Here are a few homesteading tips concerning homestead land use. Choosing a plot of land for homesteading and trying to find a suitable homestead house or home to live in is not an easy task.

Many of the available lands offered through a real estate agent are over priced and over-rated to bring the best possible price it can fetch.

Whenever something is sold on commission basis it becomes a sellers market. View many suitable sites before you buy.
I viewed an old homestead a few years ago whereby the realtor stated in the ad that it had a ‘lot of potential’. What was really meant is that it needed a lot of work and I commented that it had more potential in the front end of the blade on a bull dozer. The house was beyond repair and all the buildings were falling over. The land may have been usable but it was also over-priced at a time when local farmers were struggling to survive.

Talk To Local Farmers

Local farmers know the area better than anyone else and will be able to point you to someone that may have a plot of land suitable for you to purchase and you might be able to strike a bargain if they know you intend to homestead. This also applies to advice on many things. They probably tried just what you were thinking before and know if it will work or not.

Purchase Land With Amenities

Land that already has water, septic and electricity may prove to be a goldmine in the view of rapidly rising costs of materials and labor. Even if you choose to go solar/wind you may still want the backup electricity because of it’s clean operation compared to gas, diesel or propane generators and the maintenance that is often required.

Keep It Small

Purchasing large plots of land may be cheaper than a smaller acreage under 5-10 acres. However, 40-120 acres is sufficient for most homesteaders because the larger sections would require modernized machinery to work the land. One family should be able to buy 40 -80 acres including a wood lot if available and will still have plenty of land to grow crops and grains for all the livestock they would ever need on a small scale basis.

Build Small, Start Small

Too many people build mansions to live in that they can ill afford. You may wish to build a 20×20 log cabin to start out and expand as your family and/or finances grow

Have a few livestock the first year and slowly expand with cash on hand as the years progress. Find out what works for you and keep manageable.

*Remember: There is a balance between homesteading, your needs, your desires, and you do not want to create a ton of work for yourself. If you take on too much you will get discouraged and may end up losing it all due to financial pressure or stress.

Buy Older Farm Equipment

Modernization and the need for bigger and faster equipment puts the homesteader at an advantage for retired farm equipment sought at low prices. One small tractor or a team of horses will able to pull small equipment and little expense or maintenance would be needed. The bonus is that one stays away from lenders and interest rates.

Use Animals

Many people are returning to using draft animals such as horses and mules to pull smaller horse drawn equipment. In some cases they get a neighbor to plow with a tractor, and then they cultivate, seed and harvest with horse drawn machines.

Some Amish people have developed horse drawn equipment that uses a small Briggs and Stratton engine to turn the swather, or move the blade that cuts, or spread manure. The initial out lay of cash may be higher than with used equipment but will be suited for the job.

Summary

Carefully evaluate your needs. Machinery is expensive and buying feed may be cheaper in the long run. What you want on the homestead is food on your table, clothes on your back, and time to enjoy it all. Sometimes, successful homesteading requires a part-time job, to feed the animals that feed me. Profitability must always be taken seriously.

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How to Raise Cattle on Small Acreage? What You Need To Raise Cattle?
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Designing or purchasing your first homestead home on suitable land can be as simple or as complex as you wish. Every homestead will soon require a house to live in to protect you from the elements and give you a sense of security.

A few homesteading tips are:

1) stay within your budget
2) and your capabilities.

If you are fortunate enough to purchase a small homestead with adequate immediate housing at an affordable price then you did well.
There are a number of homesteaders who prefer to do their own thing. I have never been interested in buying someone’s else’s home or in favor of paying for someone else’s labor or over-inflated real estate ventures. There is just something uniquely wonderful and satisfying in building my own home.

Build Small

Build your first original home small. There are a number of good practical reasons for doing so.

Building costs have gone through the roof for materials and the labor is usually triple the cost of materials if one had to hire a contractor.

It will be more manageable to build within a short time frame.

It will cost less to heat and cool.

Build In Unorganized Areas

Building your home free of building inspectors puts you in a position to build as you like. Building inspectors go by the National Building Code and the problems with that in rural areas are simply that it is extremely unlikely you will regain your costs from building according to the book!

It also places you in a position whereby you are free to try new things such as straw bale homes, cord wood homes, cob homes or the traditional log home. All of these homes are frowned upon by insurance agencies, lenders, and home inspectors because lenders who insure homes want to sell insurance on homes that are built primarily of fire resistant materials. A.K.A – chemicals!

Insurance companies are in the business of selling insurance — not paying out on claims! Interestingly enough, all the alternative homes mentioned exceed or meet the fire codes but they are different from the norm and these people who control the industry do not like change.

Build Naturally

Building with natural materials may be the most cost-effective way to do things but will usually be more labor intensive than modern construction.
The goal is to stay away from the building stores. Manufactured goods are very pricey and may need to be replaced down the road. Insulation settles and gets wet. Shingles wear out. Tin roofing gets dented, the rubber on the screws deteriorate. Plastics melt and break. Drywall needs a lot of finish and paints, and will break especially if someone is being rough, kicks or punches the wall in anger.

All homes attract mice and insects due to its warmth and so the choice of materials makes no difference.

From personal experience I vote for logs, straw bale, and cord wood construction in that order. Logs require a lot of work, take time to shrink and settle but will last many years over quick build box housing if one takes time to preserve the logs. Straw homes are beautiful when finished and will also last many years with no need to replace insulation from settling. Cord wood is also very beautiful but requires two years drying of the wood before you build to eliminate shrinking and/or refilling the cracks. (This can be overcome by cutting deadwood or buying seasoned firewood)

Build Square

Having built a straw bale round house I encourage everyone to build square or rectangle. Why?

That is what people are used to and what they expect if reselling.

It will cost approximately 33% more to build round due to waste from cutoffs on plywood, shingles, and irregular style trusses.
It will take less time to build. If building with standard construction it is based on 4×8 sheets. So build eight foot high walls by four-foot increments lengthwise and have no waste.

Build Two Story

Unless you are crippled it makes sense to build two-story housing. Roofs are expensive and the one place where a lot of heat escapes in the winter or gets trapped in the summer causing over heating and the need for air conditioning.

One can also live downstairs while giving time to complete the upstairs. Once again — build it only as large as needed. The bedrooms are only for sleeping — so how big do they really need to be? The larger the home, the more heat or cooling required to keep it comfortable.

Build Above Ground Level

If you want a basement or a root cellar it is still advisable to build above ground level and bank soil around the basement to help keep it cool. This will prevent flooding and the need for submersible pumps.

My best choice would be to build the home into a hill, and using a small roof area, and membrane, back filling with straw or peat moss, followed by a small amount of dirt, and seed with wild grasses and wild flowers. That way I have a living roof with no shingles to replace, and it is cool in summer and warm in winter due to the slow transfer of heat.

Build Solar Passive

Unless you live in the tropics you want to make use of the sun for light and heat into your home. By making most of the windows on the south side you can have both.

In my round straw bale home I get the sun all day in the winter, and in the summer when the sun is high I get the light without the heat. One could also use shade trees if living in warmer climates. When winter comes and the leaves are off the trees you get the sun and the warmth it gives.
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[url=hhttps://elliotthomestead.com/magazine/]Homesteading Tips[/url] is a valuable resource from someone who lives the life on a homestead out in the country.

Many people find themselves dreaming about homesteading on their very own homestead farm. So here are some practical homesteading tips you can use before one engages themselves in a huge project with little understanding as to what lies ahead.

A dedicated homesteader is committed to keeping their life as free and as uncomplicated as possible. This means that the four basic ingredients for life become the motivating factors for all that we do.

The four basic ingredients are: food, water, clothing and shelter and they are at the very core of our existence.
Which of the four: ‘Food, water, clothing and shelter’ are more important?

Answering that question largely depends on the circumstances your are in today.

Homesteading Tip: Have a Written 3-5 Year Plan

Having a plan is the only way to start out homesteading. Doing so will keep small goals before you to motivate you to plunge forward. It will also help you to be realistic in your desire to homestead.

For example:

Do I want to keep a job while homesteading or do I want to break away from the workplace and live on the land full-time?
The answer to that question is enormous! A steady flow of money is required to build homes, fences, gardens and prepare the land ready for use.

Living off the land may require a surplus of money up front to ensure you have clothing, food, water, and housing in place to get off to a good start. That may mean a sizable bank account that will provide for at least six months of living costs or you will need income form somewhere.

Homesteading Tip: Avoid Borrowing

Banks love to lend money but it comes at a price. Modern homesteaders would do well to keep those pesky interest lovers away.

Here is something that you may never gave much thought. Banks actually commit fraud everyday. They lend you money they do not have. They actually create a promissory note based upon your signature. They actually make money off your signature without having to put up anything of their own in return. Based upon that signature the federal reserve or Bank of Canada borrows you the money, from money that they print “when needed”! That is fraud!

But, if you somehow have the rug pulled out from under you as in “hard times” the banks will take everything you own to repay that fraudulent loan. Think about it! Don’t borrow your way into slavery to a fraudulent corporation!
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more at
Top 7 Best Homesteading Books for Beginners
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Most people use natural gas, diesel oil, propane, kerosene or electricity to heat their homes. Most homesteaders will give you a few homesteading tips but this one will top them all.

• Switch from fossil fuels to other methods of heating your home!

In many cases, they have little choice living in the city. But, the prices are going to skyrocket within the next few years, which means you have to work harder to earn more money to pay for it all! Inflation and wages never seems to keep up.

The alternative for rural dwellers is wood heat. This source of heat will always be my favorite. It makes me feel warm, I can cook on it, I can bake with it, and it just seems more natural than burning fuels and paying commercial prices.

Home Made Wood Stove

The indoor stoves today are considered expensive but are more efficient than the ones used in the past. Gases can be recirculated to burn more efficiently and they are less prone to drafting when the door is opened.

Seasoned firewood is the best choice to get the most out of your wood and to keep the chimney clean and free from soot buildup.

However, there are some people who consider stoves to be messy. Fortunately, there are alternatives.

Go Geothermal

Geothermal heating is the new alternative. It recirculates heat from your home into a well or large pool, or ground area filled with another substance, and helps maintain even temperatures.

The return air is heated if necessary by means of an electrical heating unit. Because of the electrical unit they are not suitable for solar, wind or alternative electrical users.

Use Outdoor Stoves

An outdoor stove has one advantage over an indoor stove and that is cleanliness.

One other advantage is that you could burn any piece of wood that fits into the stove. Some people burn straw and hay or other waste material such as tightly packed newspapers.

The outdoor stove heats water in an open boiler and electrical grundfos pumps circulates the water into a hot water tank in the home and another pump circulates the water through water lines in the floor or radiators throughout the home.

Burn Pellets

Pellet stoves are the latest fashion. The pellets are made of compressed sawdust which was almost impossible to get rid of years ago. A hopper is used and it is much easier than cutting a supply of wood for the winter, but more costly. You could make your own pellets.

Convert To Corn

A Corn stove is installed into the home like a wood pellet stove but burns corn through the hopper instead of the pellets. Some stoves are designed to burn pellets or corn. Some higher end models may allow wood to be burned.

Use In Floor Radiant Heat

If you have power into your home you may want to consider quiet radiant heat. There are two ways of doing this.
The first way is through an electric water heater and a circulating pump pushing water through lines installed in the cement floor or attached under the floor along the joists. You could also use an On-Demand Water heater for this!

The second way is through electrical heat tapes placed under the tiles in your home.

Both methods radiate heat from the floor upwards into the home. When the floor feels warm – the whole house is warm.

The only drawback is that they take a long time to change temperatures.

Use Solar Water heaters

If you live in moderate climates it is possible to heat your home and your hot water with solar batch heaters fixed upon your south-facing roof or leaning against a south wall. A circulating pump will do the rest and you may only need moderate backup heat at night.

If you are on a tight budget you can build your own solar water heater for less than $100 dollars. You can make several over time and link them together for even more savings. Click here to find out for yourself.
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Electricity on the homestead farm is a necessity for various reasons. The biggest reason is that most of us are so accustomed to having and using electricity that we do not know how to live without it.

Here are a few homesteading tips you can use from a person who has lived off the grid since 1999 on a 40 acre farm. One soon learns how dependent we are on electricity when the power is in short supply.

Use The Power Line

This may seem obvious or atrocious to you. I live off the grid and the nearest power line is a full mile away. So bear with me.
The reason I did not have the power line brought to me is they want $30,000 dollars to do so, plus the monthly bills, and I cannot fetch the return on my investment if I sell. Privatization made getting the power unfeasible!

Therefore, I had no choice but to go solar and wind with backup generators and I did not have the budget to do all that was needed up front. So I used generators and a lot of fuel to get what I needed at first. I wore out or had four generators fail on me at a huge cost to me.

Most of the generators failed due to something going wrong on the electrical generator portion and nobody seems to know how to fix or find replacement parts for them. Most of the generators on the market are considered throw aways.

Generators are mechanical with electrical components joined together. If one fails, they both fail. They are costly and require a lot of maintenance which makes them a nuisance.

From this perspective I say use the power that is readily available. It Might Be cheaper than generators and the fuel needed to operate them.
Having said all the above, I am still very much in favor of solar, wind or alternative electricity.

Go Solar and Wind

While it may seem that I am wavering, I really am not. The weak link in my original system was not having enough cash to buy solar panels and windmills.

After a period of time I acquired my first four 125 watt solar panels and they were a great blessing.

Later, I added a home-made windmill and it also was a blessing on certain days and evenings.

I also purchased an expensive windmill only to find out that it performed no better than the one I built.

Once again, this fall I added eight more used 75 watt solar panels.

During the transition I purchased a used Sunfrost refrigerator for $500 and took out my very old propane fridge. I immediately saved $200 dollars a month on propane and it paid for itself in two and one half months.

Right now, I only need to use the generator in the winter months due to short days, and living in a low wind area.

We are also over-expending ourselves on using large TV’s and satellite receivers for the TV and internet. Soon I will be converting to smaller LCD TV’s and laptops to save even more on power.

Having said all the above I can emphatically state that I love living off the grid. There are times when the power goes out in the whole community for hours due to storms or scheduled maintenance and we are living our lives uninterrupted.

My neighbors are also now complaining about the increased costs of the electricity. They are being charged for environmental, delivery, monthly service charges, and then taxed on all that before they are charged for actual usage. The total charges for all of that is almost $100 dollars. The monthly bills for modest homes are well over $200 a month on equalized payments.

Shift To Solar Electricity

Even if you have a power line into your homestead it would do you well to install a grid connect inverter, and a few solar panels along with some batteries for storage.

While this may cost a lot up front analysts predict that energy costs are going to rise even further and a grid connect will at least reduce your monthly bill.

In addition, you may discover that you can live without the power line by being frugal. Solar fridges and freezers on the market today use so little power that you maybe pleasantly surprised.

Having used both wind and solar I am suggesting solar for these reasons:

1. No Moving Parts
2. No Towers or Guy wires
3. No Climbing
4. Wind Turbines only produce the rated power output in high winds.
5. Solar Panels are more cost-effective per watt.

A Wind Turbine is useful for additional power on windy days but not nearly as reliable as solar panels on sunny days, or maybe even cloudy days.
Most people want both for redundancy.

Shift To Alternative Electricity

There are a few people who are exploring new ways to generate alternative electricity. This method also requires the use of magnets and the ability to assemble purchased parts together. While this field of study is new its holds great potential for those already living off the grid or planning to live more remotely on homestead land.
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More tips:
How to Raise Cattle on Small Acreage? What You Need To Raise Cattle?
Top 5 Best Beekeeping eBooks for Beginners
The 8 Best Outdoor Clotheslines
morninghomestead.com

Wine making on the homestead has been a tradition for thousands of years. Natural occurring fruit will turn to wine quickly if left long enough in a batch container. Most wine only needs fresh fruit, the right kind of yeast, and natural or added sugar to achieve the desired sweetness.

By far, the most common wine is made from grapes. But, wine can be made from a variety of berries such as black berries, Saskatoons, choke cherries, flowers such as dandelions, rhubarb, and the list goes on.

Most people are familiar with red wine made from purple grapes, and white wine made from green grapes. The most common ones are offered in restaurants or liquor stores. But, you can obtain a greater selection of wine by visiting your local winery.

Basic Wine Making Instructions

Optional: You may use two or three different fruits for a different robust flavor.

Example is four gallons white grapes, and one gallon blackberries. Yummy!

5 gallons of fresh fully ripened crushed fruit. Some fruits may be frozen until sufficient amount is gathered.
5 tsp brewers yeast.
5 pounds sugar minimum. More if you like sweet wine.
2 gallons of bottled spring water.

Method:

Make sure fruit is crushed by some mechanical means such as a potato masher. Crush just enough to break open so that fruit makes contact with liquid and sugar.
Add sugar and mix.
Add water.
Stir in yeast.
Let sit in a covered crock or plastic pail.
Check daily and remove scum.
After five days, drain off liquid into carboy with oxygen vent, filled with water.
Let sit 10 days until bubbling subsides, make sure vent has water daily.
Drain off with siphon hose the top clear liquid into another container leaving dregs on the bopttom behine.
Place back into cleaned carboy, and allow to sit 5-10 days, making sure no bubbling exists.
Drain off clear liquid into pail. Check alcohol content and sugar content with floating hydrometer.
Adjust to suit alcohol content, taste and sweetness by adding more sugar and/or water.

Let stand another ten days. Rack clear wine into bottles and cork. Place in cool location.

* Note*

Some people use Camden tablets, tannin, and sulfides to prevent fermentation. This is not necessary if you want pure old fashioned wine. The trick is to have patience and wait longer before you bottle the wine. Store cool location.

The choice is yours. Ask around or check the internet and do what you are willing to live with.

See Also:
Beer Making Supplies near Me: Best Beer Brewing Starter Kits
Top 2 Best Fermentation Starter Kits
How to Ferment Foods? The Joy of Fermentation
5 Best Water Bath Canners, Best Pots For Canning

Today there is a lot of interest in living off the grid. Homesteaders with small budgets may discover that they are always conserving electricity and may fall short of their needs.

Someone with a larger budget would do well with a $25,000 system and may never need a generator.

Sizing Your Electrical System

Smaller systems most always require a back-up generator; which needs Fuel, oil and regular maintenance and repairs. Batteries also need maintenance and need to be replaced about every five to eight years. These hurdles can be very challenging for homesteaders on frugal budgets.
Wind turbines are an excellent source of energy if you live in the wide open prairie or a on a high hill where there are plenty of strong winds.

Most small wind generators are over-rated to make sales and do not deliver anywhere near the top rated capacity. Generally they are rated to produce 24 volts in high gusty winds but most days will produce 7-11 volts. Windmills also have a tendency to weather vane slowing down and speeding up thereby reducing its effectiveness.

From experience if I were to choose between a new set of solar panels or a wind mill, tower, and guy wires I would upgrade with solar panels.
Solar panels will still be your best choice even on cloudy days because there are no moving parts, no expensive towers, shorter cable runs, and no repairs.

In addition to the above statements; bargains can be found from dealers selling used panels at half the price, and with no taxes on used equipment all because some people upgrade and they have to be all the same!

Appearances don’t matter when I need power.
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Nothing beats cooking just like your grandma used to make. All of our recipes and cooking suggestions have been around for years, and they will be there for years to come.

Find out how to make Restaurant Style foods such as Kentucky Fried Chicken right at home.

In not so many words, homesteaders learn to rely more on what they are able to produce for themselves on the homestead farm. There will be a need to buy basics such as flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla, pasta, rice, and a few other essentials in order to prepare their own meals and also make preparations for the winter. After the first year or two, very little groceries should need to be purchased from town.

Homesteading can be hard work. A true homesteader plants a garden, raises a few animals for meat, may render their own Lard, bakes their own breads, pies and cakes; and stores food for the winter by means of butchering, canning, freezing, or the use of a root cellar. Many homesteader’s use a variety of these methods or all of them to preserve their food.

We have included a few of our own personal recipes below for your enjoyment. You may also wish to consider purchasing your very own homesteaders cookbook.
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See Also:
Top 7 Best Homesteading Books for Beginners
morninghomestead.com

Raising goats is one of the most rewarding homestead activities. You can raise goats for meat such as Boer goats or you can raise them for milk as with breeds such as Nubian, Saanen, Alpine, LaMancha and more.

For years, my family avoided eating goat meat or “chevon” as it is called. During a real hard financial time, I asked my wife if she would try it, and much to my surprise, she agreed. We both agreed that this was an excellent choice of meat, and was far superior to the wild game that I had been chasing for years.

With the increase of immigrants from other goat meat loving countries there is now a shortage of goat meat in both USA and Canada. People seeking to make additional income from their little homestead have found meat goats to be the right choice. They are excellent browsers and will clean up harmful weeds, nettles, brush and that cattle ans sheep will ignore.

For the self-sufficient homestead, goats are a better choice. Depending on the breed you choose, goats have given me a gallon of milk per day. Often we have so much milk that we have to make cheese or give it to the pigs or free range chickens mixed with their crushed grain.

Goat milk is far more healthy and although it tastes a bit different from cow’s milk, you get used to it, and later on prefer it. Goats milk fat globules are smaller and therefore the milk is “naturally homogenized”. Cow’s milk in comparison increases cholesterol in the bloodstream. Many people have known for years that if a baby is allergic to milk, give them goats milk and all will be alright.

One of the tricks to keeping goats milk from tasting strong is to make sure they are only grass or hay fed. Since you are not running a dairy and you are not trying to increase the milk quota, there is no need to feed grain. In addition, goats were not meant to eat grain and grain has caused bloating and death.

Goats are sociable herd animals and therefore it is best to have a few of them around in case you get too busy to give them attention. I prefer never to buy a wild goat because they are difficult to handle. Running away is a sure sign that they have not had much human handling.

Particular, with milk goats, you want them to be of a docile nature, and willingly come to you for the twice daily milking.
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More at
Goat Facts – 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Goats
Getting Goats 101: Beginner Tips and Practices
How to Raise Cattle on Small Acreage? What You Need To Raise Cattle?
https://morninghomestead.com
https://www.instapaper.com/p/keeplearning
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goat_farming

Free Range Chickens are a must on every homestead.

They by nature like to scratch the ground for bugs, greens, and grain. By doing so they get all the nutrients that they need and are healthier than caged birds. Chickens are easy to raise and provide both meat and income for the homesteader.

Why are chickens valued on the Homestead?

In addition to providing food on the table, they also supply you with eggs. Six hens will supply you with roughly two and one half dozen eggs a week. When I kept records, my egg sales paid for my store bought feed. Any eggs and meat I enjoyed were my profits.

Raising Chicks

We buy our chicks only a few days old. They require a heat lamp to keep warm, and they need to be fed chicken starter for the first few weeks. Then I start mixing crushed grain such as barley, oats, wheat, or combination thereof such as half and half for three weeks. After that they get just the grain and are allowed to free range.

Here is a short video clip of Isa chickens (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piuDzMPwtUs ) inside a smaller pen for the night time mostly. Some people claim that Isa’s will lay themselves to death without purchased feed. That is simply not true. I was raised on a farm and all we ever gave chickens was mixed crushed grains combined with water. If we noticed the shells were getting soft, we would supply oyster shells or gravel.
Isa chickens are my personal favorite for temperament as you can pick them up to pet, egg laying capability, and meat. We tried raising leghorns and they are frightful, and require lots of hormone feeds to get to the size your used to from the store.

Some people build fences, while others have moving hen houses comprised of solid wood construction or tarpaulin type. Your choice depends upon the amount of land you have, and your time factor. Remember: fencing can be expensive!

Since I have 80 acres I prefer to provide about one acre that includes some bush for shade, and I use stucco wire for my fence. That keeps the chickens inside the fence along with the goats or sheep that I may have at the time. It cost me more but chasing goats can be frustrating when they get out, and I prefer to keep the chicken droppings confined to the barn area, than on my doorstep.

My family also noticed that the pig, chickens, and goats enjoyed each others company. However, the pig will root and make a mess, so it is best to have them confined to a ‘fence within a fence’!

Learn How To Build Your Own Chicken Coop

This is the perfect solution for people with small grassy areas, suburbs, and people who enjoy having the chickens close to the house. These chicken coops are small enough for a few birds and could be turned into a tractor coop with the addition of wheels or skids, that one could pull with a small garden tractor.

Garden tractors are really suited for people with small areas such as suburban. I have seen people in the country using chicken tractors due to the cost of fencing. My only problem with these tractors is that the chickens cannot freely run if the y choose to do so. However, the less they run, I suppose the more meat they gain. I guess it all depends upon what you want.
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On Saturday, we brought home six new laying hens — pullets, really, that will hopefully start laying in a few weeks. These particular birds are Rhode Islands Whites, like the Rhode Island Reds, I was told, just white. While they aren’t as cute as my sisters’ brown speckled Barred Rock mix hens, they will hopefully do the job just as well. This is a mini-flock for us, but will keep us in eggs very nicely with some left over to sell.

Our egg laying chicken operation is a frugal venture. My husband made the chicken coop from leftover plywood, lumber and fasteners. We’ll feed the hens laying mash as well as appropriate table scraps and whatever grass, leaves and bugs they can find as they free range in the spring and summer.

We paid $8 per laying hen and I calculate that with feed included, they will pay for themselves within the first few months and then be a net gain every month thereafter. As this article notes, it’s sometime hard to find laying hens for sale, especially in the springtime. I imagine it will be especially difficult this year. The farmer who sold us the chickens noted that after placing the ad, he has received more call than he can handle for the several hundred birds he has for sale. The woman who rang up my grain purchase at the feed store commented that there has been a big increase in sales for chicken-related items and it’s not even spring yet.

New to raising chickens? Learn the basics on our Chickens page on the main Frugal Homesteading site.

Chickens are fairly low-maintenance. I feed and water them once daily, and shut their coop at night after they’ve gone inside to roost. I’m weary of predators getting in there, even though the chicken yard surrounding the coop is fenced with chicken wire. As my oldest son grows, he will inherit some of the chicken duties and I imagine he’ll enjoying the responsibility of collecting the eggs.

Do you raise chickens? Are you interested in having a backyard flock to save money on eggs or meat?
Learn more here: Raising Chicken For Eggs And Meat: A Complete Guide For Beginners
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We have a new feeder piglet, which we’re raising for meat purposes. She adjusted to her new surroundings quickly, seeming to appreciate the company of our rooster and laying hens even without the companionship of her brothers and sisters. We got her from my sister, who raises pastured poultry and free range pork.

Our young pig also seemed delighted with the chance to root around a new environment and we frequently see her chewing on roots she’s unearthed. These pictures are from her first day in the coop, but within a couple days, the whole pen was neatly plowed.

The chickens, a little skittish of her at first, have come around to more of an acceptance of their new companion, and don’t hesitate to follow after her as she roots, scratching in the freshly-turned soil for bugs, larvae and worms.

The children have also enjoyed our newest animal, especially since it’s our first four-legged farm creature. But there was one protestation –
My four-year old son, Patrick, came running into the house distraught after we’d had the pig for only a few hours.

“Mama, Mama, I’m not going to let Daddy kill our pig! I don’t want her deaded!”

My husband explained that every animal has a job to do, and hers right now is to eat and get big and be enjoyed by the family, but that one day her job will be to feed hungry bellies — including Patrick’s. I’m not sure he was entirely satisfied with the answer, but knowing it’s not going to happen in the next few weeks or months seemed to reassure him.

We’ve butchered pigs in the past — down at my parents’ farm and with my sister and her husband — but this will be the first time we do our own. Honestly, I’d rather take her to the local rural butcher and have it come back in neat packages and pre-spiced sausage, but my husband feels doing it ourselves is good practice and lends to a greater degree of self-sufficiency. We’ll see if he’s still sure about that when she’s a couple hundred pounds.

Have you raised a pig for meat? Did you butcher it yourself or take it to the professionals?

Learn more at: The Elliott Homestead
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More at morninghomestead.com

With gas at almost $140 a barrel, already-high food prices will continue to rise as the cost of transporting goods increases even more. Record gas prices will translate into record food prices, since virtually everything most Americans eat is shipped to them from far away. How can you combat high food prices and stagflation on a budget?

Sure, you can stock up on groceries and watch the sales for the best deals, but even the sales aren’t as low as they used to be.
You can try container gardening and keeping a few laying hens for eggs, but even this isn’t practical for many city dwellers, frequent travelers and those with shady yards.

The real solution is simple, in my opinion.

Eat local food. With the high cost of transportation, from trucking lines to cargo ships and transport trains, eating local produce and buying local foods has never looked so good.

I prefer to eat local foods simply from a nutritional stand point, since I like to find organic farmers nearby for the freshest, most healthful foods, but now it looks like it will make the most sense economically, too.

Check out https://elliotthomestead.com and Local Harvest for food producer listings in your area. You can also get more leads through the Weston A. Price Foundation local chapter directory. Contact your local foundation chapter leader and get hooked up with natural food buying clubs and farmers close to you. Many farmers, especially Amish or small operations, don’t have websites and you might not otherwise know they’re doing business right near you.

Because local food is not shipped hundreds and even thousands of miles, the cost is often less than similar items in the grocery stores. I buy local grass-fed beef for $3.87 a pound (packaged price) by buying a side of beef at a time. You know you can’t get sirloin steak for those prices anywhere else. Did I mention the fillet mignon? Even lean organic hamburger at $3.87 a pound is hard to find.

What is grown in your region? Could you buy it through non-supermarket sources and save on money? Apples never dip below $0.99/ pound in the grocery stores. However, in-season apples cost me $0.69/ pound from the local orchard. Off-season, I pay $0.89/pound through a nearby co-op that stores locally grown apples through the winter.

What if local sources are still pricier than the grocery store? In some cases, you’ll pay more for local natural products than you will for commercial items in the store. For example, my friends sell pastured chicken to local customers for $3/ pound. While this seems high to those of us used to el-cheapo poultry from the stores, I do think it is worth every penny. Even if you disagree, you might want to buy local food anyway, and here’s why.

For local food sources to thrive, people need to support it now. If gas prices never go down and we’re stuck with high and higher prices for driving and shipping, transported food will rise drastically. If local food sources are not established now, they won’t be there to fall back on when rising grocery prices force families to live on tighter and tighter budgets.

Also consider the case of emergency scenarios, such as the Katrina disaster, or possible situations where transit were to halt. Communities with local food production and a network of local buying and selling would survive. Towns completely dependent on shipped food would not.

What’s your opinion? Should the frugal consumer find the cheapest food available, or buy from local producers? I’d love to hear your thoughts in my comments section, below.
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more at morninghomestead.com

What is frugal homesteading? Why would people prefer to raise their own poultry rather than buy eggs and chicken meat from the store? How is planting fruit trees a hedge against inflation and scarcity? The answers to these questions are as varied as those who (many unwittingly) are part of the back-to-the-land movement. This current trend has captured many and is inspiring families to produce some or much of their own food, energy and shelter needs.

Moved by a desire for the best possible nutrition, some families raise their own natural foods, from heirloom organic tomatoes and grass-based milk dairies to heritage breed pigs fed natural diets. The health benefits alone make this endeavor worthwhile for many, with the social and personal aspects simply added bonuses.

Survivalists work to be prepared against any imaginable disaster, man-made or natural, and many build complex, self-sustaining homesteads with their own power and energy sources as well as food production. Whether the danger be a flood or tornado or a nuclear attack or economic collapse, these homesteading families and groups intend to survive and even thrive because of their skills, advanced preparations and supplies.

In a bad economy, whether it's a regional recession or a country-wide prolonged economic depression, survival for many will depend on their ability to grow and produce some of their own food and energy needs. Many frugal homesteading families are inspired by economic reasons, as a way to beat rising costs for food and to save money.

Frugal Homesteading: Getting Started

If you're new to gardening, growing your own food, and living a frugal, simple lifestyle, welcome to the journey! There is so much to do and learn, and it can be quite enjoyable. You may find that life feels more real when you step back from the business of a career and the stress of travel to find peace in your home and garden. Bring your family along for the journey and make frugal homesteading a group effort--no matter what your level of interest and commitment.
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Learn more at: morninghomestead.com

I think I finally found the perfect Roast Chicken recipe. Between lemon, butter, rosemary and thyme, as well as the organic chicken, there’s a lot to love.

When I took these pictures, I was making four chickens for three meals at one time — two chicken dinners for new moms in our parish, and one 2-chicken dinner for us and my visiting in-laws.

The main ingredients are chicken, softened butter, whole lemons, fresh rosemary sprigs, fresh thyme, and a little salt and pepper.

Start by zesting the lemons and mincing the herbs. Add lemon zest and herbs to the softened butter.

Mix together the butter mix (I used my hands while wearing culinary gloves) until it’s well blended.

Juice the lemons.

Rub the butter mix under the skin, into the cavities, on the outside of the chicken, in its creases — basically, all over until you run out of butter.
Pour the lemon juice over the chicken and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place lemon halves and 2 rosemary sprigs in the cavity. Bake at 425 (regular) or 400 (convection) for 45 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes (depending on size of chicken).

Or, add a homemade seasoned rice mix, veggies or other sides and deliver to a family near you to cook at their convenience. This simple recipe and the make-ahead method has been a huge breakthrough for me in making meals for moms. In addition to the two I made when taking these pictures, I recently made another four chicken dinners this way, delivering three in one day and freezing the other for later use.

As we prepare for our own new baby, I am looking forward to making this and other recipes and stocking up our freezer.

Recipe for Once Roast Chicken

• 1 whole chicken, pat dry
• 2/3 cup butter, soft
• 3 lemons
• 3 sprigs rosemary
• 2 sprigs thyme
• Salt & pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Zest two lemons.
3. Finely chop leaves from one sprig rosemary and one sprig thyme.
4. Combine butter, lemon zest, herbs and salt/pepper in a bowl, mixing well.
5. Smear butter mixture in and on the chicken.
6. Cut lemons in half and juice one, pouring juice over the chicken.
7. Fill cavity with lemon halves and remaining herb sprigs.
8. Roast chicken for 45 minute to 1 hr 15 minutes, until 165 degrees F.
9. Carve and serve!

Thanks to the Pioneer Woman for the original recipe, and to my husband for helping me make meals for new moms in record time.

See Also:
5 Best Water Bath Canners, Best Pots For Canning
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More at: morninghomestead.com

I’ve never tried keeping bees on my own, but have thought about beginning beekeeping for some time. Local honey is incredibly beneficial nutritionally speaking, not to mention delicious. Additionally, I would be able to harvest honey from my own hives without heating it (raw honey has the most benefits). However, we’ve lived within a homeowners’ association since owning property and while we may have been able to get away with honeybees all along, we don’t really want to test our neighbors’ patience any further — they’ve already been more than kind about our backyard chickens.

My dad has been a beekeeper for decades. He harvested and sold his bees’ honey for many years, but now has retired to backyard beekeeping for the honey and to enjoy his hobby. From his many years of keeping bees both professionally and on a smaller scale, Dad is a wealth of information and wisdom on beekeeping. His insights range from the most practical suggestions to the more philosophical musings. It is my wish to begin a hive of my own with my dad’s mentoring when we move to our next property and are able to expand our homesteading efforts through a larger garden and more animals.

For those who garden for food or have an orchard, keeping honeybees is one way to help ensure that bee-pollinated plants are able to maximize production. One’s own hives are an ideal way to increase self-sufficiency by assuring better crop pollination, as well as with the production of honey: a sweetener, natural antibiotic, allergy suppressant, and key ingredient in many home remedies.

Have you considered beekeeping, as a hobby or for the honey, or a side income through honey sales?
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More at: https://morninghomestead.com/beekeeping
https://elliotthomestead.com/beekeeping-everything-need-know-get-started/
https://elliotthomestead.com/essential-beekeeping-equipment/

1. It’s cold outside. Really, really cold (-8 overnight low is not typical for us here in VA) and our 7 inches of snow from days ago hasn’t melted a bit. Thus, planning a garden with a wool blanket over my lap and a coffee mug in hand is partially therapeutic in addition to being practical. I love paging through the heirloom seed catalogs as part of my planning. It’s going to be a challenge to garden organically and keep away all the pests, not to mention deer, but the pictures in the seed catalogs are intoxicating.

2. I read Rich Dad, Poor Dad yesterday, in just a few hours. I’d picked it up years ago but we were doing Dave Ramsey to get out of debt then and for whatever reason I put it back down after only a couple chapters. Mad at myself for that now, but the second best time to start is today, so here goes. Takeaway: Acquire income-producing assets. Do not work for wages your whole life; use your wages to build your assets and thus financial independence. I think I have one small asset, a set of articles on a large company’s website earning royalties — it’s only $50-$100 a month, but it’s 100% passive. And it’s a start. Next step: research potential assets and find a way to buy them.

3. One by one, I am organizing my closets. We’ve only been here six months, but deep cleaning is still needed. The first one I tackled was the pantry. I love organizing with wire baskets. And yes, I even made all the plastic bags showing in the organizer on the right the same grey color.

4. Little Thad (2.5) has had a fever at night for four days running. After day one, he was typically okay during the day, but very clingy. We don’t dose fevers with Tylenol or anything that would reduce them — believing that the fever is healing the body and working to rid it of virus or infection. I just wish this one would work more quickly, already.

5. I read an article about a Dad of 12 Who Made Them All Work Hard (ok, the real title was Made Sure They Could All Pay for College) and it’s worth the quick read if you have a moment. Takeaway:

“Even though we have sufficient money, we have not helped the children buy homes, pay for education, pay for weddings (yes, we do not pay for weddings either). We have provided extensive information on how to do it or how to buy rental units and use equity to grow wealth.” Hmmmm…..

6. I’m going through clothing bins ahead of the spring kids’ consignment sale in my area. My goal each season is to cover my shopping trip (which is in the hundreds of dollars for five kids’ clothes, shoes, etc.) with the earnings from whatever I sell at the same event. We do hand-me-downs from one child to the next IF the items are in good shape, correct size, and right for the next child. But I purge a ton each season too, clothes that are stained or ripped or missing matches or not what I like. Obviously the damaged clothes are not the ones I sell. I do pick up extras throughout the year at yard sales etc. to resell.

7. I made sourdough pizza crust Saturday night and it was delish. I’ll have to post the recipe later this week, as I actually measured flour and wrote down exactly how much of each ingredient I used. And it turned out great — no added yeast, just the sourdough starter, water, flour, salt and olive oil.

Those are my quick takes from the week — would love to read yours, so leave a comment and I’ll check out your blog.

See Also:
Best Rubber Boots For Farm Work (Men And Women)
7 Best Dump Carts For Lawn and Garden Tractor
Best Crops for Fall Gardening
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more at morninghomestead.com

Many Americans are turning to gardening as a way to raise some of their own food over the summer and ease the strain of high grocery prices, which are affecting more and more families on tight budgets. Candace at Garden of Blessings suggests Gardening for Snowflakes, which those clued in to the Snowflake idea recognize as a way to save large and small bits of money to apply to one’s debt snowball or savings fund.

I’ve started more seedlings and container garden plants this spring than any year previously since I left my family’s farm and went to college at age 17. My motivation is part culinary and part financial. If I can grow my own tomatoes, we can enjoy their delicious fruits all summer. But if I don’t, I don’t know if I’ll be able to afford to buy them from someone else.

There are many ways to save money as you garden. I spent less than $25 on my garden last year and had hundreds of plants with an incredible harvest. Maybe I cheated, since a dear friend shared many seeds and plants with me, but you can cheat, too. Here are some frugal gardening tips I’ve discovered along the way.

Free soil. My sister brought me two truckloads of composted horse manure mixed with soil, from the barn where she works. There was no charge, as the owners were happy to send the soil along and make room for new manure.

Compost. We’ve been composting kitchen and garden scraps for years, turning egg shells, vegetable waste and leaves into rich soil. We keep a 2-gallon food storage container by the sink to collect scraps, but you could buy a fancier compost pail if you’re so inclined.

Recycled containers. My container garden includes wooden pear crates form the grocery store, waxed boxes from another store’s garbage, and free pots I inherited from friends and past landscaping projects. I made a strawberry bed using old bricks I found in our yard when we bought the place. I found several old metal pots in someone’s trash pile, and after my husband drills holes in the bottoms they’ll be put to use as planters.

Natural fertilizer. I bought seaweed fertilizer instead of chemical mixes, mainly to remain organic and with the added benefit of saving money.
Rainwater. I recently collected rainwater from our downspouts in several coolers. I stored the water in them for a few days before the garden needed to be watered, and filled my watering can enough times to water the entire garden.

Manure. Chicken manure and horse manure can usually be gotten for nothing or next to nothing from farmers and barns with more than they can handle or effectively compost.

Seeds. A kind friend gave me a large variety of extra seeds, and I bought seed potatoes online. They’re heirlooms, but I got them for less than they were at the large heirloom seeds company, Seed Savers. Save your own non-hybrid seeds form year to year from the harvest and you’ll spend even less.

Are you a frugal gardener? How do you save money as you grow your own fruits, vegetables and flowers?

Learn More At: The Elliott Homestead
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Read more: morninghomestead.com

Frugality doesn’t go on vacation for the summer, especially in tough economic times. So what’s a mom (or dad) to do with youngsters home for the summer?

Your best bet is to seek out free and cheap activities that can be enjoyed as a family. Most summer camps and programs are quite pricey, and out of budget for many. Instead of springing for a program you can’t afford, give your kids some responsibility when it comes to choosing meaningful summer activities.

Water recreation is the quintessential heat-beater and timeless summer past time. Swimming, canoing, snorkeling and rafting can be relatively cheap depending on what is close to you and what equipment you own. Look for free water sites, such as state parks, local river access and public beaches. Bathing suits and towels are all you need for hours of fun.

Free museums make for a fun and educational outing, and the air conditioned atmosphere will be a welcome relief on sweltering days. Contact your local chamber of commerce to find out what’s nearby — saving on gas is key to frugal summers.
Try involving your children in the family garden by allowing them to tend and plant their own little patch. Work the garden in the early morning or early evening to avoid the heat of the day.

Crafts and art are great for keeping kids indoor during the intense sun and heat of midday. Craft materials can be cheap or even free if you’re creative. I buy extra paint, crayons, markers, glue and colored pencils when they are at dirt-cheap back-to-school loss-leader prices in late August and early September.

Fruit Picking in the early morning or late afternoon is enjoyed by my kids throughout the summer. We pick Strawberries in May, cherries in June, blueberries in July, peaches in August and apples in September. Our favorite place to go is Hartland Orchard in Virginia.

Have any ideas for a fun, frugal summer? I’d love to hear your tips.
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More at:
https://elliotthomestead.com
morninghomestead.com

We’re turning part of our lawn into a vegetable garden.

Blessed with a large, relatively flat backyard (and there’s no front yard to speak of; it’s mostly trees and very shaded) we decided to utilize some of the land for growing tomatoes, peppers, squash and melons this year. The area used as a garden by the previous inhabitants is actually one of the most shaded areas, and we’ve already turned it into our chicken run and, more recently, pigpen.

So, we looked to the area between the kids’ playsets and the animals to do our planting. It’s a perfect spot — nearly full sun all day, good soil, within reach of the garden hose.

We’re definitely starting simply on the gardening front. A dozen heirloom tomato plants, a few peppers, several squash and six cantaloupe plants round out our selection of productive plants

My husband, John, dug holes in the lawn, we removed the sod, and mixed the existing soil with a large shovelful of the rich, pig- and chicken-manure-enriched dirt from the animal pen before planting the seedlings.

If we have enough tomatoes, I’ll use this spaghetti sauce canning recipe to preserve some for the winter months ahead.

How does your garden grow?

Effective food preservation is cornerstone to a succesful frugal homestead. Common food preservaton techniques include home canning, drying or deydrating, freezing, salt-curing, smoking, and fermenting. Milk is preserved by cheesmaking, and grains, beans and legumes stored properly have lengthy storage lives without further efforts.

When complete, this page will feature an overview of food preservation methods, with links and resources to related material.

Home Canning Recipes

Home canning is an excellent way to store the harvet's bounty in any season for use throughout the yhear. The home canner can safely preserve high-acid fruits in a waterbath with no need for a pressure canner. For low-acid vegetables and meats or grains, a pressure canner and strict adherence to canning requirements is crucial to avoid tainted food.

Home Canning Recipes and Information (to come):

• About Canning Tomatoes
• Green Tomatoes Canning Recipes
• Canning Salsa
• Canning Peaches
• Canning Green Beans
• Canning Vegetables
• Canning Appe Sauce
• Canning Roasted Peppers
• Canning Pumpkin
• How to Can Pears
• Tips on Pressure Canning

If you have never canned before, you may be aprehensive about the food safety issues involved. In this case, start with high-acid-content fruits such as berries, apples and peaches. Botchulism can not row in acidic enviroments and fruits are the safest items to can. Once you are ocnfident in this area, branch out to other food items, being sure to follow canning guidelines exactly.

Dehydrating

Food dehydrating is an excellent way to preserve tomatoes, apples, bananas and scores of other fruits and vegetables. The good thing about properly dehydrated foods is that they take up very little space and can be stored at room temperature. Other than slicing and preparing the fruit, there is very little work involved in the process. Sun or dry heat does most of the work.

Check back for:

• Dehydrating Fruit
• Dehydrating Food
• Dehydrating Apples
• Tips for Dehydrating Foods
• Food Dehydrating Recipes

Other Food Preservation Techniques

• Lactic acid fermentation
• Cheesemaking
• Beef Jerky

References:
https://elliotthomestead.com/make-cheese/
https://elliotthomestead.com/fermentools-contest/

Spend my hard earned money on synthetic perfumes and pretty packaging? Not this lady. The fancy blue, pink or purple bath salts you see at the store wrapped in a pretty ribbon, are filled with chemical dyes and scents. Depending on the type of salt used, a one pound jar can cost $10 or more. Or how about those new laundry 'crystals' so many are raving about? Same thing. Nice packaging and a whole lot of chemicals for too much money. Why not make your own?

Both the bath salts and laundry crystals can be made with the same ingredients. Epsom salt and essential oils. That's it.
Here's how I make mine. I take about a quart of epsom salt and pour into a bowl. I then add 40-60 drops of essential oils. I prefer the combo of lemon, orange, and lavender. Clean and not too flowery. You can choose whatever oils you like. I use about 20 drops of each. Simply add your oil(s) drop by drop to the salt and mix for a minute or two. Done! Now, I split my mixture into 2 tightly lidded containers. One for the laundry and one for the bath. You may want to make different scents for each, but I like to keep it simple. The salt will smell strong in the container, but not so much when used.

For bathing, pour a cup of your salt under the running water. Relax in the tub and let it do its magic for your skin, muscles, and mind. For the laundry, I use about 1/8 of a cup for smaller loads (a coffee scoop is perfect size), but double it for large loads. Your clothes will come out nice and soft and lightly scented.

Why break the bank for life's little luxuries when you can make a healthy, natural product for less than half the cost? Enjoy!

Ever have one of those days when you want something really good, but can't find anything you want in the house? Yep, me too. All I could find during one of my 'times' was a box of cook 'n serve vanilla pudding. I don't like vanilla pudding. I must have bought it for a recipe that was never made. Time to get creative.

I like tapioca and am especially fond of rice pudding. Hmmm. I decided that I would doctor it up like I do other stuff. While the pudding cooked (4 serving size box), I gathered other ingredients. Blackstrap molasses, cinnamon, nutmeg, and homemade vanilla extract. Shortly before the pudding came to a boil I added a teaspoon or so of cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg. Once it started to boil I added a teaspoon of molasses and mixed well. As soon as I took it off the heat I added a tablespoon of vanilla and gave it another good stir.

Cautiously, I took my first spoonful. I wasn't sure it would be good. Did I use too much cinnamon? Should I have only added half a teaspoon of molasses? Well, my worry was for naught. This creamy concoction was delicious! No fake vanilla flavored pudding here! It was perfectly spiced yumminess. I decided it was nutritious, too. Two cups of milk, molasses, spices.....much better than a couple of store bought cookies.

• 1 pkg 4 serving vanilla pudding
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon blackstrap molasses
• 1 tablespoon good vanilla extract

Slowly add pudding mixture to cold milk in medium saucepan over medium-low heat.Stir to combine well. As it heats up stir continuously so it doesn't stick. As it starts to thicken, before it boils, stir in the cinnamon and nutmeg. Once it boils, stir in molasses. Let boil for a minute stirring constantly. Take off heat and mix in vanilla. Enjoy!

More at: https://elliotthomestead.com/make-cheese/

2 oz spray bottle
20 drops tea tree essential oil
15 drops lavender essential oil
15 drops lemon essential oil
10 drops peppermint essential oil
1 tsp carrier oil (olive, apricot, grapeseed)
water

Add oils to clean spray bottle. Fill with fresh water. Shake. Spray liberally from feet up before going outside. Spray on hands to apply to face, if
needed. Avoid eye area.

Seems like every summer I sing the praises of witch hazel to my kids, but do they listen? Not so much. They have more important things to do than listen to yet another speech on herbs from their mom. Maybe they are tucking away that info in the backs of their minds for a day when they deem it needed. I can only hope. The daughter has taken my advice somewhat as I often see a bottle of witch hazel sitting out and a cotton pad in the trash. Like most teens, she gets acne fairly often. A swipe of witch hazel to a sweaty, oily face can do wonders.

You see, the leaves and bark in the witch hazel shrub are rich in tannins. Tannins are astringent, meaning they help to dry, tighten, and shrink. Great for an oily face! A bit of witch hazel on a cotton ball will suck up excess oil (sweat and dirt, too) while tightening and shrinking pores. It is also has anti-inflammatory properties so it helps to shrink the swelling of pimples. But that's not all this lovely herb can do....

Witch hazel is also used for:

• Reducing pain/control swelling of varicose veins
• speed healing of bruises
• shrinking of hemorrhoids
• removing the itch/burn of insect bites
• soothing sunburn
• tightening bags under the eyes
• reducing blood flow from a wound
• disinfecting cuts and scrapes

Brewing a strong tea of the herb, soak a clean cloth or cotton pad in the solution and then apply to the affected area several times a day. If you don't have any of the herb on hand, you can purchase witch hazel mixed with isopropyl alcohol from your local drug or grocery store and use that instead. Do not get this form of preparation into your eyes. Using a compress in this way on fresh bruises will speed healing time.

When used on sunburn, it will give temporary pain relief, but will also prevent peeling and flaking. With hemorrhoids or varicose veins, witch hazel shrinks the swelling and calms itch. It does the same for bug bites. And it's ability to shrink is also why it works well for bags under the eyes. Just remember not to get into your eyes.

Witch hazel also has a conditioning or tonic affect on your skin so, no need to worry about drying it out as some commercial products can. Ready to get some of this fabulous shrub yet? I am!

Read more: https://www.nairaland.com/atnerjennac24

Food storage is extremely important aspect of homesteading. Today, I'm going to talk about dehydrating. Specifically, the easiest foods to dry.

A lot of people buy a dehydrator with making beef jerky in mind. Jerky is great! A good, lean, source of protein that's very low in fat. But, jerky doesn't store long term due to the trace amounts of fat in it. In the pic above, I have dried mushrooms. Mushrooms are full of minerals and vitamins such as the ever important D.

They are filling and help stretch your meat budget. They are very easy to dry. I buy them when on sale, clean them off with a dry napkin, break them into pieces (if they are already sliced) and they are ready to go! Broken mushrooms like these dry very quickly. They can be done in as little as 2-3 hours. I store some in an old jar in the pantry for everyday use. Others I vacuum pack.

Another super easy way to dehydrate is to use frozen fruits and veggies. I especially like it when I can get vegetables on sale in one pound bags. The one pound size fits perfectly on each rack. There is nothing to do except open the bag and pour out! If you have bigger pieces such as broccoli or cauliflower, you will want to cut them in half first. All of these can be stored the same way as the mushrooms. Small slices of dried watermelon and pineapple make fabulous snacks and will have your house smelling wonderful.

Dehydrating is a great method of storing food because dried foods take up very little room in the pantry and are much more lightweight than canned items. Dehydrated food is highly nutritious as well. So, add some of your own dried chopped apples to your morning oatmeal, make some banana chips or fruit roll-ups for the kids, or dry your own home grown herbs and save some serious cash over the grocery store fare.

Read more:
How to Ferment Foods? The Joy of Fermentation
Five Ideas For Frugal Living

Raising poultry, most commonly egg-laying chickens, is cornerstone to many mini-homesteads. Even those living in the suburbs can have their own small flock of chickens, producing eggs, meat or both for their families. Raising egg layers is most common and least labor-intensive as there is no butchering involved.

Raising Chickens

Chickens are one of the easiest farm animals to raise. One of the biggest challenges is keeping them safe from predators, but that can be accomplished efficiently with a well-built chicken coop or chicken run. Before starting a new chicken flock, ensure that you have a good set up for your birds.

Chickens need shelter, both for nighttime roosting and a place to lay eggs, as well as a scratch yard and a grassy area. (We'll soon be adding free chicken coop plans to the site. These blueprints can be used to make chicken coops, chicken tractors, enclosed chicken runs and other habitats for your poultry.)

Outside your chicken coops, create a main pen for a scratching area. Lay down straw or other vegetation. This area will satisfy the chickens' need for scratching around. Off of this area, attach two separate grass pens. Rotate use of the grassy areas every couple weeks so that the chickens always have access to the scratch yard as well as one grass pen.

If you are home during the day, you can allow the chickens to leave their coop to explore your yard or wooded area. They will eat small insects, grass and weeds, increasing the nutritional quality of their eggs and meat. Be on the lookout for predators and consider keeping a rooster with your hens both for protection and to fertilize the eggs.

Buying Chickens

Flocks may be started from fertile eggs if you have incubator equipment, by buying days-old chicks or through acquiring any combination of pullets, cockerels, hens and roosters. (Pullets and cockerels are juvenile chickens.) Eggs and day-old chicks are available for sale online. Older chickens should be purchased locally, through farm stores, other homesteaders and through rural co-ops. Check your local Penny Pincher Ads, Valley Trader or other classified paper for Poultry & Livestock listings.

Chickens used as egg layers are breeds noted for their egg quality and quantity. These chickens also require less feed than their meat-producing cousins and are thus cheaper to keep. Raising chickens for eggs has become popular again as families return to farming to save money and and improve self-sufficiency.

Egg-Laying Chickens:

Chickens raised as egg layers include:
- Leghorn (white eggs)
- Minorcas (w)
- Anconas (w)
- California Whites (w)
- Rhode Island Red (brown eggs)
- New Hampshire (b)
- Red Star (b)
- Black Star (b)



Top 5 Best Chicken Coop Heaters

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