Looking to get started with a more self-sufficient lifestyle? These ten websites are a must for your bookmark list and a good place to learn more about small holdings.
Family Homesteading Websites
Killowen Small Holding — Self-sufficiency is nothing new to this family! Will and Angela Ashe Sutherland have been living a self-sufficient lifestyle for decades at Killowen in County Wexford Ireland. Co-founder John Seymour and Will Sutherland are the authors of The New Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency, updating John’s original 1975 book. The website has some great beginner articles about choosing a small holding, how to get started, and land management principles homesteaders should be following.
The Modern Homestead — Another private family site that has grown into a hugely informative place to browse, The Modern Homestead is a great website for those who are moving past the very basics. Ellen and Harvey Ussery share their personal experiences which include detailed and advanced topics like caponizing your roosters or breeding chicken stock for selected traits. Ellen specializes in providing lots of poultry information, rather than addressing other livestock species commonly found on homesteads. I found the discussions, trial and error accounts, and the simple-living emphasis refreshing.
Miller Family Homestead — Another personal family website, The Family Homestead is the musings of a homesteading family of 10. While the website design itself is a bit of a hodgepodge, the information by Crystal and Tobin is down-to-earth and useful for Untrained Housewife readers. Homestead crafts, menu plans, frugal recipes and more are included on the site. When a mother of eight gives you organization tips, you know they are tried and true!
Homesteading and Simple-Living Magazine Websites
Mother Earth News — While the website is related to Mother Earth News magazine (a “guide to living wisely”), there are tons of other articles posted to the website. Free newsletters are available by subscription on a variety of topics including gardening and green power for the home. A feature I enjoy is the Question-and-Answer feature where readers can write in their questions to be answered by the homestead expert, the garden expert, etc.
Backwoods Home Magazine — I like the common-sense, very country approach to this magazine website that is, to me as an Oklahoma girl, very authentic. The website is not the most polished in terms of navigation, layout or graphics, but the information is great. The free monthly online newsletter keeps you informed of new contributions to the site, including links to articles in the current issue of the magazine for homesteaders or wannabes to enjoy free of charge. There are radio clips available from a currently-off-air radio broadcast about homesteading and some personal blogs that add a heart-warming first-person touch.
Countryside magazine — This website is related to the country-living, homesteading magazine, the Countryside & Small Stock Journal. Published by the Belanger family, Countryside aims to support the “Voluntary Simplicity movement seeking greater self-reliance with emphasis on home food production.” While the site is designed to sell the magazine, or advertising in the magazine, there are many articles available for beginning homesteaders online. Articles range from understanding legislative impacts to how to provide your homestead with water.
Homestead Websites
Life Unplugged — This site offers lots of informative articles about how to have a green homestead and decrease your environmental footprint through judicial lifestyle choices. Categories for articles include green building, alternative energy, garden and pantry, home jobs, and of course the eclectic “everything else.” Readers may be disappointed that there aren’t more articles in place yet, but the site says more articles are added every Monday and the articles available are well-written and highly informative.
Homestead.org — The king of content when it comes to favorite homesteading sites, homestead.org has hundreds and hundreds of pieces available on a wide myriad of topics related to small holdings and homesteads. While the site is a bit awkward to navigate, the sheer amount of information available is lovely. There are also forums available to ask questions and to find what others are doing successfully.
The Simple Living Network — The emphasis on re-examining the way we think about money and the current culture’s view of acquiring “stuff” is a refreshing theme of this website which focuses on paying off debt and adopting a “living within your means” lifestyle. The free articles and newsletters are informative, but the classes and ebooks are not free, so readers will want to be aware of that. There are a few radio programs available for listening, and those are at no charge. The resource directory contains mostly books, e-books, and media that are for sale and would need to be purchased, but it does identify sources for specific, niche topic areas that are hard to find covered elsewhere.
I hope you enjoy these inspirational and informative websites. Did I miss your favorite self-sufficiency or homesteading blog or website? Leave a comment and tell me about it, and why you like it, in the comment section below!
http://www.homesteadingtoday.com is also a great homesteading site.