Some absolutely hate having a broody hen. Others (me, me, me!) absolutely love it. When a hen goes broody, she’s ready to hunker down, hatch some eggs, and raise the next generation of flock members. For us, that means we don’t have to: Incubate eggs, Purchase chicks, Maintain a brooder, Or take special care of
Tag: Frugal Homesteading
Currently, I want a greenhouse. A big, beautiful, greenhouse. I want to be able to keep a salad garden thriving throughout the winter months without stalled growth, and potentially cool weather tomatoes as well (such as Sub-Arctic Plenty.) I imagine several beds on either side, lining the path to floor-ceiling shelving, which will hold my
If you’re in the eastern US, you have probably felt the chill of the latest polar plunge. This cold snap came very early and it set quite a few record lows, both for nighttime and daytime temperatures. What did this mean? It means our animals suffered a premature cold snap, and they weren’t very happy
So, you want to expand your seed collection, but you don’t know how. Or, you have thousands of one type of seed that you’ve saved (shout out the the Marigolds!), and you don’t want to see them go to waste. You only have so much gardening space and time, meaning your seed just keeps getting
Look, I love the dollar store. I am a frugal girl, always trying to find some sort of a cheap deal. I not only find tons of useful things at the dollar store, I also find and make uses for the things that I find! Is It Possible to Start Homesteading on a Dollar Store
So, I was recently asked a really good question: “What’s your favorite seed company? Why do you use that company for your homestead?” There’s a ton of places to buy seeds out there, a ton of great places, actually! I’ve bought seeds from: Baker Creek Burpee SeedsNow American Seed Co Ferry Morse Various eBay Sellers
Yay! We crossed 100 posts on the blog! Here’s to 1,000 more! Yesterday, I posted #100; it was so exciting to cross that threshold. I mean, I’ve been eyeballing those numbers for a few months. In celebration, I thought it would be fun to make a compilation post of my 10 favorite posts so far
The Battle Against Squash Vine Borers: Chapter One Squash Vine Borers get the best of us every year- they kill most of our squash plants before we can get a decent harvest of zucchini, yellow crookneck, pumpkin, and other hollow stemmed squashes. If your squash plants seem fine one day, then are wilted and dying
Alright, alright. I get it; for many of us, antiperspirant plays a major role in our daily lives. We may be human, but the stench we can produce can be unbearable for others. It’s embarrassing… the thought of skipping on a potent antiperspirant is terrifying at best. For some of us, these antiperspirants have become impossible to
For some plants, bolting, flowering, and producing seed is a bad thing for the gardener. Unless they’re saving seed, that is. Everyone dreads finding out that their lettuce or spinach has started to bolt; every year, we risk encountering bolted greens when spring arrives. Bolting is commonly associated with woody tubers, bitter greens, and reseeding.
Commercial feed can be expensive and unsustainable, especially for a family that is trying to reduce its dependence on modern conveniences. There are a couple of options for cheap, free, or pre-existing feed that many families could take advantage of to: slash their feed bills, reduce their dependence on outside sources of feed, and raise
With a new homestead comes lots of new challenges- for most people, they have to start entirely from scratch. For us, we purchased our home, had a baby, and we were faced with buying a new (to us) car within months of each other; therefore, getting our homestead up and running was quite the challenge, as
Lavender is such a versatile, therapeutic herb on the homestead; it is also deeply cherished throughout the farthest reaches of the modern and ancient world, being used medicinally, aromatically, and cosmetically. In France, lambs were released to graze upon Lavender, as it is believed to make the meat of a lamb more fragrant and tender (more
All of the leaves have disappeared from sight. The days are reaching their shortest length, and the chickens are our strongest evidence. We’ve had very few eggs for weeks; the primary chicken run is a muddy pit more often than not. The garden weeds have long been brown and dry; many already falling to the
New baby? Just bought your homestead? Still grinding through college? Whether your finances are tight or you’re simply adopting a frugal lifestyle, you can garden without spending money! Standard gardens do require a good bit of preparation and investment: building beds and buying pots, amending soil, purchasing seeds, buying pest control, adding garden tools…. it
Tomatoes are one of our most important crops that we grow! I’m sure you can agree, as they are used for so many different foods including: Tomato Pasta Sauce (paste tomatoes) Marinara and Pizza Sauce (paste tomatoes) Salsa (slicing tomatoes) Ketchup (slicing or cherry/grape tomatoes) Salads (cherry tomatoes) Sandwiches & Burgers (slicing tomatoes) …. We’ll
We tried out some White Nighting corn this year, a wonderful variety that reigns from Alabama. This corn variety was offered by Baker’s Creek, but they no longer have it available for sale. Thus, we shall save seed every year just in case we cannot find it again- because we enjoyed it! For us, we
Chickens are one of the most popular, iconic, flexible, and functional features of the historical homestead. Some modern homesteads only keep them for egg production and pets; but if your homestead is geared towards the historic style of self sufficiency (producing and making use of everything that your land can handle, including meat), you’re probably
Who doesn’t love an incredible hunk of freshly baked apple crisp, with a little bit of homemade, vanilla bean ice cream; Am I right, or am I right? Apple crisp is much easier to whip up at home than a pie is, and zucchinis are much easier to core and cut than apples are. They
You’ve probably heard about fermenting feed; it stretches feed, allows beneficial bacteria to grow, and increases digestibility. But have you heard about simply soaking your feed?! If you are currently feeding your chickens a layer or grower crumble (pellets, too!), even a specially ordered high quality organic feed, I cannot recommend soaking enough! Soaking has
Asparagus is one of my top veggies; it also happens to be one of the most expensive vegetables! Even the cheapest bunches at the local grocery stores ring in at $3 a pound; now, let’s not forget that you still have to cut the hardened, tough, browned, and woody ends off of your asparagus