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Unintended Consequences of Lawn Herbicides
By Aleisha Djuricic, Wisconsin, Zone 5B Lawn herbicides don’t just kill weeds. All broadleaf plants can be damaged. My modest urban homestead is located a short distance from the western shore of Lake...
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Visit Sustainable Living Communities for Homesteading Inspiration
Located in picturesque Iceland 60 miles from Reykjavík, Sólheimar Ecovillage offers a world-renowned sustainable community known for its artistic and ecological atmosphere where about 100 people live...
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Spring e-edition: Planting Vegetables at Home
We have exciting news for Countryside readers! If you have a Web-Only or All-Access Countryside subscription, you now get six EXTRA e-editions a year, in addition to the six issues you receive every...
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Add High Tech to the Henhouse
Have you ever wanted to wake up late, have your coffee brewing and the chickens out of their coop? This could be a reality with a little help from technologies including solar chicken coop lights and...
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Discover the Many Goat Milk Benefits
By Miriah Reynolds – Charts that compare dairy goat milk benefits to cow’s milk or other types of milk are readily available on the internet, in books, or wherever one might search when looking for...
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Picking the Best Tractor for Small Farms
Buying the best tractor for small farm work requires searching for the right tractor for the job. Tractors can be used for many reasons. Identifying the jobs and eliminating the tractors that won’t...
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Food Preservation Examples: A Guide to Food Storage
I tell my friends there are two types of people: preppers and those who laugh at preppers. Why is preparing for a rainy day such a laughable concept? Is it outrageous to think the misfortunes that...
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Wind Energy Pros and Cons You May Not Know
Just as with any power source, there are wind energy pros and cons. The growing consumption and steady increase in cost of non-renewable energy sources have driven people to seek alternate power...
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Remote Simplifies DIY Electric Fence Maintenance
One morning when my husband and I went out to feed and milk our Nubian goats, we were horrified to discover the bucks paying an unscheduled visit to the does. By the time chores were done and all the...
View ArticleHow to Build an Energy-Efficient Home
The challenge of learning how to build an energy-efficient home is not in the engineering and design: it’s in juggling the trade-offs. Every element of a home has ramifications on other elements. You...
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Homemade Barbecue Pits: A Fun Way to Fertilize Your Soil
An ancient concept, homemade barbecue pits incorporate three things: fire, the ground and food. Today the same concept can be employed for emergency cooking or tender slow-roasted meat. It can even...
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A Guide to Welding Basics From the Tools to Their Uses
There are many welding types available today, but for the beginning welder, there are three kinds you should consider. They all have their place, their good points, and their downfalls. When choosing a...
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Migratory Insects Fly Above Us in Stunning Numbers
By: Anita Stone It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s radar spotting trillions of migratory insects above us. Yes, overhead as far as the eye can see are swarms of migratory insects that take flight...
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Country Conversation & Feedback — July/August 2017
A One-of-a-Kind Bird Nest COUNTRYSIDE: We had a pretty good wind here in California a couple days ago, this fell out of the palm tree in our front yard. It landed with very little damage. The sticks...
View ArticlePoor Will’s Almanack — July/August 2017
Poor Will’s Countryside Almanack for Middle and Late Summer of 2017 by W. L. Felker Take stock in August, Count the days, Measure the harvest, The hours of sunlight. – Celtus The Sun’s Progress At...
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Sodium Laureth Sulfate and Soap’s Dirty Secrets
By Rebecca Snowden Sodium laurel sulfate and sodium laureth sulfate. What do those terms mean? And will they harm you or the environment? Soap making is one of the oldest crafts, going back as far as...
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What Happens at the Tractor and Machinery Show
Attending a local tractor and machinery show is a wonderful way to reconnect with the agricultural history of our country. What can you expect to find? Tractor and machinery shows include many...
View ArticleDIY Fence Installation: Make Your Fence Hog-Tight
When planning your DIY fence installation always remember: A good fence should be horse high, bull strong and hog tight—and for goats, water tight as well, some might say. But describing a good fence...
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Igniting the American Homesteader Dream
By Lori Davis, New York Changes are underway as the country’s demographics shift in significant ways, casting shadows on the traditional American homesteader dream and transforming it into something...
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How to Raise Livestock Guardian Dogs
Countryside & Small Stock Journal July/August 2017 issue is NOW AVAILABLE! Subscribe today. Using livestock guardian dogs dates back more than 2,000 years ago. In Countryside’s July/August 2017...
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Top 10 List of Farm Tools and Equipment You Didn’t Know You Wanted
Leading the self-sufficient, homesteading lifestyle can be rewarding as well as trying at times. Over the years of setting fence posts, fixing barns and repairing equipment, I’ve built a little...
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A List of the Best Meat Preservation Methods
What meat preservation methods can you use to sustain your hunt or protein harvest? There are many options. What you choose depends on your resources. Buying in bulk saves money. Raising your own...
View Article50 Must-Haves for TEOTWAWKI
By Thomas Sciacca – Arguably, the most important thing to store for a SHTF (Stuff Hits The Fan) or complete TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It) scenario is knowledge. Without it, you won’t...
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Vertical Farming Grows Skyward
By Anita B. Stone — Vertical farming has surged in urban areas for one big reason: you can grow a lot of food on just a little dirt. It is estimated that by 2050 about 80 percent of the world’s...
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A Glimpse at Simple Homesteading Life in the 1800s
By Kathy Belt – In the September/October 2012 issue, a reader wanted to know what homesteading life in the 1800s was like. Here’s my reply. I am a bit of a history nut. I have spent many years engaged...
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The Best Small Tractor Hacks
Life is different when you own a tractor, so much so I don’t really know how I would function without one. Even with the best small tractor, there are situations that call for ingenuity and specialty...
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DIY Pole Barn to Chicken Coop Conversion
When we moved into our house back in 2003, we had seen plenty of DIY pole barns, and the one that was located on our new property was wonderfully built. But this pole barn had been built to cover a...
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The Top 5 Farm Implements List for Homesteading
One of, if not the most useful thing any farmer or homesteader owns, is a tractor. Speaking from someone who has always owned a tractor of some kind, I can attest to the fact that a properly equipped...
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Solar Chicken Coop Lights Add High Tech to the Hen House
Have you ever wanted to wake up late, have your coffee brewing and the chickens out of their coop? This could be a reality with a little help from technologies including solar chicken coop lights and...
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Useful Chicken Accessories for Your Flock
Chicken keeping is becoming increasingly popular across the country. This popularity surge has led to the invention of new chicken accessories for small and large flock keepers alike. Whether you’re...
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From Canning Tomatoes to Pickling Beets, Savor Your Homegrown Harvest!
Our Summer 2017 e-edition is now available! Learn how to can, store, and preserve the homestead harvest you have worked so hard to grow — from canning tomatoes to pickling beats, this issue has all the...
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What Size Generator Do I Need for My Farm, Ranch or Off-Grid Home?
When most people think of Connecticut they envision a state covered in pavement and cramped little houses stacked on top of one another, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Surprising as it...
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Find the Best Automatic Chicken Door Opener
An automatic chicken door is indispensable if you’re not always there to let your backyard chickens out in the morning and close them in at night to secure them from predators. Some people are handy...
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Diesel Injection — When Even The Best Small Farm Tractor Fails
Click Click, Click Click … I’ve come to really hate that sound this year. Our 15-year-old John Deere 5105 (one of the best small farm tractors) has been causing us a lot of grief lately, including...
View ArticlePoor Will’s Almanack — September/October 2017
“Poor Will’s Countryside Almanack for Early and Middle Autumn Poor Will’s COUNTRYSIDE Almanack for Early and Middle Autumn Summer of 2017 by W. L. Felker Out of the west the wind comes over, over...
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Making a Smooth Ride – Driveway Graders & Grading Techniques
A driveway grader implement is one of those often forgotten but surprisingly useful compact tractor implements. Those of us who are fortunate enough to have homesteads with any appreciable amount of...
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The Basics of Botulism
It’s the Big Evil in canning. Botulism causes paralysis, death, and long-term rehabilitation for survivors. But understanding how botulism forms, and how to prevent it, keeps you safe. Erica Strauss,...
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Exploring Heat Source Options for Canning
Whether your kitchen has all the modern conveniences or you live off the grid, for canning purposes, some heat sources work better than others. When I bought the cooktop I use now, most of the...
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Ayam Cemani Chicken: Totally Black Inside and Out
Breed of the Month: Ayam Cemani Chicken The Indonesian Ayam Cemani chicken, with its unrelenting darkness, is one of the world’s most fascinating chicken breeds. Its feathers are black, but so is its...
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Designing Your Ideal Homesteading Land
By Ken Wilson – Homesteading land is neither a farm nor a rural residence; therefore, it presents design challenges that are different from the others. A rural residence is basically nothing more than...
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How to Make a Homemade Pig Waterer
By Leo Muller – I would like to share with readers how I was able to make a homemade pig waterer for my feeder pigs without the use of electricity. We are not off the grid, so when the electricity goes...
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The Best Small Farm Tractor Buyer’s Guide
When you’re looking for the best small farm tractor for your farm or homestead, you may gravitate toward the tractors of yore; Ford 9Ns, Farmall Cubs, Fordsons and the such. The attraction is...
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What Should be in an EDC Bag?
Every Day Carry or EDC bags are about prepping on the smallest scale. You’re more likely to use what’s inside this kit than your food storage or bug out bags. So consider the most common emergencies...
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How to Get Rid of Rats and Mice
Countryside & Small Stock Journal September/October 2017 issue is NOW AVAILABLE! Subscribe today and learn how to get rid of rats and mice naturally. Ahhhh! Fall! It’s such a welcome relief from...
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Preparing the Best Soil for Crops
By Anita B. Stone How do you prepare the very best soil for crops? What makes good soil? Learn four organic methods for healthier harvests. To enjoy a profitable, sustainable and green garden, each one...
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Which Post Hole Digger Is Best For You?
Every homesteader has need of a post hole digger at some point, but not all post hole diggers are created equal. There are many ways to dig a post hole, but the best choice for you will likely depend...
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All About Ankole Watusi Cattle
By Klaire Bruce, Missouri – Ankole Watusi are known as the “Cattle of Kings.” Their unmistakably large horns can spear a lion. The tribes of Africa that rely on them for survival call them sacred. They...
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The Best Welding Types For Homesteading
There are many welding types available today, but for the beginning welder, there are three kinds you should consider. They all have their place, their good points, and their downfalls. When choosing a...
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5 Homestead Fencing Mistakes to Avoid
No matter what project my husband and I decide to tackle, it nearly always comes down to the same thing: homestead fencing. Garden fencing to keep groundhogs and cottontails away from our vegetables....
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Synergy for The Most Profitable Farming
By Ken Johnson Waupaca, Wisconsin These days, the most profitable farming involves a synergy of economics, land use, and understanding livestock. Maybe there is a gene in us that tells us there is...
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