Leigh Tate has always loved living close to the land. From the back-to-the-land movement to the modern homesteading movement, the agrarian lifestyle is the one she says feels like home. She and her husband currently homestead five acres in the foothills of the Southern Appalachians. Their vision is to become as self-sustaining as possible by stewarding their land, animals, and resources. Leigh's homesteading activities include gardening, food preservation, foraging, raising goats, chickens, and guinea fowl, herbs, cheese making, permaculture landscaping, spinning, weaving, knitting, sewing, quilting, natural dying, soapmaking, wood cookstove cookery, and renovating their old 1920s farmhouse.
From the author: When I published 5 Acres & A Dream The Book: The Challenges of Establishing a Self-Sufficient Homestead, I described it as neither a how-to nor a why-to book. Although it contains quite a bit of practical advice about many homesteading skills, it is mostly the story of our journey toward simpler, sustainable, more self-reliant living. The Little Series of Homestead How-Tos is a complement to that book. It is a work in progress which will eventually include all of the skills mentioned in 5 Acres & A Dream The Book, plus other how-tos as well. I hope they will encourage you, my readers, toward your own self-reliant lifestyles.
Masanobu Fukuoka's natural farming employs non-mechanical, non-chemical, low input methods that he developed for his grain fields and orchards. This book explains how the author adapted natural farming to build and maintain sustainable permaculture pasture. The methods described are particularly well-suited for small acreage, however, the principles are applicable to larger areas as needed.
How To Compost With Chickens discusses why chickens are well-suited for compost making and how to accommodate their natural instincts. Offers a simple, economical, chicken-friendly composting system, with guidelines for breed selection and what can and can't be composted safely. Includes ideas for adapting the
How To Draw Blood from a Goat will take you through the process of collecting blood for testing: types of tests, options for testing, costs, what you'll need, where to get supplies, how to prepare, how to do the draw, how to safely dispose of used supplies, how to package your samples, what the results mean, and a list of tests, labs, and resources.
Old-fashioned whitewash is making a comeback! Simple and inexpensive to make, this environmentally friendly finish for wood contains no VOCs, deters insects, and is not toxic to animals. This little eBook explains how to make it, the different types of lime available, how to make whitewash more durable, waterproof, and colorful, and how to use it safely.
Have you ever heard that goats' milk is naturally homogenized? Is that true? This little eBook says no. It shows you how to test your goat milk for cream, various ways to collect it, and how to turn it into butter, whipped cream, sour cream, crème fraîche, and ice cream. Includes 8 recipes.
Ginger is a tropical spice that is easy to grow, and this little guide will help you get started. You'll learn how to select rhizomes for planting, how to plant, how to care for your growing ginger, when and how to harvest, how to keep a continual supply growing, various methods of storing and preserving ginger, plus some unique and useful ways to use it.
Covers the science and history of baking powder, enabling you to create your own leavening power through basic kitchen chemistry. Includes how to make sour milk, buttermilk, and sourdough starter, plus the author's hardwood ash baking experiments. Contains 54 modern and historical recipes utilizing 20 different baking powder alternatives. Also available in a paperback prepper edition.
Learn how to make a quick no-microwave mozzarella cheese from goats' milk, plus the science behind making high quality goat cheeses. Explains the difference between quick and cultured mozzarella, whole milk versus skim, differences of various rennets, how to pasteurize if desired, how to make brine, and numerous uses for whey including how to make a true whey ricotta with no additional milk.
This revised edition offers more ways to supplement your goats' feed from home through gardening, foraging, feeding canning leftovers and kitchen scraps, small scale grain. pasture, and hay growing, stover, sprouting grain, hydroponic foddering, and more. Includes expanded and new lists of plants and goat goodies.
Offers simple at-home tests for soil texture, stability, pH, drainage, and earthworm counts. Learn how to make your own pH paper, read soil colors, and what your plants can tell you about your soil. Includes charts, tables, glossary, further resources, and why all soil lab test results are not the same. A good resource for gardeners, homesteaders, homeschoolers, and budding soil scientists.
A step-by-step guide to formulating and mixing your own animal feeds. Discusses various animal digestive systems and feeds appropriate for each, the different types of protein and what which ones are useful to your critters, how to decipher ingredients on a feed bag label, instructions for developing your own feed rations, and the cost effectiveness of doing it yourself.
Herbal salves are easy and fun to make. This little eBook discusses herbs, oils, beeswax, essential oils, why some herbal preparations don't work, and how to make an effective salve. Included are simple, basic recipes for slave, lotion, lip balm and non-petroleum jelly. The revised edition contains additional information plus updated photos and links.
Previously published as How To Make a Buck Rag, How To Play Cupid for Your Goats has been updated, expanded, and reorganized. Covers everything you need to know about preparing your goats for breeding, the role of minerals in goat reproduction, detecting heat and rut, what to do about "silent heats," how to manage the breeding event, how to determine pregnancy, and calculating kidding dates.
Ever wonder what to do with all those extra eggs? This little eBook shows you a number of ways to preserve them: freezing, pickling, dehydrating, larding, and water glassing. Also discusses shelf life, off-grid methods of preservation, and how to have fresh eggs all winter long. An excellent addition to every homestead and preparedness library.