Bonnie Lavigne

Right On, Sister! The Feminization of Farming in North America

There has always been a female face to agriculture: the tough homesteader pioneer woman on the frontier; the milkmaid; the…

3 months ago

The Summer Kitchen: Why It’s Still a Good Idea

Once, on a late September day, my dear hubby came home, opened the side door, and jumped back with a…

1 year ago

Countdown to the Country: Ten Steps on the Road to Your Homestead

Bravo to those already on their own land, who are old hands at gardening and raising animals and bettering their…

2 years ago

Quilting: Recycling Made Beautiful

We didn’t invent recycling.  Our ancestors did it by necessity.  On the original homesteads across North America people re-jigged hard…

2 years ago

Weird Things to Grow and Market on the Homestead

It’s a fact that, as a species, we bore easily.  Curious beings are we, always looking for the innovative and…

2 years ago

Monoculture: Is It Really So Bad?

What has monoculture ever done for us?  Well, it created civilization, that’s what.  Cultivating a few key crops enabled us…

3 years ago

Snakes on the Homestead

Our fear of snakes seems almost primal.  Indeed, along with fear of falling and fear of the dark, it’s, more…

4 years ago

Crafty Cash — Put Your Hobbies to Work

Homesteaders have long been some of the most creative folks around.  We’re a race of putterers, always tinkering and patching…

4 years ago

A Brief History of Milk

Believe it or not, for most of the 150,000 odd years humans have been walking the earth, we couldn’t drink…

5 years ago

Against the Grain: The Paleolithic Diet

  I always believed a variety of natural, wholesome foods is pretty much all most people need to eat healthy.…

6 years ago