Home wind turbines: are they worth it? Sizing, cost, and real output
Are home wind turbines worth it? The honest answer: site wind speed is everything. How to size kW to your kWh, tower height, real output, cost, and payback.
Articles
The forest is the syllabus.
Practical, zone-aware guides to gardening, homesteading, permaculture, and food forests — the slow craft of farming like a forest does.
Canning green beans safely (why it must be pressure canned)
Green beans are low-acid and must be pressure canned — never water-bath. USDA-tested times, altitude pressure table, raw vs hot pack, and troubleshooting.
Geothermal energy and heat pumps: how they work, cost, and payback
How a geothermal heat pump works, what it costs to install ($15k-$45k), real COP efficiency, and the payback now that the 30% federal tax credit has lapsed.
How to grow onions: sets, seeds, and day-length
Grow onions that actually bulb: match long-day, intermediate, or short-day varieties to your latitude, then master sets vs transplants, curing, and storage.
Homemade and fermented chicken feed: cut costs with DIY rations
Ferment chicken feed in 2-3 days to stretch the bag, and learn why homemade rations are hard to balance. Method, real feed-savings numbers, scratch and fodder.
DIY hydroponic systems: Kratky, DWC, and NFT you can build cheap
Build a DIY hydroponic system from scratch: passive Kratky jars, five-gallon DWC buckets, and PVC NFT channels — with costs, parts lists, and pH/EC guidance.
What to feed chickens: treats, kitchen scraps, and foods to avoid
What to feed chickens: the 90/10 treat rule, safe kitchen scraps, foods to never feed (avocado, chocolate, beans, green potato), plus calcium, winter, and grit.
How to grow carrots: straight roots in any soil
A complete guide to growing carrots: choosing varieties for your soil, thinning, avoiding forked roots, succession sowing, and sand storage for a months-long harvest.
Chick starter feed: what to feed baby chicks and for how long
Chick starter feed explained: the 18-20% protein rule, medicated vs non-medicated (amprolium), how long to feed it, grit, what not to feed, and ducklings.
A safe salsa recipe for canning (that actually stays shelf-stable)
Use the NCHFP-tested Choice Salsa recipe for safe water bath canning: correct acid ratios, step-by-step process, altitude table, and what you cannot change.
Chicken feed and feeders: types, automatic feeders, and how much to feed
Pick the right chicken feeder and feed by life stage — starter, grower, layer, broiler, medicated, organic — plus how much to feed per bird and no-waste feeders.
How to grow potatoes: in ground, bags, and towers
A complete guide to growing potatoes: chitting seed potatoes, hilling, grow-bag methods, harvest timing for new and storage tubers, curing, and long-term storage.
Backyard chicken-keeping FAQs: real answers for new flock owners
Backyard chicken FAQs, answered: is it legal, do you need a rooster, cost to start and per month, smell, noise, predators, winter, lifespan, and vacation care.
Raising ducks: hardier, wetter, and great layers
A complete guide to raising ducks for eggs and meat: best breeds, housing space, niacin feeding rules, duck plague vaccine, and mixed-flock tips.
How to start a chicken farm: from backyard flock to small business
Start a chicken farm the numerate way: decide eggs vs meat, clear zoning, pick production breeds, size housing and feed, and sell legally. Extension-backed.