r/homestead • • 55m ago

Root Cellar

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• Upvotes

Me and my fiancée bought our dream home this summer. On the property is an old cellar that. The entrance is quite ruff and would like to restore that but besides that Any ideas on what I could do with it?


r/homestead • • 13h ago

animal processing Sent my first goat to the butcher today. Mixed feelings.

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994 Upvotes

This is our first group of 4 wethers and 1 doe. We got them at 3 months and sent one to the butcher at 8 months today. We love them so much and jokingly called them our “edible dogs”. I’m glad someone came to do the deed because I don’t know if I would be able to do this one myself. I’ve had no issue processing chickens, ducks, turkeys, and rabbits, but goats are a different level of personality and interaction. Anyone else go through this with their first goat? I’m sure it will get easier after this one but man I was sad today. This is the price we pay to respect the circle of life and to ensure our meat comes from a good place 🙏

RIP little Meatloaf. You were the cutest and most annoying hangry goat of them all.


r/homestead • • 4h ago

Are land maintenance costs worth it?

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22 Upvotes

I come from a remote mountain village in central asia. My family owns some land on which we have built quite a nice garden (2nd picture is from the garden). I decided to move to the city and my job requires me to be there or even move abroad in the near future. My mom is now taking care of the land and the small farm we have there by herself (Dad passed away 4 months ago). We have some fruit trees like apples, walnuts, apricots, rosebuds, prunes; and a lot of elms and populus trees, which are quite in demand. We also have a good amount of pasture grass that we use to make hay and feed it to the animals in our farm. After dad's passing, the financial burden of taking care of the garden and the farm has been transferred to me. As I am paying for the expenses, I have realized that the cost of picking the fruits, cutting the pasture and collecting it is much higher than the costs they require. I still want to take care of the land and I never want to sell it, but paying a lot of money and not receiving much in return makes me question whether this is a viable thing in the long term. What do you think would be a balanced decision in terms of expenses and keeping the place taken care of? I appreciate any response. Thanks

PS. Some pictures of my village near my home and the land


r/homestead • • 11h ago

My hey farm

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64 Upvotes

Just thought I would share.


r/homestead • • 17h ago

They have no fear.

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106 Upvotes

A couple of red foxes have taken residence on our property this summer. They seem to have no fear. Almost appear tame. They have been on our deck, under our lean-to. Always moving but do not try to avoid us. Is this typical?


r/homestead • • 11h ago

animal processing You don't train a great pyrenees. You convince them it's the best idea 😆

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21 Upvotes

He's a working dog, he has a job. But he's a hybrid. Because he spends part of his day and Mom's grooming shop when he needs a nap in the AC 🤣


r/homestead • • 13h ago

Rainwater Harvesting setup for Gardening

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34 Upvotes

We just moved to an acreage and have a garden planned for the spring. Setup of the rainwater collection was needed before winter so that we can catch the spring runoff.

Located around Edmonton Alberta Canada

- 1500 imperial gallons

- will be pumping to garden using self priming diagram pressure pump located outside the tank.


r/homestead • • 2h ago

animal processing Location: north central WV, US

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3 Upvotes

r/homestead • • 18h ago

Everytime I walk past the grocery store, I see this farm image on the building. They kind of got the perspective wrong and it just looks like they painted a guy on a tractor popping the clutch lol

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55 Upvotes

I don't have anyone in my normal life that would understand what that means. Thought you folks might get it :)


r/homestead • • 22h ago

Want to learn to cut up beef, pork or lamb?

68 Upvotes

The University of Maine and University of Kentucky created a free video library resource that demonstrates how to cut up beef, pork, and lamb carcasses into their retail cuts. 27 videos all together. We used simple tools, 2 knives and a hand saw.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8WZrPCNyvE&list=PLeiaOD-wUNSI


r/homestead • • 2h ago

Survey: Post-Harvest & Supply Chain – Client Needs and Search Behaviour

0 Upvotes

📊 Survey: Post-Harvest & Supply Chain – Client Needs and Search Behaviour

Hello everyone!

As part of my bachelor's thesis at Fontys University of Applied Sciences in Venlo, the Netherlands, I'm conducting market research at Wageningen University & Research (WUR).

The survey aims to better understand the needs, challenges and search behaviour of current and potential clients in post-harvest and supply-chain activities, with a focus on Europe. If you work in post-harvest, supply-chain management, horticulture or related fields, I'd really appreciate your participation!

⏱️ Duration: Approximately 5 minutes

🔗 Survey link: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/mezqfM19vd?lang=en-GB

Your input will support recommendations on how WUR can better present its expertise and services to relevant organisations.

Thank you, I appreciate your time and support!


r/homestead • • 28m ago

Can we slaughter a pig that was pregnant?

• Upvotes

r/homestead • • 22h ago

Recommend me a book on homesteading or off grid living

22 Upvotes

As the title says, please recommend me a book on off grid living. I know the concept, but don't know that facts. And I want anything that is more actionable facts than vibes.


r/homestead • • 20h ago

Feeding fish carcass and animal guts to chickem

9 Upvotes

Ok dumb question would there be any problem feeding chickens filleted fish carcasses or animal organ like deer turkey rabbit etc that i should be aware about


r/homestead • • 12h ago

Homestead helper (caretaker)

0 Upvotes

I posted a brief time ago about the feasibility of having a large number of goats/sheep checked on weekly. The consensus was that’s impossible.

Now I am thinking about hiring a caretaker to live on the property full time. They would manage the livestock and keep an eye on things. Possibly more depending on how this post goes. Maybe they can also give life to other projects we don’t have time for. That would be the minimum I’d expect but if I need to pay a real living wage then I could grow that list by 100x

We would provide a small cabin with water and electricity. A monthly stipend/salary?

Our property is on the central coast of CA outside buelton. It is a beautiful area to retire to but not many opportunities for someone to supplement their caretaker income. We are also 30 minutes from the nearest town.

What kind of person in terms of age, demographic, etc am I looking for? What is a reasonable amount of money to expect to pay them? And, finally, where should I look for them?

I’m basically picturing either someone older who wants to semi-retire who maybe doesn’t have the means, a vet living off some kind of disability, etc. I really don’t have any clue though.

Looking for advice on realistic expectations and rules of the road when it comes to this kind of thing


r/homestead • • 12h ago

Do you think my homemade incubator will work?

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0 Upvotes

I made it from an old smoker I had in the barn after cleaning it out really good.


r/homestead • • 6h ago

fence If you say you have a homestead does that mean you live in a house?

0 Upvotes

Like definitively if someone says they have a homestead with appliances

Or could it mean apartment or condo


r/homestead • • 2d ago

Dogs on the homestead?

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304 Upvotes

We have two amazing dogs, and they help us out so much on the homestead!

Our white husky mix is our bird wrangler and general enforcer. Whenever a bird gets loose from it's enclosure, she leaps into action. She has learned to catch them and hold them so we can get them back into the chicken tractor.

She is insanely useful. Yesterday, a pheasant got loose on the way to the kill cone, and immediately flew off. I yelled the magic phrase and watched her tear off after it. She chased it through the woods and caught it just on the other side.

Perfection. I thought that bird was long gone. Not with our beauty on duty!

She also kills groundhogs and other pests. She got at least 9 groundhogs this year, several raccoons, a flying squirrel that was living in the house and some other assorted critters.

Our chocolate lab is our rodent patrol. He is so good at it. He is always on the job. A flying squirrel woke me up at 3 am this summer by jumping on me, and across the room, and he was ON IT.

He catches mice and other pesky rodents constantly.

They killed a skunk a few weeks ago, that's why the white dog was all red in those pictures. Tomato sauce....lol.

What jobs do your pups have around the homestead? Got any good stories to share?


r/homestead • • 1d ago

what's one old school skill you think everyone should know?

96 Upvotes

not talking about building a house from scratch or anything crazy lol

more like preserving food, drying herbs, saving seeds, making basic stuff at home...

things that used to be normal but now most people have no idea how to do

if you could teach someone just ONE practical skill what would it be ?


r/homestead • • 1d ago

Where could I get timber land that I can legally camp on?

20 Upvotes

So many YouTubers and others talk about getting a piece of land and being able to live on it and use it even if just camping but I have been looking for such land and there seems always to be some legal restrictions. Is there anywhere where I can just live on my own land without having to legally develop it and get permits or at least these are inexpensive and allow me to be able to have an outhouse of composting toilet and live in a self made dwelling or an RV without having to hook up or to allow me to make an RV hook up camp that I'm not limited to using for a short time each year?


r/homestead • • 1d ago

Want to clear this 2-3 acre overgrown field down to the dirt. Goats, pigs, burning, or heavy machinery?

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62 Upvotes

Edit to add info: after it’s dirt we plan on planting grass. Yes I do want to keep some of the larger trees, but 98% need to go. I want to do it cheaply if possible, but don’t need it done quick.

Majority is 6-7ft tall trees. Originally planned on burning but was told the trees are a little big for that and I’d be left with a ton of half burnt stumps. Seems too tall for a bush hog. Bulldozer would work but expensive. Thinking about letting goats go through it, chainsawing whatever’s left, then letting pigs rip out the roots to make sure none of it comes back. Thoughts?


r/homestead • • 1d ago

Dagnabbit! The tiller broke.

12 Upvotes

My 3 point tiller side shaft cracked, it can't be used until it's replaced, and the part is on back order until December. I need to break up dense sod for next year's potatoes. What's the second best way to kill grass?


r/homestead • • 1d ago

Deer getting caught in yard fencing

12 Upvotes

Help! We bought a new home with a large fenced yard and metal fencing. The neighbor informed us it is very common to have the deer get stuck in the fence. Parts of the fence are shaded, which prevents solar lighting on the fence line from being consistent. Any suggestions are appreciated!


r/homestead • • 2d ago

permaculture I bought 5.7 acres today, this separates my future yard from the pasture.

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131 Upvotes

r/homestead • • 2d ago

Processed some pheasants today!

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535 Upvotes

We are really looking forward to having pheasant stew in a couple days! The dogs have had a great day of butchering scraps and organs. Is there any better feeling than raising and processing your own meat? It feels like a great accomplishment to put away food for the winter.