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“Practical advice . . . from the farm field to foraging in the forest . . . a must-have for anyone looking to transition from homeowner to homesteader.”—Scott Mann, host of The Permaculture Podcast
Build your homesteading dreams with all the affordable DIY innovations, tips, and stories you need to successfully launch you on a path to self-sufficiency. Raise and grow your own food, connect with nature, and consume less while producing more! The Frugal Homesteader is a fun, inspirational, and educational guide filled with a lifetime of learning that comes along with becoming a homesteader. Following dozens of successful families who have been motivated to make do, make new, and make more while saving money and living off the land, this book covers such topics as:
- Outfitting your garden
- Equipping your barn and outbuildings
- Protecting and providing for your animals
- Harvesting rainwater
- Heating with wood
- Foraging
- Producing more of what you need to thrive in harder times.
Whether you’re just starting out and looking for new, sustainable, and affordable ideas, approaches, and techniques, or you’re a small-scale farmer in regenerative agriculture, The Frugal Homesteader is the DIY manual to help you succeed.
“This book is worth its weight in gold . . . an account of direct lived experience: jam-packed with tips and tricks from doing the homestead life each and every day.”—Ben Falk, homesteader and author of The Resilient Farm and Homestead
“This is a rich bounty of ideas that will be equally usefully to old hands and shiny new start-ups alike, whether on rural acreage or urban lot.”—Jenni Blackmore, author of The Food Lover’s Garden
John Moody is an award-winning homesteader and farmer. He is the founder of Whole Life Services and CEO of Steader, an online video-based learning platform that brings the best practitioners to guide and inspire those who find the joy in raising and growing their own food. John speaks and presents at homesteading conferences and events, and is a contributor to numerous magazines, journals, and websites. John and his wife, along with their five children live, farm, and homestead on 35 acres in Kentucky.
Foreword by Joel Salatin
Preface
Introduction
Money in the Yard
A Few Tools to Rule Them All: A Basic Tool Box
Wheelbarrow or Garden Cart?
Holidays, Birthdays, and Achieving a Homestead
1. In the Garden
Small Starts Lead to Success: Garlic in Boxes
Perennial Cardboard Plant Protectors
Easy Raised Beds with Slab, Scrap Wood, Straw Bales, or Concrete Blocks
The Mess of Hay, Straw, Manure and Compost
Fencing and Mulching with Sheet Metal
Mineral Tote Growing Bins
Growing Up Instead of Out: Plant Cages, Trellising, and More
Safety First
Turn Your Homestead Work into Wages
Pallet Propagation and Drying Tables
Compost Underneath the Tables
Compost
Extending the Seasons and Excluding Pests: Low Tunnels
Multi-Use Makes a Big Difference
Simple Garden Gate
Plastic Baggies and Pantyhose
Don't Underestimate the Danger of Drift
Information Box: Turn a Trampoline into Almost Anything
Basic Conversion
Where You Can Go from Here
2. For Your Animals
Fencing
Keeping Them Fed and Watered
Kid-Sized Infrastructure
Keeping Animals Warm and Dry
Brooding, Roosting, and Bedding
Keeping the Bugs at Bay
Winter-Time Light and Water
Information Box: Climbing Rope
Tire Swing
Bale Toppling
Snow Cleaning
Load Securing
3. In the Barn and Workshop
Low-Cost Shelves, Quick Shelves
Tool Storage
"Oiled Sand" to Stop Rust and Protect Your Tools
Storing All Your Stuff
Let There Be Light
Information Box: The Many Uses of IBC Totes
Storing Kindling and Small-Sized Wood Scraps
Baker's Green Acre's Animal Feed Storage
Worm Compost
Animal Shelter or Chicken Brooder
So Many Other Uses
IBC Tote, Plastic Barrel, and Other Material Safety Concerns
What About a Cage With No Tote
4. Outfitting Your Home
Trading Time for Money
Making Your Own Cleaning Supplies
Storing Your Surplus: Sloped Bucket Storage from Scrap Wood
Can You Store What You Grow?
Turning Trash into Treasure
Pieces of Scrap Pipe to Move Heavy Objects
Cinder-Block Shelves
Two Pairs of Shoes
Paint Your Entire House for Under a Hundred Bucks?
Cutting the Cost on Good Clothes
Finding Appliances and Furniture
Other Great Places to Grab Furniture — If the Amish Don't Come a-Calling
Information Box: Greenhouse Plastic
Covering Wood Piles
Solarizing Weeds
Low Tunnels
Cold Frames and Hot Boxes
5. Becoming More Self-Sufficient
Food
What is the Best Animal?
Learn Plant Propagation
Truly Free Food: Foraging from the Homestead
Eat Your Yard Out: The Benefits of Edible Landscaping
Medicine
Cooking When it Counts
Water
Heat
Community
Information Box: Combining Pieces and Projects
Pallets Plus Cattle Panels: Andy Buchler's Animal Shelter
Sheet Metal or Greenhouse Plastic + IBC Tote Cages for Wood Storage
Simple Outdoor Storage
Speeding Up Wood Seasoning
Caleb's Composite Bow
6. Sourcing and Resources
Construction Sites and Construction Supply Stores
Libraries
Craigslist
You Have Not Because You Ask Not
Freecycle
Facebook and Facebook Marketplace
Friends
Barter Makes Friendships Better
Salvage and ReStores
Pawnshops and Similar Businesses
Salvage and Tear Down
Estate Sales, Auctions, and Farm Auctions
Online Auctions
Thrift Stores
Roadsides and Parking Lots
Your Local Landfill or Recycling Center
Automated Online Shopping
Acknowledgements
Final Note
Index
About the Author
About New Society Publishers