There’s a cozy, rustic feel to burlap. It’s not soft or silky. It’s thick and textured, and rough, and reminds us of its agricultural origins. You can harness this mood to use around the homestead ...
Open Burning in Your Backyard: How to Prepare and Burn Safely
There are few things more enjoyable than a bonfire. They’re a popular social event in any season. Bonfires always draw a crowd. But we're talking about the kind of bonfire you use to clean up your ...
Harvesting and Threshing Grain the Right Way for Storage
Grain always seems like the last frontier in raising your own food. For most of us, growing grain conjures images of golden wheat fields, combines, and hired farmhands. But small farms and ...
Growing Black-Eyed Susans For Enduring Color in Your Garden
Beautiful black-eyed Susans are the quintessential flowers of summertime. Bright, sunny, and tall, this easy-to-grow summer flower is perfect beside purple cone flowers, daisies, and bee balm. My ...
17 Smart Ways to Use Up Your Extra Eggs
I don’t know about you, but on our homestead, egg season starts early some years. The chickens begin their heavy spring laying in February and keep going strong. With a yard full of industrious ...
How to Identify and Stop Apple Scab Disease
Apple scab is one of the most common diseases on apple trees and other plants in the apple family. This disease pops up everywhere apple-family plants grow. Most often, apple scab will affect ...
Tarnished Plant Bugs: How To Deal With This Adaptable Pest
One of North America's most destructive garden pests is the tarnished plant bug. This small, plant-feeding insect is destructive primarily because it can feed from a huge variety of plants. ...
Grass-Fed or Grain-Finished Beef: Which is Better for Your Health and Environment?
Grocery shopping has become a bit of a minefield. Is it better to buy grass-fed beef, or can I just buy a big hunk of grain-fed beef? What’s the difference, anyway? Maybe you’ve been buying ...
Steam Canning Basics: The Low Water Way to Preserve Your Food
The canning season isn’t just a single season - depending on where you are and what you like to preserve, it can be a year-long venture. In the spring in the northeast, I can maple syrup and pickled ...