Guides
Each series takes one subject from zero to finished product. A module is a PDF with a calendar, a calculator and worksheets.
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Land and water
Land, soil, compost, water and tools: the base of everything.
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: 7Plants
Vegetables, greenhouse, orchard, field crops, herbs and seed.
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: 7Animals
From hens to cows and bees: housing, feed, health and produce.
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: 7Food and processing
Dairy, meat, preserves, bread and the kitchen through the year.
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: 7Pantry
Cellar, drying, smoking and fermenting: keeping food without a fridge.
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: 7House and homestead
Heating, energy, building, old crafts and the homestead's numbers.
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: 7