Knowing your soils is a good idea, no matter where you live or what type of country living activity you pursue. The USDA’s National Resources Conservation Service makes that job easy. The Web Soil Survey site takes a little bit of getting used to, but it provides a wealth of information. Once you have selected an area of interest, you can view a map identifying … Continue reading Web Soil Survey
Just getting started? Whether you are still in the early planning stage or are trying to overcome your first obstacle, one of the best things you can do is to read extensively. Many others have walked the path before you. Why not smooth your own learning curve and take advantage of their experience? While there are many excellent books we could recommend (just check out … Continue reading Top 10 Books for Beginning Farmers
Summer is fast approaching! It’s time to battle the bugs, brush up on music skills, and plan some family time for Memorial Day. Discover the historical geography of the United States. Choose the right string gauge for your guitar. Deter garden bugs before they show up for lunch. Start a homemade construction project. Learn how to communicate with a sheepdog. Improve your banjo technique. Read … Continue reading Get Ready for May 2016
Spring is in the air! Are you ready to get outside, grow some plants, and build something new? Learn how to transplant successfully. Take advantage of three free planting guides from K-State. Mix up an easy radish salad. Download free building plans and construct something new. Learn how to tell a rattlesnake from a kingsnake. Try out three easy ways to use asparagus. Consider new … Continue reading Get Ready for April 2016
To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk. —Thomas Edison Continue reading Quote of the Week: To Invent
There’s nothing like a homemade gift to warm someone’s heart at Christmas. The time and love put into a handcrafted present make it special. If you enjoy country living, you have an excellent opportunity to make and grow gifts that will touch others. Need some inspiration? Consider these ideas: Heirloom seeds. If you raise and save seeds from heirloom plants, why not share that favorite … Continue reading 5 Homemade Gifts From the Farm
Louisiana State University has put together an excellent website packed with countless building plans available for free PDF download. If you are the do-it-yourself type, this is a site that you should definitely bookmark! Just to give you a very small sampling of the plans and projects that are included: Gates. Barns. Corrals. Feeders. Dairy parlors. Rearview mirrors for tractors. Walk-in refrigerators. Roadside fruit stands. … Continue reading Free LSU Building Plans
If your children love the outdoors and also love to write, they may enjoy A Kid’s EcoJournal series by Toni Albert. There are four of these books (spring, summer, fall, and winter), but they all follow a similar format. After some tips on exploring and writing about nature comes space for entries. Each entry has blank lines for writing, a selection from the author’s nature … Continue reading A Kid’s EcoJournal Series
Here’s a way to combine two favorite interests. Hand the woodworker of the family a copy of this book and see what happens! The Complete Book of Birdhouse Construction for Woodworkers by Scott D. Campbell provides detailed plans and instructions for the following birds: House Finch. Great Crested Flycatcher. Purple Martin. Phoebe. Downy Woodpecker. Wood Duck. Bluebird. But the possibilities do not end here. A … Continue reading Complete Book of Birdhouse Construction
Here is just the thing for the handyman of the family. Whatever you want to build, whether it is for your home, your garden, or your farm, check out this book for ideas. HomeMade: 101 Easy-to-Make Things for Your Garden, Home, or Farm by Ken Braren and Roger Griffith provides a drawing and a brief summary for each project. Many of the projects also include … Continue reading HomeMade
