2023-10-23 20:25
The Definitive Guide to Berkey Water Filters Water is an essential component of life, but ensuring that what we consume is pure and safe is paramount. Among the few brands that have emerged… Read More
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Better Homesteading Blog
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We aim to unite like-minded individuals with a passion to become more self reliant, self sufficient, and to build a homesteading lifestyle, regardless if they live on 100 acres in the country, or on the 34th floor of a tower block.
A homesteading lifestyle is different for everyone, but one of the best things you can ever do to fight back against big corporations, poor food quality, transport related pollution, and to just enhance your life, is to take control of where your food comes from. To grow your own, or source as much of it locally as you can is a massive statement.
It doesn’t matter if you are new to homesteading, living off the land, growing your own food and vegetables, harvesting, rearing animals, we at Better Homesteading are here to help.
There are many components to the homesteading lifestyle, and these can be different for everyone. Some people love living in the city, building an urban homestead in the city can be hugely rewarding (and it saves on the bill for shopping at Whole Foods!).
Many people live in, or love the idea of moving to the country and building a smallholding or micro-homestead on an acre or two. This is a great dream, and is achievable with a little vision and planning.
Whatever your homesteading dream, we are excited to build Better Homesteading into a community hub where those of us that want to kick the conventional lifestyle in the butt, and build our small homestead where we can live the self sufficient dream, can meet like-minded people to share our journey with.
2023-10-19 18:00
Here’s a great recipe for authentic jerk chicken. It’s a family favorite. Hope you enjoy it. Ingredients: 4-6 chicken pieces (thighs, drumsticks, or breasts) with skin on 1 table… Read More
2023-10-19 17:26
Sausages have been a staple in many cultures for centuries. Made from ground meat, spices, and other flavorings, they offer a burst of taste in every bite. One exotic and flavorful meat choi… Read More
2023-04-15 16:26
Hey there! Have you ever tried making bread dough at home? It can be a lot of fun, and the best part is that you can control exactly what goes into it. But have you ever tried kneading the d… Read More
2022-02-01 16:17
Reverse Osmosis water is water that has been filtered through a special system to remove impurities. This water is said to be better for you than regular tap water. However, some people beli… Read More
2022-02-01 14:20
Reverse osmosis (RO) water filtration systems are a popular way to remove fluoride from water. However, there is some debate over whether or not these systems are effective at removing fluor… Read More
2022-01-28 16:01
Berkey shower filters are a godsend. They remove a wide range of contaminants from your shower water supply. But does a Berkey shower filter remove fluoride? The answer is no, the Berkey sho… Read More
2022-01-28 13:15
When it comes to the Berkey water filtration system, it’s a pretty ‘hands-off’ process. As long as you are using your Berkey filter regularly, topping up every day or two… Read More
2022-01-27 15:22
Carbon water filters are the most popular, and often the cheapest option for anyone wishing to filter their tap water. Almost all countertop home water filters, from a cheap Brita jug filter… Read More
2022-01-25 16:25
Many people are concerned about the quality of their tap water. With municipal water sources under more scrutiny than before, some people choose to take on the job of filtering their own wat… Read More
2022-01-24 18:18
Home water filter designs have developed remarkably over the years. But why should you buy a water filter if your tap water tastes ok? Tap water can contain chemicals, heavy metals, and othe… Read More
2022-01-13 16:32
Mold on your black Berkey filter is always a cause for concern and should be addressed immediately. But even if you do notice mold has formed, there is no need to panic. Berkey black filters… Read More
2021-12-19 16:33
When buying your Berkey water filter, choosing the right size for your is imperative. There are 6 models in the range, all with differing water capacities. The right size Berkey for a f… Read More
2021-12-17 11:32
When it comes to choosing the right size Berkey water filter for a family of 4, there are a few things you need to take into account. In this article, I'll be discussing the various options… Read More
2021-12-15 17:52
We all want to smoke for as long as possible through the year, ideally from Spring through Fall. But weather conditions do play a role in your ability to smoke or grill effectively. Does win… Read More
2021-12-15 14:13
Electric smoker vs pellet smoker? Let the battle commence. Well, perhaps more of a minor skirmish than a full-blown war. In this article, I’ll be providing clarity on electric and pell… Read More
2021-12-14 15:04
Smoking meat is a practice that has been carried out for centuries, originally as a method to preserve meats, to prevent attack by flies and other unhealthy organisms, and more recently, to… Read More
2021-12-13 17:38
If you are considering buying a pellet smoker, it is important to understand the pellet smoker vs wood smoker debate. It’s a debate that rages between smoking enthusiasts, with no side… Read More
2021-12-13 13:51
Electrical smokers take up a fair amount of room, and anyone keen to begin smoking, but with little storage space often asks the question: Can a Masterbuilt smoker be left outside? The answe… Read More
2021-12-12 12:20
In this article I’ll be offering a summary of the difference between vertical smokers and offset smokers, comparing the differences between the two, and assisting you in choosing which… Read More
2021-12-10 16:08
If you are looking for a way to cook meat that is both delicious and easy, an offset smoker may be the answer. But how does an offset smoker work? This short read will cover all the basics… Read More
2021-12-09 20:04
Do fermented foods need to be refrigerated? This is a question that often arises in the minds of those who are making their first batch of fermented sauerkraut or kimchi. The answer, as it t… Read More
2021-12-09 16:36
There has been a lot of discussions lately about the benefits of fermented foods. But does cooking fermented food kill the bacteria in the foods that make them beneficial? Does warming versu… Read More
2021-12-08 15:45
Fermented foods have been around for centuries and are becoming incredibly popular. In this blog post, we will explore what are the benefits of eating fermented foods? You may be surprised h… Read More
2021-12-06 16:00
The mead fermentation process can be a tricky one to stop, but luckily there are 3 effective strategies that home mead brewers need a strategy for how to stop fermentation in mead. In this b… Read More
2021-12-05 17:46
Why is fermented food good for you? People have been asking this question for many years, and as science evolves and the importance of gut health to over health becomes clearer, more people… Read More
2021-12-04 13:18
Interested in learning how to ferment delicious vegetables? You’ve come to the right place. In this article, I will answer the question – What is a fermentation crock? Basically… Read More
2021-12-03 16:06
How much water should you use to submerge your sauerkraut? Does sauerkraut need to be fully submerged, or is it okay if the top of the cabbage is not underwater? Does this affect how long it… Read More
2021-12-03 14:19
Fermenting sauerkraut can be a very satisfying experience. It can also be incredibly easy to do if you have the right tools. One of the most common questions people ask is can you make sauer… Read More
2021-12-02 16:51
A question I get on a fairly consistent basis is can you freeze homemade sauerkraut? Many people like the idea of making a gargantuan batch of this king of fermented vegetables and then not… Read More
2021-12-01 12:35
In this short article, written in response to a reader question, I’ll be covering the topic of how to make sauerkraut brine. When you are first starting out learning about how to make… Read More
2021-11-30 17:42
A question that I get asked a lot from site visitors and friends is do you wash cabbage before making sauerkraut?? It’s a perfectly sensible question but if I give a blanket yes or no… Read More
2021-11-30 14:21
From a reader who is keen to start making their own sauerkraut, I got this question in the last couple of days. “Can you make sauerkraut with red cabbage?” They had been looking… Read More
2021-11-27 19:24
How does a pellet grill work? In this article, I’m going to answer that question and leave no stone unturned. By the end of this short read, you’ll be an expert on pellet grills… Read More
2021-11-24 15:08
Many people have issues with their electric smoker not getting hot enough. Usually, there is a fairly straightforward solution to this which I’ll discuss in this article. It is vitally… Read More
2021-11-23 15:04
Most serious smokers agree that flipping a brisket when smoking is necessary to ensure a uniform cook and the best brisket at the end of cooking. Cooking and eating brisket is a labor of lov… Read More
2021-11-22 14:00
The Instant Pot pressure cooker is phenomenally versatile and has been a massive hit with home and commercial cooks alike. And of course, the aftermarket offering of accessories to make your… Read More
2020-04-16 18:58
Termites can be a real bother if left unattended; they can devastate your house if ignored. They work in numbers, and it does not take the long to chew through a structural beam, thus leadin… Read More
2020-04-16 18:47
Flying termites are winged termites whose main responsibility in life is creating and reproducing new termite colonies. To find potential mates, the male and female termites will fly away fr… Read More
2020-04-15 18:32
How long a termite treatment will last vary dependant on the treatment type, the kinds of materials and chemicals used, and who performs the install. That being said though, it is good termi… Read More
2018-07-16 14:22
A regular star to a Thanksgiving feast is the turkey. The North American bird features on many tables for the holidays and over the years has been a way of feeding large groups well. Cooking… Read More
2018-07-12 12:46
Are you an experienced quilter or novice looking for a steam iron? Do you need a steam iron that is within your budget? Ever since the Chinese discovered that hot metal can be used to press… Read More
2018-06-28 07:30
Welcome to this quick start guide on how to use a char broil smoker. It's full of loads of tips for char-broiling with a variety of smokers. I love char broiled food, so this article has bee… Read More
2018-06-26 20:26
A properly trimmed lawn is the joy and pride of any homeowner. In most of the cases, it remains an enjoyable activity that can be carried out over the weekend. After rigorous research and re… Read More
2018-05-22 09:45
Ever since I lived in Australia, with a dry climate and a garden with poor topsoil, I've really grown to love using straw and hay bales for gardening. The benefits are many, the bales are ch… Read More
2018-02-12 14:43
Has your pillow seen better days? Or perhaps you suffer from allergy triggered sleep apnea or wake up often with a stiff neck?It has been suggested by the National Sleep Foundation that… Read More
2018-02-04 11:31
Are you looking for smoking alternatives that produce higher temperatures? Are you looking to use a flavored smoke alternative to traditional briquette? Then smoking with lump charcoal or ch… Read More
2018-01-31 13:09
Apple cider vinegar (ACV)! An apparent elixir of life, a cure-all for high blood pressure, eczema, digestive issues, candida, heartburn, constipation and more.There is no doubt that ACV has… Read More
2018-01-29 14:28
Do you wish you could make smaller sauerkraut batches? Are fermentation crocks out of your budget’s reach? Then mason jar fermenting might be more to your liking. These glass canning j… Read More
2018-01-24 11:29
Are you looking for an alternative to yogurt as your only source of probiotic food? Interested in learning how to ferment vegetables? Sauerkraut and other fermented vegetables have long been… Read More
2018-01-20 15:18
Do you get the perfect smoke ring, crust and color but find the smoke flavor lacking? This can be directly attributed to the type of pellets you are using. Not all pellets are made the same… Read More
2018-01-18 15:57
Do you wish you could grill meat or vegetables all year round? Having problems with uneven grilling? Sounds like you are ready for pellet grills.This next phase in smoking meat is designed t… Read More
2018-01-13 16:43
Do your briskets lack that authentic smoked flavor? Are you sure that you are using the best wood for smoking brisket? Smoking a brisket to perfection takes years of practice.Unlike a charco… Read More
2018-01-12 14:37
Everyone loves pulled pork right? It's a great source of protein, plus some good vitamins and minerals. As well as being delicious, pork is a relatively cheap meat, ideal for parties and bar… Read More
2018-01-12 11:38
Digital thermometers are devices that are used to take temperature readings orally. Most of them are made such that they use their resistive aspects to take the readings.As a result of this… Read More
2018-01-12 11:21
In this article, I'm going to provide you with the specific steps you need to learn how to season a new smoker or grill. The same procedure can be used for seasoning an offset smoker or an e… Read More
2018-01-08 17:29
DIY Vertical indoor gardening is a fun way to have a year round garden by growing the plants in pots up an indoor wall rather than in the ground.Space often makes it difficult to have a gard… Read More
2018-01-07 19:19
I love to grill, smoke and barbecue. I use wood, charcoal and natural gas, depending on how I'm feeling and the task at hand. One question I hear a lot is, "How long does a propane tank last… Read More
2018-01-04 14:20
Owning an electric smoker was a dream come true for me. I absolutely love almost everything about it. But the cleaning has always been a total pain in the butt. I hate the whole cl… Read More
2017-12-16 13:46
15 Ideas For Christmas Stocking Stuffers For Adults And Kids.I've compiled 15 awesome ideas for Christmas stocking stuffers for adults and kids alike, and I would wager, that every homestead… Read More
2017-12-09 12:56
It's that time of year again! Christmas is upon us, where did the year go? Another year older and wiser, but being wise isn't always enough when buying gifts for friends and family. Choosing… Read More
2017-12-05 14:38
Essential oils are wonderful aren't they? Aromatic, invigorating, calming, healing. We've been using them in our little home for years. In the bath, in potions and cleaning products. Their u… Read More
2017-11-03 14:15
Climate change is upon us, or so so the scientists say. Yeah, there are plenty of naysayers out there too, it's often difficult to know who is right and who is wrong.But even going back 10 y… Read More
2017-11-02 15:20
I don't know about you, but I'm not a huge fan of just buying stuff. Stuff is rarely made to the quality I hope for, it's generally more than I want to pay, and I spend hours researching the… Read More
2017-11-01 12:23
Hola! Thanks for stopping by, muchly appreciated!I wanted to give you some feedback on my personal experience using mason jars for fermenting, and why I moved away from them as my go-to choi… Read More
2017-10-28 16:23
You've come home, excited and with wild anticipation of what's been occurring in the kitchen. You throw your coat on the chair and run in with the zest of a child on Christmas day.But you're… Read More
2017-10-28 14:37
Welcome to Better Homesteading, a place where you can indulge your desires and passions (no, not those sort) to lead a simpler, healthier and more fulfilling life. You've found your way here… Read More
2017-10-26 10:27
If you're anything like me, you’re always looking to make sure that you get the best value product when you make a purchase. Nobody wants to spend their money on the second best,  &hell…Read More
2017-10-25 13:22
Carrying a pocket knife has a lot of benefits. I'm not talking about concealed weapons in the middle of town of in the night club, but for anyone who camps, lives in the country, hunts or fi… Read More
2017-10-25 10:29
There are the four stages of mosquito life cycle; egg, larva, pupa and adult. In the larva stage, the mosquito prefers to live in stagnant water for the 14 days of this cycle stage. This mig… Read More
2017-10-24 19:30
Thinking of buying a new lawnmower? Electric, gas, ride on, human-powered? There are many options, but in this article, I'm going to consider the pros and cons of electric lawn mowers. Why?… Read More
2017-10-23 20:43
In this article I want to talk about the pros and cons of reel mowers.Slightly surprisingly, in this world of modern gadgets and ‘motorised everythings’, reel mowers seem to be m… Read More
2017-10-22 11:42
Buying anything without some background knowledge and doing some due diligence generally ends up in a poor buying decision!This obviously rings true for you, as it does for me too. I've made… Read More
2017-10-21 15:33
Unless you are supremely lucky, most people end up with a garden where the soil is not to their liking. It's either too sandy, has too much clay, it's impossible to dig, nothing grow properl… Read More
2017-10-20 11:53
For the firewood aficionado, the man or woman who likes to keep things real and enjoys some good, sweaty hard graft, the splitting maul is the perfect tool for splitting logs into fire-sized… Read More
2017-10-18 15:38
If you're a lover of growing stuff and eating it, you're probably interested in making it as healthy as possible? Healthy plants make healthy peeps right? This article on how to use worm cas… Read More
2017-10-16 20:51
There is nothing more useful to the larger homestead or property than a tractor. And even more useful than the tractor itself is all the really handy hydraulic attachments you can run from i… Read More
2017-10-16 15:53
Many people go out and make an impulse purchase of an expensive log splitter, without even giving consideration to the question, 'what size log splitter do I need to do the job quickly and e… Read More
2017-10-15 17:23
Splitting logs can be a dangerous game. I can't recall the number of times I was hit by a shard of timber or whacked on the leg by a heavy steel wedge when I first had to start splitting my… Read More
2017-10-14 19:24
Having spent a lot of my adult life using firewood as the means of heating my home, I've struggled with axes and splitting wedges to prepare firewood for the winter. It's good manual labor… Read More
2017-10-11 16:35
Hi there! In this article I'm going to be looking at how to choose the best fermentation crock for making sauerkraut, kimchi, curtido, and all manner of other totally delicious fermented goo… Read More
2017-10-09 16:06
Bokashi tea is the liquid that is generated from the kitchen scraps you compost in your Bokashi bin. The greater the amount of food waster that is fermenting in the bin, the more of the liqu… Read More
2017-10-09 13:00
Ladybugs have long been seen as a great friend to have in your garden. But when there appear in massive numbers, many people look for DIY ladybug pest control strategies to mitigate the infe… Read More
2017-10-08 17:45
How long to ferment sauerkraut? I guess the answer you're not looking for is...it depends! But to put you out of you're misery, sauerkraut fermented under ideal conditions should take around… Read More
2017-10-07 17:21
In this article I'm going to show you how to make DIY bokashi bran at home, and hopefully save a little bit of cash in the process.I've bought most of my bran on Amazon in the past, and it's… Read More
2017-10-07 16:23
Bokashi composting is a fantastic way to compost food scraps from your kitchen in an easy, affordable and convenient way. The cool thing about the Bokashi system is that meat, dairy, bread… Read More
2017-10-07 09:53
I had an email from a reader of the site the other day, who had read my article about Bokashi composting [link] and was worried. It went something like this:'Dear Steve, I have maggots in my… Read More
2017-10-07 09:15
I'm a coffee addict! There, I've said it. Apparently admitting it to yourself is the first step towards recovery. But this is an addiction I'm not looking to recover from. I truly love my co… Read More
2017-10-06 10:37
Modern homesteading? What on earth is that? It's an exclamation that I've heard a lot recently. It tends to happen every time an age old idea or concept makes a comeback or experiences a ren… Read More
2017-10-04 13:20
In this article, we're going to look at the process of how to make sauerkraut, including some variations on the basic theme, plus some funky condiments that we can eat with our kraut.By the… Read More
2017-10-01 17:43
Welcome to this quick start guide on how to use a Masterbuilt electric smoker. The Masterbuilt smokers are built to a really high quality, and are the smokers of choice for home smoking and… Read More
2017-09-29 11:41
How long does Kimchi last? This is a question that I get asked time and time again. Not just be people who follow my fermenting antics, but by friends and family who I invite (read...force!)… Read More
2017-09-27 13:10
Desperate to know how to use a fermentation crock to make sauerkraut and kimchi, or some other healthy and delicious fermented food? I've got a treat in store for you, we're going to get in… Read More
2017-09-22 19:51
Having recently bought a manual push reel mower as a replacement for my electric rotary mower, and having used it for a couple of months over the summer, I thought it might be nice to do a l… Read More
2017-09-20 13:22
It wasn't that long ago that smoking meat was pretty alien to me. I'd loved barbecuing while living in Australia, but smoking was something I'd never given a lot of consideration to. I was d… Read More
2017-09-16 17:13
The Bokashi composting method is an anaerobic method of fermenting biodegradable kitchen waste into a finished compost that can be used to provide nutrition to plants.The difference that set… Read More
2017-09-15 09:43
For those who have absolutely zero idea on how to smoke a brisket, or even know what a brisket actually is, this article is for you. I've smoked some brisket in my time, plus a lot of other… Read More
2017-09-11 13:23
Worm farming is an awesome way to create compost to use on the garden, but harvesting worm castings from your vermicomposting bin or worm farm can be a bit of a drag. I used to struggl… Read More
2017-09-10 12:18
Welcome to this guide to making water kefir. We’ve done all we can to make the process of making your first batch of tasty water kefir as painless, and successful as possible.Understan… Read More
2017-09-09 15:02
If you haven’t heard of trench composting (AKA in-situ composting) and you’re the sort of person who likes to maximize efficiency, while minimizing hard labor, then composting di… Read More
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