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12 Amazing Uses for Lavender Essential Oil (Infographic)

I’ve written before about how awesome lavender essential oil is, and how many uses it has. Apparently, the folks over at Leonsbeautytipsandsecrets.com agree with me, and have this great infographic to show for it! As I’ve said before, if you’re going to buy only one essential oil, lavender is a really great choice. It is both versatile, safe to use around babies and small children, smells amazing, and is incredibly effective. Lavender has been used for centuries for many cleaning and medicinal uses, and essential oil is such a concentrated form of it, it’s super efficient, as one or two […]

How to Store Food in Vacuum Packed Canning Jars (Video)

I’ve had a vacuum sealer for years that has an attachment on it for canning. I never thought much of it, and figured it required a bunch of fancy additional equipment to use. However, it recently just clicked that I can use it for vacuum canning! And it doesn’t take much at all, just a lid for my jars, and I’ve got plenty of canning jars already. So, I wanted to learn how to use it. This video is a great tutorial on how and why to use your canning attachment to your vacuum sealer. She explains how long the food will […]

How to Make Probiotic Cream Soda

I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love a good, old-fashioned cream soda. It’s such a great treat, and hard to find a really well-brewed one these days. Earlier this week we wrote about a ginger bug which is the base for many kinds of probiotic sodas, and cream soda is one of the delicious, healthy, probiotic sodas you can make using ginger bug as a result! The really great thing about probiotic cream soda is that since you are fermenting it with a culture, the little bacteria in the culture actually eat the sugar, changing its metabolic structure, so […]

How to Detox With Coconut Oil

Our modern lives are full of toxins. Air pollution, manufacturing chemicals, preservatives in food, you name it. These toxins degrade our health and compromise our immune system. Detoxing has become very popular for this reason, and many people report incredible transformation after trying a “cleanse” for a short time. If you’d like to try some detoxing, coconut oil is a really great way to do this. Coconut oil is incredibly nutritious, and packed with important fatty acids and have many great health benefits, including: Increased brain activity Digestive support Blood sugar regulation Heart and cardiovascular health Protection against cancer Cholesterol […]

How to Make Raw Cat Food (Video)

Wait! I know this sounds pretty gross, but it’s actually really cool. If you’re a cat person, you probably understand the desire to feed your feline friends something nutritious and delicious. Cats are notoriously picky eaters, and part of the reason this may be is that the majority of the time, they’re being fed cooked, grain-based foods they’re simply not meant to eat! Some of my favorite health-focused homesteaders on YouTube shared this video recently of how they make their raw, super affordable cat food. They start the video by explaining why they don’t enjoy making it, so if you […]

Reasons to Stockpile Alcohol

Whether or not you like to enjoy a refreshing cocktail after a long day of homestead duties, or you’ve been sober for years, there’s actually a lot of very good reasons to stockpile alcohol, for use around the homestead and also long-term survival. To be clear, when we’re talking about alcohol, we’re talking about liquor. There are many different kinds of liquor, obviously, so let’s discuss a bit what kind you’ll want to stockpile. First of all, rubbing alcohol, or isopropyl alcohol, is great to stockpile as well, for many reasons, but this is not what we’re talking about. It does deserve […]

Frugal DIY Nesting Box Ideas

If you want your chickens to provide you with lots of wonderful, nutritious, farm-fresh eggs, they’re going to need some cozy nests to get the job done! You don’t need to spend an arm and a leg to trick your coop out with some nice, comfortable nesting boxes for your lovely egg-laying ladies. Here are some frugal nesting box ideas for you that can all be purchased cheaply, recycled, or even scavenged for, if you’re lucky! Dishpans Dishpans, the kind you can grab at Walmart or the Dollar Tree for very cheap, are great for nesting boxes, if you cut […]

How to Can Butter (Yes, Really!)

Lately, butter has come raging back as nutritionists reveal it’s actually quite healthy for you. For a few decades, butter was demonized as too fattening and unhealthy, but as vegetable-oil based alternatives were introduced, we saw obesity rates skyrocket. Not sure why no one ever noticed the correlation, but it turns out that in fact, the saturated fats that come from butter are not only better for you, they can ultimately help lose weight when coupled with a balanced diet full of “good” fats, and free of processed foods and sugars. I personally love butter, and was really excited to […]

The Health Benefits of Eating Liver

Most people will turn their noses up at the suggestion of eating liver. What used to be a staple in many Western cultures has fallen out of favor in recent generations. However, liver is actually incredibly healthy, and also quite affordable. It’s coming back in fashion among foodies and health nuts, and for good reason. It’s packed with nutrients and vitamins, and, if you can find a way to prepare it that you enjoy, it is a great staple to add to a health-minded diet. Here are some of the many reasons to integrate liver into your diet: Protein: liver is […]

Fermented Probiotic Soda Recipe

You’ve probably heard of or even made your own probiotic kombucha drink, which has been all the rage among foodies and health-minded folks over the last few years. You can easily find it bottled in many grocery stores and restaurants these days, and you can also pretty easily brew it at home, as an easy, super-healthy, homemade probiotic. A lesser-known homemade probiotic drink is those that can be made using a ginger bug, which is a culture grown with ginger and sugar and used as the base for healthy, delicious sodas. Back in the day, this is how drinks like ginger ale, cream […]

How to Make Almond Milk (and Almond Flour!)

I love recipes that kill two birds with one stone (come to think of it, if you know a recipe that does this literally, let me know!), and making almond flour out of the leftovers from almond milk couldn’t be easier, or healthier! It’s very simple, and all you need is almonds and clean drinking water. Almond milk is a great alternative to dairy whether you are on the paleo or whole 30 diets, are lactose intolerant, or just enjoy a delicious and wholesome nut milk! Homemade almond milk is not only cheaper than store bought kinds, it’s actually way […]

3 DIY Solar Projects for Your Homestead

The sun is an amazing source of energy, and it is entirely renewable and free. Unfortunately, most people think of solar energy as costly and complicated. You don’t need to break the bank and spend a fortune on fancy, on-grid solar panels to harness the power of the sun! First of all, we use the sun’s energy daily. Our garden thrives on it, our grazing animals live on solar-powered food (grass!), even our chickens harness the sun’s amazing power to produce eggs! Pastured meat, dairy, and eggs are actually one of the best ways to harness the power of the sun, […]

DIY Pressure Cooker Water Distiller (Video)

If you’re a homesteader, you probably have been faced with the question of how to ensure your family is getting the best drinking water, or how to purify water in the event of possible contamination of your water source. There are a lot of different options out there for water purification, and distilling water is one of the best. Distilled water is actually rather controversial, as many claim it can deplete the body if essential nutrients. While the minerals available in spring or well water can be quite beneficial, and clean, pure mineral water is great for your health, it […]

Shade Tolerant Vegetables

Sun is a crucial commodity in any garden, and if you don’t get enough sun in your garden, you might be wondering what to plant. Even having half your garden or yard covered with a shadow for part of the day seems like it excludes a great many options for planting. Fortunately, there are shade tolerant vegetables you can experiment with that can maximize that shady space in your garden and keep it producing as seasons change and light fades. Planning When planning out your garden, spend time watching the way the sun moves for a few days, and designate […]

How to Make Healthy Gummy Candy

Gummy candy is a great treat, but unfortunately, it’s usually loaded with dyes, preservatives and chemicals. Like many junk foods, there are healthy versions you can make at home, but DIY gummy candy has a unique quality among healthy alternatives to candy: it’s actually really good for you. The base of homemade gummy candy is gelatin, which is an excellent source of protein, minerals, and vitamins that help improve skin, hair, nail, dental, and bone heath, ease the symptoms of arthritis, relieve tendonitis and other muscle and joint-related health issues. It’s amazingly good for you, but make sure you buy gelatin from grass-fed […]

Ways to Profit Off Your Land

When you invest in a homestead property, it probably won’t be cheap. You won’t want to buy cheap, useless land to get started, after all, since it won’t be much use to you. So how can you offset the cost of settling on the perfect slice of property? Well, there are a lot of possibilities. Here are just a few, to be followed up with more as time goes on. Be sure to let us know how you’ve made money off your homestead, so we can add it to the list! Vegetable Gardening Build additional beds to what you will […]

Why Are My Chickens Not Laying Eggs? (Video)

There are definitely reasons to keep chickens other than for producing eggs, but for the most part, eggs are probably why you’re raising chickens! So when they stop laying, what do you do? Well, Becky from Becky’s Homestead on YouTube has some solutions. There are several different reasons why your chickens might not be laying, and she’s got some suggestions for how to determine what those reasons are, as well as how to help them out get producing again. These simple tips will help you determine what kind of environment and nutrients chickens need to lay eggs. They’re not just […]

3 Beginner Compost Mistakes to Avoid

Getting a good compost pile going is an awesome way to build your soil and contribute valuable nutrients to your organic garden. There are lots of methods for getting started, and lots of options as far as bioavailable, organic material you can use to build it. However, you can also make mistakes, and before you build your own compost pile, try to avoid these simple “don’ts” to ensure you have a successful compost pile and save yourself a lot of trouble. Cover your pile Compost piles left out in the open are not only stinky and unsightly, but they also […]

3 Reasons to Keep Raw Honey Around

Honey is a staple of any well-stocked pantry, but most people just think of it as a condiment to be added to tea or perhaps to top sweets or desert. The majority of conventional, store-bought honey, however, is actually pasteurized. Pasteurized honey sounds like a good idea, like any pasteurizing process, as it supposedly eliminates the possibilities of harmful bacteria growing in the honey. However, when you pasteurize honey, it actually eliminates the vast majority of beneficial qualities of the honey, and it is also largely unnecessary, as honey rarely contains any harmful bacteria. Here are three reasons you should […]

Thriving 23-Year-Old Permaculture Food Forest (Video)

I recently had the pleasure of watching this amazing video on a 23-year-old food forest that Robert and Robyn Guyton have grown in the small town of Riverton on New Zealand’s South Island. This is the ultimate goal of permaculture, to create your own natural, sustainable ecosystem that you can live off of, but that thrives and grows on its own. It takes many years and a lot of patience to cultivate something like this, but hearing the couple talk about their relationship with their food forest and watching the blossoms, insects, and hearing and seeing the birds and other creatures […]