From soil to pantry.
Guides for the family homestead, from choosing land and digging the first bed to hens, cheese and a full pantry. At every step you know what to do, when, and how much.
Series: 53 · Modules: 371 · PDF for screen and print · instant download after payment
From zero to finished product
Each series takes one subject through every stage: planning, building, equipment, the working year, health and the final product.
Library →A working tool, not just text
Every module has a job calendar, a calculator and worksheets you fill in on screen or print out.
Pricing →Start for free
Download the first guide right now, with no email and no payment, for screen and for print.
Download →The homestead circle
Six areas, one circle: the land feeds the plants, the plants feed the animals, together they fill the pantry, and manure and compost go back to the land.
Land and water
Land, soil, compost, water and tools: the base of everything.
Plants
Vegetables, greenhouse, orchard, field crops, herbs and seed.
Animals
From hens to cows and bees: housing, feed, health and produce.
Food and processing
Dairy, meat, preserves, bread and the kitchen through the year.
Pantry
Cellar, drying, smoking and fermenting: keeping food without a fridge.
House and homestead
Heating, energy, building, old crafts and the homestead's numbers.
This month on the homestead
Series for the jobs that are due now.
Start: planning your homestead
How to begin, what comes first, the homestead year month by month and the closed-loop homestead
Modules: 7
Land and homestead planning
Choosing and assessing land, paperwork, mapping and microclimate, zones, tracks and fences, development plan
Modules: 7
Soil: cultivation and preparation
Soil testing, clearing, ploughing or no-dig, raised beds, liming, terraces, drainage
Modules: 7
Soil fertility
Compost, manure, vermicompost, green manures, mulch and plant feeds
Modules: 7
Water
Wells and springs, rainwater and cisterns, drip irrigation, purification
Modules: 7
Tools and machinery
Hand and traditional tools, two-wheel tractors, compact tractors, sharpening and the workshop
Modules: 7
The vegetable garden
Beds, seedlings, sowing by climate zone, crop rotation, companion planting, harvest
Modules: 7
The polytunnel
From low tunnels to permanent polytunnels, automation and ventilation, growing all year round
Modules: 7
The orchard
Heritage varieties and rootstocks, planting, pruning, grafting, chemical-free protection
Modules: 7
Soft fruit and grapevines
Raspberries, blackberries, currants, aronia, strawberries and grapes: planting, trellising, pruning
Modules: 7
Field crops: grain, maize, pulses and potatoes
Cultivation, sowing, harvesting, threshing and drying grain
Modules: 7
Forage and pasture
Meadows, hay, lucerne and clovers, silage, rotational grazing
Modules: 7
Medicinal and culinary herbs
Herb beds and foraging, harvesting plant by plant, drying, poisonous species
Modules: 7
Seed and propagation
Saving heirloom seed, cuttings, grafting, your own nursery
Modules: 7
Mushrooms
Oyster and shiitake on logs and straw, harvesting
Modules: 7
Chickens
Fixed and mobile hen houses, from egg to chick, eggs, natural health care
Modules: 7
Ducks and geese
Housing near water, incubation, meat, eggs, fat and feathers
Modules: 7
Turkeys and guinea fowl
Housing, runs, meat and eggs; guinea fowl against ticks
Modules: 7
Quail
Aviaries in a small space, eggs and meat for the backyard
Modules: 7
Rabbits
Hutches, runs and colony systems, meat, fur, manure for the garden
Modules: 7
Goats
Housing and fencing, mating and kidding, milk, cheese and meat
Modules: 7
Sheep
Housing and pasture, lambing, shearing, meat, milk and wool
Modules: 7
Cows
Housing and pasture, calving, milk, kajmak, butter, cheese and meat
Modules: 7
Pigs
Pig housing, outdoor runs or woodland, farrowing, meat, lard and cured meats
Modules: 7
Bees
Hives and the apiary, swarms, varroa without synthetics, honey, wax, propolis
Modules: 7
Fish
Ponds and aquaponics, fry and spawning
Modules: 7
Horses and donkeys
Stabling, tack, hooves, work in the field and woodland
Modules: 7
Dogs and cats on the homestead
Guard and herding dogs, cats for rodent control
Modules: 7
Animal feed
Home-mixed feed, hay, silage, grazing, kitchen and garden scraps, minerals
Modules: 7
Natural animal health
The home vet kit, prevention, herbal remedies, when to call the vet, legal duties
Modules: 7
Milk
Yoghurt, soured milk, kajmak, butter, fresh and hard cheese, whey
Modules: 7
Meat
Humane slaughter, butchering, sausages, dry-cured ham, cracklings and lard
Modules: 7
Poultry and eggs in the kitchen
Preparing poultry, soups and stocks, eggs 30 ways, homemade pasta
Modules: 7
Vegetables
Winter preserves, ajvar, pinjur, mixed pickles, tomato sauce, dried vegetables
Modules: 7
Fruit
Sugar-free fruit butter, jam, bottled fruit, juices and cordials, dried fruit, vinegar
Modules: 7
Grain, flour and bread
Milling, sourdough, bread baked under an iron bell, pura and proja, pita pastry
Modules: 7
Honey and bee products
Extracting, crystallisation, mead, propolis tincture, beeswax
Modules: 7
Drinks
Juices, elderflower and rosehip cordials, fruit vinegar, kvass; rakija and wine with legal notes
Modules: 7
The homestead kitchen through the year
Four seasonal menus from your own produce, cooking with wood
Modules: 7
Cellars, clamps and earth pits
Potatoes, roots, cabbages and apples all winter without electricity
Modules: 7
Drying
Sun, shade, wood-fired dryer, bread oven, stringing on thread
Modules: 7
Smoking and the smokehouse
Building a smokehouse, cold and hot smoking, choosing wood
Modules: 7
Salting and brining
Dry salting and brining in crocks for meat, cheese, fish and vegetables
Modules: 7
Fermentation and pickling
Crock sauerkraut, mixed pickles, sauerkraut brine, kvass, soured milk
Modules: 7
Fat, oil, honey and sugar
Meat and cracklings in lard, cheese in oil, fruit in honey, slatko
Modules: 7
Grain and flour storage
Granaries and corn cribs, bins, protection from rodents and moths without poison
Modules: 7
Cooling without electricity
Ice house, well cooling, clay pot cooler, cold pantry
Modules: 7
The pantry calendar
What to put up each month, how long it keeps and the order to use it
Modules: 7
Firewood and heating
Woodland and felling, seasoning wood, stoves and ranges, carbon monoxide and fire safety
Modules: 7
Energy
Solar, batteries, small wind turbines, saving electricity
Modules: 7
Building on the homestead
Timber, stone, adobe, foundations, roofs, fences, lean-tos
Modules: 7
Traditional crafts
Soap from lard, beeswax candles, wool, basket weaving, tanning
Modules: 7
Homestead economics
Budget, records, registering your holding, grants, selling your produce
Modules: 7What every module gives you
Job calendar
What to do month by month, with deadlines and how long each job takes.
Calculator
Enter your own numbers and the PDF works out quantities and costs (in Adobe Acrobat Reader).
Worksheets
Tables, checklists and logs to print or fill in on screen.
Sources and limits
Sources are listed in the guide, and safety boxes tell you when you need a vet or a professional.
Choosing and assessing land
How to read a plot before you buy it or dig the first spade — water, soil, sun, access, risks and paperwork, step by step
Start at no cost
Getting started: from idea to first step
From wanting a homestead to your first bed, your first hens and a plan you can keep up: what comes first, what it costs and where to learn more