Processing a Slaughter Hog

Butchering hogs can be a family event that teaches essential skills while also making the process less stressful for the animal.

Free Feed

Pumpkins are safe for livestock and are readily consumed. Here are some ways to turn leftover pumpkins into a nutritious feedstuff on your farm.

LAMBS, AMERICAN STYLE

The Katahdin is a native sheep breed that requires only little maintenance and is easy to care for.

Is Metal Ever Trash?

Our neighbor told my wife and me how she stopped her fourth-grader as she was pulling a bottle cap out of their kitchen trash can, saying, “Honey, put that back.

When it RAINS...

Today's weather can be bust or boom, and bioswales and rain gardens help control the overflow during boom times.

The Queen of Topiary

Linda Vater talks us through the transition from self-taught hobby gardening to becoming a national gardening guru.

GOAT HOOF TRIM

Sooner or later, you'll need to trim your goats' hooves.

A Perfect PORKER

The woolly, low-maintenance Mangalitsa pig provides succulent meat for a small farm.

THE GREAT CATTLE DEBATE

Grain-fed versus grass-fed - is one better than the other?

Charge Tools with Solar

Ongoing improvements to batteries O have helped increasing numbers of gardeners to cut the cord- and the need for gasoline - for their string trimmers, edgers, lawn mowers and other gadgets.

Equipment Fires

About three years ago, the day before the predicted first frost of the season, Bledsoe County farmer and retired agriculture teacher Bobby Loyd was baling late-fall hay with plans to wrap it for silage.

Homegrown Fungi

Tony Shields has been fascinated with mushrooms for as long as he can remember

Zero-Turn Mowers

If you're coming from lawn and garden tractors, you might not immediately recognize a zero-turn mower as a member of the mowing family

Insectary Strips

In addition to offering food sources to honeybees and native pollinators, insectary strips can provide your homestead with noninsect-derived benefits

Beyond Firewood

I knew the silver maple tree in my backyard was in pretty rotten shape, but hearing the decades-old tree fall was still a shock

POWER YOUR SOIL WITH Probiotics

HEALTHIER SOIL MAKES FOR HEALTHIER PLANTS AND PEOPLE

Sheep & Goats

There are obvious benefits to raising sheep and goats. Meat is likely the first that comes to mind

BEST BEEF & PERFECT PORK

THESE BREEDS THRIVE ON SMALL-SCALE HOBBY FARMS

OPEN THE HATCH

PURCHASING YOUR SPRING CHICKS FROM A HATCHERY IS MORE THAN JUST CLICK AND WAIT

Small Flock Poultry

Predator Protection

Grass-Fed Meat

The fastest way to increase the carbon content of a degraded soil is to establish a perennial grassland and graze it with ruminant animals in a proper manner

Holey Cow!

Bovines have an amazing ability to turn relatively undigestable grass, hay and other roughage into nutrients and energy

GOAT MILK Soap

This recipe for goat milk soap will leave your skin feeling soft and luxurious

MAKE YOUR OWN Chevre

In a dip, crumbled on a salad or spread on homemade toast, nothing beats creamy chévre

Great-Tasting GOAT MILK

These tips for milking backyard goats will keep your homegrown milk safe and delicious

milking how to

Goat milk is liquid gold, but you have to get milking right to get it

BREEDING BASICS

Follow these guidelines at breeding time for healthy kids

KEEP YOUR Rumens RIGHT

Ruminant health is all about maintaining rumen health

Spot & Treat

Parasites happen, but proper management keeps things under control

Parasite PATROL

Keep your worm treatments effective with these three valuable tools