Most people are familiar with only two bee products: honey and beeswax. But there are three others, unbeknownst to many, that are just as useful to humans — maybe even more: bee pollen, royal jelly and propolis. Extracts of these ...
Read More »Articles Written By JD Lara
Maximizing Every Inch Of Land On Your Homestead
There’s a variety of ways you can maximize the efficiency of your homestead, and one of them is through zoning. Zoning is a design principle you’d most often hear of in permaculture circles. Permaculture, as the name implies, is a ...
Read More »The Ugly (But Delicious) Superfood That Fights Cancer And Lowers Cholesterol
Ever noticed those big ugly brown roots lining the tables at farmers’ markets and natural food stores? Chances are, they’re yacon (yah-CON) — those sweet, scrumptious vegetables that are the rage in health circles these days. Strange and ugly as ...
Read More »Learn This Woman’s ‘Kitchen Secret’ To Looking 30 Years Younger
Having written a story on growing fodder for livestock some months back, I was able to glean a bit of info on the benefits of sprouting. I learned that barley sprouts are a nutritious alternative to commercial feeds that can ...
Read More »7 Dairy Goat Breeds Homesteaders Simply Love
If you love milk and dairy, keeping goats on your homestead can provide you and your family the self-sufficiency you desire. Although dairy goats provide less milk than cows, they’re a lot cheaper and require much less space, feed and ...
Read More »Simple Steps To Growing Coffee – Even Where You Live
What would American life be without coffee? In the world of coffee consumption, Americans sip more than a third of the total coffee produced on the entire planet, yet none of it is grown in the continental United States. At ...
Read More »Peecycling: How To Fertilize Your Garden With Nutrient-Rich Urine
That yellow fluid we all flush down the toilet, it turns out, isn’t just useless “wastewater.” When Vermont environmentalists Kim Nace and Abraham Noe-Hays released their findings on the benefits of urine in agriculture earlier this year, farmers and gardeners ...
Read More »How To Make Your Own All-Natural (And Non-Toxic) Paint
With prices of goods constantly rising, people are turning to all kinds of D-I-Y products — including paints. For those who aren’t well-versed in the world of building construction, home decor and crafts (like me), making one’s own paint may ...
Read More »Feed Your Livestock AND Your Family With Prolific, Fast-Growing Duckweed
As someone who raises livestock, I’m always interested in sourcing low-cost feed alternatives. Duckweed has been gaining a lot of attention in the farming community, owing to its ease of cultivation and the growing proof of its usefulness as a ...
Read More »11 All-Natural Sweeteners You Can Grow In Your Backyard
Whether you’re watching your health and trying to limit your sugar intake, or you’re an off-gridder trying to live a self-reliant lifestyle — chances are you’re looking for natural, non-toxic alternatives to store-bought sweeteners. There’s quite a variety that you ...
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