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Dark Molasses-Oatmeal Bread
This yummy loaf is a little darker than regular oatmeal bread, due to the molasses, which also gives it some sweetness. Once again, I'm using home ground hard red wheat flour, which gives an indescribable flavor. No flour mill? No problem, just substitute regular whole wheat flour and all purpose white, respectively. The blend of whole wheat and white flour makes a lighter loaf than if made from 100% whole wheat.
Using Rainwater in the Laundry Room
Rainwater cleans clothes better than does hard well water and can be used in electric washing machines.
Homesteading Through the Seasons: To-Do List for August's Elderberry Moon
Learn about harvesting winter medicine, seed saving, wild-food foraging, and garden preparations for August from Wild Abundance, plus a recipe for making elderberry syrup by Wild Abundance Director Natalie Bogwalker.
How to Win First Prize at the County Fair
Everyone loves a winner. Here are my secrets to receiving those first-place ribbons for homegrown produce at your local county fair.
How Modern Homesteaders Can Make Money in the (Live)Stock Market
If you enjoy livestock and are comfortable marketing to customers, there's a lot of money to be made in the (live) stock market. And it's a safe market that's always in demand.
Off-Grid Laundry Easy with Hand-Crank Wringer
A simple hand-crank wringer gets clothes cleaner, less wrinkly and dry more quickly when washing laundry by hand off-grid.
The Market Gardener: A Successful Growers Handbook for Small-Scale Organic Farming
A step-by-step guide that lays out practical know-how, Fortier has done his due diligence to learn from those who have innovated in the past and compiled successful strategies into one small successful farm. In a time of "feel good stories" that may or may not be financially solvent, Fortier simply hands over to the reader the blueprints to confidently launch and run a small-scale market garden.
7 Easy Ways to Protect Your Skin Without Sunblock
Sun protection is important, and although sunblock is marketed as safe and effective, I'd rather not slather chemicals on my skin every day. Although sunblock has its place in my skin-protection arsenal, here are seven easy ways I'm able to protect my skin from the sun's harmful rays without resorting to sunblock.
Walking Makes Strides in All Kinds of Communities
"The health benefits of walking are so overwhelming that to deny access to that is a violation of fundamental human rights," declared Dr. Robert D. Bullard, father of the environmental justice movement in a keynote speech at the National Walking Summit in Washington, D.C. "All communities should have a right to a safe, sustainable, healthy, just, walkable community." We found inspiring stories from places across the U.S. where people got things started in communities not so different from where you live.
The ABCs of Homesteading: F is for 'Fodder' and Other Forms of Feed
This is the fourth blog post in an alphabetically organized introduction to homesteading. It covers animal feed sources for homesteaders and highlights the importance of a good friend and family support networks as part of your homestead continuity plan.
Woodworking Arborist Salvages Urban Trees
Working as an arborist in Colorado, Ryan Baldwin saw an opportunity to salvage city trees destined for the dump into usable lumber for woodworking projects.
Convert Your Lawn to a No-Till Permaculture Garden
When we bought our homestead, the only gardening area was at the bottom of a fairly steep hill. Though fine for growing a winter's worth of potatoes and squash, it's less convenient for greens, which we prefer to grow close to the house. Having read about a method called "lasagna gardening" (named for its layers; learn the basics here), we decided to try it. Egged on by its success, we extended the garden the following year only this time incorporating hugelkultur techniques. Here's how we did it.
Start an Annual 'Farmers and Friends' Meeting
Getting to know your local farmers and learning more about how to farm can be an annual event. From the novice to the experienced farmer, chef, or backyard gardener, an annual meeting is a great way to expand the knowledge base and make new friends.
The Exciting Herbal Resurgence
Herbalism has a rich, beautiful history and is once again finding a place in many modern homes. Now is a vibrant, exciting time to be an herbalist!
A Royal Compost Adventure Report
Stan Slaughter gave a speech in England this April at the invitation of HRH Prince Charles. The speech described the many synergies available when we enlist the magical powers of the microbial friends around us. A section of the speech is exerpted in the blog post.
10 Tips for New Garden Farmers
Now, 4 years into growing much of the produce we eat, I realize that garden farming connects me even more deeply than I had imagined to the earth, the life cycle, my body and food. It is also more difficult not only physically, but mentally as well. Had I known more from the start, no doubt it would have been easier and more effective. It is in this spirit that I am sharing some of what I've learned.
The Stripped-Down Approach to Starting a Garden (with Video)
Starting a garden can be intimidating, especially when there are all sorts of guru-gardening methods on the internet, but we are choosing to take an extremely straightforward approach that we want to share with you all!
How to Grow Shiitake Mushrooms
Shiitake mushrooms are an easy to grow, delicious mushroom for beginners to learn to cultivate. Shitakes have a satisfying meaty texture when sauteed, broiled or baked, and they have a distinctive 'unami' flavor that makes them popular in Asia.
'Goldenseal' Charms and Heals in the Garden
"Golden" will be the first word to enter your mind when you see the roots, rhizomes and dormant buds of Hydrastis canadensis. You'll understand immediately why the common name is "Goldenseal." This very useful native woodland plant will not only charm and entertain you spring, summer, and autumn — it can even heal you.
Off-Grid and Free: Living With Wolves and Remote Communications
They're back. The wolves. During breakfast one morning this past week, we heard a chorus of howling. Racing down to the shoreline, we saw 3 wolves in the center of the lake about a mile away. The wolves are a symbol of our wilderness location. Learn how we live with them and stay in touch with civilization.
Connecting Our Local Food Infrastructure Through Food Hubs
Food hubs are starting up all over the country as a way to reach new markets, share marketing, and build needed infrastructure. They are a vital and expanding part of the local food movement.
The Importance of Community for Homesteaders
Homesteading is built upon a foundation of self sufficiency, but community is just as important. There is so much more to homesteading than the individual pleasure associated with it. There is true joy and friendship in the shared labor of land.
Using Soap Nuts as a Chemical-Free Cleaning Solution
Technically a berry, soap nuts are considered to be an environmentally conscious alternative to chemical detergents and soaps. The berries come from a prolific tree that grows well in degraded environments where little else can grow. They are safe for allergies, free from any additives, and can be used to clean just about anything.
Organized Community Homesteading
We thought we were doing the right thing when we moved to a remote area to live 19 years ago. The community is a landowners association with some who desire to change a beautiful remote-living area on acreage to resemble what they left. We thought living in an area with covenants and rules would protect our investment, but one should recognize that living remotely in a covenant community offers both positive and negative aspects.
Uniquely Canadian Spiced Rum Review (with Lumberjack Kryptonite Cocktail Recipe)
Usually the words Canadian, spiced rum, boreal herbs and spices, don't go together. Enter Chic Choc Spiced Rum by Domaine Pinnacle. Usually I write about food, but this time, it's drink. One does need a little spice in one's life, after all.
Healthy Salad in a Jar
The Salad in a Jar (aka Mason Jar Salad) has become popular for a reason. You, too, can make these delicious, easy, healthy, and convenient grab-and-go lunches!
Rock Polypody: One Helluva Tough Fern
Polypodium virginianum aka the "Rock Polypody" is native to just about every state east of the Mississippi, Alaska, almost every province in Canada and all the way north up to Greenland and Iceland. To grow it requires no master's degree in gardening or landscape architecture or any particularly colored thumb. It's really quite simple! This is the perfect fern for any shade garden or along the path of any shade border.
The Realities of Hunting
An ethical hunter makes a point to explain what hunting is to those who have never done it.
Try Shade-Loving, Evergreen Cymophyllus Sedge as a Hosta Replacement
Cymophyllus fraserianus is the perfect Hosta replacement for any native plant garden or any shade garden, especially if you have a deer problem as this is one plant that isn't on Bambi's menu or wish list.
Knowing, Growing and Eating Cape Gooseberries
What is the Cape Gooseberry? Understand this delicious, easy-to-grow South American golden fruit with many names, many benefits, and many uses.
Rebuilding a New England Barn
Turning an old barn into something useable is a challenge, and it is a valuable skill to have when you are starting a farm.
Partridge Berry as a Non-Aggressive, Pest-Resistant Groundcover
Native to 35 states and 3 provinces of Canada east of the Mississippi, Partridge Berry is rarely seen in the trade. I fail to see why, as it's very easy to propagate by rooting cuttings or from seed. In fact, it forms adventitious roots as it gently winds its way around the garden. It could never, by any stretch of the imagination, be considered aggressive or invasive.
Running a Successful CSA
Cam describes how much he has learned after running a CSA for 5 years and offers a workshop for those interested in learning from his experience.
Stand Up and Sign Up: Community Farms Need You Now
With forces and circumstances intensifying all around, this is the optimum time to take positive action for your family, your community, and your planet. CSA Signup Day on Feb. 26 gives everyone an opportunity for intelligent action by joining and supporting a community farm (CSA).
3 Easy Ways to Live and Work In Gorgeous Places
Want to have the adventure of a lifetime by working in a National Park, Wwoofing in an exotic location, or joining AmeriCorps? Here's what you need to know.
How the USDA's Withdrawal of "Grass-Fed" Marketing Regulations Benefits Graziers, Meat Consumers and the Environment
Sustainable graziers and restoration agriculturists must quickly standardize a new Grass-Fed label definition that takes animal welfare and environmental impact into account.
How to Grow Giant Sunflowers
Growing giant sunflowers can be fun and easy. By following these simple steps you can have these towering giants in your yard as well.
ArkV Adventures, Part 2
So, the gals are on their way to New Hampshire to pick up heritage cows, and so far, it's going smoothly — but there are bumps in the road ahead, so hang on! (Spoiler alert: They all made it home fine: two cows, two pigs, and two galls.)
ArkV Adventures, Part 1: Transporting Livestock in Winter
The farm hasn't had cows in 50 years — but Kara wanted cows. Not any old cows; no, a special heritage kind. nd where were these cows? In the mountains of New Hampshire, half a continent away! Time for a road trip to pick up and transport livestock in winter!
Season-Extension Tips for Raising Pastured Poultry
Learn some tips on how to extend your growing season for pastured poultry!
Need Help on Your Farm? Try a WWOOFer
Serenity Acres Farm shares its experiences with WWOOFers so yours will be a good one.
Buying a Pork Share
Buying a half-pig directly from a farmer ensures quality and well-raised pork, although it will cost more than supermarket pork. Understanding how to fill out a cut sheet guarantees you get what you paid for.
5 Easy Squirrel Calls (with Video)
Here are five very quick, simple calls you can make to mimic the sound of a squirrel "cutting" using items you can find around your home!
Our Summer with a Community Garden Plot
While this young couple had dreams of buying land to start their homestead, they were still stuck in an apartment in the big city so they rented a community garden plot. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade! Find ways to accomplish your goals and do what you love!
Homesteading in the United Kingdom
"Smallholding" is a UK term that's broadly equivalent to the term "homestead" in the United States, meaning farming on a small scale with a strong element of self-sufficiency in food. Despite the geographical differences, there must be a great deal of common ground between the American homestead and the British smallholding — so let's find out!
Steps to Guard Against Indoor Air Pollution
Indoor air is polluted by volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. These gases are emitted into the air from products like pesticides, air fresheners, cleaning products, paint and paint remover, personal care products, appliances, furniture and building products, including carpet and pressed-wood floors, and more. Learn several steps to take to guard against indoor air pollution and how indoor air quality monitors can help.
Consilience Enhances Resilience: A Key Element of CSA Farms
As climate chaos intensifies, we have many reasons to cultivate resilience - the strength and flexibility to endure shocks and yet still function. Through CSA farms the quality of consilience - the linking together of principles from different disciplines - becomes a way for all shareholders to enhance the resilience of farms and thereby strengthen community.
Lessons Learned from Childhood on a Farm
Time well spent on my grandmother's farm taught me lessons that I have carried with me throughout my entire life. What I learned there even inspired me to pursue a homestead lifestyle for myself, working right beside my husband as we learn to be more self-sufficient.
The First Feast Project, Part 8: The Game Is There, You Just Can't See It
After three weekends with no harvest or animals seen, Kiara finds out they were probably right in front of his face.
Farming at Every Scale
Did you know you can grow potatoes in an apartment? Whether you live in an apartment or on a hundred acre farm, you can take steps towards self reliance and lifestyle independence. Living with limited space doesn't have to be a setback towards homesteading, and there are many creative ways you can take advantage of your space to get the most out of it.
Hunting for Food
Hunting isn't for everyone, but what I would like to do is share with interested readers, hunters included, how hunting and fishing helps me provide my own food and move a step closer to a sustainable life here on my farm.
The First Feast Project, Part 7: Waiting for Dinner to Show Up
Hunting is frustrating because mostly you do nothing but wait, and then wait some more.
The First Feast Project, Part 6: Frustration Grows Best in the Garden
The local environment and pests place obstacles in the way of the project, much like the Pilgrims had to face.
How to Get Rid of Burrowing Animals in Your Yard
Dirt mounds and holes in your yard? Identify and learn how to get rid of moles, voles, squirrels, gophers and groundhogs naturally.
The First Feast Project, Part 3: Growing a Feast When You Don't Own Land
How am I going to grow all these vegetables for Thanksgiving when I don't own land? Easy — with a community garden.
How to Put New Plastic on a Hoophouse (High Tunnel): A Step-by-Step Guide
Here is help with planning for a successful installation of new plastic or replacement of old plastic over your hoophouse (high tunnel). This post provides a list of tools and step-by-step instructions.
Four Benefits of Using Ground-Source Heat Pumps
MOTHER EARTH NEWS explores the low environmental impact of using ground source heat pumps and three other benefits.
5 Tips for a Greener Christmas
Take notice of your environmental footprint over the festive period and follow our guide for a greener Christmas.
Personality Types and Permaculture
Ever wonder what the unseen, unnamed aspects of homesteading in community are? Social dynamics and personality types are vital, intimidating elements of farming in the country.
Community Farmers Convene in America's Heartland
For dozens of reasons, it's time to convene in America's heartland a conference of farmers involved in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Here's a sampler of the key topics that will arise.
5 Easy Ways to Apply Permaculture to Your Community Garden (with Video)
The Community Garden movement is sweeping the nation. For Americans nationwide who do not have the space to farm at home, community plots offer an accessible way to produce local healthy foods.
Being Prepared for Mountain Winter
We put a lot of thought into being prepared for mountain winters and it requires a lot of work to be fully prepared.
Mistakes to Avoid When Putting New Plastic on Your Hoophouse
After four changes of plastic on our hoophouse (high tunnel we are ready to tell you some mistakes to avoid, mostly involving hoophouse plastic too tight or too loose, or cut wrong, and inflation blowers that didn't perform well enough. Our experience can save you from the same mistakes.
Organizing a Neighborhood Permaculture Convergence, Part 2
A permaculture convergence is a coming together of people interested in permaculture, with presentations, plenary sessions, networking, hands-on skill building, and tours of the site or nearby places of interest that show what applied permaculture looks like. The 2015 Northwest Permaculture Convergence took place in August in Eugene, Ore., with the theme "Greening Our Neighborhoods with Permaculture."
Young Farmers Deserve Student-Debt Forgiveness
Student loan debt continues to pressure young farmers and those considering taking up farming to give up on their dreams of working the land. The National Young Farmer Coalition hopes to secure student loan debt forgiveness by recognizing farming as a public service.
Determining the Goals for Your Farm
Polyface Farm Apprentice Tim Rohrer encourages homesteaders and farmers to try and define clear goals for their farm. By determining clear goals, a farmer is better able to go about furthering her farming adventure.
These Women Farmers See Their Fields as an Organic Classroom, Part 2
Motivated by a desire to connect youth with food and farming, Kara Gilbert and Elaine Walker are working to build their farm's finances and support so they can introduce educational programming.
National Communities Conference Held at Twin Oaks
What do homesteaders, college students, radical anarchists, nut-butter manufacturers, interfaith scholars and farmers have in common? Community!
Growing Gardens, Growing Community
How what started as a humble seedling giveaway is spurring the creation of a neighborhood food system.
Cultivating Communities through School Gardens
As an educator and ecologist, I am learning from my students that the most important survival ingredient may actually be a sense of community. Grow Your Own! was born in 2012 to address a problem: Local teachers and parents were building school gardens that were lying empty from disuse. The mission of GYO! thus became support for school gardens and their leaders through guidance, curriculum, and resources to foster gardens that were at the same time beautiful, educational, and functional.
Fall In the Rockies Invigorates the Senses
There is one time of the year in the mountains that is special and above all other seasons in my opinion. Fall time in the mountains is invigorating and refreshing. It is the season the invigorates all five senses. For a little Rocky Mountain fall-time inspiration, read on.
Prepare for Winter Wellness with Garden Sage Body Oil
Sage is an herb of ancient repute, long valued as a culinary and medicinal plant. It has a stimulating, heating, and drying energy and is a well-known cold germ and flu fighter, having particularly potent antimicrobial, respiratory antiseptic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, astringent, mucolytic (mucous thinning), antispasmodic, and vulnerary (tissue healing) properties. Prepare for winter wellness with this garden sage body oil recipe.
Why Farmers Need Each Other
Tim Rohrer describes why he thinks that farmers need each other. Tim describes his the time immediately following his apprenticeship at Polyface Farm, and how he experienced farmer camaraderie.
Unplugging to Reconnect: A Journey Toward Full-Time Homesteading — Sacrifices and Challenges, Part 2
People who decide to leave the rat race to move toward full-time homesteading or farming face a unique set of challenges and must accept certain sacrifices that traditional sources of guidance and information are not equipped to address. This post further explores some of these issues.
10 Reasons You Need Tasslerue in Your Garden
There are probably over 100 reasons that you should be growing shade-loving and native 'Tasslerue' Trautvetteria caroliniensis, but the main reason that you aren't growing it is because you've probably never heard of it, let alone had someone offer to share some with you. All that's about to change.
How to Grow Your Soil with Mycorrhizae and Beneficial Bacteria (Video)
The Soil is alive with mycorrhizae and beneficial bacteria. Learn the ways to foster a healthy living soil by mulching, growing nitrogen fixing crops and chop and drop them back into the soil. Grow the soil and the soil will grow your plants.
These Women Farmers See Their Fields as an Organic Classroom, Part 1
Motivated by a desire to connect youth with food and farming, Kara Gilbert and Elaine Walker are working to build their farm's finances and support so they can introduce educational programming.
Fermentables: Easy Home Fermentation Adds Excitement and Health to School (or Work) Lunches
Adding fermented vegetables for vibrant, fresh lunch ideas that will keep things interesting, local, healthy and kid friendly.
Community Education through Farm Tours
The residents of Leavenworth, Wash., decided that they wanted to showcase how their community is working to create a more sustainable future, so they created the second annual Sustainable Living and Farm Tour. We invite you to join us this coming September 12-13th, 2015.
The Moral Imperatives of Community Food: A 21st-Century Civic Duty
Participating in clean, local community food initiatives is increasingly recognized not only as an intelligent response to reality, but also as a key civic duty. A new study from the University of Iowa underscores this truth.
Polyface Farm's Unfair Advantage
Polyface has an "Unfair Advantage," but the good news is that you do, too! Here, Tim shares his thoughts on how your Unfair Advantage sets you apart from the crowd and bestows gifts on you that you can turn into success. The trick is learning to utilize your own Unfair Advantage.
Why is the Farm at Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village so Unique?
Agriculture continues to play an important role at the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in New Gloucester, Maine. The beautiful farm is situated on the property of the last remaining Shakers in the world.
What Is 'Solarize'?: Save on Solar Power with Community Bulk Ordering
You've probably seen yard signs for Solarize campaigns around your neighborhood. But what exactly does it mean to solarize? Is it really a new verb? Here we'll explain the basics of a Solarize program, plus what the pros and cons are for your community.
Reasons I Joined a Cooperative Living Situation
The trials and tribulations of our life on a cooperative living farm quite frequently mirror those of any small group of young Americans finding their way in the world, however, for me, there are daily reminders of why I am sticking with these crazy idealists in Appalachia.
Mountain Hunting
A short story about how deer and deer hunting have changed in both the Catskill Mountains and Hudson Valley of New York State.
Intelligence in Action: CSA Farms Can Renew our Relationship with the Earth
Community farming (CSA) is about the essential renewal of agriculture through its healthy linkage with the human community that depends on farming for survival. CSA is also about the necessary stewardship of soil, plants, and animals: the essential capital of all human cultures.
A Closer Look at Recycled Countertops
When one home-building couple first started looking for sustainable countertop materials, they were focused on options made with recycled materials. In their quest for the perfect tops, they stumbled upon a more cost-effective way to incorporate recycled countertops into their home's design.
Organizing a Neighborhood Permaculture Convergence, Part 1
The 2015 Northwest Permaculture Convergence will be held in a suburban neighborhood for the first time. Also for the first time, outreach to the general public is a core part of this convergence with site tours and educational Expo, free and open to the public.
The Biodynamic Farm Body, Part 1
Biodynamic agriculture views the farm as a living organism. By tapping into the ecology that makes up your farm and viewing these systems holistically, you can utilize the natural world to grow healthy crops and achieve true sustainability. Your farm has a body and seeks wellness through biodiversity and habitat variability.
Hang Your Laundry to Dry
Using the sun to dry our clothes naturally is part of a permaculture lifestyle. Learn tips for drying your clothes both outside and inside your house, allowing you to get rid of your clothes dryer and opening up space for other things, such as crocks for fermenting.
Gardening Is Biology not Chemistry
Gardening is a biological process, not a chemical one. For a healthy, productive garden, help your plants cultivate the biology in the soil that will feed them.
Meet the Polyface Farm Pastured Turkeys
During my time as a Polyface Farm intern, I never was able to grasp the turkeys as my personal responsibility. Now things are different. Get a glimpse through the eyes of a Polyface Apprentice as he raises Polyface Farm's pastured turkeys.
'Kickstarting' the K15 Bamboo and Recycled Aluminum E-Bike
Assembled in China from native bamboo and recycled 6160 aluminum tubing gussets, this bike frame seemed the perfect complement to the ZeHus motor. I not only ended up with one of the most beautiful e-bikes I've ever seen, but it also turned out to be one of the lightest. Learn how you can reserve a future production version of the e-bike.
Late Summer and Fall Intercropping of Cover Crops in Vegetable Crops, aka Undersowing
The principles of intercropping apply also to undersowing cover crops in existing vegetable crops. This article lists the advantages of undersowing cover crops, gives some examples that work for late summer and fall vegetable crops, distinguishes suitable and unsuitable situations, and provides links to several useful resources.
Financing Renewable Energy: Home Wind and Solar Power
Installation timing, system sizing, and federal and state energy policies are all important components for financing renewable energy as part of a home construction project. One couple shares their experience with trying to put all the pieces in order.
4 Eco-Friendly Countertop Options for Every Budget
Choosing a countertop for a kitchen remodel involves many considerations. One of the most important considerations is eco-friendliness. Here are some of the best eco-friendly countertop options available on the market today.
Picking The Right CSA
How to pick a good CSA that's right for you.
Best Tips for Brassica, Lettuce and Tomato-Transplanting Success
A transplanting that's done correctly will expedite resumed growth and encourage healthy plants. Here are some simple tips about when and how to transplant brassica, lettuce and tomatoes.
Awakening Community Intelligence: CSA Farms as 21st-Century Cornerstones
In the shadow of increasing climate chaos, human survival requires not only the intelligent actions of individuals but also thousands of communities of human beings who have had their inate intelligence awakened and who realize the fundamental link between life and land. In this regard, Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) provides a useful and egalitarian model for sustainable food systems of the future.
'Lucky' Young Farmers
Farming may be the dream, but sometimes it can also be the nightmare. Balancing the good, the bad, and the ugly poses challenges.
Deer impact our lives, whether you're a farmer, permaculturalist, forester, hunter, vegetarian, or landscaper. According to The Nature Conservancy, "No other threat (upon forests) is greater at this point in time." So what to do?
So You Think Your City is Green? Introducing a Sustainable Cities Rating System
As the question of what it means to be "green" is becoming more frequently asked, many new rating systems have been introduced to measure the performance and sustainability of everything from appliances, food, buildings, and corporations. But what if we could rate the largest and most complex things that humans build with one methodology? The International Ecocity Framework & Standards Initiative takes on the challenge of rating cities.
Foraging for Juneberries, and Juneberry Pie Recipe
Juneberries, or serviceberries, are one of the first wild fruits to ripen each year. Here's how to identify and harvest them, plus a recipe for juneberry pie.
Spring-Season Wild Edibles for the Northeast
Wild edibles is probably the least energy consuming way to provide food, and especially early in the spring. Here are my favorite plants to look for right now.
Should I Prune My Tomato Plants? (Video)
Are your tomato plants putting out side shoots? Learn whether you need to prune tomato plants to keep them productive.
Growing Up in Farm Country
HOMEGROWN Life blogger Bryce Oates reflects on how growing up in farm country impacts a student's choice for their future.
Sourdough Pretzel Roll Recipe
Pretzel rolls, or buns, are the cool kids of the bread world right now.
Little Town on the Prairie Steps It Up: Examples of Walkable Communities
Albert Lea, Minn., shows how walking and other healthy habits can rejuvenate a rural community. Learn about how to build a walkable community guided by ideas presented in the Blue Zone Projects and see examples of walkable communities around the United States.
Parsnips as a Staple Crop
Though they are less popular than potatoes, carrots and turnips, parsnips are a fantastic storage veggie.
5 Steps to Our New Orchard
Here's 5 of the basic steps to how we created our small organic home orchard/edible landscape. It's a permaculture designed area that has been created with a natural landscape as inspiration, with the least amount of human input. It will host not only heritage apples but several other fruits and berries, herbs and medicinal plants.
People Are Messy
How we deal with each other's emotional messiness.
April Chores at the Deer Isle Hostel and Homestead
Here are some of the most important things to do around the homestead in April - or at least asap.
Off-Grid and Underground
A homesteader introduces readers to his quest for a simpler life, which led to the construction of a unique underground home.
Timber Framers Gather to Construct Public Pavilion
Timber framers from around the world gathered in a small town in Michigan to raise a community pavilion.
Grow Where You Are: Community Partnerships Support Local Food Production
Grow Where You Are is a social enterprise focusing on assisting communities in creating local food abundance systems. After creating small-scale urban food systems nationally and internationally for over 15 years, we see that even the most effective systems can be easily dismantled without land security. We propose supporting local growers in a transition to home ownership with a dynamic web of community partnership.
Ways To Increase Our Self-Sufficiency
Homesteading is to me to live in self-reliance, simplicity and mindfulness. To be able to do that in a way that feels true to what we believe in, I've found that it demands a narrow definition of what I put in the word enough.
Institutional Food
Hospitals traditionally are famous for their terrible food. A recent experience shows it has not changed much.
How to Keep a Critical Valve from Freezing
I used this tried and true method of preventing a valve from freezing. There was no electricity as a back-up crutch for this mission critical valve and I kept it open through the coldest February on record.
The Waiting Game
Springtime on the homestead is all about timing--getting those colorful eggs into the incubator, sneaking in a crop of spinach in the high tunnel, but also being on-the-ready for lambing season!
What America's Most Walkable Suburb Can Teach Towns Everywhere
Suburban life has always been synonymous with long hours in the car. That's changing now. Arlington, Virginia, shows how feet on the street helps a community thrive. Learn about how Arlington is promoting walking through city initiatives as well as 10 more cities that are striving to make their communities more walkable.
Community and Family Life
A look at how our family created the community that supported our family life.
Animal Handling
How big of a priority are good animal handling facilities?
Homesteading Chores in March
Any other year in March, the homesteading chores are back in full swing after the winter break. This year, winter lasted longer than ever and it wasn't until the end I could even conceive of getting any of the usual stuff done. Here's the list of what I normally do.
Experts Declare Glyphosate Herbicide (Roundup) a 'Probable Carcinogen'
Monsanto's most widely used herbicide has been found in the blood of agricultural workers and is now being linked to both mammal and human carcinomas.
Apple Trees for the Urban Homestead
How to choose an apple tree to fit your space and needs.
Neighbors Work Together on the Suburban Frontier
Greening our homes, neighborhoods and communities depends on friends and neighbors working together. This blog will show and tell several examples of friends and neighbors greening the neighborhood.
Pumpkin Pancake Recipe
Pancakes made with pumpkin powder, an easy gluten-free breakfast dish.
How Will You Be Remembered?
What I think about each time I attend a funeral, celebration of life or memorial.
How We Engaged the Community in Our Homestead
One of my best pieces of advice to those wishing to establish a homestead is to reach out to the community. Happy neighbors are a big part of a happy homestead and for us it was not only a way to drum up support and engagement for our project, but it was also transformative for our experience and for our business.
Solar Cooking in the Snow with a Sunny Apple-Cobbler Recipe
Add an efficient solar cooker to your winter emergency kit for hot meals during power outages. Even when you could have power, it's fun to roast potatoes or bake dessert off-grid on sunny winter days.
Building and Using a Precast Septic-Tank Root Cellar
Last summer Garth and Edmund Brown built a root cellar using plans from MOTHER EARTH NEWS. It has kept root crops in good condition even in an exceptionally harsh New York winter.
Back to Basics for Improved Health
Many aspects of my homesteading life lie close to what we as humans have evolved for: the outdoors, physical activity, whole food and days and years that follows the rhythm of the seasons and the sun. But there are other, less obvious biological aspects for why I believe homesteading can improve health and well being.
Two Brothers Grow, Hunt and Forage for All Their Own Food for a Year
For calendar year 2015 brothers Edmund and Garth Brown are eating only food that they have produced on their farm or bartered for from a neighbor. To do this successfully they must raise and butcher their own meat, hunt, forage, and cultivate a large vegetable garden.
What We Do Around the Homestead in February
February can be a hit or miss for us here at Deer Isle Hostel - snow and cold demands more creativity to stay busy, but also provides a great chance not to do much. Planting onions from seed, shoveling snow and planning for the Hostel season 2015 are some things I do to keep the cabin fever under control.
From Nomadic Marine Corps Family to Rooted Modern Homesteaders
This is the story of my family's transition from a nomadic military lifestyle to one of rural homesteading. I talk about our preparation leading up to leaving the service and some of our current goals and projects for the property and our lives. I also talk about using permaculture as the design science methodology for our businesses and the development of the property.
Tips for Staying Healthy Through the Winter
Even with the daylight hours lately, we still have quite a bit of winter left. Good health – both physically and mentally – might require a little bit more effort than in the summer but can still be achieved and maintained though this homestretch before spring.
Precarious Hero Pedestals
How I reconcile professional football and its place in our society.
Homesteading Community
What if I find land where I can homestead but it's at a location where no one does the same thing? The lack of a homesteading community can be a discouraging factor when looking for land, but over time, if one is patient, it is very likely you'll find others that are drawn to the basic, sustaining, diverse and positive actions of homesteading.
Homesteading Simplicity
That something is easy doesn't always mean it's simple – many of the modern conveniences so much of the western world relies on, the thermostat in most conventional houses, for example, is but the end of a long and complex chain reaction with consequences far beyond our reach. Homesteading simplicity can be described as a way to limit those chain reactions, to be more in control over the effect of our actions and, to alter those effects to have a positive impact.
7 Tips for Living Large in a Tiny House
Living in a tiny house is good for the environment and for the wallet, but requires a lifestyle shift for the inhabitants.
What We Do Around the Homestead in January
The short period of time each year where homesteaders and summer-business owners like us get to freely bask in open-ended unscheduled time is as short as it is sweet, and it reaches its peak right now in January.
Fire Takes a Homestead
After fire took her friends' award-winning historic, renovated home only a year after its completion, Ilene White Freedman asks "Who will rebuild their spirits?" A follow-up to her post about the home's renovation.
Living With Intention
Exploring ways that I can and will impact people around me in 2015.
Changing the World One Decision at a Time
Up against China, the tar sand extraction, dysfunctional global summits and the endless cry for economic growth, any individual's actions to halt global warming might seem insignificant. But conscious decisions that bring us closer to nature can make a difference and might be the best we can do.
Urban Community Green Spaces
Urban community green spaces are an essential component of our built environment. Their significance is becoming more and more apparent to city planners and urban residences all over the United States.
Kiva Zip's Innovative Approach to Lending
In conventional lending, underwriting decisions are based on averages, and algorithms, credit scores and cashflows. They do not reflect a would-be borrower's character, and are un-nuanced — "black and white." Kiva Zip, a non-profit based in San Francisco, is pioneering an innovative, character-based approach to lending that allows for a more colorful underwriting canvass.
Processing a Deer
I never butchered a deer before, having always spent the money to have someone else do it. But I discovered it is surprisingly easy and worth the extra effort.
A Quick Guide to Reclaiming Your Garden's Soil
A newly acquired garden or an over-spent allotment can have poor-quality soil, making it more difficult to manage and use, and leading to potential problems for those wishing to grow a new lush, green lawn or plant some daffodils, crocus or hyacinths bulbs in the spring.
Chicken of the Woods and Witch's Butter: Jokers of Kingdom Fungi
Concluding a series on fall mushroom foraging with two unusual looking suspects.
Seed School
The most basic part of food is the seed. Learn to grow and save your own. You can do this at home, but if you want to further hone your skills, attend Seed School.
Natural Conditions Beyond Our Control
Being a homesteader and living off the land often means being subjected to natural conditions beyond our control, sometimes predictable changes of seasons and temperatures, other times curve balls such as unseen pest pressure, hard frosts in late May or heavy snow in early November. A lifestyle where these natural circumstances is the main determining factor for what gets done when is getting increasingly rarer – humans have gained what some consider an advantage by manipulating the world into a state where we, in many ways, can remain unaffected from the forces of nature.
'Food Is Free' Project Losing Their Teaching Farm
The Food is Free Project has inspired thousands of individuals, families and groups around the globe to start front yard free gardens to share with friends and neighbors. They are losing their teaching farm.
New Initiative to Monitor Heavy Metal Pollution in Armenia
A new initiative has launched in response to heavy metal pollution in Armenia for environmental lab equipment that will monitor health risks in mining communities throughout the country.
Moving to The Mountains and What To Expect
Living in the mountains or remotely requires physical endurance as well as being fit.
Guidelines for Establishing an Orchard
The new apple orchard we're planning for our homestead won't be the classical lawn-layout most people are accustomed to. Our edible landscape will mimic a natural landscape with the goal to reduce interference such as spraying while providing organic fruit, berries and herbs for many months of many years.
Getting Back to Nature: Fantastic for the Mind, Body and Spirit, and the Environment
People are increasingly looking to get back to nature, rejecting the modern world and living off the Earth.
Eco-Friendly Gardening Tips for Any Season
This blog post explores eco-friendly gardening tips to refreshing your garden tools, furniture, accessories and outbuildings without the need to buy mass-manufactured goods or use harmful chemical treatments.
Taxpayers Save on Solar Energy With Green Businesses
Sun Light and Power, a solar installation co signed a deal with SolED to offer Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) in the State of California. This will help public or government buildings get these deals and save tax monies.
Autumn Changes: Organic, Local and Sustainable Food, and Our CSA
The benefits of a membership in a CSA and how supporting local organic farming is not only good for you but good for the Earth as well.
Facing the Homesteading Rewards
As homesteaders, all the homesteading rewards are directly ours to keep and our work provides most of our necessities but the multiple returns we get from our homestead also give us what money couldn't buy, such as the self reliance, sense of security, dignity, the beautiful place where we spend our days and the choice to set our own schedule.
How to Grow and Use Heirloom Ground Cherries
Ground cherries were once a popular staple in backyard gardens. Urbanization and lost space to grow our food led to ground cherries falling out of favor. Though older folks may remember eating ground cherry jam, they've only recently begun reappearing at farmers markets and in seed catalogs. Ground cherries are easy to grow and pack an unusual flavor punch in jams, pies, savory sauces.
Add Fungi to Your Homestead Activities
Fungi help your soil, your composting and your plants. Add fungi to your homestead activities and let 'em grow!
Great Ways to Increase Your Harvest
The actual footprint of a garden is only one of many factors for how much food that can be produced there. With succession planting, good soil and some planning the same garden area can produce substantially more food.
How to Make Air Conditioning More Energy Efficient
As demand for air conditioning continues to increase, discover how to reduce the impact it has on the environment.
Last Chance to Sow Cool-Weather Vegetables
Consider planting these three categories of vegetable crops during late summer and fall: Warm weather crops that will die with frost. Cool weather crops that grow well in spring and fall, but don't thrive in your summer. Cold-hardy crops to grow over the winter and get off to a fast start in early spring.
Cat Calls: Recognizing Mountain Lion Vocalizations
A chirping predator may be an unexpected and unwanted visitor. Mountain lions do chirp and one set me on edge.
A Well Preserved Florida Shell Mound in St. Petersburg
Ancient Florida shell mounds, early days of bar-b-que, and all that.
Polyface Farm Summer Internship: Week Seven
Polyface Farm Field Day! This week was all about prep for all our visitors, lot of processing and for some last minute hay making.
'Staycations' in the USA: Impact on the Environment
This article explores the nature of the staycation, if it is indeed a greener option and ways to vacation in a more eco-friendly manner.
Downy Mildew Variety Trials at Twin Oaks Seed Farm
We are trialing 135 varieties of cucumber, winter squash and muskmelon - with a focus on Downy Mildew resistance and fruit quality. An introduction to our trials and to the importance of variety trials in general.
A Homesteader's 5 Favorite Gardening Tools
A good gardening tool is lightweight, ergonomically correct and has a positive impact on the soil. We only use hand tools (non-powered) in our gardens since we find that we can get the job done easier and more efficiently with a more correct impact on the soil and less impact on our bodies than we would with any machines.
A College Degree No Longer a Guarantee
We are currently facing a job crisis. Most jobs available today require specific skills and not college diplomas. Congress recently passed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act which should help train workers but fails to take note of the booming green job market.
Sourdough Hamburger Bun Recipe
Looking for the perfect sourdough hamburger bun.
A Changed Life
How a single purchase of a magazine in newsprint in 1970 changed my life.
Fit Farmers for the Future
In a post-carbon agriculture, much of the work of growing food will be done through physical labor and one in six of us will need to have our hands in the dirt. How do we foster a new generation of 50 million fit farmers?
Ways to Support the Local Foods Movement
A list of ways we could each show support or teach our friends and family to support the Local Foods Movement
Whatever Happened to That Old Diner?: Preserving Food Heritage
Our mission in preserving food heritage is to research, collect, preserve, and then explain America's food heritage and historic sites likely cannot be done without help. Want to contribute?
Food Is Free Project
The Food Is Free Project has become a food revolution in Austin, Texas
A New Blogger at The Farm Community
For more than 40 years, The Farm Community in Tennessee has been on the forefront of farming, gardening and the green lifestyle.
Compost-Heated Outdoor Shower
Here at Deer Isle Hostel, Maine, we use a compost pile built with local, natural materials and a 100-foot water pipe to create a steaming hot shower.
Garden Layout for Seed Saving, Part 2: Nightshades
Peppers and tomatoes are some of the easier plants to save seed from. This post covers isolation distance and introduces basic seed saving techniques.
Homemade Cough Drops With Horehound and Marshmallow
You can make your own homemade cough drops with garden-fresh herbs, such as horehound and marshmallow.
Community Gardens in Victoria, British Columbia
When traveling, consider checking out the community gardens in the area. You can meet local people who are passionate about gardening and learn about the climate and crops that may be different than yours.
Are Mobile Homes the Environmentally Friendly Solution for Housing Millions of Retiring Baby Boomers?
Those of retirement age can reduce their carbon footprints by moving into a smaller, cozier mobile home.
How We Grow Tomatoes at Deer Isle Hostel
Few other vegetables represent summer as a sun-ripe, homegrown tomato does.This is how we raise and plant tomatoes at the Deer Isle Hostel and Homestead.
Planning Your Garden for Seed Saving, Part 1: Cucurbits
This post outlines the basics of garden planning to save seeds from cucumbers, melons, squash and gourds.
Gardening With Mushrooms
Fungi breakdown organic material and make it available to plants. Encouraging fungi to grow naturally, or inocculating your soil can have tremendous benefits for your garden.
Garden Designs for Beauty and Function
A well-thought-out garden design will make your work enjoyable and manageable and will encourage the gardener's presence and attention.
Moving Toward an Ecology-Based Economy
As the planetary ecology falters, and finite resources are depleted, communities everywhere will be challenged to create vibrant local economies that function within and help to renew local ecosystems.
Moving in an Environmentally Friendly Way
Moving is stressful, but it's not an excuse to forget your carbon footprint. Here are some ways to make your move as eco-friendly as possible.
Preparing for Seed Saving at Twin Oaks Seed Farm
Twin Oaks Seed Farm's focus has been producing seeds on contract for a handful of small seed companies. The author discusses involvement in starting a new cooperative retail seed project, Common Wealth Seed Growers.
Challenges Of Mountain Gardening
Tips that we have learned gardening at a high elevation.
Composting Toilets: From Waste Stream to Resource River
Making our own compost is not only a way to meet our need of fertilizer, it's also a way to redirect the garden scraps, chicken manure, leaves and grass cuttings from the waste stream to the resource river. Another area where this applies around our homestead, is our use of a composting toilet. For us, the difference between what goes down a flushing toilet and what accumulates in the buckets in the outhouse is the difference between waste and resource.
Clean Public Spaces: State-Sponsored Campaigns
How can we clean up our rural spaces best. Is it up to individuals or governments?
Healthy Farms: The Answer to a National Superweed Crisis
Monsanto's Roundup Ready system transformed typical weed problems into a national superweed crisis, only healthy farms can correct the damage done.
'The Farm Then and Now' by Douglas Stevenson
"The Farm Then and Now" by Douglas Stevenson tells the story of The Farm: an intentional community that has defied the odds, blending idealism with a practical approach to create a model for sustainable living.
Sustainable Happiness, Sustainable Homestead
A homestead is about so much more than just mindful ways of producing one's needs; the health of the land and landscape is nothing if the health of the homesteader isn't there. The most sustainable homestead is one where the homesteaders like what they're doing and therefore will keep doing it. The self-fulfilling prophecy that we're all too busy is a highly unsustainable way to attempt sustainability, whether it's for a homestead or a summer business.
County Fair Season Is Here
HOMEGROWN Life blogger and Missouri farmer Bryce Oates traces the history of county fairs from their origins in the country life movement to his own kids' involvement.
Leave It Better Than You Found It
In many communal kitchens, may it be a hostel or a student dorm, postings are usually to be found; "Leave it nicer than when you came", they read. That can be said to humans on earth too, to leave it better than it was. By living and working in nature, with nature, I believe that our surroundings here at the homestead are ecologically healthier, more diverse and vibrant than should we as humans not have been here.
How Big is Your Water Footprint?
Explore ways to reduce both your direct and indirect water footprint. Reducing your water footprint could make a huge different to both the environment and finances.
Five Seasons in the Rockies
Other than the four regular seasons there is a fifth season in the mountains called mud season.
Compost: The End and the New Beginning
Growing an organic garden with compost I made using natural material from our surroundings is to comply with nature's way of taking care of itself – it's to remain humble for a true and tried life cycle and acknowledge our inevitable part in and connection to life on earth.
Mountain Reflections
Taking time to reflect on the past brings renewed appreciation to the present.
Creating Your Own Mycorrhiza
The symbiotic relationship between plants and fungi are showing more than ever how life depends on life. Learn how to encourage what beneficial microbes you have in your soil for a powerful ally in your garden and fields.
Legacy of Jaime Hines
In remembrance of a dear friend and steward of the Earth, a look at how others inspire us and how their legacy sculpts us.
Financial Incentives Increase Recycling Rates
Where environmental groups claim financial incentives for recycling to be a costly and unnecessary form of expenditure, we see them as the only realistic option available which actually produces the desired effect.
A Crop of Inextinguishable Regrets: The Push for More Sustainable Palm Oil Farming
The Union of Concerned Scientists is advocating the reform of current palm oil farming practices which release drastic amounts of carbon, harm local ecosystems and treat workers in an ethically unsound way.
Guard Your Groundwater
Protect our water supplies during National Groundwater Awareness Week by saving water at home.
Permaculture Gardening Part 3
Our first project: building a small keyhole mound.
Growing Up Free: Inspiring a Love of Nature
For children to develop a love of nature and avoid Nature Deficit Disorder, they need to spend more time there.
Preparing Soil in Our Community Garden
Garden like the Native Americans by digging up 18-inch-diameter hills on four foot centers. Get your crops started, then worry about working the areas in between the hills.
Great Backyard Bird Count 2014
Help scientists study how bird populations are changing during the Great Backyard Bird Count.
Mobile Saunas
A compendium of modern nomadic sweats.
Measuring Amount of Precipitation in Snow
Calculating the amount of mountain snow to actual moisture.
A Sunroom for My Chickens
Our chickens aren't fond of the snow and the wind, but we found a way to let them enjoy the sunshine from the comfort of their coop!
Earn Green By Going Green
Tips for solar advocates to invest money smartly and be part of the growing solar market
Mountain Homesteading Challenges
There is hard work homesteading in the mountains and the weather dictates much of those challenges.
Mountain Snow in the Rockies
Snow in the mountains is different than snow found at lower elevations.
A Homesteader's Winter
A homesteader's year is over for this time. Nothing cleans the yard up as a foot of snow, and I think it's here to stay. winter on Deer Isle is great, so great I consider it something we deserve after getting through the summer, both for us as homesteaders and for us as a part of this community.
Old Ways of Processing Pork at Home
We use some old and tried techniques for how to process the meat, like curing and smoking the big cuts so they'll keep without being put in a freezer. We're constantly striving to learn new, mostly old ways of utilizing and preserving more of the pigs for our own consumption, by making headcheese, confit and lard.
A Report on Warmth
With winter beginning, these homesteaders are starting winter off cozy in their cabin.
Thrifty Ways To Use Junk Mail
Junk mail, old books and other used paper can be easily recycled into something useful. Never buy notepads or envelopes again.
Preparing Our Homestead and Ourselves for Winter
Stay warm, find a hobby and cull the livestock; here are some of the things we do to prepare for winter!
'Color The World' with The Pulsera Project
How are US college students helping to brighten the future of Nicaragua, the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, without leaving campus?
Off the Grid With Solar Power
Renewable energy is often seen as a way to have it all and still feel "green" and it is indeed at a glance more environment friendly than conventional power, but no power has as low footprint as the power not used.
Remote Homesteading With Dogs
Homesteading with dogs in remote mountain living. Considerations in providing a good safe homestead environment for your cherished pets.
Mountain Rose Herbs Receives High Honor
Mountain Rose Herbs honored with Social and Fair Trade Certification.
Chasing the Truth: Is Roundup Herbicide Making Minerals in Our Food Less Available to Us?
Plant pathologist Dr. Don Huber brings attention to concerns surrounding Monsanto's Roundup herbicide, glyphosate.
Home and Community Gardening
Support your local food systems while getting the most from your home garden.
The Love of Local Food
One thing that gardening has done to me, as to so many others probably, is that I've started to pay attention to where the food on my plate comes from, and usually the answer is "from our garden."
Joel Salatin and Dr. Joseph Mercola Explore GMO Issue in Labeling Debate
Tackling the GMO issue is a priority for food activists, but there are a number of perspectives on how to go about it. The Great GMO Debate will help you decide how and who should inform consumers about what biotech ingredients are lurking in their food.
Environmental Problems Are No Match for Human Ingenuity, Part 2
With the inventiveness of visionaries like Elon Musk, technological advances can help create a better world, while remaining useful and cool.
Landrace Gardening: Sunroots
Sunroots are a typically-cloned crop with great potential as a locally-adapted survival-of-the-fittest landrace
Environmental Problems Are No Match for Human Ingenuity, Part 1
Inventor and entrepreneur Elon Musk leaves little doubt about how far vision and imagination can take us in addressing ecological challenges.
Hostel Homesteading Economy, Part 4: The Future
Where is our economic security?
Apple Abundance as a Part of Our History
There used to be, from Maine to Georgia and west to the Mississippi river, 20.000 grafted apple varieties. Today, when commercialism is king and the most known apple varieties are the 5 kinds offered in the supermarket those old varieties are worth paying attention to. As with all things around us, diversity is interesting and sustainable.
Reducing and Re-Using Around the Barnyard
The diva of re-use, Annie Warmke, talks about simple steps to take in the barn yard for re-purposing and reducing waste. After reading this article you won't be able to think about things like llama poo or beer bottles in the same way again.
Fresh Storage of Produce
For the past few years, we've experimented with different ways of storing food fresh and now we're eating garlic, onions, squash, carrots and beets in June.
Wild Food Kept Us Healthy and Fit
Writer attributes eating wild food, game, homegrown vegetables and forest food to good health.
Communicating With Hand-Written Letters
Communicating via letters mirrors the pace of a handmade life.
Solar Decathlon 2013 Kicks Off
Collegiate teams showcase affordable, energy-efficient houses in global competition.
Herbal Remedies for Colds and Flu
These natural cold and flu remedies will help you build up your immune system and reduce the duration and discomfort of colds and flu.
If You Can Keep It You Can Eat It: Part 1
To grow, keep and eat your own food keeps you away from the food industry, the fossil fuel based agriculture, food stores and logistics.
Succession Planting for Space Saving and Season Extension
Even as far north as Maine I can harvest produce from March to December with parsnips to dig from under the frost in February without the use of row covers or a greenhouse. In some beds I do two or more succession plantings that together with the root cellar keeps me with fresh produce all year.
How to Harvest and Prepare Sunflower Seeds
As fall nears, sunflowers are beginning to die off and it's time to harvest their seeds! In this post I bring you through the steps to harvest and prepare your sunflower seeds for eating!
A Vision for a Better World, Part 2
For humanity to create a better world, we must address issues of economic equality and limited resources. The natural environment can recover from much damage if we gradually limit the human population and judge business success by quality rather than quantity.
An Epic Birthday Mission: Clean Water for Others
Learn how one person is celebrating her birthday by raising money to bring clean water to those who need it.
Cross-Country Weeks Eight and Nine
Weeks eight and nine of our cross country bicycle trip start in Brantford, Ont., and end in Bar Harbor, Maine.
Searching For Words
Working in the potato bed produces the next blog article.
A Vision for a Better World, Part 1
Humanity has the power to change and to take the actions needed to foster a healthy planet and a better standard of living for all. Choosing beauty and abundance will ensure a better future not only for humanity, but for the natural environment as well.
Persimmons Are an Easy and Tasty Fruit
With no care on my part, persimmons bear in abundance while mocking my empty efforts with my apple trees.
HOMEGROWN Life: Back to School Lunches
HOMEGROWN Life blogger and Pennsylvania homesteading mama Michelle shares a few strategies and suggestions for healthier school lunches.
The Hostel Homesteader's August
Our August at the Hostel has best been described visually; a flat palm held about an inch from our face.
Living The Sustainable Life: Interns, Building With Trash, and So Much More
Who would think it's possible to discover the artist in me, incubate a business, plus milk goats, grow a garden...all in one unforgettable summer. I'm a rich woman by any standard.
Of Many Generations
Thanks to helping hands, everything gets done.
Homemade Sunscreen for Babies
Moms, protect your baby's health with this safe, homemade sunscreen.
Local Homesteading Groups: Why You Need One
Learn why it is helpful to have a group of fellow homesteaders, then start a group of your own in your local community.
Chemistry in the Kitchen: Creating Laundry Detergent
Crafting laundry detergent saves time, money and lightens your environmental footprint. Plus it's simple!
Weeks Six and Seven of the Cross Country Bike Ride
Starting in North Branch, Minn. and ending in Brantford, Ontario, author Rick Stiles continues his cycling across the country — and the border.
Why We Raise Our Own Meat
There are many benefits with raising pigs for meat, and also some common sense ways of doing so in a sustainable way.
Prepare for Pesticide Spray Season - Part VII: Pesticides and Your Emotions
The different emotions you may experience as you deal with Pesticide Drift on your property or your person.
The Cross Country Bicycle Ride Continues
Weeks three, four and five of our cross country bicycle trip start in Missoula, Mont. and end in North Branch, Minn.
Tour Polyface with Joel Salatin and Enjoy "Save Your Bacon" Weekend
Save the date for the Polyface Farm "Save Your Bacon" event.
Poor Dietary Habits Kill More People Than Smoking
Studies show unhealthy dieting kills more people than alcohol, cigarettes and drug use combined.
Hosteling At Home
Having a hostel of your own, gives you the best of both worlds; the comfort of home with the vibration of travelers.
The Many Benefits of Half the Oil
We can cut projected U.S. oil use in half over the next 20 years and create more than 1 million jobs, reduce annual oil spending by $550 billion, and eliminate 2 billion metric tons of global warming emissions per year by 2035.
Farm Family Threatened with $700,000 Fine for Raising Pigs
The Department of Natural Resources seeks to fine a family for possession of prohibited swine.
Maple Field Milk: Full-Tilt Farming
Dairyman Nick Snelgar reflects on the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health certification process and bagging hay for winter on his UK dairy farm.
Earth Gauge Tip of the Week — Stay Safe In the Sun
July is UV Safety Month. Stay safe in the sun with these tips.
Our First Two Weeks of a Trans-America Cycling Tour
Rick Stiles shares chronicles the first two weeks of his cross-country trip on a recumbent bicycle.
The Pressure Canner: My Favorite Preservation Tool
A pressure canner greatly expands the range of foods that can be safely canned at home.
Homesteading: A Way of Life
Choosing homesteading as a way of life and what it takes.
Find Local Food
These online tools can help you find the best sources for local food, including local farmers markets and community-supported agriculture programs.
Sustainable and Efficient Practices on a CSA Farm
Learn a few tips for efficiency from seasoned CSA Farmers: La Vista CSA Farm.
Unplugged: From City Life to Off-Grid Homestead
How did Victoria Redhed Miller and husband David end up living on an off-grid homestead in the foothills of Washington State's Olympic mountains? Grid? What grid? Electricity was something one took for granted; it came from those outlets on the walls. I was hardly aware of it except during one of the infrequent power outages.
Earth Gauge Tip of the Week - Lightning Safety Awareness Week - When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors!
Over 100,000 thunderstorms occur each year in the U.S. Stay safe during Lightning Safety Awareness Week
Spray Day: DIY Natural Fabric Spritz
There are some things that you just aren't going to wash very often, like your curtains, couch cushions, and probably even your favorite jeans. To spare the air, concoct a simple essential oil-infused linen spray, and spritz away until your definition of what "clean" smells like shifts permanently.
Children in the Garden
Allowing children the space to discover the beauty and wonder of plants through tending to their own garden builds character, teaches responsibility, gives insight into the beauty of nature and fosters their connection with where their food comes from.
Why We Farm
It is a regular occurrence, a question we're asked: Why do we do all this work?
Growing the Garden Footprint
This year is the first season I had the whole garden dug and ready and boy, it's easy to plant a garden when the garden is already there.
Mountain Living in the Springtime
Spring time is a time to experience the newness of life and living in the Sangre de Cristo mountains amid the wildflowers, birds, green woods and new birth.
Building a Sustainable Farm Business Operation
You can start a productive small farm business rather quickly if you use a business operations approach from the beginning. You may have what it takes if you own some property and are willing to work hard for successful results. Farming is also a practice in which traits like patience and persistence come in handy when everything goes wrong at the same time. These are all parts of the farming business and should be considered valuable lessons learned because they are only attained by experience.
Hostel Homestead Economy Part II
For me, homesteading means to not have a great need for money in the first place. It also means that the money one does need is being made by utilizing the land, as in our case, running the Hostel.
How to Run a Small Business
Creating your own start-up is full of obstacles, but rewarding. MOTHER EARTH NEWS reader Jessica Vaughan shares advice from her experience as a first-time small business owner who teaches clients how to grow organic produce.
Russians Prove Small-Scale Organic Can Feed the World
Using an old-world technique, Russians are growing their own organic crops -- and it's working.
Local Seafood, and What That Really Means
How does one eat more of the right types of seafood to reap all the health benefits without going bald? Choose local!
Determining Drought History
Tree rings tell the tale. It is nice and green here now but our plants and weeds are acclimated to semi arid and have deep roots.
Modern Homesteading, Rural Living and Self-Reliance – Where to Start
If know you're destined to live in the country, or just more self-reliantly, but are overwhelmed by all the choices, here's a place to start.
Natural Garden Amendments
Here are some ways we use natural materials to improve our garden and orchards.
Sunshine Tea
Making great sunshine tea is easy if you follow a few simple guidelines for contents, quantities, and water.
Community Container Gardening
Building community through sharing work and food.
An 'Elemental' Undertaking: Environmental Film Humanizes the Eco-Warrior
There's more than one way to be an environmental warrior. And some approaches work better than others. Elemental follows the stories of three environmental advocates united by their deep connection with nature and driven to confront some of the most dire ecological issues affecting their respective communities. This isn't only a story about plight and pollution, however. Rather, Gayatri Roshan's and Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee's documentary works best as a character-driven study of eco-activism's do's and don'ts.
Young People Are Driving Less
Driving patterns now closely resemble those from 1995, as young drivers are finding alternative forms of transportation.
'Ride the Future Tour' Aims to Promote Green Travel
Ride the Future Tour, a 43-day cross-country trip in electric vehicles, will start July 4 in South Carolina. Event organizers hope to build awareness for green transportation and break a few records along the way.
Electric Cars Pose a Silent Danger to Pedestrians
These new vehicles may help the environment, but their soundless engines are a threat to the visually impaired, as well as pedestrians and bicyclists.
Michigan Attacks Heritage Hogs; Farmers Fight Back
It has been fifteen months since heritage breed hog farmer Mark Baker sued the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to stop the implementation of an invasive species order (ISO). The swine ISO supposedly targeted feral swine but could be applied to any domestic pig not raised in confinement. Baker has yet to have his day in court and it is still not settled when his trial will take place. It is common for lawsuits like this to turn into wars of attrition; the state has virtually unlimited resources while the farmers are bled of theirs over the course of the litigation.
Montana Radio Company Presents The Cool Green Home
Missoula, MT company awards home owners sustainable products.
Winning The Lottery vs. Lifestyle Change
Riches sometimes come from natural resources - not always connected with dollar signs.
Growing the Nerves
But maybe, at the end of the day, I am just a person with weak nerves doing something that depends on so many unknown factors – the weather, the bug population, the quality of seeds and some plain ol' luck.
Safer Exterior Wood Finishes
Many wood finishes contain toxic solvents or heavy-metal drying agents. Learn which nontoxic wood finishes are best to use on decks, fences and unfinished, wood-sided homes.
100-Year-Old Hints for Drying Clothes Outside
Household hints from 1909 reveal useful tips for hanging clothes out to dry.
Homesteaders' Vehicles
If you have a bike, your freedom of moving around is endless. Cycling is swift and bikes are easy to navigate where cars sometimes can't go.
Buffalo Gals
The story of two ladies and their small CSA in the Rocky Mountains.
New Year's Revolution: Stop Making Excuses!
If you want to achieve your goals, stop making excuses for the things that go wrong on your path to success. Learn from them. Never stop trying to improve. And never stop trying. Work smart and hard.
Simple and Green Building
To me, the most important features of a sustainable building are not its technological wonders but its simple design features: common-sense strategies that should be incorporated whether the building becomes LEED certified, Energy Star certified, or is just trying to be environmentally friendly.
Hostel Economics 101
Our striving to live frugally, monetary so, affects our everyday life choices. We choose to live without a lot of things that cost money. We make most of the cash we do need by running the Hostel in the summer months.
A Growing Trust
In this section you will find stories of real farmers across the country that made it work. You'll find their story, how they did it and who helped them. We hope these stories will inspire and educate new farmers, as well as land owners and community members to become involved in the new agrarian movement. A growing trust.
Dead Trees Full of Life
To turn a woodlot into a park with no "litter" on the ground might look tidy, but is not very healthy or functional. Next time you look at a dead tree or a log rotting on the ground; look at it as something full of life.
Relearning to Sew On Treadle Sewing Machine
On our journey to self-reliance, my husband, Darren, and I have been gathering human-powered tools when we can find them. It's surprising and sad how quickly hand- and foot-powered tools were junked when electricity became available. From 1850 to 1890, more than 100 apple-pealing devices were patented. Then none, except those running on electric power. And so it goes with thousands of other nifty human-powered appliances.
See The USA
Thoughts and ideas about purchasing a recumbent bicycle for a cross country trip.
Spontaneous Bender Build
The full team from thePOOSH.org attended Over the Moon Festival last autumn in the UK and built a beautiful bender as a temporary shelter area and stall.
New Year's Revolution: Practice Random Acts of Kindness
Get out of your shell and lend a hand to those around you, even perfect strangers – you'll be amazed at what you become and how your kindness touches others
Pruning Blackberry Plants in Early Spring
The process of training and pruning blackberry plants is demystified by a gardening expert from Gurney's Seed.
Changing the Context of Transportation
Cuba's bike transformation was the result of a change in context induced by external forces. It was a disruptive event that forced them to adapt. Here in America, a land of such excess, no such sudden disruption looms (nor could it be predicted, I believe). Our transportation context is centered on the car. Our culture and economy are "driven" by the car. So, how do we create a culture of transportation that is dominated by bicycles?
Extending the Season With Recycled Cold Frames
I know how popular and much hyped season-extending materials are in the world of organic gardening, but is it a necessity to eat fresh lettuce year round?
Annual Review Finds Inconsistency in Maintaining Nuclear Power Plant Safety
A new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists shows significant lapses in nuclear power plant safety.
Winter Fun, Ice Fishing
A short a story about our very first ice fishing and snowmobile ride.
Small Scale Forestry for the Homestead
Our work in the woods starts long before we get the chainsaw and axe out; by being in the woods, observing and contemplating. We're looking for healthy trees that we can help to thrive and that will be of benefit in the future.
You're Gonna Do What?: Committing to a Cross-Country Cycling Tour
Saying 'Yes' to a cross country bicycling trip was easy. After I fully realized what my mouth had done, my brain had second thoughts.
Earth Gauge Tip of the Week — Guard Your Groundwater
March 10-16, 2013 is National Groundwater Awareness Week and groundwater provides over 40 percent of U.S. population with drinking water. You can protect water quality at home by conserving water.
HOMEGROWN Life: Why Homesteaders Do What We Do
Sometimes even HOMEGROWN Life blogger and Bay Area homesteader Rachel of Dog Island Farm needs a reminder why she puts up with the goat feed, the chicken poop, the cat puke, and the never-ending mud. Here's a hint: It involves good food.
Low Tunnel Construction: How to Build a Mini Hoop House
Get a materials list and step-by-step insructions for low tunnel construction for your backyard garden.
U.S. Honey Processors Charged with 'Honey Laundering'
Five people and two U.S. honey processors were charged with 'honey laundering'. Investigators found illegally imported honey from China.
Start Your Onion Seeds Today
Onions are daylight sensitive and need to have plenty of time to put on top growth before the days start to get shorter and the plant pulls its energy into the bulb. If you like to start onions from seed, don't wait! The best time is already closing in.
An Apple Tree Returns to Its Former Glory
A neglected, overgrown, old apple tree does have charm, its gnarled, elbowed branches seemingly ready to reach out for a hug. The fruits, unfortunately, more often than not are too small, too pest-ridden, and too high in the tree. My fear of heights makes the last deficiency most important to me. Large, clean fruits are for nought if I can't bring myself to climb a ladder or the branches for harvest.
New Year's Revolution: Trust in Allah, but Tether Your Camel
We all have dreams but why is it that some are so lucky that they come true?
Using a Portable Sawmill to Make Homestead Necessities
To say the sawmill is just a piece in the homestead puzzle might be a slight understatement. In some ways, it's a key factor.
CSA Health Insurance Rebates
FairShare CSA Coalition partners with health insurance groups to offer a rebate for selecting fresh, organic, local produce.
8,000 Square Feet in a Box
It wasn't many months ago the seed catalog for this year showed up, but at that point I had just, just, managed to finish off the garden season, slightly traumatized from all the work. To receive a catalog then seemed mostly like an ill-conceived joke, a way to rub it in; don't think you can relax too much.
Groundhog Crocus Signs
Talking about carrying in the red roofing tin the old fashioned way due to a broken golf cart and some very muddy conditions. The refrigerator root cellar continues to prove itself as an experiment that seems to be working so far.
New School Teaches Heirloom Poultry Production, Marketing, Breeding and More
The Sustainable Poultry Network and Western Piedmont Community College have combined forces to create the American School of Sustainable Poultry Husbandry, an intensive poultry workshop for anyone interested in poultry production, marketing, breeding, hatching, cooking, etc.
Survival Gardening in the Deep South
Why "hot and humid" doesn't have to equal "sad and lifeless."
My Exotic Daily Life
While many of those visiting our Hostel are farmers and homesteaders themselves, some come from that "city culture" and seem to take their first hesitant steps outside of a flatly paved driveway when they arrive at our place. Wide eyes, a sense of adventure.
A New Blogger's Homesteading Journey Begins
Since her first house move, MOTHER EARTH NEWS blogger Cathie Ackroyd, has become so very conscious of the impact we humans have had and are having on our planet's environment and hoped to find a place to settle that would allow us to gain an element of self-sufficiency in a relatively car-free community.
An Appalachian Alternative to Mountaintop Removal Coal Mines
Many criticize eliminating coal mining in West Virginia because of the amount of jobs the sector provides. A wind farm, however, would employ over 200 local residents during the two-year construction phase, and create 40-50 permanent maintenance jobs afterward. A wind farm would also allow the mountain to be used for other purposes, like sustainable forestry, mountain harvesting, and gathering of wild forest plants, creating additional jobs and the opportunity for stable income for locals.
When Unexpected Mistakes Happen - Living Remotely
How we deal with unexpected incidents.
Earth Gauge Tip of the Week — Four Faunal Forecasters
Does Punxsutawney Phil have competition for 'predicting' the weather? Take a look at these other animals and insects that can tell when the weather is changing, or can't they?
New Year's Revolution: Adopt the Philosophy of a Chemist
OK,I'm giving no hints as to why you should think like a chemist...Read it and see for yourself. At the very least, you'll be entertained by a crazy new way of thinking about life.
Cycling Tour to Benefit TREE Fund
The week-long STIHL Tour des Trees is an international cycling tour combining natural beauty, camaraderie and fundraising for the benefit of urban trees.
Hockey Day in Canada
Cam discovers he isn't as young as he once was while enjoying a sense of community at the local arena.
The Urban Food Forest: A Groundbreaking Trend in Urban Agriculture
Urban food forests and public gardens provide communities with an edible landscape for everyone to share. These public fruit forests are the new trend in urban agriculture and play an important role as sustainable local food systems in their communities.
League Takes the Lead on Cycling Laws
The League of American Bicyclists has compiled a database of state-specific highlights of traffic laws that affect bicyclists. Find out if you live in a bicycle friendly community.
Building My Net Zero Energy Home: Foundation Details for Airtight Design
To ensure an airtight design, be sure to level and finish the top of the concrete wall and use sill seal below your bottom plates.
The Ozarks Natural Beauty
Discover the Ozarks region's natural beauty and adventure hot spots as told by Mike McArthy of Photozarks.
Mountain Fun
We enjoy sledding and snowshoeing in the winter as outdoor activities.
The Birthday Run 2013
Every year on his birthday since 1977, Christopher Nyerges has done a "birthday memory run," where he runs a lap for each year, and attempts to recall what happened in his life in that year. Here is his report for 2013.
Goats: It's Cold Out There
Keeping goats inside during nasty weather isn't easy, but it's worth the time! Dealing with sick goats, fever and runny noses isn't fun, so taking precautions makes things much easier.
The Animal Lover's Dilemma: A Quest for Sustainable Farming Techniques
Elizabeth Van Deventer has been on a quest to find the answer to sustainable farming and an ethical diet most of her life. Follow along as she discovers the impacts of producing tea, palm oil and fruit, and how she eventually settles on a lifestyle that is in tune with the earth and all of its creatures.
The Best-Loved Car in the World
I was gratified when, two weeks ago, Consumer Reports announced that the Chevy Volt was the best-loved car in the world among people who drive one – for the second year in a row. I have never loved a car like I love this one. And I have loved some cars.
New Study Finds Link Between Chemical Pollutants and Food and Environmental Allergies
A new study has uncovered a link between food and environmental allergies and chemicals found in pesticides, herbicides and other agricultural products and drinking water.
Finding Christmas in Simple Things
In the hollows of the Blue Ridge Mountains, this true Christmas celebration was simple, inexpensive and rich with tradition.
Converting an Old Refrigerator into a Root Cellar
How to recycle a junked refrigerator into a refrigerator root cellar that works at keeping produce chilled but not frozen during winter months.
Small Business Solar Power Gets $10 Million Boost from DOE
In support of the Obama Administration's all-of-the-above energy strategy, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced Nov. 19, 2012, 10 small business-led projects to speed solar energy innovation from the lab to the marketplace.
It Takes A Village ...
A story of life, death and rebirth of a hoop house.
Rodent-Proofing Fruit Trees
The author figures out a way to outsmart tree-damaging rodents.
Too Late for 2 Degrees Climate Change?: Big Decarbonization Needed
A Nov. 5, 2012, press release from consulting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP warns current CO2 reductions put us on target for 6 degree average global temperature increase.
Report Shows 13 Percent U.S. Solar Industry Job Growth
The Solar Foundation found a 13 percent increase in U.S. solar industry jobs in 2012, which is promising for the overall job market, and shows stability in the solar energy job market.
United Nations Push for Global Energy Efficient Lighting
Press Release about UNEP/GEF en.lighten initiative's Toolkit, "Achieving the Transition to Energy Efficient Lighting."
Homesteading Month Brings Country Skills Workshop to Today's Abundant Living
Jim and Holly Smith, founders of Today's Abundant Living, sent us this great review of a Homesteading Education Month open house and country skills workshop they hosted at their Michigan homestead.
Adventures at King Arthur Flour, Part Two
This is part two of my visit to King Arthur Flour, the concluding blog of the four-day event.
Growing Protein
Learn which crops you can grow in your garden to provide protein in your diet.
Slow Down, Watch
I feel that if we want to connect to our families, to our neighbors and to the people that we love that live in the community around us, we must somehow retrain ourselves to slow down and watch, listen and share, love and care.
Study Says Acupuncture Provides True Pain Relief
A New York Times article reports a recent, rigorous study confirming that acupuncture can ease chronic pain, including that from migraines and arthritis.
Biofuel Grasses Spark Criticism
Two grasses under consideration for biofuels in the United States are considered invasive species that may do more harm than good.
Growing Renewable Energy Sources in the United States
The Obama Administration releases its plans for new renewable energy sources. Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior, explains that the new solar energy zones span six states and keep both domestic energy and environmental preservation in mind. If completed, the power generated from these solar energy zones would provide electricity to roughly seven-million homes.
Climate Change - The Opportunity
Climate Change is a real threat to the future of humankind, but within that threat is the seed of opportunity.
Winter In The Rockies
How we live in the mountains during the winter.
High Altitude Living in Washington and Colorado: Natural Resources
Ed and Bruce share their experiences with homesteading and self-sufficiency in a rural setting. This segment is on using natural resources around the homestead.
Senator Susan Collins Visits Johnny's Selected Seeds
Collins hails milestone of the company becoming employee owned.
Voting for the Environment
If you would like to be represented by more elected officials who support environmental safeguards for our air, water, and land, take a look at these resources, including the League of Conservation Voters' National Environmental Scorecard.
High Altitude, Rural Living in Washington and Colorado
Ed and Bruce share their experiences with homesteading and self-sufficiency in a rural setting.
FRONT PORCH: Making your own Homestead Music Coffeehouse
Folksinger Michael Johnathon is on tour nationwide. Visit his homepage: www.MichaelJohnathon.com
Looking for a Forestry School? Look here!
ForestryDegree.net provides a searchable database for people interested in forestry.
Earth Gauge Tip of the Week — National Public Lands Day
Volunteer to take care of the public lands in your area during National Public Lands Day on September 29, 2012!
Goats: A Busy Autumn
Autumn is very busy at Stony Knolls Farm between the Common Ground Fair and Fall Goat School!
Living Off Grid - Mountain Salmon
How we have adapted from salt water fishing to freshwater and what we do with our catch.
Oven Fried Home-Grown Potatoes
A single, volunteer potato produces 10 pounds of potatoes in a hot bed. A recipe for addictive, oven-fried potatoes.
New Convenient Packets for HEALx Booster and Sunshine Factor Pet Foods
Squeezable packets eliminate the need to measure.
Searching for America's Front Porch
Making Music on the Front Porch ... let's define what the musical Front Porch is.
Mountain Gardening And The Challenges - Part 2
Thank goodness for good friends who will share their garden harvest with those of us less skilled.
Dealing With the Decline of Civilization
Being a part of the solution can forestall the potential decline.
Community Food events
Community food events are an outstanding way to share the abundance of our harvest and strengthen local community ties.
Life on Desert Canyon Farm
We do a lot of things on our farm, but the primary way we earn a livelihood is selling wholesale potted herbs and heritage food plants to garden centers throughout Colorado and northern New Mexico.
Best Sun Protection for Sun Loving Gardeners
Dog days of summer? Yes, but there is still a lot of the grwoing season left. Protect yourself from the late summer sun with these tried 'n true items ... tested by a gardener who knows more than she'd like to about skin cancer.
Minnesota Company Celebrates 30 Years of Natural Healing
Steuart Laboratories manufactures and markets several dozen herb-based healing and pain products for both the human and livestock markets.
Reflection On A Mountain Top Or In a Swing In The Woods
Where we go to reflect on life and relax.
Collaborative Advocacy in Action in Portland
Portland is the nation's most bike-friendly city, yet this Oregon community has had to deal with cycling disparities among its population. One nonprofit organization addressed this issue by developing new programs targeting low-income immigrant communities.
What's Wrong With Predators Nowadays?
One thing we can all agree on is that is time for things to change. So perhaps we need to look at the world more like prey and less like predators.
Reflections Of A Mountain Man
Reflections on 15 years of mountain living.
Putting the Community in a Community Garden
Describes the process of forming a community garden from the physical and energetic standpoints. The power of teamwork, the joy of accomplishment and the building of a feeling of group unity are described.
Hitting the Mark
Why is it unrealistic to believe we can agree that clean air and water are important and limited resources? How insane is it to think we could imagine a world of beauty and abundance? That's what I'm going to aim for.
Losing the Plot, and Getting the Flock out of There
Leaving the rental home we had lived in for three years in Carmel Indiana, to move back to Kangaroo Valley, Australia has meant more than losing the plot and getting the flock out of there!
Hiking The Ozarks' Lost Valley
Hiking The Ozarks' Lost Valley - Where getting lost is part of the fun! By Mike McArthy of Photozarks
Drought is Not Our Friend
When it's too hot outside, the work moves inside, and is still REALLY HOT.
Woman's Homemade Sauerkraut Highlights Cottage Food Fight in Arizona
Sandy Boyce's sauerkraut was a hit, selling out each week, until her county health department asked her to stop. Across the nation, regulations can prevent small-time home producers from distributing their 'cottage foods' to the public.
Every natural environment is beautiful in ways we cannot imagine. We must preserve natural beauty for precisely that reason, because we could not conceive of natural beauty on our own without nature's inspiration.
Sunflower Cover Crop
Sensor Plug update along with a report on Sunflowers being used as a cover crop and when to properly harvest onions.
Idealistically, Unrealistically
We could feed every hungry person tomorrow but we haven't collectively decided to do so. In my beautiful vision, we would tolerate nothing less.
Super-Simple Solar Food Drying
Solar food drying is incredibly easy with a solar food dehydrator, which requires very little effort to make perfectly preserved produce.
Steam Engines And Narrow Gauge Railroads
Taking a ride on an old steam engine.
From Globe to Google Maps
I learned to love the Earth while studying a globe, now I can see it all on Google maps.
The Great Privilege
Applying human objectivity to the biggest, most intriguing and most definitively human problem, ever, is quite an endeavor.
The Story Of The Drunken Squirrel
A story of one of our camping trips to Torreya State Park, Florida.
Saving Stressed Tomatoes
Describes a method of protecting tomatoes from excessive heat using a sunscreen, vermicompost tea, pulling blighted leaves.
Google Case Study: Initiatives
Google can be the most enlightened power-user on the planet. Because it is so successful, and because it uses a lot of electricity, Google has the opportunity to set a new global standard for clean power.
Earth Gauge Tip of the Week — UV Safety
Tips on how to protect your skin and stay safe in the sun.
Living Off-Grid: Good Practices for Foundation Soils
Things to look for in your soil before you break ground on your new home or cabin.
Australia to Texas and Starting to Build the Homestead - But What to Build?
A key choice was what type of house to build. We aren't in Texas more than a few weeks a year until we make our final move back. We wanted a structure we could enclose to protect the interior from the elements and yet build in stages as time and money allow.
Google Case Study: Is it Contagious?
The company's founders seem to be as proud of the company's culture as they are of its financial success. Can the Google culture persist when the company's economic power declines?
Growing Grapes Is Easy
Grapes can grow anywhere, thriving in a variety of climates and soil types. Growing grapes is rewarding, because after a few years they produce abundant fruit and quickly provide architectural interest in the edible landscape.
Google Case Study: Is it Fair?
Google's unofficial motto, "Don't Be Evil," could be expressed as easily in the positive, "Be Fair."
The Chicken Fountain Announces Their New Chicken Fountain Poultry Watering System
Keep chicken water clean with this innovative watering design.
Naropa Community Arts Studio-International Receives Jenzabar Foundation Grant
The Jenzabar Foundation is dedicated to creating opportunities for students, as well as higher education organizations and non-profits, to encourage fellow students to be engaged citizens of the world.
More Free Perennial Onions
Visit our blog by Wednesday at midnight for a chance to win free Egyptian onion top bulbs.
Sunnovations Achieves Solar Hot Water "Firsts"
Receives SRCC OG300 certification on 41 system configurations for residential solar water heating systems.
Google Case Study: Does it Create Abundance?
Abundance is the most fundamental building block in the Google DNA.
Three New Hand Pruners
Fiskars' new hand pruners combine form and function to make every cut easier.
Australia to Texas: Beekeeping - Part II
As part of my education on how to be more self-sufficient when we make our move back to Texas, I've been taking classes while here in Australia. One of the more enjoyable classes was in beekeeping. This is our class practical exercise.
Expect The Unexpected
How we expect the unexpected and turn blow down trees into lumber.
Australia to Texas: Beekeeping - Part I
Keeping bees is something I've wanted to do on our new homestead. But would I like it? Taking a class is a good way to find out.
Google Case Study: Is it Beautiful?
Google's mission is making information available. That includes all the beauty in the world (along with everything else, of course).
Goats: Spring Goat School is History
Goat School is over for a few months, and now the routine will be a little more normal! Great questions were asked at Goat School and some of those answers are shared.
Building My Net Zero Energy Home: Key Early Decisions
In this blog, I highlight the earliest decisions I had to make to create a net zero energy home: how I was going to build the foundation and walls. Thermal bridging, air tightness, insulation, cost, and greeness are all key deciders.
Reinventing a Homesteading Vision
My vision of the Texas homestead, complete with family and doting grandchildren nearby took a hit this year when my daughter and husband split and my daughter moved to Austin. Could I reinvent the vision? Or would this issue derail our plans?
Google Case Study: Background
Conscientiousness is woven into the company culture, quite intentionally. The more prosperous and powerful the company becomes, the more strident the criticism. Any institution as powerful as Google has great potential for evil, and for good.
G and G Clothesline Develops a Smaller Umbrella Style Outdoor Clothesline.
This addition to the product line will fill a need for smaller households or ones that don't have enough yard space to accommodate a large clothesline.
Earth Gauge Tip of the Week — How Can Pervious Pavement Reduce Nutrient Pollution?
Tips on how to replace driveways, sidewalks, patios and walkways with pervious pavements, materials that let water seep through to soil.
Defragment Our Hectic Lives
How we persist until our 11 cords of firewood is accomplished and then re structure our lives.
Case Study Three: The Juggernaut Google Inc.
The decade between the turn of the millennium and 2010 might justifiably be called the Google Decade. The company may have built more influence in less time than any other human endeavor in history.
Biological Mosquito Control Also Kills Fungus Gnats
Summit Mosquito Bits®, a popular biological control that kills mos¬quito larvae, is now also approved for the control of fungus gnats.
Goats: Getting Ready for Goat School!
Getting ready for Goat School is always a daunting task, but once all of our new friends start arriving, we get excited! What a great time learning all about goats!
Refinishing Wood Stairs
Steve explains the basics of refinishing wooden stairs, including an easily renewable finishing strategy.
Ready for 2,4-D Corn?
The Environmental Protection Agency has given the go-ahead to Dow Chemical for its genetically modified 2,4-D resistant corn.
Solar Panel Back Up Power for Under 1000 Dollars?
Describing how we are trying to provide a low budget solar panel back up system for under 1000 dollars that will run our laptops and router along with a few other things if the local power grid has any issues.
Ogden Publications Case Study: The Initiatives
At work, as at home, the queries have helped us add a number of constructive items to our agenda.
Ft. Garland, Colorado - Part 6
The final in a 6 part series on Ft. Garland, Colorado
Ogden Publications Case Study: Is It Contagious? Part 2
Most of the things we do to conserve resources and protect the environment are subtle. We remain acutely conscious that all this, combined, still doesn't make us a truly sustainable business. We have a long way to go. But we're trying to get there.
Planting Healthy Hibiscus, Delicious Yacon and Nutritious Sunchokes
Sweet, healthy, root vegetables that love growing through the heat of summer? Learn about adding Jerusalem artichokes, yacon, and sweet potatoes to your gardens. Plus, more on the incredible health benefits of roselle (hibiscus).
How to Build a Stone Foundation
Robert Maxwell explains how to build your own limestone foundation for almost no money.
Ft. Garland, Colorado - Part 4
A surprising number of amenities found in a small town complete with western hospitality.
Fight Back Against Fossil Fuels
Read about new legislation that would stop the government from funding the fossil fuel industry. Then, sign your name to the petition and make a difference.
Fort Garland, Colorado - Part 3
What we have found as an advantage of having a rural hardware store close by.
Ogden Publications Case Study: Is It Contagious?
One of the best-proven characteristics of our system of business is its contagiousness. The system has proven itself repeatable and contagious across both time and space, across centuries of time and every continent.
Isaac's Journal: Finding His Grave at a Country Cemetery
In the final chapter of this five-part series, Lyn Fenwick finds the country cemetery that Isaac was burried in and pays her respects to the author of a treasured family heirloom, a 19th century homesteaders journal.
A Beautiful Green Backyard Burial
This is a true account of an end of life journey. A beautiful backyard Burial and all the steps that were taken in order to do it. This story is written in two parts, part two will be posted next week.
Ogden Publications Case Study: Is It Fair? Part 2
Beyond salary and benefits are the more abstract but equally important elements that make an employee feel valued.
The Emergence of a Commons-Based Economy
Learn more about commons-based economy on May 7th, 2012, in London, sponsored by the School of Commoning.
Ogden Publications Case Study: Is It Fair?
Our writers sometimes criticize the system, but everyone understands that the system makes our existence possible. And the more successful our company is within the system, the more influential our work becomes. That's fair, I think.
Honey Bees and Easter Eggs
We had a once in a lifetime opportunity over Easter this year to talk to more than 30,000 people about honey bees, pollination, honey and beekeeping. And the place we got to do this in was one of a kind.
Vinegar: A Controversial Subject?
Learn about advertising-induced fear of an innocuous, food-grade substance, vinegar. Plus, get interesting information about vinegar being used for bioremediation of extremely dangerous chemicals.
Ogden Publications Case Study: Does It Create Abundance?
We try to help people create abundance by both possible methods: by conserving existing resources and by propagating new resources. In other words, the two basic tools at our disposal are conservation and innovation.
Growing A Garden At High Elevation
Some of the difficulties we encounter in gardening at a high elevation
Spring Pruning
Pruning perennials is essential for plant health and vigorous production.
Girl Out of Water - Spring is finally here!
Winter is over and the colors of spring are here!
Benefits of Country Living
Robert Maxwell discusses the benefits of a rural lifestyle.
Ogden Publications Case Study: Is It Beautiful?
Yes, we aspire to beauty. And we create some beautiful things, judging with our own eyes and the eyes of our audiences. But of course it's only through the ongoing daily aspiration to beauty that beauty is achieved. So, we keep it up.
When to Plant Corn, Beans and Squash — Natural Signs for Planting
Ira helps you get started using nature's signs to plan your garden. Don't just rely on planting dates — easy observations of what's blooming, buzzing, and singing in your garden will help you see changing patterns from year to year.
You Know You're a Modern Homesteader When...
If you've been on this rural living or modern homesteading journey for decades, or just starting out, how do you know when you've arrived?
Case Study Two: The Biz, Ogden Publications, Inc.
My colleagues and I hoped the small, unconventional company would provide a platform for something bigger – something that could grow.
Capitalizing on the Grassfed Revolution
Attend this year's grassfed seminar to learn how to maximize your natural resources while unleashing your marketing genius.
Isaac's Journal: Finding Love on the Prairie
In part two of this five-part series, Lyn Fenwick shares a homesteader named Isaac's 19th century journal entries on love, including the observation of local beauties and his desire for a woman who enjoys reading.
Measured Out in Coffee Spoons
Cam often finds himself relating to song lyrics.
Rancho Cappuccino Case Study: The Initiatives
We have our work cut out for us for many years to come. And for that, we're grateful.
Pruning Logs for Lumber
Here is a description of some of the pruning tools and techniques for pruning trees for future sawlogs.
Rancho Cappuccino Case Study: Is It Contagious? Part 2
If a society decides its human populations can be held within the capacities of local farms to feed them, then our small farms can be replicated into the future, until further notice. I think that's a very contagious idea.
You Take the Good, You Take the Bad, You Take...
There are good sides and bad sides to every storey, this is no exception. No one said homesteading would be easy!
Compost: The Other Prize from the Business End of a Chicken
Eggs aren't the only things that come from the business end of a chicken. But with a little time and materials, and even less ingenuity, the rest can set you up with a free and steady supply of valuable organic fertilizer.
Rancho Cappuccino Case Study: Is It Contagious?
On every continent in the world there are large regions where a family can, through ingenuity and hard work, provide a lot of its own food in active partnership with the natural environment. And people get excited about that.
A Day In The Life Of A Mountain Homesteader
What we do on snow days in the mountains when it is snowing hard outside.
The Hoophouse Tomato: In the Ground!
Spring is here and those tomato plants that were started in January are settled into their new hoophouse home. I have hopes for early tomatoes; will a late freeze stifle this goal?
Dedicated Roofers Cross Dangerous Creek
Talking about the recent past week where we got several items crossed off the Spring to-do list and managed to have some fun while doing it complete with pictures to illustrate the good times.
Rancho Cappuccino Case Study: Is It Fair? Part 3
We'll be actively engaged in this inquiry for the rest of our lives. It's a great project, improving the fairness of how we live. It has captured our imaginations.
An Unintended Death
The unintended death of a charming little creature raises the realities of life on a farm homestead.
Bastyr University's San Diego Campus Receives Accreditation
Students can now be officially accepted and enrolled at new campus for fall.
Local Investment, Green Business, Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustainable Economies
A list of links to orgs, associations, websites, books, and other resources related to local economies, community resilience, green business, corporate social responsibility, green jobs, environmental and social entrepreneurship, and investment.
The Winter That Isn't: Spring Ramblings of a Missouri Homesteader
A few thoughts about the activities here in southwest Missouri this spring, including plans for a garden, thinning and pruning trees, and salvaging urban logs
Rancho Cappuccino Case Study: Is It Fair to the Livestock?
After a recent talk I gave in San Francisco, a man raised his hand and asked me how I could distinguish between "human slavery and animal slavery." Now there's a provocative question.
Homegirl Homesteading
The how's and why's we homestead
Typical Day Of A Remote Mountain Homesteader
Our typical day living in the mountains in the winter.
How to Be Happy, According to Ben Does Life
Ben Davis, of Ben Does Life, has a truly inspirng weight loss story, but it's how message about how to be happy that is most motivational.
Looking for Great Places You've (Maybe) Never Heard Of
Help us find the small U.S. towns and cities that are getting it right for citizens and the environment.
Rancho Cappuccino Case Study: Is It Fair?
Fairness is not so much a standard to be achieved as it is a criterion to be interpreted and applied. We strive for fairness, even though it can't be clearly defined, much less perfected. In the striving, I think we create a better world.
Registration Now Open for 2012 STIHL Tour des Trees
Cycle Oregon in support of tree research and education.
Preserving Food Through Winter With a Homemade Root Pit
Judy Mimranek shares her father's time-tested tip for digging a root pit and covering it with layers of straw and cow manure in order to store fruits and vegetables through the winter.
Sun-Lite for Solar Greenhouse Application
Sun-Lite HP for greenhouse glazing provides excellent diffused light.
Alternative Currency
Building a vibrant local community through local economics and rural culture.
Start Early Seedlings, Get Bare Root Fruit Trees Now, Plant a Row for the Hungry
It's mid-February, time to start thinking about spring! Ira Wallace helps us make our garden plan, remember our perennials, and Plant a Row for the Hungry this year.
Tiny Birds and Tall Grasses
One of our most common grasses is limiting the bobwhite quail population, killing broodmares and their foals, rotting cow hooves, and cutting milk production.
Rancho Cappuccino Case Study: Does It Create Abundance?
When my wife and I consider whether Rancho Cappuccino helps create abundance, we need to look at all three underlying questions: Does it enhance natural resources, improving supply? Does it help reduce demand? And, does it help us embrace simplicity?
Johnny—from crippling shyness to king of the road
Timidity nearly doomed Johnny to a life sentence in the rescue kennel until one determined family saw through his issues to the dog he was meant to be.
Waste Not with This Composting Toilet
The Sun Mar composting toilet uses a first of its kind technology to deliver a pollution free and sanitary product.
Happiness Is Making Your Own Laundry Detergent
Homemade laundry detergent to save money and the environment.
The Art of Coffee Mug Selection
When you only drink one cup of coffee a day, the mug you use is pretty important.
Wise Time Use And Living Remote
How we avoid cabin fever by doing volunteer work and enjoying the beautiful outdoors.
Rancho Cappuccino Case Study: Is It Beautiful?
We're creating beauty more fundamentally, internally, by learning about the place, loving it and treating it with care. Year by year, its beauty is more compelling to us as we know it better. Beauty is, indeed, in the eye of the beholder.
4H Needs You
4-H is a youth organization that can be a great resource for skill-building in our communities. No matter what you do or what your interest, spending time with your local club is a worthy contribution.
Monsanto's False Advertising
Monsanto, the world's largest producer of genetically modified seeds and the toxic herbicides used to drench them, is calling itself a supporter of sustainability. You're kidding, right?
Choices - More On Choosing A Homestead Site
Comparing a covenant community against living rural without covenants.
Case Study One: The Farm, Rancho Cappuccino
Rancho Cappuccino is what we call our farm, 50 acres of tallgrass prairie a few miles outside Lawrence, Kansas. Farming is the reflection of our value system. Rancho Cappuccino is the vessel for our lives.
Have You Heard? Country Living Ain't So Quiet After All