/r/homestead

Photograph via snooOG

Ponds, barns, livestock, gardens, food preservation, fishing, hunting, tractors, pigs, chickens, cattle, worms, 4H, permaculture, organic, grazing, canning, aquaculture, trees, woodland, farmers, agriculture, agronomy, horticulture, wwoofers, bees, honey, wildcrafting, dairy, goats, nuts, berries, vegetables, sustainability, off grid, wood stoves, chainsaws, wood heat, tools, welding, green woodworking, farmers markets, composting toilets, straw bale homes, cob building...

Message the mods please include links to any posts you are referencing.


Homesteading - From Wikipedia

Broadly defined, homesteading is a lifestyle of self-sufficiency. It is characterized by subsistence agriculture, home preservation of foodstuffs, and it may or may not also involve the small scale production of textiles, clothing, and craftwork for household use or sale. . .


Homesteading is... ponds, barns, livestock, gardens, food preservation, outdoor kitchens, fishing, hunting, shop projects, tractors, bush hogs, pigs, raising chickens, cattle, worms, 4H, permaculture, organic practices, cast iron skillet, neighbor relations, frugality, 5 gallon buckets, crops, grazing, fences, lumber, canning, aquaculture, trees, woodland, diatomaceous earth, farmers, root cellars, smoke houses, mason jars, agriculture, agronomy, horticulture, critter shelter, farm interns, wwoofers, bees, honey, wildcrafting, dairy, goats, raised garden beds, paddock shift systems, nuts, berries, vegetables, growing sweet potatoes, self sufficiency, permaculture design course, off grid, alternative building, alternative energy, wood stoves, chainsaws , wood heat, tools, welding, woodworking, green woodworking, joel salatin, red worms, sepp holzer, masanobu fukuoka, ianto evans, art ludwig, farmers markets, animal husbandry, cottage industry, outhouses, composting toilets, septic tanks, ferro cement, straw bale construction, cob building...


General Guidelines and Rules:

  • Try and keep post on topic, self post and blog links are okay as long as they're related to homesteading.
  • Be respectful and we will ban people for being icky.
  • Please try and use reddit tags like; [Question], [Discussion], [News], [Update] [Meta], or homestead specific like; [Growing], [Chickens], [Livestock], etc.. This will help keep things organized among other things.
  • Oh yes, trolls will be banned. Self posters are welcome.
  • No shaming to vegans or for animal processing. NSFW tags are OPs choice part 1 part 2

Related Subreddits:


Other links:


Zone Maps of the World:


Thanks for stoping by and happy homesteading!

/r/homestead

2,637,563 Subscribers

5

So many pumpkins so many ideas

I keep seeing people wanting ideas for pumpkins both unripe and ripe.. and with Halloween around the corner.. here is some ideas .. besides making a pie or jack o lantern..

2 Comments
2023/09/25
08:48 UTC

2

Identification help (apologies if this is not the place for it)

Was out hiking around our property (located in rual alberta), and came across a fairly fresh deer corpse (withing the last few hours based on the fact the blood was sludge and not fully dried.)
The deer was ripped completly in half just below the rib cage and most of the lower half had been picked clean except for the legs, I found the front half of it a good 40 ft away with the head missing (torn not cut).
Never seen this kind of damage to an animal, ive seen dismembered lims but never something ripped in half.
anyone seen anything like this before?

(More details:
Corpse was found next to a lake no footprints aside from the deers as far as i could tell.
Area is almost never used and is accessible only by foot.
Found around mid day so i assume it was killed early morning.
Heard some low moaning/wailing noises this morning.

Despite some of the wierd details i assure you this is a legitimate post.
If anyone has any idea what this is, or steps i can take to deture it i would be much obliged .

2 Comments
2023/09/25
07:33 UTC

16

#burnbarrel4Lyfe

Man…gotta love the fall burn barrel

3 Comments
2023/09/25
02:52 UTC

0

Atonement

0 Comments
2023/09/25
00:00 UTC

2

Has anyone give kefir to thier meatbirds?

I'm just curious. I mean it's 9 grams protein per cup.

Plus the obvious of be a super healthy drink.

What are your thoughts?

1 Comment
2023/09/24
23:51 UTC

25

Anyone ever get wrinkled eggs?

Google says bronchitis or stress. Got this one the other day and another today. What can I do to treat? And how long do I have to toss the eggs for after?

16 Comments
2023/09/24
23:08 UTC

2

Looking for advice on layout.

Hello everyone, I recently got into the idea of homesteading and gardening, growing my own veggies and composting. Overall I would like to get more use out of my backyard. I was hoping to get everyone’s input on where the best locations for everything, and input on what I should do with the place. For example I’d like to build a 4x8 x 4 tall pallet style compost bin, and I don’t want to put it right up against the house… And probably the most important part is privacy, I call my backyard the fish bowl because all the 2 story neighbors outlined in yellow look over my yard. Ideas and suggestions on that would be greatly appreciated. If anything I’m trying to get a good head start on next year. Thank you everyone in advance!

So the details • The lot is 1/3 of an acre, mostly being backyard. • zone 5b

Sorry for the chicken scratch on the underground utilities map. But here’s the map legend haha.

•Blue= my backyard •yellow= my neighbors I’d like privacy from •red=electric •orange= internet

0 Comments
2023/09/24
21:58 UTC

73

10 acres for sale for $218k in eastern US with no house, though

My spouse and I want to sell our house in suburbia and buy that land, but we're not sure what to do about shelter, and if we build a house, what to do while that's being done. Has anyone else been in a similar situation? How did you do it?

EDIT: We also have 2 small children

EDIT 2: Well, I know how to troll this community in the future if I ever need to. Damn.

101 Comments
2023/09/24
20:40 UTC

71

Neighbors free range rooster I found back at the tree line today. Any guesses on the predator? Was missing the head and a portion of the body. I was thinking raccoon. Northeastern US

35 Comments
2023/09/24
20:24 UTC

5

Hazelnut harvest - when do you harvest yours?

Hi All! Im curious when people normally harvest their hazelnuts? We bought a house a few years back with a well established patch that produces very well every year. I’m in Bloomington, IN and we’re surrounded by forest and a “flourishing”population of squirrels. So far, every year they get them all before they seem ripe enough to me. I’m happy to share, but would like a few as well. 🙂 They have been working on them pretty heavily the last couple weeks, but there are still quite a bit left so we’ve been harvesting and drying them. I question though if some are still too immature and won’t have a good taste.

You can see in the pic the progressive stages they are in right now(these were picked today) Which of these stages would be the earliest you’ve picked them and they still have a good taste?

10 Comments
2023/09/24
19:35 UTC

3

Is this bad for a tree

Basically title, I have a feeling this is not a normal autumn color. Is this bad and is there a way to rescue the tree?

Thanks!

P.s. eastern Europe here if that matters

4 Comments
2023/09/24
19:30 UTC

906

3 days before we are due to move to our property from the city, after so much effort and years of dreaming, and we've been robbed of all of our belongings.

We had put everything into a storage unit so we could sell our home. The unit was broken into and it is all gone. Every photo I have of my mother, her cremated remains. Everything from my childhood and my husband's too. Our grandmother's wedding rings. Mine too. My son's baby book, his tiny little footprints, and everything I've kept from the past 12 years of our lives. My giant seed collection and over 200 books. All of our instruments and even our clothes. Our tools. Gone. I am devastated. Please just tell me something positive.

140 Comments
2023/09/24
18:11 UTC

2

How to go searching for the right land

I currently live in the PNW and really want to live off grid. My issue is, I don’t know the first thing about even looking for property or what to look for other than water access. What are some ways you have found your land and learned how to do the things needed on the property?

My goal is to be living off grid within the next five years. I don’t need a ton of land and would prefer it to be forested, something around 10-20 acres would be awesome.

4 Comments
2023/09/24
18:06 UTC

7

Went underground for a little cussing

Self-sufficient= When you lose water pressure you're the guy ten feet underground in the cold damp springhouse cussing at the leather cups on the twenty year old pump piston that have swollen to twice their width since you pulled them out of their cylinder in order to JB weld the stripped threads on the connecting rod.

1 Comment
2023/09/24
18:02 UTC

0

Building A Chicken Fence

1 Comment
2023/09/24
17:50 UTC

2

Drainage help?

I can't figure out what to do with this little corner of my property. With the sidewalk touching both corners of this triangle, I just don't see where the water will go. Was going to install a French drain, but there's nowhere for it to drsin to. Seems like any rain that falls here will be soaking into my foundation. Is it best just to cover this spot during rain?

2 Comments
2023/09/24
17:50 UTC

1

Am I able to build a home out of self milled wood?

Hi! I’m looking to buy and build in the next few years, I am wondering if my town uses nfpa-lsc, does that mean I can’t, my town says nothing about building restrictions as to materials except the obvious ones.

If anyone knows please feel free to answer

5 Comments
2023/09/24
17:47 UTC

12

Homemade Wildberry Autumn olive preserve with Greek yogurt

What do you guys make from natives?

0 Comments
2023/09/24
17:42 UTC

415

Living off grid on 1,000 acres - Just moved in full time!

77 Comments
2023/09/24
17:42 UTC

28

Do we really need a tractor?

We have about 4 1/2 acres on a slope. A lot of it is overgrown and not previously maintained well. There are a lot of blackberry briar and tall grass to contend with.

Some factors to weigh: We’ve already built some raised beds for some veggies. We already have a horse and chickens. We’re planning to get a few sheep, goats, and maybe a couple pigs and a cow.

We have a utility UTV and a riding mower. The mower can’t handle the tall grass in the field. We also have a beefy weed whacker with brush cutter blade for briar, but it’s exhausting to clear a large area.

Is that reason enough to get a tractor? Or should we just hire out to get a head start on the work that needs doing?

82 Comments
2023/09/24
16:44 UTC

8

Grinding/sealing/staining concrete walls

Grinding/sealing/staining concrete walls.

I'm diving into uncharted territory next week. I have a large 50'x9' and 14'x9' concrete wall that needs to be smoothed out (not to perfection) then sealed/stained to look cool. It's the outer wall of an existing building that will then have an addition built on. I'm using the concrete as the side interior wall of that addition.

I'm very handy but this will require I rent a grinder I think? Could I use one of my angle grinders? I don't have the strongest arms and am currently recovering from getting hit on my moto and still have bruised ribs.

Labor is tough to find in my area so I'm wondering what the most difficult aspect of this will be beyond my little noodle arms.

What don't I know that I don't know? What's the biggest challenge I might face when either grinding or sealing?

Any and all suggestions and advice welcomed.

4 Comments
2023/09/24
16:05 UTC

578

Uses for under ripe pumpkins?

Hey y'all, we recently bought land in West Virginia. While selling our old urban property, our realtor told us we need to remove the pumpkin vines growing all throughout the property to be able to show it. So this weekend we harvested whatever pumpkins were growing, despite all them being under ripe. Are there any uses for these guys? What would y'all do?

136 Comments
2023/09/24
15:01 UTC

1

Gardening “over” weeping tiles; yay or nay?

To elaborate;

My place is on a hill, well at the top(back of the property), septic ~quarter up from the road, I’m assuming weeping tiles are between there & the start of the driveway(front of the property-obviously neither are under the driveway).

Where it’s levelled I have a ~30’x80’ of lawn that’s currently just grass.

Is it okay to tear up the lawn & put a veggie garden in there? I’m assuming the weeping tile is deep down enough to not effect it as if I were spraying shit on the garden?

In a zone 5- Intend on growing peppers/tomatoes/onions/ potatoes etc, no trees.

I’m getting mixed reviews on if this is fine or not. Old farmers from work say it’s good, wife’s father is saying ehhhhh.

So, concern or go ahead?

2 Comments
2023/09/24
13:27 UTC

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