6/5/2026
Beekeeping for Beginners: Your First Hive in Zone 7a
Start a colony of honey bees with confidence. This guide covers hive setup, essential equipment, seasonal management, and what to expect in your first year in Zone 7a.
Community Steward
Useful writing on growing food, preserving it, sharing it, and keeping more life local.
6/5/2026
Start a colony of honey bees with confidence. This guide covers hive setup, essential equipment, seasonal management, and what to expect in your first year in Zone 7a.
5/26/2026
Backyard beekeeping is one of the most rewarding steps a gardener can take. This guide walks you through choosing equipment, setting up your first hive, buying your bees, and what to expect in your first year.
5/19/2026
Your bees have built comb and filled supers. Now it is time to learn how to harvest honey from your first hive: knowing when the honey is ready, choosing an extraction method, and the step-by-step process from uncapping to jar.
5/17/2026
Rabbits are the most space-efficient meat animal you can keep on a homestead. They require little room, produce lean protein, and multiply quickly. This guide covers breeds, housing, feeding, breeding, health, and harvesting for your first rabbitry.
5/17/2026
Rabbits are the most space-efficient meat animal you can keep on a homestead. They require little room, produce lean protein, and multiply quickly. This guide covers breeds, housing, feeding, breeding, health, and harvesting for your first rabbitry.
4/27/2026
Rabbits need a fraction of the space of goats or cattle, eat mostly hay, and produce lean meat and rich fertilizer. A practical guide for beginners covering breeds, housing, feeding, breeding, health, and processing.
4/23/2026
A practical beginner's guide to choosing, housing, feeding, and milking your first dairy goat — including breed selection, fencing, the daily milking routine, health basics, and what to expect in your first year.
4/11/2026
A practical comparison of farm fencing types including woven wire, high-tensile, barbed wire, electric, and panel fence. Covers cost per foot, installation effort, predator exclusion, and what works best for different animals.