you live, this might mean that your clothes will be packed up for 4 to 5 months. Improperly storing clothing for that period of time could result in damaged or ruined summer wear by the time it gets warm again. The biggest threats are typically mold and moths. Here are a few tips on how to fight these threats and keep your summer clothes safe all winter long. Combating Mold Nobody wants to wear moldy clothes. […]

Getting the Homestead Ready for the Winter

Days are getting shorter and nights are getting colder. Are you and your homestead ready for the changing season? Here are a few tips on getting ready for the winter so that you don’t get caught out in the cold. Preparing the Home The first preparation should be firewood. If you don’t already have a nice big pile of wood cut and dry, then you are going to go buy a cord of wood or have it delivered. Locate gaps and cracks that will cause drafts, fill them with caulk or foam to help insulate your home. If your home […]

Super Simple Tips for Splitting Wood

Having a good supply of wood for fuel is crucial for your homestead. While using the proper technique is important for efficiency and safety, using the right tool for the job can be just as important. Here are a few items that will help save you time and energy as you get ready for the winter. Maul A splitting maul has several benefits over a chopping axe. Its wider angel will spread the wood easier, while a thin chopping axe can get stuck in the wood. It is less likely to bounce off hard wood because of its weight and the […]

Tips for Keeping Chickens Warm This Winter

We recently covered how to care for chickens in hot weather, but as fall seems to be whizzing around the corner, we thought it would be a good idea to cover how to care for them in cold weather, because it’s important to plan ahead. It’s simpler than you think really-chickens can, with the right conditions, keep themselves warm surprisingly well. 1. Let them breathe It seems like you’d want to make their coop completely insulated and airtight to protect them from harsh winter weather right? Wrong. While insulation is very important, and you should start fixing leaks in the roof and […]