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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 […]

Make Money on Your Homestead

You love the idea of living simply and living on a homestead. However, you probably also love the idea of having some extra money coming into the household. Fortunately, you can combine these two loves and find some interesting ways to make money from your homestead, and it is easier than you might imagine. Here are just some of the different ways that you can start using your activities on the homestead to earn more to supplement your life. Grow and Sell Excess Food If you are already growing a nice garden, and perhaps some fruit trees to provide for […]

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 […]

Become a Better Homesteader Using These 4 Tips

When it comes to homesteading, there is no such thing as knowing too much or working too hard. Yet, many people want to get into this lifestyle without truly understanding what it means or by looking for shortcuts. Instead of trying to find the “easy” way to be a homesteader, you need to find ways that you can become a better homesteader. The life is not always easy, but it can be extremely rewarding. The following are a few tips that will help you to get into the right mindset and to make sure homesteading for the long haul is […]

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 […]

7 Simple Ways to Keep Your Homestead Safe

You love living on your homestead, and you cannot imagine living in anywhere but a rural area. One of the elements of having a homestead that deserves plenty of attention is keeping it safe. Whether it is wild animals that decide to get a little too close for comfort or people who are looking to steal from you or do you and your family harm, you need to have a method of keeping things secure. Since you might be far from local law enforcement and help, it is up to you to take measures to secure your property. You do […]

Why You Should Keep a Homesteading Journal

As you embark on your homesteading journey, whether that is buying several acres of land and starting a full-fledged farm, or simply growing herbs on your windowsill and trying a few simple home ferments, it is incredibly beneficial to keep a journal. Heres a few tips on why and how to journal. Why? Journals are, literally, records of events. So as you begin gardening, raising animals, trying home cultures, and generally doing more things simpler, greener, and for yourself, you’ll want to keep track of your efforts, method, and progress. First of all, it’s fun! You can look back in […]

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 […]

How to Make Pickles at Home

Pickles are one of the most classic and widely recognized forms of brine preservation. While the term “pickled” can apply to various forms of preserving various kinds of vegetables, what most of us think of when we think of “pickles” is the classic, brine-preserved cucumber that has become a staple of delis and diners across America. It most famously made its way into the American diet through Jewish delis in New York City, and, like any classic food, it can be made easily at home. While the formula is simple, however, there can be a bit of trial and error involved, […]

6 Things You Should Do Before Getting Piglets

I’ve raved quite a bit in the past about how great pigs are. You can buy them as piglets for a very affordable price, and within a season have a hog big enough to fill your freezer with meat. For the initial start-up cost, space they need, food they eat, and meat they yield, they’re incredibly efficient animals to raise for meat. And, as someone who hates waste, I just love how much you can feed them! It’s also relatively easy to feed them virtually for free, which is another big plus. When you buy pork at the supermarket, you […]

5 Mistakes First-Time Chicken Farmers Make

When it comes to homesteading of all kinds, trial and error is a great way to learn. However, when you’re raising animals like chickens, you probably want to reduce the possible mistakes you can make. If you’re considering starting your own chicken flock, you’ll want to do it right. We’ve got a list of five common mistakes people make when they first start keeping chickens to help you avoid making them yourself. 1. Not protecting against predators Like a fox in a hen house, many predators out there, depending on your region, will see your chickens as a delicious, juicy, […]

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 […]

Homemade Rosewater Recipe

Rosewater is exactly what it sounds like: water infused with roses. It’s simple, but it’s incredibly effective to tone, moisturize, and give a wonderful scent to skin and hair. You can use it in many different ways, as a toner for your skin, a quick moisturizing spray, to add to homemade lotions or remedies or just as a natural perfume. You can make a bottle of homemade rosewater very easily and use for yourself or as gifts, or even as a chic and easy addition to a farmer’s market stand for your homestead. Wherever you live, if you happen to […]

The Right Way to Water Your Plants

You may not have realized it before, but there are proven best practices for watering your plants and garden. Determining just when and how to water for the healthiest, most productive crops is all about paying attention to a few key factors. It might seem a little silly; is there really a wrong way to water plants? Not necessarily, but there are certainly better ways! There are no rules written in stone that apply to water all plants in all situations. You can make your call depending on the type of plant, the soil, the weather, the time of year […]

7 Brilliant Uses for Table Salt…Other Than Flavoring Food

Regular old table salt actually has a whole lot more uses than simply flavoring food. Even if you’ve gotten into healthier salts like Himalayan pink salt, you should still be buying regular table salt for the many household applications it has. Salt lasts virtually forever and can be used medicinally, for cleaning, even for the care of animals and in the garden. It should definitely always be a staple in your home, like baking soda or vinegar. Here are just a few of the many things you can use salt for: Soothe bug bites You can use salt to reduce […]

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 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, […]