Spend hours pulling weeds, with sweat dripping off your brow, and you might be wondering, “why are weeds so bad for your garden?” Sure, they don’t look all that great – but are they really that harmful? There are some benefits to letting weeds flourish in your garden, but there are also some risks, too. … Read more
I think I have been homesteading my entire life in one way or another since I was a child. Perhaps I was inspired by my love of Little House on the Prairie and Grizzly Adams television shows that I loved, and my by Sunshine Family dolls. They were far more awesome than those superficial Barbie … Read more
Jewelweed is a drastically underappreciated “weed.” While you can eat jewelweed, it is most often grown or foraged it for its potential healing properties. While this attractive bush-like plant has many uses, it is perhaps most widely known for its antipruritic (anti-itching) value. This wild plant is an active natural ingredient in poison ivy rash … Read more
Adding fertilizer to a pasture or hayfield can help infuse nutrients back into the soil and bring about robust growth of highly nutritious hay or field grass for the livestock to eat … if you do it right. Making mistakes when fertilizing livestock areas can not only bring about a vastly disappointing hay or straw … Read more
Amaranth may not be a staple crop on American homesteads right now, but it should be. This nutrient-rich plant has been used as a dietary staple and natural home remedy base ingredient in many regions of the world for centuries. This beautiful and easy to grow plant that is often classified as both a grain … Read more
Leaf miners are a destructive variety of insects that can destroy a garden or orchard in a single season, or harm plants enough to drastically reduce their yield. These tiny black fly larvae leave pale lines or blotches on the plants they carnage. These bad bugs are the larvae of the Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera Diptera … Read more
Feeding goats properly is essential to the overall health of the herd, and to the success of any meat goat, dairy goat, or fiber goat homesteading operation. Goats are ruminant animals, they have four stomach chambers. When they are eating the wrong type of food, too much of the right kind of food, or introduce … Read more
Do you love foraging for wild mushrooms? This is quite an enjoyable pastime that is practiced by budding mycologists – people who are passionate about mushrooms – all over the world. There are millions of species of mushrooms growing in the world today. While some are both edible and delicious, sporting myriad health benefits, others … Read more
Thinking about an assassin bug is enough to make your skin crawl. Not only are these pests creepy to look at, but they have the power to conjure up some serious nightmares. Carriers of the serious Chaga disease and fellow bug-killers in their own right, assassin bugs are shrouded with myths and rumors. Ready to … Read more
Growing herbs in the shade is a wonderful way to increase the amount of crops on the homestead to eat or use. There are a plethora of benefits of living on a partially wooded homestead, but having ample full sun growing areas is not necessarily one of them. If you live on a small homestead … Read more
The saying an onion a day will keep everyone away is understandable, especially when you are in my personal space talking to me. Onions are very healthy veggies that can be started from seeds, sets, and even the rooted bottoms from the ones you’ve picked. Onions are an easy crop to grow due to its … Read more
