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5 Homestead Animals for Self-Sufficiency
If your aim is self-sufficiency and you’re not a vegan, you will need a supply of milk, eggs and meat for self-sufficiency. From cow farming to chicken keeping, the peace …
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A Glimpse at Simple Homesteading Life in the 1800s
By Kathy Belt – In the September/October 2012 issue of Countryside, a reader wanted to know what homesteading life in the 1800s was like. Here’s my reply. I am a bit of a …
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Building Planter Boxes for Strawberries
By Sue Robishaw – It wasn’t that the old chicken wire covers we’d constructed five years ago didn’t work, they did. I had an idea for building planter boxes that …
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Know The Importance Of Basic Wilderness Survival Gear
By Jim Cobb, Wisconsin This is the time of year when families begin planning summer vacations. Quite often, those trips involve spending some quality time out in the forests and …
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Wool-Yielding Animals for Yarn and Fiber
Yarn weights are considerations when deciding which fiber breed or species to raise for your yarn. Wool, fleece, and fiber can be harvested from a number of wool-yielding animals, including …
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How to Start Keeping Donkeys on the Homestead
By Anita B. Stone – When you think of keeping donkeys, the first thing that comes to mind is big ears, a comical, rusty, door-hinge bray, and a short whiskbroom …
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Shoo Flies from Livestock
By Alexis Griffee As you know, every farm needs to have a pest control program in place, as flies can be far more than just an annoyance. They can be an …
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Natural Ways for Dealing with Cold Temperatures
By Christopher Nyerges, California Let’s start from the beginning. Let’s start with you and what you do and what you wear when it gets cold outside. Then we’ll get to the …
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How to Keep Cool This Summer
By Alexis Griffee With summer fast approaching, we look forward to longer days, barbecues and more time to enjoy our family and farms. Despite our appreciation for summer, one thing that …
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DIY Vehicle Emergency Kits
By Jim Cobb Torrential rain, ice storms, engine breakdown, blizzards, flash floods—all of these and more could result in you being stranded on the side of the road for hours …
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The Truth About Farmsteading
By Rhonda Crank Among new or wannabe farmsteaders (or homesteaders), there is often a sense of romanticism. They begin their journey to a simpler, self-sufficient lifestyle and are quickly overwhelmed by what seems to be …
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On the Road Again (Hopefully)…
By Jim Cobb — For many, summer means vacation. Even homesteaders need to get away once in a while. Here in the United States, many families opt for the good, …
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Solar Water Heating Off the Grid
Solar electric systems are getting a lot of exposure these days, capturing media and public attention with massive utility-scale photovoltaic arrays covering acres, entire commercial rooftops covered with solar modules …
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Justifying Extreme Survival Supply Lists and Toilet Paper
I watched a preppers show where a man used methane from his own poop to cook his food. It made me reconsider my own survival supply list. The word is …
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50 Must-Haves for TEOTWAWKI
By Thomas Sciacca – Arguably, the most important thing to store for a SHTF (Stuff Hits The Fan) or complete TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It) …
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