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Michael Reynolds spent fifty years turning old tires and bottles into Earthship houses near Taos. What homesteaders can take from his self-running homes.
Read More →Build it yourself. Home and outbuilding projects, field and land work, seasonal challenges and the small DIY jobs that make a homestead more self-sufficient.
Going to the store and buying eggs is so passé, backyard micro farms is where it’s at. Those living out in the country have always known the benefits of raising your own brood for the freshest of eggs. Due to current economic circumstances the practice of micro farming is gaining momentum, even among people that…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service is seeking public input on a proposed policy for monitoring the health of national forests and grasslands. The proposed policy is designed to provide a framework that supports and strengthens current monitoring policy, minimizing inconsistencies and improving government-to-government relationships with Tribes. The Forest Service monitors national forests and…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service has published a report that provides a snapshot of current U.S. forest and rangeland conditions and projects conditions 50 years into the future. The Resources Planning Act Assessment report uses a mixture of scientific, climate and economic projections to identify drivers of change, resources and trends across all land ownerships,…
Obviously the easiest way to keep critters out of your garden is to put up a good fence. The higher and tighter the better, while burying the bottom will go a long way toward keeping critters from digging beneath. What if you don’t have the time or materials to get a fence up, however? Read…
Walking in the woods is a physical and spiritual experience proven to improve your health and mood. There are two sorts of hikers: Those who stick to the path, and those who trailblaze. If you stick to the path you miss out on discoveries. If you take the chance and trailblaze, your chances of getting…
Water access is one of the most overstated, yet still somehow underrated components to a successful homestead. Everyone knows its important, but its almost impossible to fully fathom just how much it is. From watering plants, to animals, to keeping your own self healthy, water is truly the basis for life. In the winter, however,…
As we enter the cold season, plenty of people’s minds are on germs and flus. Namely, of course, people are focused on how to avoid them. But lots of folks are also leery of the sort of harsh, and often toxic household products used to keep surfaces clean. Luckily, there are some easy way to…
As you may have noticed from a few previous articles on this website, your humble author is obsessed with figs. Perhaps this is because despite living in climate supposedly not suited for them, I have managed to keep a fig tree alive and flourishing for some time now, and thus am always pleasantly surprised by…
Chances are, if your homestead sits anywhere north of Texas this year, you have seen a fresh blanket of snow or two coat your land. If you live near where I do, that blanket didn’t just fall, but has lasted for several weeks now (and counting). We all love the fluffy white stuff for our…
Do you guys wanna go see a dead body? Anyone over 40 years old remembers the movie “Stand By Me,” and secretly wanted to find a dead body as a kid. Not like finding grandma dead in bed, but a legitimate stranger in the woods who died from foul play. It would be heroic, a…
Depending on where you live in these United States, you’re currently either enjoying some unseasonably warm weather, enduring record-setting snow, or some variation in between. While our country may have a fair amount of temperature variation, one thing tends to remain constant right about now: growing season is at an end, hunting season is running…
Need something to keep you a little warmer around the homestead this winter? Check out a pair of new garments from ALPS OutdoorZ, designed to fend off the worse of the winter’s cold. The Element Hoodie is available as a pullover or a full-zip hoodie. Its cotton/polyester blend and plush fleece interior lining make it…
