Bringing home the bees
Honey bees need our help, and Newfoundland is one of the last places on Earth where they can still be raised organically.
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Goat Milk?
Goats are a wonderful addition to the household that can provide a family with milk, cheese, ice cream and other delicious treats.
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Babies on the homestead
The first day of spring brought the arrival of three baby goats to the McBride homestead. This is Maple’s story of her journey through pregnancy to birth and the joy of the arrival of the babies.
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Murder most fowl
Homesteading life isn’t always as easy as collecting eggs and milking the goat. Sometimes the unexpected can occur, and tragedy can strike in an instant.
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Protecting our Traditions: the case for backyard animals
When cops come for your backyard chickens, it’s time to rise up and speak out about the importance of sustainable, respectful food-producing practices.
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The Cost of Convenience
We spent a year going without the dishwasher, microwave, electric heating, and laundry machines to find out what our power consumption habits were costing us. Now we’d never go back to using them.
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Food security for urban homesteaders
Self-sufficiency can seem daunting at first. Here are some tips on foraging, community gardening and guerilla gardening to get you started on the path to food security for you and your family.
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Duck-inspired lessons in leadership
While they certainly aren’t trying to train me, my ducks have inspired me to be more cognizant of teamwork, flexibility and leadership.
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The cost of living simply
Homesteading sounds like a wonderful lifestyle, but it is also utterly unattainable for many in Newfoundland and Labrador who are working low-wage jobs and lack capital.
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“Time is not money”: Homestead Economics (Pt. 1)
Are you caught up in the rat race? The principles of homestead economics might just be your way out.
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Animals can love too
Love is not just a human characteristic; all animals are capable of it. Here are a few examples from our homestead of the relationships and bonds animals can form.
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The apples of my eye
Fall is a forager’s delight, with apples ripe for the picking throughout the province — scattered near trails, alongside rivers, in schoolyards and parking lots. You can stockpile them, but then what?
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How to become self-sufficient
Gradual steps you can follow on your way to reducing your dependency on others while developing a sustainable and healthy life.
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Why local?
‘Eat local’ has become a bit of a buzzword over the past few years here in Newfoundland, yet we still import over 90 per cent of our fresh fruit and vegetables. Here’s why local food is so important.
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Blueberries: the best of nature’s candy
Whether it be by taste, smell, touch or memory, the blueberry holds a special place in local Island cultures past and present and is at the centre of memories, stories, recipes and experiences.
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The bats in my attic
Living with bats was not something I ever expected in life, but after finding a colony in my cabin attic and learning about them, I quickly became a convert. Now, I eagerly watch each night as our own little anti-insect armada takes flight over the yard.
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Mustard: The greatest among herbs
It grows well in Newfoundland, has a variety of uses, and experimenting with it can make you feel like Alice tumbling down a rabbit hole of culinary delights.
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Lovin’ the lovage
Lovage, sometimes known as sea parsley, is so obscure nowadays that it can’t be bought at your typical grocery store — but it once enjoyed wide popularity. Let’s discover some of the wonderful things our ancestors, from Nan all the way back to the Caesars of Ancient Rome, have done with this versatile and delicious herb.
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The secret world of gourmet mushrooms
There’s a little known secret about expensive gourmet mushrooms like shiitake, blue oyster, white oyster, lion’s mane and others — they grow on sawdust! With a little simple know-how you can grow these delicious mushrooms right in your own home.
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Vermicomposting: Letting worms work for you
“All the fertile areas of this planet have at least once passed through the bodies of earthworms.” — Charles Darwin
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