Chickens don’t take baths in water like other animals. Instead, they take a bath of sorts in dust, sand, or loose, dry dirt. This dust bathing is critically important for chickens since it helps their feathers stay in good shape, wards off external parasites, and, if you can believe it, helps them stay cleaner overall.
Top 10 Herbs to Add to Your Chicken Dust Bath Read More »
When fall approaches, you know it’s apple season. It’s one of my favorite times of year! I look forward to pies, pastries, preserves, and eating these ruby red and yellow-green lovelies right out of hand. But like all good things, it has to come to an end: even the most bountiful harvest won’t last, and
Quick Way to Store Apples in Your Pantry for 6+ Months Read More »
Most gardeners know that pretty much all plants, and certainly most vegetables, need lots of sunlight in order to thrive. They need it so they can convert it into energy, energy that’s necessary to help them establish strong roots, grow tall, and produce ripe, tasty fruits. A lack of sunlight or, worse, getting shaded out
Top 20 Veggies That Like to Grow in the Shade Read More »
It starts with a subtle scratching sound. Then you might hear some skittering and clunking in the walls or ceiling one night. Then, one evening – what was that!? – did you see it or imagine it? No, there it is again! A flicker of movement along the baseboards in your den. You aren’t crazy
Mice vs. Rats: 19 Differences To Tell Them Apart Read More »
For anyone who keeps poultry, a fact of life that you have to accept going forward is the fact that all kinds of birds, including ducks, have lots and lots of predators. Predators can strike from ground level or from the air and, because ducks are aquatic, also from beneath the surface of the water.
21 Duck Predators to Watch Out For Read More »
Herbs are some of my very favorite garden plants. They’re so easy to grow and incredibly versatile. Many make for great ingredients in all of your favorite dishes,while some have health-boosting properties and are useful in all sorts of homemade goods, cosmetics, curatives and more… and a few special ones can do both! Case in
25 Lemon Balm Recipes and Uses You Should Know Read More »
The approach of springtime is always exciting; It’s time to dust off those tools and get ready to do some planting! March, typically, is when the spring planting season begins, but you can’t just treat it like a holiday to be celebrated everywhere at the same time. No, that just won’t do. That’s because March
Which Veggies to Plant in March (for Every US Zone) Read More »
Far and away, the best part of having a garden is actual, real food security. When the farthest you’ve got to go to get the food you need for your family is your backyard or the back corner of your property, that’s an assurance that money can’t buy. Many homesteaders boast that their gardens produce
Exactly How Much to Plant to Feed Your Family for a Year Read More »
Looking back on my own homesteading journey, I’ve got nothing but happy feelings for the trials, tribulations, and challenges that got me to where I am today. Well, mostly happy feelings. Some of my early experiences were learned the hard way, the way that life usually teaches us, which is to say backwards: we get
10 Things I Really Wish I Had When I Started to Homestead Read More »
For those of us who didn’t grow up on a farm or in a homesteading family, there can be a whole lot to learn. Learning as you go is what I did—I jumped in with both feet—but as always, it is best to learn from the experiences and trials of others. One of the very
The 10 Most Useful Homesteading Podcasts to Subscribe To Read More »
