Monday

Eight Great Homesteading Sites


While very few of us go forth into the wilderness to build a life from the resources around us like the pioneers did, there are some of us who have inherited their spirit of resourcefulness. We enjoy getting every last pennies worth of value from whatever we spend our money on, and doing things that help us to avoid spending altogether. We buy food in bulk, garden, can and freeze it and whatever we can’t eat goes back into the garden as compost. We try to do it ourselves with inexpensive (or free) materials. We salvage, reuse, curb, glean and forage. Some of us even have websites sharing with others how we do it. There are around 130 homestead related sites I have bookmarked, so this list might turn into the first part of a series if there is any interest. In no order here are eight great homesteading sites.

Mother Earth News – The Grand Daddy (Granny?) of homesteading and self-sufficient living sites. The self described “Original Guide to Living Wisely” offers not a little about a lot but a lot about a lot. When I visit the site I end up clicking one page after the other and can spend quite a bit of time there, but I never feel like I have wasted my time.

Homestead.org – This site offers a nice variety of in depth articles on homesteading topics, a forum, a cookbook and a weekly newsletter.

Homesteading Today – This is an absolutely massive homesteading forum. The main topics are General, Livestock, Country Living, Country Homemaking, and a Specialty section. Some of the forums have hundreds of thousands of posts, making this site one that you just have to bookmark for future reference.

Countryside and Small Stock Journal – This is the online presence of the magazine. They offer about one third of the articles printed in the magazine, as well as several blogs, an online library and past issues. Well worth a visit.

Urban Homestead – This is a journal of four adults living on an urban homestead in Pasadena, Ca. that is one fifth of an acre in size but produces 6,000 pounds of food annually! While there make sure to visit their large archive to find out how they do it.

Backwoods Home Magazine – They cover all the bases and then some. Subjects include farm and garden, energy, self-reliance, homeschooling, making and saving money, recipes, firearms and hunting, tools, health and crafts. They also offer a newsletter, forum and several blogs.

Pioneer Living Survival Magazine – As you might be able to gather from the title this site has a slant towards survival techniques as well as homesteading and pioneer living. There are lots of good articles on back to the basics, living off the grid, gardening, cooking and more. Check out their videos and forum while you are there.

Hobby Farms – The website for the magazine for hobby farmers, small production farmers and those that love the country. Here you can find all kinds of information about rural life including small farm equipment, livestock and crops. Make sure to check out the resources section, as well as the community page.

2 comments:

  1. Some of these are new to me - many thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. http://thehappyhomesteader.weebly.com/

    A new homesteading website ;-)

    ReplyDelete

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