Tag: Gardening

Kentucky Homestead Lifestyle

On By The.Daily.ChristianIn Kentucky, Kentucky Homestead LifestyleLeave a comment

Let me tell y’all something right now: if one more person tells me homesteading is “just a cute hobby,” I might just throw a cast iron skillet through the wall of my root cellar. This ain’t a trend. This ain’t some TikTok fantasy where you frolic in wildflowers and collect eggs in a gingham dress while sipping kombucha. This is real life, and here in Kentucky, it’s blood, sweat, blisters, frostbite, and the kind of grit most folks wouldn’t recognize if it slapped them upside the head with a bag of feed.

Homesteading is not for the faint of heart. It’s for the tough, the tired, the stubborn-as-hell, and the people who understand that freedom comes from getting your hands in the dirt—not just talkin’ about it online.

I’ve built this Kentucky homestead from the red clay up with nothing but calloused hands, hard lessons, and a whole lot of failures. If you’re gonna live this life, you’d better be ready to learn skills they sure as hell don’t teach in schools anymore. And if you think it’s just about mason jars and chicken coops, think again.

Let me break it down for you. Here are 15 non-negotiable skills every Kentucky homesteader better damn well learn, or else they’ll be up a creek without a paddle, a chicken, or a crop.

🛠 15 Hard-Earned Kentucky Homesteading Skills

  1. Seed Starting & Soil Blocking – If you’re buying starts from Tractor Supply every spring, you’re doing it wrong. Learn to start your own with soil blocks, save your heirloom seeds, and get ahead of the late frosts that love to sneak up in March.
  2. Basic Carpentry – From chicken tractors to compost bins to cold frames, you have to know how to use a saw and a drill. Or go broke paying someone else.
  3. Canning & Preservation – Canning ain’t just some Depression-era nonsense. It’s how you survive the winter with dignity. Water bath, pressure canning, pickling—it’s not optional.
  4. Butchering Livestock – Don’t raise meat birds if you can’t bring yourself to butcher ’em. It’s part of the cycle. Learn to do it quick, clean, and with respect.
  5. Composting – You can’t buy your way into good soil. Compost is black gold, and anyone who thinks it’s “gross” ain’t never grown a real tomato.
  6. Beekeeping – Our Kentucky springs are sweet and wild—perfect for bees. Keep ‘em happy and healthy, and they’ll reward you with pollination and honey money.
  7. Soap Making – Store-bought soap is full of junk. Lard, lye, and lavender oil can keep you cleaner and more independent than any overpriced organic nonsense.
  8. Fermentation – Sauerkraut, sourdough, kefir—your gut will thank you and so will your pantry.
  9. Rainwater Harvesting – We get plenty of rain, but that don’t mean it’s always where you need it. Save it, store it, and never take a storm for granted.
  10. Fence Building – If you can’t build a fence, don’t even think about owning animals. Period.
  11. Animal Husbandry – Chickens, goats, rabbits, pigs. Know what they eat, how they behave, when they’re sick, and how to birth and butcher. Don’t romanticize it.
  12. Chainsaw Use & Safety – You live in Kentucky. You’ll need firewood. Trees will fall. Limbs will break. Learn to use a chainsaw or end up crushed or cold.
  13. Food Forest & Perennial Planting – Don’t replant every damn year. Elderberries, asparagus, comfrey, and pawpaws—put in the work once and reap the rewards for decades.
  14. First Aid & Herbal Remedies – Nearest hospital’s 45 minutes away, and that’s if the holler’s dry. Know your herbs. Know how to splint a break or stitch a cut.
  15. Mechanical Maintenance – Your tractor, tiller, and generator will break—usually in the rain, in the mud, and on a Sunday. Know how to fix them or freeze trying.

🔧 3 DIY Homestead Hacks That’ll Save Your Sanity

Now let’s get down to business with three DIY hacks I swear by—tried, tested, and perfected in the bluegrass backwoods.

1. Insulated Root Cellar from an Old Freezer

Don’t toss that busted chest freezer—bury it instead.

  • Dig a pit in a shaded, north-facing slope.
  • Drop that freezer in, lid up.
  • Cover the top with a few bales of straw and a pallet for weight.
  • Boom: instant root cellar for potatoes, carrots, apples, or squash. Keeps cool year-round.

You’ll save energy, money, and space—and you won’t be running up your electric bill just to keep some carrots crisp.

2. Gravity-Fed Chicken Watering System

Tired of your poultry knocking over their waterers or freezing ‘em solid? Build a gravity-fed watering system with:

  • A 5-gallon bucket with a lid.
  • A length of clear tubing.
  • Some poultry nipples or cups.
  • Mount it slightly uphill and use gravity to keep water flowing.

Add a black hose coiled in the sun to help keep it thawed in the colder months. You’ll spend way less time hauling water and more time watching healthy, hydrated hens.

3. Solar Dryer Made from Old Windows

Those antique windows collecting dust in your barn? Don’t trash ‘em—turn ’em into a solar dehydrator.

  • Build a simple wooden box frame.
  • Line it with mesh racks.
  • Mount the window on top, angled toward the sun.
  • Vent holes on the bottom and top (with bug screen!).

Perfect for drying herbs, mushrooms, apples, and jerky—without depending on the grid or a noisy dehydrator.

Now listen—Kentucky is a special kind of place. We’ve got unpredictable weather, stubborn soil, and more ticks than I care to count. But we’ve also got resilience, community, and a long legacy of self-sufficiency. You can’t fake this lifestyle. You live it, or you don’t. You respect the land, or it eats you alive.

I don’t want to hear about how “hard” it is to find raw milk or how your zucchini didn’t grow because you forgot to mulch. You want it? Then earn it. Show up every day, even when it’s 95 degrees and the goats got out again. Even when the canner breaks and your rooster tries to kill you. Even when no one understands why you live like this.

You live like this because you believe in something deeper: independence, stewardship, legacy.

So no, homesteading ain’t cute. It’s not easy. It’s not always fun.

But damn if it isn’t worth every drop of sweat, blood, and rain-soaked effort.

The Real Nevada Homestead Lifestyle — No Sugarcoating

On By The.Daily.ChristianIn Nevada, Nevada Homestead Lifestyle, Nevada preppers, Nevada SurvivalistsLeave a comment

Nevada’s no place for the faint-hearted. The desert sun bakes you by day, and the freezing wind cuts you to the bone by night. There’s no city water or electricity waiting for you to plug in, no grocery store five minutes down the road. You get what you earn here, and if you don’t like that, go back to your cushy apartment with your air conditioning and Amazon Prime deliveries.

Homesteading in Nevada means living off the land in one of the toughest climates this country has to offer. If you think you can just show up with some seeds and hope they grow, you’re dead wrong. It’s a brutal fight every single day. But, if you’re stubborn enough to stick with it, there’s no lifestyle that offers more freedom and self-reliance than this.

15 Essential Homestead Skills for Nevada Survivors

  1. Water Harvesting and Management: You’d better know how to collect, store, and ration water. Rain’s rare, so you learn to catch every drop, dig wells if you can, and recycle water like your life depends on it — because it does.
  2. Solar Power Setup: Forget waiting for the power company. Learn how to install and maintain solar panels. The Nevada sun’s relentless, so why waste it? Solar energy is your lifeline.
  3. Basic Carpentry: Building your own shelter, fences, and storage is not optional — it’s survival. You need to measure, saw, hammer, and build sturdy structures that can withstand harsh desert winds.
  4. Gardening in Arid Conditions: Growing anything in dry Nevada soil is an art. You need to know how to prepare the soil, mulch like a madman, and pick drought-resistant crops.
  5. Canning and Food Preservation: When your garden produces, you better know how to preserve that bounty. Canning, drying, fermenting — all critical to making it through lean months.
  6. Animal Husbandry: Raising chickens, goats, or rabbits is a must. You’ve got to feed them, care for them, and harvest eggs, milk, or meat to sustain your family.
  7. Hunting and Trapping: Don’t rely on stores. Learn to hunt local game and trap small animals. Know the seasons, tracks, and how to clean your kill properly.
  8. Blacksmithing or Basic Metalworking: Sometimes you need to fix tools, make nails, or create hardware out of nothing. Knowing how to work metal can save your homestead.
  9. Fire Starting: Matches fail. Lighters run dry. Learn friction fire starting or using flint and steel. If you can’t make fire, you won’t eat or stay warm.
  10. Herbal Medicine: The desert has cures hidden in plain sight. Knowing which plants treat burns, cuts, or stomach issues can mean the difference between life and death.
  11. Permaculture Design: Creating a sustainable, self-regenerating ecosystem around your homestead means less work long-term and a better chance of survival.
  12. Basic Plumbing: Setting up water lines, fixing leaks, and managing greywater systems will keep your water running without costly professionals.
  13. Sewing and Repair: Clothes and gear wear out fast. Knowing how to patch, mend, or even make your own clothes saves money and keeps you functional.
  14. Soap Making: Cleaning yourself and your clothes without running water or store-bought products means you better know how to make soap from scratch.
  15. Food Foraging: Knowing what wild plants, nuts, and berries are edible and how to gather them without poisoning yourself is a must-have skill.

3 DIY Nevada Homestead Hacks to Save Your Hide

Hack #1: The Solar Still for Water Purification

If you find yourself out in the wild with questionable water, build a simple solar still. Dig a hole, place a container in the middle, cover the hole with plastic, and put a small rock in the center of the plastic so it dips down over the container. The sun’s heat evaporates the water, and it condenses on the plastic, dripping clean water into your container. This little contraption can mean clean drinking water when you thought you were done for.

Hack #2: The Desert Hugelkultur Garden Bed

Nevada’s soil sucks, but you can improve it with hugelkultur — basically, burying wood logs under a mound of soil. The wood slowly decomposes, storing moisture and nutrients. This garden bed stays hydrated longer and feeds your plants naturally. It’s a game-changer for drought conditions and poor soil.

Hack #3: DIY Windbreak Fence

Wind here isn’t just annoying; it kills your crops and wears down your home. Make a cheap windbreak by stacking pallets and filling the gaps with brush or scrap wood. Plant native bushes along the fence line, and you’ll have a shelter that protects your garden and homestead from those biting desert winds.

Why I’m Angry? Because Homesteading Ain’t No Weekend Hobby

I’m sick and tired of hearing city slickers romanticize this life. “Oh, just grow your own food and live off the land,” they say. Like it’s that easy. In Nevada, your water runs out, your soil won’t grow a carrot to save your life, and your tools break faster than you can fix them.

You don’t get to rest when you live this way. Every day is a battle against the elements, pests, and your own exhaustion. If you don’t get up and tend your garden at dawn, the heat will kill your plants before lunch. If you slack on checking your water storage, you might not have a drop left when you need it. Every homesteader I know out here has scars — physical and mental — earned from this hard-ass land.

But here’s the kicker: despite the anger, despite the hardship, there’s no way I’d give it up. Because this is freedom. This is self-sufficiency. This is the rawest, purest form of living that humbles you and makes you a real human being again.

What You Need to Know Before You Even Dream of Nevada Homesteading

  • Prepare to Be Alone: Out here, neighbors might be miles away. You’ll rely on yourself and your family. Learn to be comfortable with solitude — or learn how to shoot a rattlesnake fast.
  • Expect Equipment Failures: Your tractor will break, your solar panels will need cleaning, your water pump will seize. Learn how to fix things or live with broken gear.
  • Respect the Wildlife: Coyotes, snakes, scorpions, and spiders share this land. Know how to avoid or deal with them without losing your mind or your toes.
  • Master Time Management: Homesteading demands time and discipline. You can’t just take a day off. If you fall behind, you’ll pay for it with spoiled food, lost crops, or sick animals.
  • Learn From Your Mistakes: This land will teach you lessons—sometimes harsh ones. But if you listen, you’ll get better, and you’ll build something that lasts.

Final Word — Nevada Homesteading Ain’t for Cowards

If you want to homestead in Nevada, stop dreaming about idyllic farm scenes and start preparing for battle. It’s a fight against drought, heat, cold, and your own limits. But when you learn the skills, use the hacks, and grind through the tough days, you’ll have something no one else does: real independence.

The Nevada homestead lifestyle is a brutal, beautiful struggle. If you’re angry, good — let that anger fuel your work. If you’re scared, good — let that fear sharpen your resolve. And if you’re stubborn as hell, well, then maybe you’re cut out for this life.

Because out here, it’s do or die. And I’m here, still standing — angry, hard-working, and proud as hell.

This Ain’t Pinterest: Real Talk from a South Dakota Homesteader

On By The.Daily.ChristianIn South Dakota, South Dakota Homestead LifestyleLeave a comment

Let me tell you something right now: if you think homesteading in South Dakota is all sourdough starters, chickens in cute aprons, and sun-dappled Instagram reels, you’re dead wrong. This ain’t some aesthetic lifestyle trend. This is hard, raw, gut-punching work. It’s frostbitten fingers, mud-caked boots, and waking up at 4:30 a.m. to milk goats in a -20°F blizzard while the wind rips through your soul like a rusty saw.

I’m not here to coddle you. I’m here to warn you — and, yeah, maybe light a fire under your backside. Because if you’re dreaming about “going off-grid” without knowing how to keep your pipes from freezing solid or your chickens from keeling over in the heat, you’ll get chewed up and spit out by South Dakota faster than you can say “sourdough discard.”

Let’s start with the weather, because Mother Nature out here doesn’t give a damn about your plans. Winter will try to kill you. Summer will try to dehydrate you. Spring is a cruel joke, and fall lasts about 12 minutes before winter kicks the door down again.

If you’re gonna survive here, you better get serious.

Here are 15 homesteading skills you’d damn well better know if you want to keep your sanity and your livestock alive in this state:

  1. Basic Carpentry – You’ll be fixing fences, building coops, and patching barns. No time for YouTube tutorials when your roof’s blown off in a storm.
  2. Animal Husbandry – Not just cuddling goats. I’m talking birthing, deworming, castrating, and dealing with an unexpected chicken massacre at 2 a.m.
  3. Seed Saving – Because next year’s food depends on this year’s seeds. Don’t trust Big Ag to bail you out.
  4. Composting – You’re gonna generate waste. Learn to turn it into black gold or you’ll drown in chicken crap.
  5. Butchering – If you can’t kill and process what you raise, you’ve got no business raising it.
  6. Water Management – Wells freeze. Hoses crack. You better know how to move, store, and thaw water without burning your house down.
  7. Soap Making – You will get filthy. Might as well smell like goat milk and lye while you do it.
  8. Canning & Preserving – Freezers aren’t dependable when the power cuts out for three days in a whiteout.
  9. Firewood Chopping – Forget electric heat. You’ll need cords of wood and the strength of a bear to stay warm out here.
  10. First Aid – The ER isn’t next door. You better know how to stitch, splint, and stop bleeding on your own.
  11. Foraging – Not every meal will come from your garden. Learn your wild edibles — chokecherries, morels, lamb’s quarters.
  12. Solar/Energy Know-How – Grid down? Windstorm take out the lines? Your backup better work, or you’re toast.
  13. Fencing – Livestock can’t stay in a dreamcatcher circle. Barbed wire, electric — learn it, use it, respect it.
  14. Mechanical Repair – Tractors, tillers, and generators break down. You need to be able to tear ‘em apart and put ‘em back together.
  15. Weather Forecasting (Old School) – If you wait for the weatherman, you’re already three days behind. Watch the sky. Smell the wind.

And don’t get me started on the DIY hacks — because out here, there’s no running to Lowe’s every time a hinge snaps. You rig it, you fix it, you improvise like your great-grandpa did. Here are three of my favorites that have saved my bacon more than once:

DIY Homestead Hack #1: The Heated Water Bucket on a Budget

Forget paying $50 a pop for fancy heated buckets. Take an old cooler, run a heated stock tank de-icer through the lid, seal it with silicone caulk, and boom — insulated, heated water bucket that keeps your animals hydrated even when it’s colder than a banker’s heart.

DIY Homestead Hack #2: Windbreak Wall from Pallets

South Dakota wind will drive you to madness if you let it. Stack free pallets, bolt them together, anchor them with t-posts, and fill the gaps with straw bales or snow. You’ll cut the wind chill for your animals and keep your coop from becoming a popsicle overnight.

DIY Homestead Hack #3: Egg Carton Fire Starters

Take your leftover egg cartons, fill the cups with dryer lint or sawdust, then pour melted candle wax or bacon grease over the top. Let ’em cool, then break off one or two when you need to light a fire fast — even in howling prairie wind.

And now, a word about expectations. Homesteading in South Dakota isn’t a weekend hobby. It’s not a way to “unplug” or “reconnect with nature.” It’s a full-blown life commitment, and it will test every part of your body and brain.

You will cry over dead piglets. You will rage at frozen pipes. You will feel like a failure at least once a week. But if you stick it out, there’s something deeper here. Something solid. Something that doesn’t blow away with the next windstorm.

Because when you finally harvest that first meal — every bite grown, raised, or foraged by you — it’ll taste better than anything you ever bought at a store.

When your kids learn to fix a fence before they learn to text, or when your partner brags about their pickled beets like they just won a blue ribbon at the state fair — you’ll know you’re doing something that matters.

We aren’t living in the past — we’re reclaiming the skills the world forgot. The ability to be independent. The courage to be prepared. The guts to face a world that thinks we’re crazy for wanting to work this damn hard.

So yeah, maybe I’m angry. I’m angry at a society that thinks we’re backward for wanting to know where our food comes from. I’m angry at every influencer who romanticizes this life but never shows the blood, frostbite, or exhaustion.

But most of all, I’m angry that more people don’t realize they can do this. You don’t need 100 acres. You don’t need a trust fund. You need grit, knowledge, and the humility to learn.

So get out there. Chop wood. Raise pigs. Plant seeds. Fail, learn, and keep going.

Because the wind may blow, the frost may bite, and the state may try to bury you — but out here, we endure.

Iowa Homestead Lifestyle: Where Grit Meets Gut and No One’s Got Time for BS

On By The.Daily.ChristianIn Iowa, Iowa Homestead Lifestyle, Iowa survival prepperLeave a comment

Listen here, city slickers and wannabe farmers: homesteading in Iowa ain’t no stroll through a cornfield in spring. It’s blood, sweat, and damn near everything in between — and if you don’t come prepared with grit and a backbone, you’re gonna fail. Fast. I’m sick of hearing how easy this all looks on those pretty YouTube channels or in some “simple living” blog. No. Just no.

Iowa’s rich soil might be a blessing, but don’t let that fool you. The weather here will whip your ass — freezing winters, scorching summers, and storms that’ll tear up your whole damn place if you ain’t ready. If you want to live this lifestyle right, you better learn the skills and hacks that make survival and success possible. So buckle up, because I’m about to lay down the truth on 15 essential homestead skills every Iowa homesteader needs, plus three DIY hacks to keep you rolling when the world’s trying to screw you over.

15 Essential Homestead Skills for Iowa Homesteaders

  1. Soil Testing & Amendment
    Don’t just plant and pray. If you want crops to grow in this dirt, you need to test the soil for pH and nutrients, then add lime, compost, or manure accordingly. Lazy gardeners get no harvest here.
  2. Crop Rotation & Companion Planting
    Iowa’s soil gets tired if you don’t rotate your crops year to year. Plus, planting the right combos like beans with corn keeps pests at bay without chemicals.
  3. Seed Saving
    Stop buying seeds every damn season. Learn to save and store your own seeds. It’s survival insurance and money saved — and you’ll be thanking yourself when that seed company jacks prices up.
  4. Chicken Raising
    If you think chickens just roam and lay eggs, think again. You’ve gotta know how to build secure coops, manage feed, fend off predators, and handle sickness. This ain’t a petting zoo.
  5. Butchering & Meat Processing
    If you raise animals, you better know how to process them yourself. No one’s coming to hold your hand or do it for you. It’s bloody work but necessary if you want real food freedom.
  6. Preserving Food
    Canning, drying, fermenting — if you’re not preserving your harvest, you’re wasting it. Iowa’s growing season’s short; you gotta eat well all winter.
  7. Firewood Gathering & Splitting
    Heating a homestead in Iowa’s winter ain’t cheap. Learn to cut, split, and stack firewood properly — or freeze your ass off.
  8. Basic Plumbing Repair
    I’ve seen too many folks call a plumber for every drip or clogged pipe. Learn to fix leaks and maintain your water system. It’ll save you money and headaches.
  9. Fence Building & Maintenance
    Whether you’re keeping critters in or pests out, a solid fence is a must. Know how to build and repair fences fast because Iowa’s wildlife will test your defenses daily.
  10. Tractor & Equipment Maintenance
    If you’re running a tractor, mower, or tiller, you better know how to keep it running. No mechanic on call for you when you’re 20 miles from town.
  11. Rainwater Harvesting
    Iowa gets its share of droughts despite all the rain. Catch and store water for irrigation and chores — it’s a lifesaver.
  12. Soap Making
    Yeah, soap. Making your own is cheaper, chemical-free, and a step toward true self-reliance. Plus, nothing beats homemade soap for hard-working hands.
  13. Basic Carpentry
    Fix your roof, build your coop, repair your porch — you need carpentry skills or you’ll be stuck waiting on contractors who’ll charge you an arm and a leg.
  14. Herbal Medicine & First Aid
    When the nearest clinic is miles away, knowing which herbs soothe a fever or stop bleeding is worth more than gold.
  15. Composting
    Iowa’s dirt can be good but it ain’t perfect. Building and maintaining a compost pile recycles waste and builds rich soil. No compost, no crops — simple as that.

3 DIY Homestead Hacks That’ll Save Your Ass on an Iowa Homestead

Hack #1: DIY Chicken Coop Predator Proofing
Raccoons, foxes, coyotes — they’re relentless here. Wrap the bottom of your coop with hardware cloth buried at least a foot underground in an L shape outwards. No digging under, no tearing through. Cheap, simple, and keeps your hens alive.

Hack #2: DIY Worm Compost Bin
Don’t buy expensive worm bins. Take an old plastic storage container, drill some holes for airflow and drainage, add bedding like shredded paper and kitchen scraps, then throw in worms. You get black gold compost for your garden without spending a dime.

Hack #3: Plastic Bottle Drip Irrigation
Iowa’s summer heat can fry your crops if you’re not watering right. Take empty plastic bottles, poke small holes in the cap, bury them neck-down near plant roots, and fill them with water. Slow, deep watering that saves time and water.

Why Iowa Homesteading Is Not for the Faint of Heart

Look, I don’t sugarcoat this shit. Iowa homesteading means getting your hands dirty and not complaining when the weather wrecks your garden, or the tractor breaks down, or your chickens go missing overnight. It’s not a weekend hobby — it’s a lifestyle that will chew you up if you’re half-assed.

But here’s the damn truth — when you learn these skills and get those hacks down, you gain a freedom that no city life can offer. You grow your own food, raise your own meat, build your own shelter, and survive off the land on your own terms. There’s nothing more satisfying.

A Day in the Life on an Iowa Homestead

You wake up before dawn, pull on your boots, and head outside. First task: check the chickens. That coop better be intact, eggs collected, feed topped off. Then it’s out to the garden, pulling weeds, inspecting for pests. Your compost pile needs turning today, so grab the pitchfork. You check the rain barrels; water’s running low — maybe time to move the irrigation system to that patch of corn.

Midday means fixing the fence that the deer crashed through last night. You patch holes, hammer new posts, and secure the wire tight. You’re exhausted but no time to rest. Next up is the soap batch you started last night — time to mold and set it. Then you haul firewood inside for the coming cold.

At sunset, you sit on your porch, the smell of fresh-turned earth and woodsmoke heavy in the air, knowing that every drop of sweat is a brick in the foundation of your independence. You may be tired, but dammit, you’re alive and you’re doing it your way.

Final Words for the Iowa Homesteader

If you’re thinking about homesteading here, know this: You’re signing up for hard work, stubborn lessons, and days when everything breaks at once. But with the right skills, the right attitude, and a few clever hacks, Iowa homesteading can be the most rewarding, grounding, and life-changing thing you ever do.

So get your hands dirty, learn every damn skill you can, and build your homestead like your life depends on it — because it does.

Maine Homestead Lifestyle

On By The.Daily.ChristianIn Maine, Maine Homestead Lifestyle, Maine Survival PreparednessLeave a comment

Maine Homestead Lifestyle: A Gritty Rant from an Angry Homesteader

Listen here, if you think homesteading in Maine is some romantic little getaway where you sip maple syrup and bask in autumn leaves, you’re dead wrong. Maine isn’t some lazy dreamland — it’s a wild, harsh, relentless beast that’ll chew you up and spit you out if you don’t know what the hell you’re doing. I’m here to tell you straight: if you don’t come prepared with backbone and know-how, you might as well pack it up and head back to the city.

You think it’s cute, the idea of a quiet life off-grid with the loon calls and the snow piling high? Yeah, well, the snow doesn’t just pile — it buries you. And the wind? It’ll cut through you like a rusty saw blade. So, if you’re gonna survive this Maine homestead lifestyle, you better get ready to work harder and smarter than you ever have in your life.

1. Firewood Cutting & Splitting

First off, no heat means no life. You better be a master woodsman who can fell trees with precision and split firewood like a demon. Maine winters last forever, and the cold sneaks into your bones if you slack off. There’s no “just turn on the heat.” You’re the heat. Chainsaw skills, axe work, and stacking wood neatly for months of burning — that’s your lifeline.

2. Food Preservation

Canning, pickling, drying — if you don’t know how to put away food for the long haul, you’re gonna starve come February. Maine’s growing season is short, and the grocery store ain’t always a quick run. You’ll want to learn pressure canning for meats and beans, water bath canning for fruits, and how to properly dry herbs and veggies.

3. Gardening & Crop Rotation

Planting in Maine soil isn’t just throwing seeds in the dirt. You’ve got to know your frost dates, prepare the soil with compost, and rotate crops so the earth doesn’t get sick. Carrots, kale, potatoes, and cold-hardy greens are your bread and butter. Get your hands dirty and your mind sharp.

4. Animal Husbandry

Chickens, goats, maybe a cow if you’re brave — you’ve got to keep your livestock healthy, safe from predators, and productive. That means fencing, feeding, knowing the signs of sickness, and handling births. I don’t care if you’re allergic to feathers or terrified of cows; it’s part of the deal.

5. Butchering & Meat Processing

Don’t come crying if you can’t butcher a chicken or process a deer. Maine’s got plenty of wild game, and if you’re not skilled in breaking down meat and preserving it, you’re wasting valuable calories. This skill takes guts, literally, and some serious stomach.

6. Water Management

Wells, rain catchment, and filtration systems — if your water source freezes or gets contaminated, you’re dead in the water. No city pipes. You have to know how to dig, repair, and purify water on the fly.

7. Soap Making

This ain’t just a luxury; clean water is precious and limited. Learning to make your own soap from lye and fats is a skill that saves money and keeps your skin from cracking off in the cold.

8. Basic Carpentry

Shelter repairs, building coops, fences, or sheds — if you can’t swing a hammer and read a tape measure, you’ll be stuck in the cold rain while everything falls apart.

9. Metalworking & Tool Repair

You want to be dependent on a hardware store? Good luck with that, because the nearest one might be 40 miles away. Knowing how to fix your tools, sharpen blades, weld patches, or make simple hardware can save your ass.

10. Blacksmithing Basics

No joke — even rudimentary blacksmithing skills help in making and repairing nails, hooks, hinges, and horseshoes. The sound of the hammer on the anvil should be music to your ears.

11. Food Foraging

Maine’s wilderness can feed you if you know the edible plants, mushrooms, and berries. But one false bite can land you in the ER or worse. Learn what’s safe and what’ll kill you.

12. Preserving Seeds

If you’re not saving seeds from year to year, you’re throwing money and food away. Seed saving means you can keep your garden thriving year after year without buying new seeds.

13. Winterizing Structures

You think slapping some plywood on a window will keep you warm? Hell no. You need insulation knowledge, storm windows, and draft-proofing skills. Otherwise, you’re just heating the outdoors.

14. Root Cellaring

Learning to store potatoes, carrots, apples, and squash in a root cellar is crucial. It’s like a cold pantry that keeps your food fresh without electricity.

15. Basic Veterinary Care

When your animals get sick, you can’t just call a vet to swoop in next day. You better have some vet basics in your arsenal — identifying symptoms, administering shots, and doing minor treatments.

Now, I’m not just here to yell at you about how tough it is. I’m gonna throw some DIY homestead hacks your way, because if you want to keep your sanity and your homestead, you better get creative.

DIY Homestead Hack #1: Build a Rocket Mass Heater from Reclaimed Materials

Cold winters and firewood shortages are the perfect storm. Instead of burning your precious wood inefficiently, build a rocket mass heater using old bricks, barrels, and some scrap metal. This heater burns wood super hot, uses less fuel, and stores heat in a thermal mass that radiates warmth for hours. It’s a lifesaver when the temperature drops to bone-chilling lows.

DIY Homestead Hack #2: Create a Solar Dehydrator Using an Old Window Frame

Preserving food in Maine is a must, but electricity can be scarce or expensive. Grab an old window frame, some black-painted wood, and fine mesh screens to build a solar dehydrator. Place sliced fruits, veggies, or herbs inside, and let the Maine sun do the drying. It’s cheap, efficient, and easy to maintain.

DIY Homestead Hack #3: Rainwater Catchment with 55-Gallon Barrels and Downspout Diverters

Water is king in the homestead kingdom. Installing a rainwater catchment system using cheap barrels and modifying your roof’s downspouts can provide a reliable water source for your garden, animals, or emergency use. In Maine’s rainy climate, this can supplement your well water and reduce your risk during freeze-ups or droughts.

Look, Maine homesteading isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s a brutal, demanding lifestyle that tests every ounce of your patience and skills. If you want to make it here, you better be ready to face the cold, the bugs, the isolation, and the endless work.

No internet delivery guy is gonna bring you your groceries; no 24/7 store will keep your pantry full; no fancy heating system will save you without firewood. It’s just you, your hands, and the stubborn earth.

You gotta be tough, smart, and scrappy. Learn these skills, use these hacks, and most importantly, don’t give up. Maine might be a frozen hellscape half the year, but it’s also a place of freedom and rugged beauty if you’re willing to earn it.

So stop whining, pick up your axe, and get to work — because that Maine homestead lifestyle waits for no one.

Louisiana Homestead Lifestyle

On By The.Daily.ChristianIn Louisiana, Louisiana Homestead Lifestyle, Louisiana PreppersLeave a comment

You wanna talk about living off the land down here in Louisiana? You better be ready to get your hands dirty, sweat through the humidity, wrestle with mosquitos the size of your fist, and learn more skills than a city slicker’s ever dreamed of. This ain’t some vacation spot for weekend gardeners or “I’ll try it once” types. Homesteading in Louisiana is a tough, relentless lifestyle that’ll chew you up if you don’t come prepared—and stay prepared.

I’ve been living this swampy, humid, sun-baked, hurricane-rattled life for years now, and lemme tell you, it’s not for the faint-hearted. You want to thrive here, not just survive? You gotta master your craft and learn the skills that’ll make this muddy, crawfish-infested, alligator-friendly land work for you—not against you.

1. Soil Management and Raised Beds

If you think you can just plant crops straight into that Louisiana clay mud, you’re dead wrong. The soil here is heavy and waterlogged. You’ve got to build raised beds or amend your soil with plenty of organic matter and sand to keep those roots from drowning in the swamp. Ain’t nobody got time for soggy roots and rot.

2. Rainwater Collection and Management

With all the rain we get, you better learn how to catch it and store it. You need barrels, gutters, and a filtration system because relying on well water or city water in rural parts is a gamble. And when the dry spells hit, that stored water is your lifeline.

3. Swamp-Aware Planting

You want to grow stuff that survives humidity, bugs, and occasional flooding? You plant what’s native or adapted. Okra, sweet potatoes, collard greens, and blackberries thrive here. Forget your northern heirlooms—they’ll rot or wilt faster than you can say “bayou.”

4. Pest Control—Mosquito Edition

You think a little bug spray’s gonna save you? Ha! Learn to build mosquito traps, use natural repellents like citronella and lemongrass, and create a habitat that doesn’t breed swarms of the little bloodsuckers. Otherwise, you’ll be itching till kingdom come.

5. Butchering and Processing Game

Alligator, squirrel, duck, and deer aren’t just for tourists to gawk at—they’re food. You better learn to clean and process your game properly or risk wasting good meat. Ain’t nobody gonna bring your dinner ready-made out here.

6. Canning and Preserving

With all this bounty from garden and swamp, you’d be an idiot not to preserve it. Whether it’s pickled okra, smoked sausage, or homemade preserves, you need to know how to store food safely for leaner times.

7. Smokehouse and Meat Curing

Heat and humidity are a homesteader’s enemy—meat spoils fast. That’s why building a smokehouse and curing meat with salt or smoke is a must. I built mine from cypress wood scraps and it’s saved countless pounds of bacon and venison from rot.

8. Composting in Humid Climate

You can’t just toss scraps and hope for compost in Louisiana. You have to turn your pile often to avoid a stinky mess that attracts critters. Learn the right mix of browns and greens, or you’ll get nothing but swamp sludge.

9. Firewood Processing and Storage

Humidity means wood rots fast. You need to cut, split, and store firewood properly off the ground, covered but ventilated, or it’s worthless by winter. And yeah, you better have a chainsaw and axe skills.

10. Beekeeping for Honey and Pollination

Bees are essential, but they don’t just show up and set up shop. You have to build hives, manage swarms, and harvest honey carefully or risk losing your whole colony to disease or predators.

11. Waterproofing and Building Raised Structures

Flooding is real. You better build your coop, barn, and root cellar on stilts or raised foundations. Otherwise, you’ll be bailing water and losing all your hard work after every storm.

12. Fishing and Trapping

Swamps and bayous are loaded with fish and critters if you know how to catch ‘em. Learn to set trotlines, gig frogs, or trap crawfish and you’ve got a steady protein source. But be legal about it—or you’ll have the wildlife officers breathing down your neck.

13. Herbal Medicine and Natural Remedies

Forget the drugstore. You better know which swamp plants soothe bites, heal wounds, or knock down fevers. Elderberry, sassafras, and mint are staples around here. It’s survival, not luxury.

14. Chainsaw Safety and Maintenance

You will need to clear downed trees, chop firewood, and build fences. Chainsaws are a homesteader’s best friend—and deadliest enemy if you don’t respect ‘em. Learn to maintain and use them properly, or you’ll be in the ER before you know it.

15. Root Cellar and Cold Storage

The southern heat is brutal. Without electricity or air conditioning, you need to build a root cellar or a cool storage pit. It’s the difference between rotting veggies and keeping your harvest fresh for weeks.

Now, Let Me Share 3 DIY Hacks I’ve Used That’ll Save Your Hide on a Louisiana Homestead

Hack #1: Mosquito Trap from a 2-Liter Bottle

Cut a 2-liter soda bottle in half. Mix water, sugar, and yeast in the bottom half to ferment. Invert the top half, funnel side down, into the base. Tape it. Mosquitoes get in chasing the CO2 and drown. Cheap, easy, and you’ll get fewer bites.

Hack #2: Raised Garden Beds with Pallets and Clay Soil

Got clay soil? Use old wooden pallets, line them with cardboard, and fill with a mix of topsoil, sand, and compost. The pallets keep your beds contained and elevated, while the cardboard rots away, improving soil texture over time. Works like a charm.

Hack #3: DIY Solar Water Heater for Bathing

Build a solar water heater by painting a black garden hose coil and attaching it to a clear plastic sheet on a frame. Lay it in the sun all day, and you’ll have warm water for washing off mud and sweat without running up your utility bill.

Final Word

This ain’t no easy life, and if you think homesteading in Louisiana is just about pretty vegetable gardens and cute chickens, you’re dead wrong. It’s a battle every single day against humidity, pests, weather, and unforgiving soil. But you do it because you want independence, because you want to eat what you grow, and because you don’t want to be dependent on grocery stores that could disappear in a storm.

If you ain’t got the grit to learn these skills, if you ain’t ready to sweat, itch, and work your hands raw, then get out of the way for those of us who do.

Louisiana homesteading isn’t for the weak. But it’s the most real way to live—rooted in the land, tied to the seasons, and tough as cypress wood.

If you want me to break down any of these skills or hacks further, or if you want more ranting about the trials of this lifestyle, just say the word. But don’t come asking for sugarcoated nonsense. We’re homesteaders, not city folk on a nature retreat.

Oklahoma Homestead Lifestyle: The Grit, The Grind, and The Glory

On By The.Daily.ChristianIn Oklahoma, Oklahoma Homestead LifestyleLeave a comment

Listen here, city slickers and wannabe homesteaders who think you can just up and plant a garden while sipping on your fancy lattes! The Oklahoma homestead lifestyle isn’t some cozy weekend hobby. It’s a damn full-time battle with the land, the weather, and every thorn and critter that dares cross your path. I’ve got dirt under my nails, blisters on my hands, and fire in my belly — because this life demands it. So before you go romanticizing the “peaceful country living,” hear me out: it’s hard, relentless, and requires skills you better learn or you’ll be eating dust come sundown.

15 Must-Know Homestead Skills for Oklahoma

  1. Water Management — Oklahoma’s weather swings like a wild bull. Droughts hit hard, and sudden storms flood the holler. Know your rainwater catchment, dig your wells, and set up irrigation systems that won’t quit.
  2. Soil Testing and Amendment — Your land isn’t just dirt; it’s your livelihood. Test that soil and amend it with compost, manure, and natural fertilizers. If you don’t know your pH and nutrient levels, you might as well throw your seeds into a dust bowl.
  3. Garden Planning and Crop Rotation — If you plant the same thing in the same spot year after year, you’re asking for pest infestations and soil depletion. Rotate your crops like a pro, and stagger your planting for a constant harvest.
  4. Seed Saving — Don’t just buy seeds every season like a city fool. Learn to save seeds from your healthiest plants. It’s the only way to build resilience in your garden and keep your costs down.
  5. Pest Control (Organic, of course) — I don’t mean dousing your garden in poison. Learn to attract beneficial insects, build traps, and use companion planting to keep pests at bay.
  6. Animal Husbandry — Chickens, goats, pigs, and cows aren’t pets — they’re work, and they’re your food source. Know how to feed, breed, and protect your livestock from predators and illness.
  7. Basic Veterinary Care — If your animals fall sick, don’t wait for a vet to arrive from the city. Know the basics of animal first aid, common illnesses, and natural remedies.
  8. Firewood Processing — You’ll need firewood for cooking, heat, and drying herbs or meat. Learn to fell trees, split wood, and stack it properly so it seasons right.
  9. Preserving Food — Can, dry, ferment, smoke — whatever it takes to keep your harvest from spoiling in Oklahoma’s unpredictable humidity.
  10. Tool Maintenance and Repair — Your tools are your lifelines. Keep them sharp, oiled, and ready. Broken plows, chainsaws, or hoes can mean disaster.
  11. Fence Building and Maintenance — You’re going to need strong fences to keep your animals in and predators out. Barbed wire, wooden rails, electric fencing — know how to build and repair all of it.
  12. Composting — Turn waste into black gold. Proper composting improves your soil and reduces trash. If you’re not composting, you’re wasting potential.
  13. Emergency Preparedness — Tornadoes, ice storms, and droughts don’t call ahead. Have a plan, stockpile essentials, and know your evacuation routes.
  14. Basic Carpentry — Build coops, barns, sheds, fences, or repair your home yourself. You can’t always wait for a contractor when the weather’s turning sour.
  15. Foraging and Wildcrafting — Oklahoma’s countryside is full of edible weeds, nuts, berries, and medicinal plants. Learn to identify and harvest these natural gifts without poisoning yourself.

3 DIY Homestead Hacks for Oklahoma Toughness

1. The Rain Barrel with Mosquito Mesh

Don’t let mosquitos breed in your precious rainwater catchment barrels! Take an old 55-gallon drum or any large container, cut an inlet for your downspout, and cover the opening with fine mosquito mesh secured with a tight-fitting lid. This keeps out debris and bugs while catching clean water for your garden. Bonus: paint the barrel dark to reduce algae growth.

2. Homemade Solar Water Heater

Why pay for propane or electricity when the sun’s beating down hard on your Oklahoma homestead? Grab some old black garden hoses, coil them up on a wooden frame, and place the whole contraption in direct sunlight. Connect one end to a water storage tank and the other to your outdoor faucet. You’ll have hot water for washing or even showering without spending a dime.

3. Chicken Tractor from Pallets

Don’t waste money on expensive chicken coops. Use free pallets (Oklahoma has plenty) to build a lightweight, movable chicken tractor. It protects your birds from predators while letting them graze fresh grass every day. Just nail the pallets together, add some chicken wire, and attach wheels or handles to move it around. Your chickens will be healthier, and your garden will thank you.

Why This Life Isn’t for the Faint of Heart

Here’s the truth, plain and simple: if you’re thinking about moving out to the Oklahoma countryside and living off the land without busting your back, dreaming about idyllic mornings on a porch with coffee in hand, think again.

Oklahoma is a land of extremes. The summers scorch you with triple-digit heat and brutal sun, the winters freeze your bones. Tornadoes carve the sky like hungry demons. The soil is either stubborn clay or dusty sand, and critters from raccoons to coyotes will try to ruin your day. Every seed you plant, every animal you raise, every fence you build — it’s a fight.

But if you’re tough, stubborn, and willing to learn, the rewards are real. You’ll know where your food comes from. You’ll have control over what you eat, how you live, and how you raise your family. You’ll build community with neighbors who get it — people who understand the value of hard work and perseverance.

And if you’re lucky, you’ll find peace in the hard-earned quiet of a sunset over your fields, knowing you made it through the storm.

Final Words of Fire

So don’t come whining to me when your plants wilt in the summer sun or your chicken coop gets raided because you didn’t build a proper fence. Learn the skills. Get your hands dirty. Fix what’s broken. Respect the land, or it’ll spit you right back out.

The Oklahoma homestead lifestyle is not a fantasy. It’s sweat, blood, and a whole lot of grit. But if you can hack it, it’s the most real and rewarding way of life you’ll ever know.

Now get out there and get to work.

Ohio Homestead Lifestyle: A Hard-Scrabble Rant from a Weather-Beaten Homesteader

On By The.Daily.ChristianIn Ohio, Ohio Homestead Lifestyle, Ohio Survival PreppersLeave a comment

Listen here, I’m sick and tired of folks thinking the homestead life is some kind of leisurely stroll through a field of daisies. Out here in Ohio, it’s a battle every damn day. The weather’s fickle as a wild fox, the soil’s a pain in the ass to work with, and the so-called “easy homestead life” is a fairy tale told by city folk who don’t know a plow from a pitchfork.

I’ve been busting my back on this Ohio homestead for years, and I’ll tell you this straight: if you ain’t ready to learn and work like a damn machine, you might as well pack it up and go back to your cushy apartment with your grocery store aisles. This ain’t no hobby. It’s survival.

Let me break down what it really takes to keep a homestead running here in the Buckeye State. And I’m not just talking about planting a few tomatoes and calling it a day. No, you’ve gotta be skilled up, hands dirty, brain working, and heart set on this life, or you’ll starve or freeze come winter.

15 Homestead Skills You Better Learn Quick

  1. Soil Preparation and Composting
    This land won’t grow squat if you don’t build your soil right. You better know how to compost kitchen scraps, manure, and dead leaves into gold. If your soil’s dead, your crops die.
  2. Garden Planning and Crop Rotation
    Planting the same damn crop in the same spot year after year is how you kill your soil. You gotta know which crops work well together, and which ones suck the life out of the dirt.
  3. Seed Saving
    Buying seeds every year? Ha! That’s money wasted. Save your own seeds from your best plants. It’s cheaper and your plants will adapt better to Ohio’s climate.
  4. Basic Carpentry
    If you think you can build a coop or fix a fence without basic carpentry skills, you’re dreaming. Get comfortable with saws, hammers, and nails, or you’re done.
  5. Animal Husbandry
    Whether it’s chickens, goats, or pigs, knowing how to care for animals is non-negotiable. Feed ’em right, clean their pens, and know when they’re sick.
  6. Preserving Food
    Canning, drying, freezing—whatever it takes to store your harvest so you don’t waste it. Ohio winters are brutal, and you’ll need food stockpiled.
  7. Herbal Medicine
    Modern medicine isn’t always around on a homestead. Learn which plants treat cuts, burns, or stomach aches. A little knowledge can save a trip or a hospital bill.
  8. Firewood Cutting and Splitting
    Heating with firewood is how we survive cold snaps. Chainsaws, axes, splitting mauls—master them or freeze your butt off.
  9. Water Management and Rainwater Harvesting
    Rain here isn’t reliable. Collect it, store it, and manage runoff so your crops don’t drown or parch.
  10. Basic Plumbing and Repairs
    When the water line freezes or the septic acts up, you can’t call a plumber. Know how to fix leaks, clear pipes, and maintain your water system.
  11. Trap and Hunt Small Game
    Sometimes the garden fails or runs dry, and a homesteader’s gotta eat. Small game hunting and trapping can fill the freezer.
  12. Soap Making
    Cleanliness matters, but store-bought soaps often come with nasty chemicals. Make your own with lye and animal fats.
  13. Beekeeping
    Bees mean pollination, which means better crops and honey. Knowing how to manage a hive is a skill worth its weight in gold.
  14. Blacksmith Basics
    Fixing tools and making hooks or hinges out of scrap metal keeps your homestead running. You don’t need to be a pro, but you better know some basics.
  15. Weather Forecasting Without Technology
    If the power’s out, the internet’s down, and your phone’s dead, how do you know when a storm’s coming? Learn to read the sky, the wind, and the critters for signs.

The Real Dirt on Ohio Weather and Land

If you think Ohio is all flat plains and gentle rolling hills, think again. It’s a patchwork of rocky soil, stubborn clay, and pockets of good land that’ll bite you if you don’t respect it. Spring floods can drown your seeds before they even sprout, and summer droughts will fry your crops if you don’t irrigate right.

And don’t get me started on winter. We get snow and ice like nobody’s business. If you’re not prepared to feed your livestock and keep water flowing, you’re done. A single frozen pipe or an empty feed bin means disaster.

3 DIY Homestead Hacks That Will Save Your Bacon in Ohio

1. Old Tire Raised Garden Beds
Don’t have money for fancy beds? Stack old tires filled with good soil and compost. They retain heat, drain well, and keep your plants from being smothered in that Ohio clay muck.

2. DIY Solar Water Heater
Cut a black hose, coil it on your roof or south-facing wall, and connect it to a water tank. The sun will warm your water for washing and watering plants without a dime spent on propane.

3. Chicken Coop Heat Lamps Using Broken Headlights
Don’t toss old car headlights! Clean ’em, mount a heat lamp bulb inside, and you’ve got a reflector to keep your chicks warm through cold snaps.

Why Most People Quit

I see it every year — fresh-faced city folk with dreams of homesteading glory move out here, and six months later, they’re back on Craigslist selling off their chickens and tools. They didn’t learn the skills, they didn’t prepare for Ohio’s brutal climate swings, and they underestimated the work.

Homesteading isn’t about Instagram-worthy garden pics or “sustainable living” buzzwords. It’s about hard, gritty work day in and day out. It’s waking before dawn to milk a goat, fixing a fence in a thunderstorm, or hauling a cord of firewood when your back screams.

The Honest Truth

If you want to survive and thrive on an Ohio homestead, start with learning these skills, get your hands dirty, and stop whining about the weather or “how hard it is.” Every skill listed above is a lifeline. They’re what separate the homesteader from the wannabe.

There’s no room for laziness or shortcuts here. Nature doesn’t care about your schedule, and neither does the land. You gotta respect it, work with it, and adapt. Only then will you turn this rough Ohio soil into a homestead that feeds your family through harsh winters and fickle seasons.

Final Warning

So don’t come here thinking you can hop on a tractor once a week, plant some seeds, and call it a homestead. Learn the skills, build the hacks, and sweat blood for it. Otherwise, you’re just another quitter with a pile of rusty tools and broken dreams.

Ohio’s a beautiful place to homestead — but it’s no damn vacation. Get your hands dirty, your mind sharp, and your grit thick. That’s the only way you’ll make it through the Ohio homestead lifestyle without losing your mind.

New Mexico Homestead Lifestyle: No Excuses, Just Grit

On By The.Daily.ChristianIn New Mexico, New Mexico Homestead Lifestyle, New Mexico Survival PrepperLeave a comment

Listen here, city slickers and armchair farmers—homesteading in New Mexico isn’t some cute weekend hobby or Instagram aesthetic. It’s a full-throttle, dirt-under-your-nails, sweat-in-your-eyeballs way of life. The high desert isn’t a playground, and if you don’t have the backbone for it, you might as well pack up and go back to your cushy apartment with the air conditioning on max.

This land is dry, it’s hot, and it’ll test you every single day. But if you’re stubborn enough to stick with it, you’ll build a life that no Starbucks latte-sipping city dweller will ever understand. Here’s the raw truth: homesteading in New Mexico requires skills, guts, and a no-bullshit attitude.

15 Gritty Homestead Skills You Better Learn

  1. Water Harvesting and Management — This is New Mexico, for crying out loud! You don’t have a river flowing through your backyard; you’ve got dust and drought. If you’re not catching every drop of rain you can, storing greywater, and knowing how to find or dig wells, you’re doomed.
  2. Drought-Resistant Gardening — Forget your high-maintenance lettuce and tomatoes. You need to know how to grow chiles, beans, squash, and corn the way the indigenous people did—using techniques like dry farming and mulching to keep your soil from turning to dust.
  3. Composting — You’re not throwing away scraps; you’re turning them into gold. Composting isn’t optional; it’s survival. It feeds your soil, and good soil means crops.
  4. Livestock Management — Chickens, goats, rabbits—they all need water, feed, and protection from predators. And don’t get me started on butchering. You better be ready to handle it yourself, no squeamishness allowed.
  5. Solar Power Setup and Maintenance — The sun blazes down here, so solar is a no-brainer. But setting it up, wiring it correctly, and maintaining the system? That takes skill and know-how.
  6. Preserving Food — Canning, drying, freezing, fermenting—these aren’t just fancy foodie words. They’re the difference between eating or starving when the harvest dries up or the power goes out.
  7. Basic Carpentry — You want to build a shed, fence, or chicken coop? Learn to use a saw, hammer, and drill properly, or keep paying someone else while your place falls apart.
  8. Blacksmithing and Tool Repair — When your tools break, you can’t just run to Home Depot. You fix ‘em or make new ones. Basic metalworking skills keep you going.
  9. Herbal Medicine and First Aid — The nearest hospital is miles away. You need to know which plants heal wounds, ease pain, and treat illnesses, because waiting for an ambulance isn’t always an option.
  10. Fire Prevention and Control — Wildfires are a real threat here. Clearing brush, maintaining defensible space, and knowing how to fight fire with what you have around you is crucial.
  11. Irrigation System Installation — Drip lines, soaker hoses, gravity-fed systems—any water you waste is water you’ll regret. You need to know how to set these up and maintain them.
  12. Seed Saving — If you buy seeds every year, you’re bleeding money and making yourself dependent. Save and store your own seeds like your life depends on it—because it does.
  13. Animal Husbandry — Knowing how to breed, raise, and care for your livestock will save you money and make your homestead sustainable.
  14. Root Cellaring and Cool Storage — New Mexico’s heat means you can’t just leave your veggies in a basket on the porch. Root cellars or underground storage coolers are a must to keep your harvest fresh longer.
  15. Fence Building and Maintenance — Coyotes, javelinas, and stray dogs will eat your chickens and goats if your fence isn’t tight. Build it right or lose everything.

Now, If You Want To Survive Out Here, Try These 3 DIY Hacks

1. DIY Earthbag Raised Beds
Forget fancy raised beds that rot or need constant watering. Use sandbags or earthbags filled with native soil to build raised beds that hold moisture better, insulate roots from the harsh sun, and resist erosion. They’re cheap, sustainable, and tougher than anything you can buy at the garden store.

2. Solar Water Pump From an Old Car Radiator Fan
Need to get water from your well or cistern but don’t want to blow a fortune on solar pumps? Scavenge a 12-volt car radiator fan and attach it to a small water pump. Use a solar panel to power the fan and pump combo. It’s low-cost, uses recycled parts, and runs on pure desert sun power.

3. Chicken Tractor From Recycled Pallets
Chickens are great for pest control and fertilizing your soil, but free-ranging them can be dangerous and destructive. Build a movable chicken tractor with recycled pallets and wire mesh. It protects your flock, moves with them to fresh grass, and keeps your yard neat—plus, it costs next to nothing.

The No-BS Reality of New Mexico Homesteading

Don’t come out here expecting handouts or some picturesque lifestyle where you drink margaritas on a porch swing while your garden grows itself. Out here, you’re fighting against the sun, the wind, the wildlife, and sometimes even your own body. But damn it, if you push through, you’ll create a life that’s honest, raw, and real.

The land teaches you respect—respect for water, for the seasons, for the animals, and for yourself. You’ll wake up sore, dusty, and sometimes hungry. You’ll lose crops, you’ll lose livestock, and you’ll curse the day you thought homesteading was a “cute” idea.

But you’ll also see your first sprouts crack through the dusty earth, watch your chickens thrive, and taste vegetables so fresh they slap you awake better than any coffee. You’ll build skills your grandparents dreamed of passing down but never had the guts to do.

If you’re ready to quit whining and start working, New Mexico’s homestead lifestyle will make a badass homesteader out of you yet.

So, stop dreaming, start digging, and learn to thrive or get out of the way. This ain’t for the faint-hearted. It’s for the angry, the stubborn, and those who refuse to be owned by the modern world.

Illinois Homestead Lifestyle: Grit, Grind, and Get-It-Done

On By The.Daily.ChristianIn Illinois, Illinois Homestead Lifestyle, Illinois SurvivalistsLeave a comment

Listen here, city slickers and armchair farmers! If you think living on a homestead in Illinois is some quaint little hobby or a stroll through a farmer’s market, you’re dead wrong. Out here, we don’t just plant a few tomatoes and sip lemonade on the porch. No sir, we fight tooth and nail every damn day against pests, weather, and the sheer laziness that’s rotting this country’s soul.

If you want to call yourself a homesteader in Illinois, you better come prepared — with grit, know-how, and a work ethic that would make your grandpappy proud. This ain’t a weekend hobby, it’s a full-on lifestyle where every day you’re scrapping to keep your homestead running smooth.

15 Homestead Skills You’d Better Learn or Get Out

  1. Soil Testing and Amendments
    Before you plant a seed, you better know what’s in your dirt. Illinois soil can be stubborn—clay-heavy in spots, sandy in others. Get your hands dirty testing pH and nutrient levels, and don’t skimp on lime or compost to fix what’s busted. If your soil’s dead, your crops are dead too.
  2. Seed Saving
    Stop buying seeds every year like a sucker! Learn to save seeds from your best plants. This is how homesteaders build resilient, locally adapted crops that laugh in the face of Illinois weather.
  3. Composting
    You want fertile soil? Stop throwing away your scraps. Compost like your life depends on it — because on a homestead, it just might. Layer your greens and browns right, turn it regularly, and you’ll have black gold.
  4. Chicken Raising
    Nothing says “homestead” like clucking hens scratching in the dirt. But don’t expect them to just lay eggs and be cute. You gotta know how to build coops, manage health, feed them right, and collect eggs without breaking a sweat.
  5. Butchering Small Livestock
    If you raise animals, you better learn how to put them down and butcher them humanely. Ain’t nobody else gonna do it for you, and processed meat from the store? Forget it—too expensive and full of chemicals.
  6. Preserving Food
    Canning, fermenting, drying—know how to put up your harvest. Illinois weather gives you a limited growing season, so if you don’t preserve your bounty, you’ll be hungry come winter.
  7. Basic Carpentry
    A homestead isn’t just a patch of land — it’s a fortress. You’ll be building fences, coops, raised beds, and repairing barns. Get comfy with a hammer, saw, and measuring tape.
  8. Well Digging and Water Management
    Relying on city water? Ha! Out here, a working well or a reliable rain catchment system is worth its weight in gold. Learn how to dig, maintain, and pump water on demand.
  9. Gardening and Crop Rotation
    Planting row after row of the same crop will kill your soil and your morale. Rotate your crops, know what thrives in Illinois (corn, soybeans, pumpkins—don’t be lazy!), and prepare for pests.
  10. Trap and Hunt Small Game
    Sometimes the freezer’s empty and you gotta rely on the land. Know how to set traps, hunt rabbits, squirrels, and deer — legally and humanely.
  11. Welding and Metalwork
    Fixing old equipment or making custom tools? Welding skills are a homesteader’s secret weapon. Don’t wait for the mechanic—fix it yourself or it’s downtime and lost work.
  12. Herbal Medicine
    Pharmacies are miles away and expensive. Learn your local plants — yarrow, elderberry, echinacea — and how to use them for colds, wounds, and common ailments.
  13. Blacksmith Basics
    Don’t laugh — even a beginner blacksmith can make hooks, nails, and repair tools. It’s old school but solid gold for keeping your gear in shape.
  14. Solar Power Setup and Maintenance
    Electricity can go out for days in the boonies. Set up your own solar panels, batteries, and maintain the system so you’re not left in the dark.
  15. Trap Repair and Fence Building
    Keep your garden safe from critters. Knowing how to build and repair fences—both electric and traditional—is crucial to protect crops and livestock.

Now, For Some DIY Homestead Hacks to Save Your Sanity

Hack #1: Milk Jug Watering System
Got tomatoes wilting because you can’t water ’em every day? Grab a couple of empty milk jugs, poke a few tiny holes in the lid, and bury them near the roots. Fill ’em with water and the soil soaks it up slowly. Set it and forget it — no more daily watering sweat sessions.

Hack #2: Homemade Chicken Feeder from PVC Pipe
Tired of chicken feed spilling everywhere and attracting rats? Cut a length of PVC pipe, cap one end, drill small holes down the side just big enough for chickens to peck through, and fill it up. Keeps feed dry, cuts waste, and saves money on fancy feeders.

Hack #3: Rain Barrel with Mosquito Screen
Collecting rainwater is a must in Illinois, but standing water = mosquitoes. Modify a large trash can or barrel by installing a tight mesh screen under the lid to keep bugs out. Attach a spigot at the bottom for easy watering. Cheap, effective, and you’ll thank yourself when you’re not swatting bugs.

Why Illinois Homesteading Ain’t for the Faint of Heart

Let me paint a picture for you: Illinois is no tropical paradise. Winters can freeze your guts out, summers bring a relentless swarm of insects, and don’t get me started on the unpredictability of rain. One minute you’re knee-deep mud, the next your crops are baking in the sun like cheap jerky.

The state’s soil, while rich in some areas, can be a pain to manage without knowing your amendments and soil biology. You can’t just throw some seeds in the ground and pray. You gotta understand your land intimately — every rock, bug, and dirt patch.

And neighbors? You’ll find some good ones, but many just don’t get it. They’ll call you crazy for turning off the grid or for raising pigs instead of lawn flamingos. But that’s just noise. The real work is done at dawn, hands in the soil, face to the wind, stubborn as a mule.

What I’ve Learned the Hard Way

You can’t half-ass homesteading. If you’re starting out, prepare to make mistakes — fence lines knocked down by storms, plants eaten by rabbits, a batch of sour canned tomatoes because you didn’t follow the recipe. Get over it. Dust off your boots and get back at it.

Illinois homesteading is about self-reliance in a state that’s part prairie, part forest, part farmland, and all struggle. But when you finally taste your own corn on the cob, or crack open a jar of your home-canned green beans after a long winter, there’s no sweeter victory.

Don’t Let the Modern World Fool You

Electric bills, grocery store aisles full of plastic, and government handouts can’t feed you in a crisis. Homesteading in Illinois is a battle against dependence. It’s knowing your land and using it smartly. It’s raising animals with respect and not whining when the weather’s brutal.

It’s about skills that our ancestors used to survive—and that we better relearn fast or lose forever. There’s no room for laziness or excuses on this land.

Final Words from a Gritty Illinois Homesteader

If you think homesteading is easy, go back to your cushy city job. If you want real freedom, real food, and real satisfaction, roll up your sleeves. Learn every skill you can, sweat under the sun, and fight through the mud.

Illinois homesteading is hard, but it’s honest work. And nothing tastes better than food you grew with your own damn hands, on soil you nurtured, under skies you can swear at when the weather turns foul.

Get out there, learn these skills, use those hacks, and build your homestead like your life depends on it—because it just might.