Homesteading

Homesteading is more than tending a plot of land, it’s a mindset. You can homestead wherever you are. It’s about making do with what you have, and trying to be a net producer instead of a net consumer. Homemaking is an important way of providing for ourselves. Our homes become a place of comfort, socialization, and production as we learn how to become more self-sufficient.

Whether you live in a tiny apartment or on many acres in the country you can cultivate a homesteading mindset and learn homesteading skills.

Plum oat bars made from homemade plum jam sound like they should be complicated, but this is actually a pretty simple recipe.

Plum Oat Bars Recipe (From Homemade Jam!)

Plum oat bars made from homemade plum jam sound like they should be complicated, but this was actually a pretty ...

Pumpkin painting is a fun way to decorate for fall holidays. Go with a traditional jack o' lantern, a pretty patterns or some glam!

15+ Pumpkin Painting Ideas For Fun And Decoration

Pumpkin painting is a fun way to decorate for fall holidays. If you don't love the traditional jack o' lantern ...

Why Does Firewood Turn Black and Not Burn?

Have you ever been excited to sit next to a warm, crackling fire, but instead of a cozy glow your ...

This super simple baked beans recipe is made using ketchup and is perfect for days when you need to go to the store but haven't gone yet!

Ketchup Baked Beans

This super simple baked beans recipe is made using ketchup and is perfect for days when you need to go ...

How To Breed Sex Link Chickens

If you want to raise your own chickens, consider raising sex link chickens. This makes it easy to tell at ...

How To Use Bindweed When You’re Pulling It Out Anyway

Bindweed is an invasive, aggressive weed that is actually attractive and useful. Since you have to remove it anyway, you ...

It's possible to make a living from your land if you have the motivation. Here are some ideas on how you can make money homesteading.

How To Make Money Homesteading

My nine year old sometimes talks about being a farmer when he grows up. He has visions of growing his ...

What To Do If You Don’t Have A Root Cellar

A root cellar is so incredibly useful, especially if you are trying to store a year's worth of food that ...

Here are some firewood rack ideas you can use for your wood burning stove, fireplace, or an outdoor fire pit!

Firewood Rack Ideas

Whether you heat with a wood burning stove, use a fireplace for ambiance, or like to have an outdoor fire ...

Knowing that death is part of life doesn't make it easy to cope with. When faced with loss on the homestead, what's the best way to cope?

How To Cope With Loss On The Homestead

One of the well known sayings in homesteading is "where there's livestock, there's dead stock." Even knowing that death is ...

Firewood kindling is important for getting fires going quickly and without minimal fuss. Here's how to cut your own and start a fire with it.

Firewood Kindling Starts The Best Fires

If you've ever tried to start a fire without using kindling, you know it rarely goes well. Firewood kindling is ...

What are wasps good for? Are they useful at all or do they just sting? Turns out, they absolutely can be beneficial!

What Are Wasps Good For, Anyway?

What are wasps good for? Why do we have these flying, stinging insects, and are they useful at all? Turns ...

Do you need zero waste, cheap cloth napkins that are perfect for backyard summer barbecues? Here is a trick that you can use when hosting.

Super Duper Easy and Cheap Cloth Napkins

Do you need easy, zero waste, cheap cloth napkins that are perfect for backyard summer barbecues? When you have large ...

The hottest month of the year is tough on your backyard chickens, your summer garden, and other livestock. Here's how to survive!

How To Survive The Hottest Month On The Urban Homestead

July is typically the hottest month of the year around the world, which can be tough on your backyard chickens, ...

June is a great time to hang out outside and enjoy your yard. Here are 14 great ideas for your backyard that you can do in June!

14 Great Ideas for Your Backyard In June

June weather is perfect backyard weather for almost everywhere! In the south it's just starting to heat up, but isn't ...

Indoor plants are great for your health, beautify your surroundings, and are a great budget friendly decorating option.

How to Improve Home Interiors with Indoor Plants

Not only do container gardens solve a lot of problems we find in traditional outdoor gardens, you can improve home ...

You can make crochet socks! Add and decrease rows or stitches as needed to make your socks the size and shape that work for you.

How To Crochet Socks

Did you know you can crochet your own socks? I made a pair for my son and it wasn't nearly ...

Did you know that it's possible to live without a vacuum cleaner? Here are some tips and advice on how to keep your home clean without one.

How To Live Without a Vacuum

Did you know that it's possible to live without a vacuum cleaner? And your house could even be MORE clean? ...

If you've ever thought about line drying your clothes, give it a try! You might be surprised at how easy it is.

Line Drying Clothes is Really Easy

If you've been around for a while you know I'm a huge fan of line drying clothes. There are times ...

Having a firewood chopping block can be handy when you heat your home with a wood stove. Here's what you need to know about them.

Do You Need A Firewood Chopping Block?

If you heat your home with a wood stove, you will need a ready supply of firewood. While you can ...

Seasoned firewood has less than 20% moisture content. It will burn hotter, cleaner, and be easier to use in your wood stove.

What Is Seasoned Firewood?

When you heat your home with a wood burning stove, there are a few things you need to know. One ...

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Many of the visible signs of varroa mites are noticed much too late to save a colony. Here are some early indicators that you need to help your bees before it gets bad.

Do You Recognize these 3 Early Warning Signs of Varroa Mites?

Many of the visible signs of varroa mites are noticed much too late to save a colony. Here are some ...

Washing cloth diapers can seem intimidating and super gross, but it actually is not that hard. Here are some tips on how to make the process as easy and painless as possible.

Fast And Easy Tips For Washing Cloth Diapers

Washing cloth diapers can seem intimidating and super gross, but it actually is not that hard. Here are some tips ...

One of the best ways to save money when you have a baby is cloth diapering. Here's how to use the same set from newborn to potty training.

The Secret to Cloth Diapering from Newborn To Potty Training

One of the best ways to save money when you have a baby is to use cloth diapers. Cloth diapering ...

When you want to cut down on your water bill the easier you can make it, the better! Here are some water saving taps that are super easy to install.

Water Saving Taps That Are Easy To Install

When you want to cut down on your water bill and conserve water, the more streamlined and easy you can ...

Saving water is important for all of us. Here are some interesting water conservation facts to keep you motivated to save water!

19 Cool Water Conservation Facts

Saving water isn't the most exciting thing for everyone, but it can still be really cool. Here are some interesting ...

One important way to save water is to teach members of your household basic changes they can make. Here are some simple ways to save water for kids.

How To Save Water For Kids

It's a good idea to save water, especially if your goal is to live off a well or rainwater. One ...

Here are some tips on bug bite prevention and remedies to help you be able to take back your yard and use it without fear of pests.

Bug Bite Prevention and Remedies (Or How To Survive Mosquitoes!)

There are a few things that can really make your backyard an unpleasant place to be, and one of those ...

Most chicken owners will want to keep their flock contained and protected. Here's how to set up a chicken run for your backyard chickens!

How To Set Up A Chicken Run For Your Backyard Chickens

If you have chickens, they are going to want space in the daytime to run around and do their chicken ...

Water can seem like an unending resource, but water conservation is important! Here is how to conserve water and preserve this valuable resource.

Water Conservation At Home

Clean water is crucial to our survival. Without clean drinking water we would not live more than a few days ...

Can simple actions really make a difference? Here are 33 ways you can save the environment at home and start making simple habit changes.

33 Ways You Can Save The Environment

We all want to save the environment. (If you don't, you're probably on the wrong website. Just saying.) But what ...

There are lots of great reasons to install solar panels, and by making an informed decision you can decide is solar is right for you.

What You Need To Know About Solar Panels For Your Home

Most of us homesteading types dream of being energy independent and installing solar power. My husband and I purchased 28 ...

Life off the grid is incredibly rewarding but can be a difficult transition for newcomers. Here's how to overcome many of the biggest challenges.

Life Off The Grid: Seven of The Hardest Challenges and How To Overcome Them

If you have ever read about living off the land and escaping the craziness of modern life, you may have ...

Cats are a great solution to pest control on the homestead. Homestead cats are good hunters and decrease the rodent population.

Here’s Why Homestead Cats Are The Best

Cats are one of the best animals to have around the homestead. They have many different uses, they make great ...

Are Live Christmas Trees More Eco-Friendly Than Reusable?

Nobody wants to be Scrooge on Christmas (well sometimes I do), but did you know that your Christmas tree might ...

Just a few changes can make a big impact on how to save water and money. Make a few big changes to save more water and money with less effort!

How To Save Water And Money At The Same Time

Costs are increasing every day. Prices keep going up and up, and our budgets can't always keep going up with ...

Hard water and soft water are COMPLETELY different when it comes to using DIY laundry detergent. Here's how to make a powdered laundry soap that can handle hard water WITHOUT having to waste time grating!

How To Make Classic DIY Laundry Detergent With NO Grating!

We've all seen the numerous recipes over the years for DIY laundry detergent, and they seem to be a love ...

Save money on water in your garden by using rainwater in your garden! And you may even be able to use it for all your landscaping too!

Here’s How To Use Rainwater In Your Garden

Gardening doesn't have to be complicated, but there are a few things that you have to have to make it ...

Whether you are starting out you've been homesteading for a while, here are some tips on how to move to a new homestead.

How To Move To A New Homestead

Someday you may need to move to a new homestead. Maybe you are a first time homesteader and this will ...

Here are things you can do RIGHT NOW to get yourself ready so that you have the skills you need to move off the grid and homestead.

How To Get Ready To Be Off The Grid Without Feeling Helpless

A few years ago I had grand visions of selling our house in the city, building a tiny house for ...

In a drought? High water bills? Well running low? Here are some ways to save water and money on your bill.

20 Ways to Save Water And Cut Down Your Bill

Saving water is a great way to cut down on your water bill. (Use that extra money to buy some ...

Eeek! Your dog got skunked! He smells horrible and he's crying! What are you supposed to do now? Here's what ACTUALLY works!

What To Do When Your Dog Gets Skunked

Eeek! Your dog went out to use the grass and instead your dog gets skunked! He smells horrible and his ...

Here are some ways to keep warm (and happy too!) if you find yourself in the middle of winter without any heat in your house.

How To Keep Warm And Happy In Winter With No Heat

Wood stoves and central heat are awesome! Right up until they fail when there's several feet of snow on the ...

Need to save some money? Getting solar panels? Reducing your carbon footprint? Here are 17 ways to save electricity that you can do today.

17 Ways to Save Electricity (And Money Too!)

Perhaps you are worried about your carbon footprint, or maybe you are switching over to solar panels and need to ...

Living sustainably may be easier on a few acres in the country, but that doesn't mean you can't use all the resources around you!

Here’s How To Live Sustainably When You Have a Small Lot (Urban Permaculture Zone 4)

Living sustainably may be easier on a few acres in the country, but that doesn't mean you can't use all ...

Here's how to use soap nuts and make your laundry zero waste. It's completely plant based, leaves no residue, and is grey water safe!

How to Use Soap Nuts For Zero Waste Laundry!

How would you like to do your laundry with a completely plant based soap, that leaves no residue and is ...

A DIY composting toilet is easy to construct and maintain. All you need are a few basic supplies, and basic building skills.

How To Make Your Own DIY Composting Toilet

If you are longing to get off grid, a DIY composting toilet is simple to construct and use.I built an ...

Line drying clothes year round is possible with a few tips and tricks. You can line dry clothes indoors even when it's cold and wet outside.

How to Line Dry Clothes Indoors When Your Dryer Is Being Stupid

Maybe you woke up this morning and your dryer decided to be stupid. Perhaps you usually hang your clothes outside ...

Thinking about becoming a beekeeper? Here are four books to get you started raising bees.

4 Instructive Books For New Beekeepers

Have you ever thought about raising honey bees? Are you an urban beekeeper? Would you be nervous if your neighbor ...

With a little creativity and a bit of work, old broken concrete can be upcycled into unique urbanite hardscapes for your garden.

How To Recycle Concrete Into Urbanite For A Unique Garden

With a little creativity and some grunt work, beautiful paths, patios and other projects can be made by recycling unwanted ...

Brooms are awesome! Here's a list of 21 reasons why I love my broom.

21 Reasons Why I Love My Broom

I've always loved my broom much more than my vacuum cleaner. For a while, I even got rid of our ...

Heating with a wood burning stove is an eco-friendly, efficient, cost effective, and lovely way of keeping toasty in the winter months.

Here’s Why You Need To Get a Wood Burning Stove

There is nothing in the world like sitting next to a blazing fire reading a book or chatting with family ...

Here's how to mend a sheet to extend it's lifespan. It doesn't take long and it's always better to mend and reuse!.

How to Mend a Sheet

As a kid I always dreaded when company came because it meant I had to have the deer sheets on ...

When discouraged and your homesteading efforts fail, look for the bright spots. Here are some ways to keep going even when everything goes wrong.

Are You Discouraged? Homesteading Can Be Tough!

Do you ever feel discouraged? Maybe you feel there isn't any point in trying because it's all just too much! ...

Eco-friendly cleaning supplies don't have to be expensive or hard to find. Here are a few basic ones that will clean just about everything.

Eco-Friendly Cleaning Supplies That Are Cheap And Easy

Sometimes it seems like there's only two options, buy the not-so-eco-friendly cleaning supplies, or put a lot of time and ...

Can you be a homesteader? What if you live in the city? What about people who live in apartments? What exactly is a homesteader anyway?

Can You Be A Homesteader In The City?

Can you be a homesteader even when you live in the city? Well truthfully, you may be one already. Sometimes ...

Did you know you can grow your own silk from your own silkworms? Well you can! Here's how to raise your own silkworms.

How To Raise Silkworms

Did you know you can grow your own silk from your own silkworms? Well you can! Add silkworms to your ...

Broken washing machine? Need to save up for a new one? Here's how to hand wash your clothes instead of an expensive laundromat.

How To Hand Wash Your Clothes To Save Money

Did your washing machine kick the bucket and you need all your cash for the new one? Or maybe you ...

Make sure your wood stove is in great shape for winter. Here are some things to check before your first fire of the season.

4 Easy Things To Check On Your Wood Stove

Wood burning stoves are a great way to stay warm in the winter without being reliant on outside utility providers ...

If you are trying to be more self reliant, you may be considering going car free. What if you have kids? Can you be car free with kids?

Can You Be Car Free With Kids?

If you are trying to decrease your reliance on outside energy you may be considering going car free. Quite frankly ...

Olive oil lamps are a fun way to decrease your electrical bill, add mood lighting, and prepare for lights out emergencies.

Make Your Own Olive Oil Lamps

A fun way to decrease your electricity is to use olive oil lamps. Even if aren't trying to save money ...

Build a free rocket stove with materials headed for the garbage. Use it for a cheap and easy way to roast marshmallows, or keep on on hand for emergencies!

How To Make An Easy Rocket Stove For Free

I wanted an outdoor fire pit this summer, but we don't have a place on our small property to safely ...

Balancing Needs Through a Basic Routine

I tend to be a methodical person. I tend to do things in the same order each day. If I ...

Can you save money on your garbage bill? Here are some ways we cut down expenses with our garbage pickup.

8 Ways To Save Money On Your Garbage Bill

Some of the best ways to save money are by making slight changes in your daily habits. Little things can ...

One of the best things about heating with a wood stove is getting free wood. Spring and summer are the best time to find free firewood for winter.

10 Places To Look For Free Firewood

One of the best things about heating with a wood stove is getting free wood. Nobody ever walks up to ...

Here are some of the best tips on how to line dry clothes outside to save you money, and reduce wear and tear on your clothes.

Best Tips On How To Line Dry Clothes Outside

Line drying your clothes can save you a nice little bit of money on your electric bill. It also reduces ...

Whether you are a prepper, cultivating lost arts, or are really into DIY, making homemade soap from ashes is a great skill to have.

How To Make Homemade Soap From Ashes

There are a few things you just don't want to live without. Soap is definitely one of those things. Whether ...

Radical homemakers are empowering everyone to change the definition of success to value well-being and self-reliance.

Radical Homemakers Empower Us All. Will You Be One?

Our culture revolves around consumption, but that's not what life if all about! Radical homemakers are empowering everyone to change ...

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