100 Days of Useful Homesteading Skills: Day 4 – Milking

people-flower-spring-cow-color-child-603149-pxhere.com.jpgThe number one reason why people begin homesteading is so that they can become more self-sufficient and rely on the food industry less. Milk and dairy are one of the biggest of these products, particularly for those who have children.

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100 Days of Useful Homesteading Skills: Day 2 – Bartering

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Western society, especially in the US has taught us for too long to rely on the almighty dollar.  In recent years many of us have learned it isn’t as almighty as we, as a country, had once believed it to be.

Communities of swappers, barterers, and work-traders have cropped up all over the US. Sites like Craigslist, Freecycle, Timebanks, “really, really, free markets” and the like have also become incredibly popular.

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100 Days of Useful Homesteading Skills: Day 1 – Chicken and Poultry Care

bird-farm-village-food-chicken-fowl-704974-pxhere.comKnowing how to purchase and raise/care for chickens or other poultry animals is an important homesteading skill. If you’ve never cared for more than a fish or housecat, being a homesteader is going to be a very big jump for you. You may think to yourself that you will start small but, like potato chips, you’ll soon find you can’t just stop at one or two. Well, maybe YOU can but we haven’t met any homesteaders yet who have been able to.

Poultry care can begin as early as brooding an egg or as late as adopting a retiring animal from an ailing “crazy chicken lady” or an adoption agency. Either way, there are basics you need to know.

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Permaculture With Goats

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Goats are often considered to be very destructive critters and rightly so. They are not grazers or lawnmowers as popular culture might have us believe, they are browsers and prefer the leaves and bark of trees and shrubs.

For some, this might be a bad thing. Who would want a goat nibbling on their prize rosebushes or freshly planted orchard? For others though, it is incredibly useful.

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