Homestead Planning

How to Choose the Best Seeds for Homesteading

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Cold, damp, dark.  It’s a typical February on the rainy west coast.  Not complaining – at least we’re not buried in snow, and the temperatures are relatively balmy compared to a big chunk of the continent.  It may not be a good time for soaking in the sun, but it is a great time to [...]

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Planning for Modern Homesteading in 2013 – 7 Tools to Use

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As you begin to delve into the world of self-sufficient living and transitioning from a more conventional (dependent) lifestyle,  you learn one thing – you can’t do it all at once (or alone). For most people, it takes years – literally.  I’m sure there are some lucky folks with the resources to do it all [...]

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How to Avoid Theft from Your Rural Property – A Checklist

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Our new neighbours, not yet even moved in, recently had most (if not all) of their winter fire wood supply stolen at some point in the night.  Our properties are far enough apart, and uphill from us with a creek and hill between, that we didn’t hear a thing. It was going to be their [...]

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Making a Living in the Country – 5 Tips for Success

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“Did you start your business before you moved to the country?” “How did you figure out what business to start?” “We really want to start over on a rural property – do you have any advice?” Every week, I’m getting more and more messages like this in my inbox and on my Facebook page. On [...]

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Have You Heard? Country Living Ain’t So Quiet After All

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Ah, life in the country.  It’s the stuff of countless novels and songs, waxing poetic about the graces that come from living out amongst the birds and the trees.  Yours truly has even been guilty of making it sound all fluffy and romantic on occasion (amongst all the talk of mice and predatory cats, but [...]

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Getting it all Done – Goal Setting for Modern Homesteading

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I spent the last week looking over my goals and accomplishments from 2011.  What worked, what didn’t, what I’d never, ever try again (like putting too many things on my to-do list!)… My iMac screen is covered with mindmaps, to-do lists, videos and audio links from Sandi Krakowski and PJ McClure.  I’ve been listening to [...]

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Planning for Self-Sufficiency in 2012 – A Review of 2011

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2012.  Has there ever been a year with more baggage?  Maybe (Year 2000, anyone?), but with all the hype and predictions going on about what this highly touted year will bring, I figured it was time I got busy and finished my annual homestead planning.  You know, before some grand calamity befalls us.  Or the [...]

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My Permaculture Journey Begins

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An architect, a midwife and a geophysicist walk into a room… No, it’s not the beginning of a witty joke.  It’s what I experienced yesterday as I began my year-long journey into the world of Permaculture design. If you’ve never heard of Permaculture, you’re not alone.  Even though it’s been around since the 1970s and [...]

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Rural Property – 5 Ways to Give Rural Real Estate the Safety Test

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It’s getting cold here.  The ground is rock solid frozen and we’ve gone full into ‘winter mode’.  Now that we’ve got livestock (chickens), it adds a whole new dimension to preparing our rural property to keep everyone (and everything) safe and secure through the chilly months.  But it’s not just in the winter when things [...]

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So Your Loved Ones Think Your Rural Living Dream is Crazy: 5 Benefits to Help Convince Them Otherwise

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If there’s one thing I hear over and over from readers who have a dream of rural living, is that it’s their spouse, family or friends who are keeping them from their modern homesteading dream. Let’s face it – while the number of people desiring a rural lifestyle is growing, most of North American society [...]

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