In ten years on my homestead, I have built many buildings from scratch, including living spaces, some better than others. This spring, I decided to…
Prior to the invention of wire fencing, farmers still had to contain their livestock. They used what they had on hand and what was easy…
When building a homestead from scratch, almost anything goes. This is especially true when your homestead is away from city building codes. While I can’t…
Preface This article is inspired by the craftsmanship and elegance of early American homebuilding and traditional homestead construction. Further, it endeavors to be a worthy…
Imagine that you are outside working in your garden. You have been out since 6:30 a.m., and now that cool morning air is giving way…
Today's hottest trend is off-grid living; unplug, disconnect, and get back to your pioneer roots. Bookstores are full of books on every conceivable aspect from…
The very nature of living on a homestead is such that it generally involves living in isolated, rural environments. Many active homesteaders are single individuals…
Five years ago, my husband and I designed and built our backyard chicken coop. The design was based on photos of a friend's chicken coop and…
There are several options available to the new landowner-slash-rural-inhabitant, some appealing, some viable, some neither one. It all depends on the zoning requirements (or lack…
If you are thinking and have been reading about Alternative and Natural Building styles, this is one of those things that you see on the…
There’s something special about building your own home, whether you build it traditionally or not. And, there are some major benefits of being part of…
As some of you may know from reading my Missouri Journal, I have been building a house on my 12-acre Ozark paradise for a number…
