Gardening & Farming

Livestock Guardian Dogs: Deter Predators on Your Farm or Homestead

Livestock Guardian Dogs: Deter Predators on Your Farm or Homestead

by | Mar 9, 2024 | ,

Livestock guardian dogs protect homesteads and farms from predators with their loyal and protective nature. Image by Don DeBold, Flickr. Homesteads and farms face the constant challenge of protecting their livestock from predators like coyotes, wolves, bears, and other opportunistic creatures that threaten the well-being of their animals. Livestock guardian dogs (LGDs) offer a tried and tested solution, safeguarding herds with their protective instincts. For centuries, LGDs have stood as the ultimate farm watchdogs, their presence alone serving as a powerful deterrent to would-be attackers. Bred for their unwavering loyalty, keen instincts, and impressive size, these capable canines have become an increasingly popular choice among homesteaders seeking an eco-friendly, long-term solution to safeguarding their herds. LGDs actively protect livestock by patrolling the perimeter, marking territory, and fearlessly confronting intruders....

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The Permaculture Book of DIY

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How to save money on plants – my simple plant propagation setup

Share Post Pinterest reddit Email From all the inputs you’ll need to establish your food forest, there is one that could break the bank more than any other. I’m talking about the sheer amount of plants you’ll need in order to grow your perennial permaculture paradise. The $$ numbers can be brutal when you do some math on the plants required. Let’s say you need to plant a few lemon balm patches as part of the guilds around your apple trees. You want to add some aromatic plants to confuse the pests. For each patch like that, you’ll need, let’s say, six lemon balm (trans)plants. I’m not sure how much a lemon balm plant costs in your neck of the woods, but let’s say it’s $5. That comes to $30 for one patch. And you need at least ten like this for your ten apple trees – $300. It turns…
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10 Common Herbs Used for Magical Practices & How to Grow Them

In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in Pagan spirituality and magic (commonly spelled ‘magick’ in said communities). For many, a desire to live in closer connection with the natural world or the search for a personal spiritual practice has led them to explore and embrace ancient pagan traditions. Whether it be a clearly defined practice, such as Neo-paganism or a loose personal interpretation, the Pagans of old have become a popular resource for people exploring spirituality today. A number of these traditions use herbs, but not everyone comes into their newfound spirituality knowing how to grow them. Many a budding green witch has found their thumb to be the least green part of their practice. As a gardener, I can’t give you an incantation to banish negative energy, and I don’t know a spell to help you get that raise at work, but I can help you…
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Want to grow food in the forest? Here’s how.

Share Post Pinterest reddit Email Let’s say you have a wooded property and want to grow food in the woods. However, you want to do it in a way that preserves as much of the forest as possible. I.e you want to minimize clearing and cutting down the trees but still be able to grow food. Is growing food in this way even possible? Well, it is, and today I’m going to give you three options of what you could do. Let’s tackle them one by one. 1. Growing food in the understory of the forest Forest Farming Ginseng Credit: Pasa Sustainable Agriculture In closed canopy areas of the forest, you can still grow food, but you’ll need to be more strategic about it. The light is a limiting factor here, but it’s not like there isn’t any. The conditions might vary from classic shade to partial shade depending on…
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Quick permaculture design tip: Suntrap garden

Share Post Pinterest reddit Email I have a quick permaculture design tip for your today. If you are growing a garden you’ll want to check it out. As you are probably aware, one of the considerations for your garden is that it receives ample amount of sunshine. Most vegetables need about 8 hours of sun per day to produce a good crop. Root vegetables and leafy greens can grow with less but in general you aim to provide as much fuel (photosynthesis potential) as possible. So from a solar access perspective you’ll want for your garden to be open to the sun as much as possible, with nothing physically impossible-to-move blocking it. Note that even if you are in a really hot climate, this principle would still apply. It’s easier to add shade than it is to add sun. Adding more sun is impossible if you are in the spot…
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Design Challenge: Where to put the house?

Share Post Pinterest reddit Email One of my clients recently bought 20 acres of land in the humid subtropics. As you can see, the land is beautiful, lush, and green, with diverse topography (i.e., not flat) and a lot of potential: He bought it primarily to establish his self-reliant homestead, where he could live off-grid, enjoy nature and the abundance he produces while spending his days in a workshop. The challenge? It’s bare land, and now he needs to design it from scratch, i.e.: -> determine where to place the infrastructure – house, driveway, workshop -> create a water system to provide enough water for his needs – ponds, tanks, water harvesting channels -> determine where to place his food growing systems – gardens, food forests, greenhouse… In this post, I wanted to workshop “live” one of his main challenges – where to locate the house and, in turn, the…
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Here’s How to Make Free Liquid Fertilizer for Life

Share Post Pinterest reddit Email As someone who is constantly juggling various personal, professional, and homestead tasks, there’s one permaculture principle that’s proven to be incredibly important in my day-to-day life. It’s the principle of ‘the least effort for the most effect.’ Essentially it’s this idea that you want to work in a way where you get great results for a minimum investment of your resources (time, labor, money). I mean, who wouldn’t love that? Now, the problem with this is figuring out how exactly to do things in this ‘least effort for the most effect’ way. So today, I want to showcase the principle in action on my farm and give you at least one idea of what you could do, and as a byproduct, you’ll get an endless supply of free liquid fertilizer. In one of my earlier videos, I showed you my small permaculture nursery setup where…
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Orchard Wander and Planting some BIG Seaberry

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4-Ingredient All-Natural Deer Repellent for Your Garden

When you live in an area with a high deer population, sometimes you find yourself wondering just who you’re growing all these vegetables and flowers for – you or Bambi? But you can keep deer from nibbling your azaleas and asparagus with this easy-to-make deer repellent recipe.   Who Is This Garden For Anyway? My dislike of Bambi and his friends extends beyond the garden. Having hit a deer with my car twice in my lifetime, finding my garden nibbled on only adds insult to injury. So, I don’t mess around when it comes to protecting my veggies. Excuse me, Bambi, those asparagus aren’t for you! While there are plenty of deer repellents on the market, if you start comparing ingredients, you’ll find most of them are all the same. What’s more, they’re all generally made with things you can find in your kitchen and your garden shed. This recipe…
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