by Sierra Grey Robert Burns once wrote, “The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley.”. Translated—no matter how well we plan, things often fail, turn out wrong, or go awry. Humans have limitations. We possess only fragments of knowledge and limited experience. Pride and emotions cloud our thinking. Only God plans perfectly. We, mortals, are left to hope we have planned well enough to survive what comes. And learn from our mistakes early in...

by Anthony Purpura For the longest time, I was toiling with the idea of getting rabbits for my homestead.  As we all know they grow fast, the feed to finished meat ratio is the best of almost any animal, they don’t require a lot of space and they are easy to raise and you can do it almost anywhere. So what was stopping me from starting the adventure?  Well, like you guys and gals I...

By Juleigh Howard-Hobson Mirrored flush-mounted bathroom medicine cabinets are easily one of the most non-upcycled objects out there. They are short and shallow. They don’t stand by themselves. And, frankly, they aren’t very nice to look at once they are out of their recessed wall enclosure. But, the thing is, just about every house has one…sometimes two or more. You can pick them up for a song at garage sales, rebuilding centers or CraigsList. Sometimes...

by Jane W My interest in chickens began at age three when my grandmother would allow me to gather eggs from the nests in the chicken house at their farm. I learned from her to be observant and gentle with animals. When my own child reached that age, I wanted to share some of that magic with him and began considering raising chickens. As an avid reader of Mother Earth News, Organic Gardening magazine and other...

by Sandra Ogden Getting out of the city and choosing to live “out in the country” is a goal of many people nowadays.  “Homesteading” sounds so idealistic; getting back to the basics and living the dream!  What most don’t realize is homesteading is hard physical work and has a lot of unknowns. It requires a lot of planning, prioritizing, setup money and manual labor.  You need shelter, water and food and lots of common sense. When...

By: JenMar Gather together a group of preparedness minded folks and the conversation invariably turns to pulling up stakes and moving to the country to create a self-reliant home and life. But, for many, moving is not an option. Work, family, kids, health, personal responsibilities are all valid reasons keeping people in their present location. It may not be what we want, but it is where we are right now. We don’t have to postpone...