Editor's Note: Anna wrote this article before we realized how serious the coronavirus pandemic would be. Most of the country is under stay-at-home orders, so now is not the best time to visit the Goodwill store. However, please save this information until it's safe to go out … [Read more...]
Are You Ready For A Coronavirus Quarantine? Here’s A Checklist
We’ve all seen photos of the bare shelves where a supermarket’s toilet paper once was. We’ve watched as countries such as China and Italy have locked down their residents to curtail the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). We read about how the National Guard is disinfecting … [Read more...]
9 Ways to Light Your Home While Living Off Grid
The decision to go 100% off the grid comes with some major challenges. If you're thinking of doing this, then hopefully, you understand how much things will change. Most modern-day comforts will disappear. Fortunately, these comforts will be replaced by newfound … [Read more...]
40 Essential Homestead Items for Beginners
When I was brand new to starting a homestead, I read everything I could find about what I needed to get started. Over time, I came to realize that you don't need any of the fancy or complicated items you'll find on most lists. You just need a few basic items to get started, and … [Read more...]
15 Manuals and Cookbooks Every Homesteader Should Own
Sure, homesteading isn’t for the faint of heart, but it really isn’t for the unprepared. Every journey towards off-grid living is different, but the more high-quality resource material you have in your library, the easier your life will be. These are my all-time favorite books … [Read more...]
15 Homestead Supplies To Look For At Farm Auctions
Starting a homestead is an exciting endeavor, and sometimes it's an expensive one too. Searching for used equipment and bargains at farm auctions will save you a ton of money when first launching a self-reliant lifestyle on a survival homestead. Flea markets and yard sales are … [Read more...]
Colloidal Silver Healing Properties: Fact or Fiction?
There are many natural treatments for various conditions touted on the Internet—treatments based on folklore, urban myth, and even some valid clinical studies. Common everyday treatments include apple cider vinegar, honey, aloe vera, and others. Over time, these folk … [Read more...]
25 Homestead Items You Forgot To Buy
If you are in the beginning stages of your journey as a homesteader, you may be a bit overwhelmed by all the stuff you need to get. There are lists galore of basic tools and supplies for a well-stocked homestead. However, while you endeavor to purchase the best kitchen mixer … [Read more...]
30 Amazing Off Grid Living Inventions
For most people, getting completely off the grid and away from cities, power lines, water lines, Internet connections, and so forth, means living a very hard life. Not that you can't get used to it and even be very happy, but if you've enjoyed modern luxuries your entire life, it … [Read more...]
30 Dirt-Cheap Items You Should Stockpile While You Still Can
When you are building up a stockpile, it can be a financial worry. Even when you focus on thrifty options, it can be daunting to budget for items both for your family’s use now and for an emergency scenario. However, after planning for food and water needs, you might be … [Read more...]
10 Vintage Carpentry Tools – How To Restore & Preserve Them
You See Them Hanging on the Walls of Restaurants or in Display Cases in Museums, but They Really Deserve a Place in your Tool Chest. In a time of chainsaws, power tools, gas powered log splitters, table top electric planers, and drill presses, it’s easy to forget that all … [Read more...]
20 Crucial Homestead Items to Stockpile for Winter
I’ve been observing the squirrels in my yard and neighborhood this past week as the temperatures have become more fall-like. They are busy! Fascinated, I did a little research on the common gray squirrel. Squirrels don’t hibernate in the winter, but they do spend far less time … [Read more...]
21 Hand-Powered Tools You Need to Live Off the Grid
Preppers need tools, lots and lots of tools - of the manual variety. It would be unwise to expect to use power tools during a long-term disaster, even if the inciting incident had nothing to do with an EMP or cyber attack on our electrical grid. Sooner or later, your fuel … [Read more...]
5 Off Grid Kitchen Gadgets You Need
Setting up an off-grid kitchen is easier said than done. Most rely on electricity and electronics more than they realize (ovens, blenders, mixers, timers, and so forth). But with the right tools, you can do you everything you would do with an "on-grid" kitchen. In this video, … [Read more...]
How to Make Old-Fashioned Gunpowder (with Pictures)
DISCLAIMER: This post is for informational purposes only. Sulfur is flammable and toxic. The mix is strong enough to give you third-degree burns, and just one spark can set it off. You cannot take this stuff for granted. The ingredients are bad for your eyes as well, and experts … [Read more...]
17 Off Grid Supplies to Look for at Flea Markets
If you want to get some great bargains for your homestead, it’s time to start visiting flea markets. Flea markets get their name from “marché aux puces,” a French phrase that literally translates to “market of fleas.” The name comes from the fact that the first outdoor bargain … [Read more...]
Top 10 Homesteading Tools You Must Have
There are so many lists of homestead tools floating around out there. In fact, one of our own writers made a list. But this list by Big Family Homestead is especially interesting because it has several ideas that wouldn't occur to most people. For example, fence post drivers. … [Read more...]
