Homesteading

We're getting back to the "old days" where folks raise their own livestock for sustenance. Learn how to raise chickens, ducks, rabbits, pigs, cows, goats and even bees in this excellent article.

Do you love the idea of being able to collect fresh eggs each morning? Or do you love the thought of waking up to hens cackling and a rooster crowing? Makes you feel like you are really living the country life, huh? Well, if any of this sounds like a dream come true to you, then you’ll want to tune into this complete guide to raising backyard chickens.

Raising goats for milk production is generally considered the most labor-intensive reason for keeping them. Between daily milking, special nutrition management, and the mandatory breeding necessary to maintain milk production, keeping a dairy herd is a big commitment. If you want to learn about the special details involved in keeping a dairy herd and get some direction on the kind of decisions you’ll need to make for your dairy herd, you’ve come to the right place!

If you are looking to raise a reliable meat source, then look no further than rabbits. They may seem small, but because they reproduce so quickly one rabbit can give anywhere from 125-250 pounds of meat per year (depending on how frequently the doe is bred and how many kits per litter.)There is much to learn about raising rabbits for meat, but they are a perfect fit for any size homestead.

Do you want to raise your own pork? The idea of knowing what went into the animal sounds enticing, doesn’t it? f it sounds wonderful to you because you also reconsider everything you put in your body, then consider raising a feeder pig. A feeder pig is a young pig (only around 8 weeks old) which you purchase and raise for 4-6 months until it reaches a good size to slaughter.

We’ve lost the essential life skills that used to be commonplace in our world. Isn’t it time we reversed that trend? We can all learn to embrace a more self-reliant lifestyle by tackling some basic life skills. Just remember that it’s a journey and may take some time!

It’s all about what to plant in May today. I hope you are adding to your garden, or maybe starting a garden, this year. Here’s the deal, we don’t need a lot of acreage to produce enough food to feed our family. You can grow so many vegetables in a small backyard. This is where I buy my garden seeds: SeedsNow (www.seedsnow.com). You can grow food in pots, raised garden beds, and of course, in the ground.

What book would you want if you were stranded on a desert island? Widely regarded as the 'bible' of off-grid living, The Solar Living Sourcebook might be your best choice.

About 10,000 years ago, humans started keeping pigs around for bacon, but also for its byproduct, lard. While it has been much maligned, as of late, lard is making a comeback in the culinary world as its nutrition profile, taste and sustainability make it a good option as a substitute for butter for those who are not vegan, but avoiding dairy, particularly Paleo followers.

Medicinal plants have been used for millennia, and science is just beginning to validate many of their traditional uses.

Grow your best garden and get veggies harvested quickly with these 10 fast growing vegetables. Learn the best varieties you can grow from seed to garden to table in around 60 days or less.

Here are many old fashioned money saving tips that came naturally to generations before us … but ones we might need to re-learn! 1. Pay with cash. 2. Buy for keeps (quality over cheap). 3. Repair don't replace. 4. Take good care of what you have.