Are your chickens scratching relentlessly, losing feathers, and generally in a miserable mood? If so, they probably have mites – or poultry lice. These nasty little infestations happen frequently, especially when birds are living in close quarters. Chicken mites will not kill your birds unless untreated for an extended period of time. Thankfully, mites and … Read more
I stumbled across wooden peg people, also commonly referred to as wooden peg dolls on Pinterest. Most of the adorable images of these simple and natural wood toys on Pinterest led to links to sale listings for completed – and expensive, dolls on ETSY. If you played with Fisher-Price “Little People” as a child, you … Read more
Foraging should be an essential part of any homesteader’s and prepper’s plan to grow his or her own groceries. Learning how to identify, find, harvest, and prepare wild edibles will vastly increase the family’s healthy food supply both today and during a long-term disaster. Foraged food can be preserved just like the fruits, vegetables, and … Read more
How do you make a free playground area on your homestead? Well, go shopping in your husband’s junk piles, garage, and sheds…of course. Keeping your eye out for so-called junk on the side of the road is also a great idea. Sadly, far too many folks throw away outdoor recreational items simply because they are … Read more
I am incredibly excited to announce the launch of a new New Life on the Homestead series. This ongoing column is going to be solely devoted to the making of homemade toys and upcycled DIY toys, for the little loved ones in your life. Is there a difference between homemade toys and DIY toys? Oh, … Read more
Get more milk than you can handle from your cows? Don’t let it go to waste, learn how to powder it yourself. This simple act of preserving milk often needlessly intimidates folks who have never seen it done before. Powdering milk is yet another way to preserve the milk garnered on your homestead. It is … Read more
Eating wild never tasted so good! If you love spinach, you will love stinging nettles. Even if you hate spinach, like I do, you’ll probably still really enjoy cooking and baking with the foraged medicinal weed! Stinging nettles boast a decidedly nut and spinach taste, but not to an overwhelming degree. They are poisonous to … Read more
Honeybees can be a great addition to any homestead, no matter how small. The bees will not only pollinate the crops you are growing to feed your family or sell, but also provide honey, wax, and propolis to use in natural remedies. There has never been a more important time to start a beekeeping operation. … Read more
Whether you’ve purchased a cow hide, or if you finished tanning one yourself (and hopefully applied a protective solution on it), what are you going to do with it? Your options are limited only by your creative imagination and your skillset. You can make belts, purses, moccasins, saddle bags, like I said, the options nearly … Read more
It has been a combination of a very exciting and a very frustrating week here on the homestead. The weather keeps fluctuating between spring storms (and mud) and then winter rears its ugly head and we get two to four inches of snow – that turns the ground into a skating rink. A big snow … Read more
Baby goats are about the cutest little things you will ever have romping about in the barnyard. They are bundles of energy and want to investigate every single new sight, sound, and smell. The days and weeks after the new kids arrive are full of fun, but getting them here isn’t always easy. Goat does … Read more
Tanning hides using traditional and more natural methods is almost always less expensive and does not really add any extra time or work to the project. Hide tanning is a process that requires extensive manual labor and lots of patience. There just are not any true shortcuts, regardless of what type of method you use, … Read more
So, you live on a homestead and raise your own meat. That’s great. You get extra self-reliance points if you butcher the meat yourself. But, your journey to a sustainable life, an existence where you always use resources wises and for optimal benefit, will not end before you learn how to tan hides. There are … Read more
Does the smell of frying bacon make your mouth water? Is snacking on a deliciously cooked whole ham after Easter dinner something you look forward to every year? If so, raising pigs should be part of your homesteading plan. Pigs, or hogs as we refer to them in Appalachia – the two labels are completely … Read more
There is now officially less than a week to go before Christmas day, but it is still not too late to save money and warm hearts with homemade gifts straight from your prepper retreat, survival compound, or homestead. The gifts will cost you nothing or next to nothing, but look like a million bucks! If … Read more
