countryside
Identify and Store Nuts for the Winter
Add to Favorites Scarlet leaves are among us as the nights become cooler. If you are starting to feel a little squirrelly, you are not alone. It is the chilly fall …
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Potatoes Offer Healthy Sustainability
Most of us enjoy eating potatoes, but only a small number of us grow our own. And yet, planting and harvesting potatoes is one of the simplest and highest-yielding crops to grow.
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12 Benefits of Learning How to Crochet
What does “crochet” mean? Let’s start with the basics. Crochet is defined as the process of hooking thread or yarn to create fabric.
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Safely Limbing and Bucking Trees
Bucking trees isn’t as easy as it looks. Learn how to limb a tree and buck wood safely.
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Know Your Firewood Moisture Content
Knowing firewood moisture content can make the difference between creating steam or heat. Most folks agree that water doesn’t burn, not unless you break H2O down into H and O, both of which are highly flammable, and that doesn’t happen in your stove or furnace.
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How to Store Firewood: Try Low-Cost, High-Efficiency Racks
One thing we have in abundance here in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina is firewood. Last winter, we noticed that the number of wood piles on our neighbors’ properties increased dramatically.
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Beef Composites and Breed Definition
We frequently hear the terms crossbred, hybrid, composite, or synthetic when referring to breed definition, and we often wonder exactly what these terms mean.
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Agritourism: A Money-Making Agriculture Business
Can inviting farm visitors fuel a successful money-making agriculture business? It’s called agritourism and yes, it can!
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Starting a Petting Zoo Business
Why not make use of the resources you already have on hand — farm animals, land, and a love of sharing them with others — and try starting a petting zoo business?
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What You Can, and Can’t, Can
Just about anything you would grow in your garden may be preserved by canning. Only a few foods cannot be safely canned at all, some may be canned in one form but not another, and still others don’t hold up well under the prolonged heat of processing.
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Fire Preparedness On The Farm
Fire preparedness is an often-overlooked issue on the farm and homestead. Have you looked at your homestead or farm through the eyes of a firefighter?
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Off-Grid Battery Banks: The Heart of the System
Add to Favorites By Dan Fink – Anyone who owns a vehicle likely already has a love-hate relationship with the starting battery inside. It’s heavy, dirty, expensive, dangerous, and always seems …
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7 Tips for How to Start Living Off The Grid
Add to Favorites By Dave Stebbins – Living off-grid is living the dream. Enjoying all the amenities while not being dependent on the power company fires the imagination. Sunlight sparkles …
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How to Build a Cattle Panel Hoop House
Add to Favorites By Julie Harrell, New York, Zone 5B My cattle panel hoop house is a community gathering place. Recently, my sweet neighbor of almost 20 years and soul …
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What is the Best Mulch to Prevent Weeds?
Add to Favorites All Photos By Shelley Dedauw The best mulch to prevent weeds depends on where the mulch lies, what else you need it to do…and, of course, cost. …
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