The Practical 72-Hour Emergency Kit for Homesteads A 72-hour emergency kit is one of the simplest, smartest preparedness moves a homestead can make. And yet, most rural households fall into one of two traps: they either overbuild some complicated, fantasy-level kit—or they don’t prepare at all. This guide cuts through that noise. Instead of fear,...
Read More →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…
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…
Whether in the woods, the fields, or around the homestead, the value of a pocketknife is undeniable. Of course, multi-tools are also useful, but most have a definite preference, either preferring the broader utility of the latter, or finding the singular purpose of the former more appealing. True Utility has sought to bridge this gap, with…
All Hallow’s eve is over. The candy has been passed out, the apples bobbed, and the costumes returned to the closet for next year. But one seasonal signature lingers on. Your friendly (or fierce) Jack O’ Lantern still shimmers nightly on your front porch, though he’s looking a little more slumped with each passing day….
Good Tuesday yall. I’m afraid today I must strike a slightly more serious tone than usual. The Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center of Roanoke has reported rising bird mortality rates in multiple states across the nation. Cases have been reported in Washington, DC, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Indiana, Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania and New…
I sometimes have the chance to peruse the comments on my articles (and, when I can figure out the controls on the #&*@ing content management system, even manage to respond to a few). As it happens, I was going over the comments on my last posting and noticed a potential confusion between bagworms, and Eastern…
A topic we’ve covered regularly on this site, though perhaps not regularly enough, is that of poultry. Probably the most common “gateway stock” for budding homesteaders, chickens are relatively simple to care for, easy to acquire, and can be used for either meat or eggs. Read on for the first in what will be an…
A few weeks ago, I posted a series of articles detailing the uses for, and construction of rain barrels. As I scanned the comments later, along with noticing quite a few folks pointing out my error of switching oxygen for nitrogen, I saw a few people mentioned that, in some sections of the country, the…
Last week, we posted a little primer on the overall makeup of a solar energy system. That, of course, is only the beginning. Every specific category on that list, from panels to batteries, represents a complex segment of the system that requires serious research before buying. This in mind, we’ll be covering each of these…
