Tag: winter
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
