Editor’s Note: We brought back chicken expert Lisa Steele to share with you essential info for raising your own flock. Pull up a chair – it’s going to be good!
Raising a small flock of backyard chickens can be a rewarding and exciting experience for the whole family, but before you dive in, there are a few things you should know. Continue reading
“I am first and foremost a farmer, but not a very ordinary farmer,” states Joel Salatin on his website. “In fact, I’m known as a Christian libertarian environmentalist capitalist lunatic.”
If those sound like fightin’ words, you’re right – because few people are as passionate about fighting for a healthy earth, a healthy farm, and healthy food as this pugilistic planter. Continue reading
Has anyone ever measured the garbage output of the average Amish family? There’s no need. They already create far less trash than the average American family.
Why? Because the Amish lifestyle is the ultimate in low-impact zero-waste living. Continue reading
Is your home overrun by dust bunnies and noticeable dirt? If so, it’s time for some good, old-fashioned spring cleaning! This necessary task not only makes your house look good but will also make you feel good. (After all, who doesn’t like coming home to a sparkling clean house?)
Here are our top five cleaning solutions to make the job so much easier. Continue reading
Knowing that keeping honey bees was the next endeavor my family and I wanted to take on our homesteading journey, it was time to start learning! I watched YouTube videos, got some beekeeping books, and looked for classes. Of course, Lehman’s had a beekeeping class coming up, so that was a perfect opportunity for me to look at actual equipment, talk to an experienced beekeeper, and take a novel’s worth of notes! Continue reading
Editor’s Note: In less than a week, Easter will be here along with the month of April! Glenda Lehman Ervin, VP of Marketing, shares with Country Life fun, easy Easter crafts that she does with her children. It’s a great way to spend time with your family and create new traditions that your little ones will treasure for years to come.
The Egg Craft (also affectionately known as “Egg People”)
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It’s the emergency situation no one wants to think about: An extended power outage lasting two or more weeks. Continue reading
Editor’s Note: We are so happy to welcome back Lisa Steele as our guest blogger! She is a fifth-generation chicken keeper who has been around chickens most of her life. Today she’s sharing her wisdom on how to pick out the right flock for you and your family.
With more than a hundred breeds of chickens to choose from here in the United States online from hatcheries, breeders or your local feed store, finding the best breed of chickens for your needs can get pretty overwhelming. Fortunately, you don’t have to choose just one breed. And in fact, a mixed flock will give you a more colorful egg basket and more interesting group of chickens.
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Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in March 2017.
This is a story of the importance of seed saving, and how a simple kindness from a fellow gardener helped me reconnect with my grandmother’s garden. Continue reading
In 2015, when a massive windstorm hit our region during a bitterly cold November, we expected to lose power. What we didn’t expect was the extreme damage the storm caused to our regional power grid. It was the worst disaster in the power company’s 100+ year history, and over a million people lost electricity for anywhere from three days to two weeks. Until it’s gone, it’s hard to fathom how much juice from a socket makes modern conveniences possible, from gasoline to cell phone communication to grocery store inventory to mail delivery.
