The Home Depot sells 4″x4″ x 9′ long fence posts for about $25 each. Since we needed 14 of them for the garden fence it would have cost me about $350 had I purchased them instead of cutting them out of the wood lot. Though it doesn’t account for the price of property, I prefer [...]
I inherited a food rack from the barn on a previous property several years ago and have always wanted to turn it into an Appalachian-style food dehydrator. I still plan on making the conversion this summer, but spring use as a portable greenhouse or cold-frame is another option for these restaurant food racks… The trays [...]
I’ve been working hard on getting the garden going on virgin ground (again), customizing a calf shelter to make a chicken coop, setting up the new house, turning a pig-pen in the front yard into an herb and fruiting shrub garden, cutting up firewood for next year, planting flowers, chestnuts and paw-paws in various locations… [...]
With a two-year old running around you can’t leave oil lanterns sitting out on tables to be knocked over. I’m sure there are dozens of ways to do this, but I settled on using materials I already had on hand: – About 8-10 feet of rope – Two small coat hanger hooks – Two small [...]
Mark Hamilton from The Walden Effect blog (my favorite homesteading blog in the world) asked if we would help him run a little contest to see if we can get in some great ideas for automatic chicken feeders. We’re excited to see what people come up with! The details are below… I made a post [...]
This is the first time I’ve canned something by myself from start to finish. It took longer than I thought, but it’ll be well worth it when we are eating green beans all winter! Here is how I canned the green beans… First I put the jars and utensils in the dishwasher on a hi [...]
I belong to an email list for a local beekeeping club and for the past month it has been hot with folks postings leads on swarms – in buildings, on the side roads, in gardens and so on. It’s amazing how quickly beekeepers get on these leads and immediately snatch them up. Just the other [...]
One thing became abundantly clear when I started getting to know people who grew up in the countryside: They are often extremely talented at problem solving. This is especially true when it comes to solving a problem with little or no money. I am a creative problem solver in many ways (at least that’s what [...]
I guess I will start this article with a “disclaimer” similar to what Everett did on one of his posts a few months back… Disclaimer: This post contains words, information and pictures on killing and eating a live animal. I make no excuses nor do I feel guilty about my current omnivore diet. I have, [...]
I have a lot of power tools – a lot! And up to this point in time I have not acquired a tool that I could not figure out how to use within the first 15 minutes. Welp, it took at 9″ band saw, several hours of my time, and finally resorting to visiting a woodworker [...]
Everett writes about voluntary simplicity. This blog catalogs his search for "the good life" as he tries to strike a balance between work and play, freedom and responsibility, simplicity and comfort.
