Oh, please talk more about free-ranging goats! I would love to have two milk goats. I have the perfect place inside a barn for their pen that is bordered by a large open pasture. It would cost a fortune to fence it in (plus I've heard there is no suck thing as a goat-proof fence, haha). There is...
You are absolutely right. Proper maintenance is important. I am really lucky because the small family company that I purchased my wood insert from also does the annual cleaning. However, the owner showed me how to do it myself. It's really not too hard, just need the right size chimney sweeper...
Hi kentuckychicks
I was overwhelmed too when I first started researching wood burning stoves. But really, it's not too bad. There are wood burning stoves, wood inserts, wood furnaces, and then there are the pellet stoves/furnaces of which I have no experience with.
If you already have a...
I've looked in to taking a logging class. Actually, in my area they have one specifically geared toward women as well as an auto mechanics class. However...I am really into bartering. So this past year I made a deal with a couple (man & wife) who sell a lot of firewood as a side job. For every...
This is what I think as well. My home was built in the mid 1800's. It's your typical colonial farmhouse. At the time is was built there was a traditional fireplace in the main first floor room, a wood cookstove in the kitchen, and little coal pot-bellied stoves in each of the three second story...
Hello fellow homesteaders! I thought I would share some pics.
We had our first snow of the season here. Approximately 3 inches and the temps are not going above 30 (F) or so. I spent several months over the summer splitting and stacking wood in preparation for the winter. This is my first full...
Thank you! Some great stuff in that post.
I like that you pointed out that Homesteading is an always evolving process.This is the end of my first year living this way. I can already see that the next couple of decades will roll by quickly with each year's progress being built upon last year's...
My current layers free-range all day long so their feed costs are pretty low and my start-up cost were only $81 (chickens plus necessary improvments to an existing coop). Buying stuff for raising meat chickens plus the cost of those chickens, are what I'd would like to see a return on.
The...
Fun thread! I've got a cool perspective on homesteading because I am a single woman. I'm still pretty new to homesteading and am consistently working towards living a more independent and self-sufficent lifestyle.
I live on a rural farm in which I lease out the tillable acres to a local...