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Opening Day-Georgia Spring Turkey Hunting (Video)

Think all the good hunting is in the fall and winter? No way! Spring is prime turkey season, and they’re a great animal to go for. Big and juicy, as well as fun to hunt, you’re sure to get hooked in no time. In this video, YouTube “Turkeyologists” walk you through their opening day of turkey season in Georgia, with some excellent, high-def footage of the hunt. I thoroughly enjoyed this video and can’t wait to give turkey hunting a try this season. Enjoy! If you enjoyed this, you might also like…. Do You Have What You Need to Hold […]

Dandelion Pesto Recipe

Dandelion is a wonderful plant, that the majority of Americans just think of as a weed. If you’re not already foraging your yard’s dandelion for natural remedies or food, you definitely should be. Dandelion grows virtually everywhere, and I can almost guarantee it’s growing somewhere near you, either in your backyard, local park, or any field or meadow nearby. It was a staple of Depression-era cooking, and it’s tasty, nutritious leaves can be prepared in a number of ways. You can easily eat them raw, but if you’d like to enjoy them in a very delicious way, try this amazing […]

Entertaining Yourself on the Homestead

When you have a homestead, you and the family tend to spend quite a bit of time there. That’s not to say you don’t get out and have fun off the property, but there will certainly be quite a bit of time on the property. Naturally, you want to have some things available that can keep you happy and entertained, especially on those rainy days or when the snow comes and you can’t spend as much time outdoors. First, get some board games, as well as a deck of cards. Make sure that you get different types of board games, […]

The Benefits of Homemade Soap

When was the last time you looked at the ingredient list on the soap that you buy at the grocery store? Most people never stop to take the time to look at this list, just getting what they’ve always bought or whatever marketing plan and commercials have told them a good soap should be. When you start to look at the ingredient list though, chances are good that you will find quite a few things that you can’t pronounce, including chemicals that may not be as good for your skin as you believe. It makes far more sense to go […]

Why Should Homesteaders Hunt?

If you love the idea of homesteading, and you want to do the same types of things that your forefathers and foremothers did, you will want to add hunting to your list of activities for the homestead. Of course, it is about far more than tradition. You will find many benefits for the homesteader who hunts. When Times Are Lean One of the biggest benefits to those who hunt is that they have the capacity to put extra meat on the table. Even if you raise chickens and other livestock to use as meat, having extra in the freezer is […]

The Amazing Moringa Plant

The moringa plant is an amazing superfood, often called “the miracle tree”. It is insanely nutritious, and contains a high amount of calcium, which can be otherwise hard to grow, but is an essential nutrient. Alone, the leaves of the moringa tree are like an all-purpose multivitamin, making it a great choice for survival-minded homesteaders or anyone wanting to get more vitamins in their diet naturally. The moringa has been used for centuries as an all-purpose source of food and medicine. Its small leaves are both edible and highly nutritious, and it’s seed pods are edible as well. It is most commonly […]

Raising Quail (Video)

I think one of the greatest things about the internet is that we can get an inside look into what other homesteaders are doing and how they set up their gardens and animal raising operations. This is a very informative look at Big Bear Homestead’s quail raising set up, with a detailed tour of the coop. I have always been very interested in raising quail, particularly because their eggs are supposed to be highly nutritious, and they’re just as productive as chickens. This video really motivated me to explore the idea of raising quail more, so if you’ve been wondering […]

How to Grow Cucumber Vertically

Cucumbers are a delicious treat to grow in the garden, and it’s really fun to branch out and try different varieties, from pickling cucumbers for your root cellar to small, juicy Gerkins you’ll rarely find at the supermarket. The trouble with cucumber plants is that they crawl…like crazy. The cucumber plant from simply one seed can spread out up to 20 square feet when grown in garden beds. If space is a challenge in your garden, this probably doesn’t sound too appealing. Fortunately, there’s a very simple solution: letting cucumber grow upward, instead of outward! It’s very easy to train cucumbers on a […]

Dirt Cheap Foods for Homesteaders

Whether you’re an urban homesteader or full-blown, land-owning, farmer, you have probably come to a time in your life at some point in which you had to keep your budget tight. If you are saving up for land, land development, or simply trying to budget and spend in a smarter way, food is always one of the biggest expenses, and it can be hard to know how to cut back on food spending without going for less healthy, processed foods. Fortunately, there are many wonderfully healthy and nutritious foods out there that are not only good for you, they’re dirt […]

Simple Yet Healthy Homemade Ketchup

Ketchup is an American staple, but did you know you can make it very easily at home? Unfortunately, a lot of store-bought ketchup is made with loads of sugar and sometimes even artificial coloring and flavoring. If you’re craving some delicious ketchup but want a healthy, whole-food version that doesn’t sacrifice health for taste, I’ve got the perfect recipe! This recipe uses all natural, easy-to-find ingredients, and instead of lots of cane sugar like regular ketchup typically has, it requires just a bit of honey and coconut sugar, which are much healthier and both have a very low GI index […]

Spring Equinoxes Explained (Video)

Today is the first day of spring! Hopefully, you’ve got lots of warm weather and sunlight in your area so you can get your spring garden started. Spring equinox is a great day to start planting, because there’s only going to be more daylight from this day forward. But what is an equinox, exactly? I thought it would be cool to learn a little bit about what makes an equinox and equinox, and where it lies in the seasonal rhythms of our planet. Understanding both the cycles of light and seasons on earth as well as the way planetary changes […]

How to Use Activated Charcoal

I’ve mentioned activated charcoal a few times on this site as a great natural first aid product to have on hand, which it definitely is. It’s probably on my top 5 list of things to have in a natural medicine cabinet, because it can be used in a number of different ways, and is great for homesteaders. Activated charcoal has been used for centuries due to its ability to absorb toxins and impurities. In many emergency rooms, poison victims may be treated using a large dose of activated charcoal, which can absorb the toxin to be passed naturally through the […]

Straw Bale Gardening (Inforgraphic)

Straw bale gardening has gotten very popular in recent years. It is a great option for smaller container gardens, and takes away a lot of the demand for buying and/or building soil. The idea is simple, you take a straw bale, condition it over a season so it begins to decompose and form a perfectly shaped container garden, full of fresh nutrients, and you plant directly in it for a very low-maintenance, weed-free garden bed. If you have a hard time getting soil, creating compost regularly, or weeding, straw bale gardening might be a great option for you, and especially if […]

Pros and Cons of Birds on a Homestead

Birds live everywhere, even in the middle of thickly populated urban areas birds build nests, hunt and scavenge for food, and raise their young. So of course, there’s plenty of avian wildlife on any homestead, but are they a blessing, or a curse? Well, there’s a little bit of both. Here are some of the pros and cons: Cons Birds can definitely have a lot of cons for the busy homesteaders. As you grow your food, they’re also going to be looking for it on every inch of your homestead, and odds are, they’ll have their eye on your food. Birds in the […]

20 Ways to Control Your Pests Without Spraying Anything (Video)

One of the principal reasons to go organic when it comes to your garden is to avoid toxic chemicals. However, there’s a reason cheap pesticides are appealing to so many farmers: pests are a real pain, and can destroy your whole crop, even your whole garden. So, you’ll need to find some natural alternatives to pesticides, and fortunately, there’s many very effective, 100% safe solutions for pest problems in the garden. This video, from an excellent organic gardening YouTube channel, has 20 suggestions for how to keep your garden pest-free. You don’t have to sacrifice pest control for the sake of […]

How to Be Prepared for a Power Outage

What happens when you suffer a power outage? A couple of things could happen. You need to wait until the repairs are made and the electric company takes care of things to get the power restored, or you could get the generator going if you have one. Whether you are out in the middle of nowhere on your homestead and are dealing with generator issues, or you are homesteading in the suburbs, you should have some ideas of how to make the power outage as easy to handle as possible. A Light Source When the sun goes down, you need […]

Essential Oils for Natural Health (Infographic)

I recently shared some recommendations for the best essential oils to start your collection. I found this infographic on Pinterest the other day though and I thought it was an excellent cheat sheet for natural remedies for common maladies and health issues. Some of these remedies use the foundational essential oils I had on this list, while others call for more obscure essential oils. This should give you an idea of just how many uses for essential oils there are, and maybe some of the less common essential oils you might want to consider investing in. If you have a […]

How to Catch and Use Rainwater

To make sure that you always have the water you need for your garden and for other uses around the home, you will want to learn how to capture and make use of rainwater. Fortunately, the process is very simple. If you want to catch rainwater, the easiest way to do this is to utilize rain barrels. You can find these barrels online, and most of the 50-gallon options are under $100. In a pinch, you could use just about any barrel or container, if you are sure it will not leak, for the collection of water. You can set […]

What Should You Do With Your Grass Clippings?

Very few people like the job of cutting the grass, but whether you are in the suburbs or on a homestead, it is a fact of life. You need to make sure things are manageable and that they look good. Once the mowing is done, you are left with all those grass clippings, and you might be wondering just what to do with them. The “go to” option for some people is to put them into a bin or into bags and have them recycled or thrown away. In some areas, you are no longer allowed to throw the clippings […]

How to Make Your Own Seed Tape

Continuing in the theme of spring from our last few posts, let’s talk about seed tape today, and how easy it is to make your own! Seed tape is a great way to easily plant your first spring crops, because you can guarantee proper placement and spreading of the seeds, as well as greatly reduce your time spent planting. Not to mention, the tape itself helps germination, by keeping the seeds protected and moist. Here is a very simple tutorial for how to make your own seed tape, that will certainly save you time and money. It only takes a […]