Each day I spend time in the depths our website, searching for answers to readers' questions. In the process of searching, I inevitably bump into one of the many articles written by readers on their homesteading experiences.

For 38 years Mother has been publishing stories of folk’ successes, failures and adventures as they pursue a sustainable life, whether urban, rural or somewhere in between. In the early issues of the magazine, these articles were titled “Report from Them That’s Doin.’” The more recent versions are known as “Firsthand Reports.”

If you have a bit of extra time this holiday weekend, you might want to set a spell in front of your computer, click on the links above and stroll down the lane with youngsters and oldsters who have set their sights on living self sufficiently. From Alaska to the Caribbean and Hawaii to the Mediterranean, they have lived in tipis, log cabins, converted buses and on sailboats, all the while carving their individual niche into the fabric of the landscape around them.

You will be inspired and transformed by their dedication, ingenuity and fortitude as they strive to create home and homestead from sometimes rugged circumstances. If you have found a way to carve your own sustainable niche, share your story in the comments section, below. 

PHOTO BY JENNA WOGINRICH

Here in Vermont there is plenty of snow. And when there is snow on the ground in rural America, the chainsaw-buzz of snowmobiles isn’t far behind. But for some of us there’s a different (and might I add quieter) style to getting around over the icy roads and trails. It’s clean, it’s green, and it runs on renewable energy. Yes folks, meet the dogsled.

My own dogs are working homestead housedogs. Their names are Jazz and Annie and while they may seem like couch potatoes when you visit the farm during high garden season — they are a force to be reckoned with when the rhubarb is under 3 inches of ice. When the snow falls we’re outside and in harness. Thanks to our lightweight Swedish-style kicksled we’re able to mush for a few miles at a time, even with just a two-dog team. The super light 20-pound sled and the help of my kicking keeps us going at a decent clip. Besides providing exercise for us all, another benefit of mushing is that it helps me do everyday chores around the farm like hauling firewood and running out to the mailbox to bring in packages.

And folks, you don’t need a pack of huskies to start sailing by those SUVs stuck in ditches. All you need is a healthy and happy dog with a love of running. Dog sports like skijoring (attaching a dog in harness to a belt you wear around your waist while you cross country ski) can be practiced with just one dog. It sounds awkward but the combination of a properly harnessed dog and your skis can make the usual winter walk a full-blown mushing adventure. Not to mention confuse and frighten your neighbors, which, let’s be honest, is half the fun.

If you’re interested in getting your own dog in harness, check out sleddogcentral.com. It’s a web community of people dedicated to mushing and skijoring. There you’ll find everything from local mentors, area clubs and respected outfitters. It’s a great home base for forums, advice and training tips. I suggest you check it out soon — that lab over there on the couch looks like he could use a few laps around the park.

See you on the trail!

FOTOLIA/STEFAN KATZLINGER

WINTER! This week we received a four-inch snowfall that turned our earth-toned, monochromatic landscape into a bright sparkling tapestry.

I would say that winter is my favorite season, but the truth is that when the seasons change, at that moment that season is my favorite. I love the energizing effect the seasonal changes have on my psyche. You should know that I grew up in upstate New York on the shores of Lake Ontario where snowfalls of three to four feet were routine – and the winter blizzard of 1966 piled 108 inches of snow on Oswego County.

My winter memories are of incredible igloo-like snow forts made in the huge piles of snow next to the curb, staying outdoors until my whole body was tingling with cold, hot chocolate and jack wax. Our family had a little cabin seven miles east of town on the lakeshore. In the winter, we would walk in from the county road pulling lunch and my little brother on the toboggan. Dad would stoke up a fire in the woodstove and then we'd all go check out the nature-made ice sculptures on the rocky shore. After that it was lunch time – always the very same menu: Lipton’s chicken and rice soup, apple sauce, grilled cheese sandwiches and hot chocolate.

I loved walking in snow-covered fields looking for the little bumped up trails under the snow where a mouse had traveled or see the whispy designs made by dried grasses as they were buffeted by the north winds. And of course making snow angels was a favorite not just of mine but of all youngsters (and a few not so young).

So during this week's snowfall, I was here at my desk watching the show outside through a window 20 feet from my desk. But finally at 5, I was turned loose to go home and shovel the sidewalk and relish the cold, sparkling winter air. There were no mouse tunnels, but I could see the dainty tracks a wild kitty made along the edges of the garden. Many neighbors were out shoveling their sidewalks and driveways – a mini block party in the dark. The first snow is always the best – there are no dirty snow piles by the curb or ruts of slush in the streets – just a carpet of sparkling whiteness, illuminating the night. Before going in for the evening, I flopped down on a clear space and made the first snow angel of the year – ahhhhhh, winter!!

Wishing you all a winter of childish delight. 

Over the years, many books with valuable information for homesteading wannabes have gone out of print. This is unfortunate, as most of the authors wrote from personal experience at a time when self-sufficiency was the norm.

Now, Robert Plamondon, Oregon poultry aficionado, and publisher of Norton Creek Press, has brought back some of the old titles and has plans for more. Here is the first group:

Edmund Morris' classic “Ten Acres Enough: Small-Farm Self-Sufficiency Through High-Quality Produce, A Back-to-the-Land Adventure” from 1864.

M. G. Kains' charming “We Wanted a Farm: A Back-to-the-Land Adventure” by the author of "Five Acres and Independence" from 1941.

Margaret Leatherbarrow's fascinating “Gold in the Grass: Rags to Riches Through Soil Reclamation and Sustainable Farming,” from 1954.

You will find a wealth of homesteading and self-sufficiency information from Plamondon’s reprints as well as from his books on raising pastured poultry. 

ROB JONES

Sayjal was my best friend growing up. As so often happens, our life paths have diverged since college – mine turning toward a simple, homespun married life and hers careening into a fast-paced career in entertainment. (TV watchers have likely seen her in a commercial or two.) We manage to catch up with each other only every few years, but I am reminded of her daily by the many gifts she made for me, each one a handcrafted reminder of times when you could barely slide a piece of paper between us.

As I write this, my neck is warmed by a scarf she made for me, her first-ever knitting project. In my jewelry box hangs a necklace she strung, blue glass beads punctuated by one that looks like a broken peppermint. I have a glitter-crusted box and drawings of horses and comic book characters, all showing her unique personality and talent. These things dip me daily into a most lovely nostalgia that warms me from the heart. 

More recently, I moved from my hometown for the first time. And though I miss the friends and family who remained in that familiar city, I feel their presence constantly by the gifts they, too, created with their own hands. On my desk is a metal leaf made by a dear friend who stamped “Big Love” on the back. My dresser is filled with knitted, crocheted and sewed apparel from my mom and sister, and on display in my dining room is a colorful turkey my nephew made from an old glove.

These are the gifts I treasure. Sure, I squealed like a kid when I unwrapped a stand mixer from my husband a few years ago, but the gift I will always treasure most from him is a card he made for my birthday when we were first dating. It’s funny (celebrities sending birthday wishes), touching (signed with a shy “love”, our first) and it shows his willingness to take time out of a busy life to make something unique and special, just for me.

What are the best handmade treasures you’ve given or received over the years? In case other readers are stuck for fresh ideas, share your stories in the comments section below.

Sarah Beth and Rob Jones are making almost all of their holiday gifts this year but we can’t tell you what they are because our friends and family are reading…

I think that I shall never see 
A poem lovely as a tree. 

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth’s flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain,
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

“Trees” by Albert Joyce Kilmer 1886–1918

When I was a child, my parents would take me on walks in the woods and teach me the names of trees, and in the fall we would collect nuts from the shagbark hickory and black walnut trees.

I climbed trees and made hideouts in trees. My favorite was a tall, smooth-skinned beech tree with horizontal branches that was perfect for scouting out the woods around me. In the fall, I collected lovely maple leaves, pressed them between sheets of waxed paper and hung them in the window for the sun to shine through. After receiving a painting set as a gift, I painted bare-branched trees, trying to capture the particular natural shape that each species is born with. I saw trees as useful for nests and nuts and twigs for starting camp fires. But it wasn’t until I heated solely with firewood that I saw trees for the other ways they are useful.

Heating solely with firewood can require an education in wood and its uses. If you live east of the Mississippi, you may prefer oak for your woodstove, folks who live in the dry west rely more on tamarack and pine. Of course, there are many choices of hard and soft woods in between.

But it’s not just the kind of trees that you need to have knowledge of when you burn wood, but also where in the forest the trees come from. Was the tree already dead? Are there quite a few dead trees, so if you take one will there be others for birds to nest and find dinner in? Is the tree close to other trees so when it falls it might get hung up causing all kinds of trouble to get it down? Is the tree close to a road or trail so you can get the wood out of the forest and onto a truck or sled? Does the tree have many branches, growing close together, thus guaranteeing much knotty wood to split?

Once I lived on a mountainous 80 acres and heated solely with firewood, I saw trees in a new way. While building a cabin, I realized that the skinny lodge pole pines on the other side of the pasture would make great beams to hold the walls together. A forked maple became a wonderfully artistic hat rack; and some dead cedars were used as fence posts.

I continue to enjoy the forest for the beauty of the trees and the food and housing they provide, but I also see them as a valuable and useful resource. Do you have a favorite useful tree species? Post a comment below and tell us about it.

Photo by Fotolia/Steve Estvanik

I attended Lawrence, Kan., city commission meeting on Dec. 2, 2008, to hear the discussion of keeping live fowl in the city. Prior to public comments, Assistant City Manager Cynthia M. Boecker summarized current laws and how other cities in Kansas handle the issue.

TROY GRIEPENTROG

I was glad to hear the discussion firsthand. Earlier reports gave the impression that the Humane Society was against the idea because of potential health hazards to humans.

Midge Grinstead, executive director of the Lawrence Humane Society, clarified that the Humane Society "has no opinion about keeping fowl" in city limits and is neither for nor against it. But she raised some questions for the commission to consider:

• How many fowl will be allowed?
• How large must the property be?
• What kind of fowl will be allowed? (Peacocks, guineas and roosters are all very loud.)
• Will there be regulations for coops, cleanliness and parasite control?
• Will fines be imposed if fowl leave their owner's property?
• If a dog or cat kills fowl, will the dog or cat be considered "dangerous"?
• Will there be a regulation against butchering fowl for meat?

Those are valid questions, and clarification would certainly prevent misunderstandings in the future.

Several private citizens spoke — all of them in favor of keeping chickens.

One person spoke about the freedom to produce his own food saying, "I want to use my land to build a henhouse, not a whorehouse." Another man, who already keeps a few hens, said that he was in favor of some clarifying regulations.

A WorldWatch Institute article and information from the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production were referenced by someone who pointed out that industrial poultry is more likely to develop avian influenza than are backyard flocks.

A representative of the Coalition of Lawrence Urban Chicken Keepers (CLUCK) said she saw no issues with developing regulations to avoid problems, and that CLUCK would be happy to work out the details of regulations with the commission. A local veterinarian (who stated she didn't realize the issue was on the agenda and hadn't planned to speak) said that she regularly sees chickens and ducks in her practice and that owners are "a pretty responsible group." She also pointed out that chickens are "green" animals, in that they're very useful in gardens.

Finally, a woman spoke about an experiment implemented by a friend, her and their 3-year-olds. The goal was to see how much of their own food they could raise (including eggs from chickens) and to educate the children about where their food comes from. She said it would "be a shame if [keeping chickens] were forbidden."

As the commissioners discussed the issue, no one seemed to be opposed to allowing live fowl in the city. Mayor Dever said he would like to ban roosters, and that the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have concerns with pathogens.

The final decision was that city staff would develop regulations to be voted on at a future meeting. If you're fighting to make keeping chickens legal in your community, it may be a long process, but stick with it! Many other cities have laws allowing chickens.

If you're thinking of keeping a few hens for eggs, How to Raise Chickens in Your Back Yard is a good place to start.

Back when our drains dumped into a city waste water system, we didn’t think much about sewage — beyond what might be behind a plunger. But after moving to a farmhouse with a neglected, though functioning, septic system, we’ve found ourselves flush with tank tips.

Rob Jones

First, what we did wrong: We didn't ask the home seller to dig up the lid of the septic tank before we bought the house. We had a pretty little map that showed where the septic system should be, but it took a dowsing stick experiment, lots of digging (that included tearing up parts of our deck) and three visits from a pro (who had to resort to fishing in our toilet with a tracking device as bait) to find our tank.

Next, five things we (and you) can do right. After chatting with our friend, Jim Levine of Vann Boys Septic Service in North Carolina, and the folks at Outhouse Rentals & Septic Tank Pumping here in Floyd, Va., we’ve gathered some important tips:

1. Septic additives fall somewhere on the scale between pointless and harmful. On the other hand, helpful bacteria can be added to counteract what’s killed by household cleaners, much in the way eating live-culture yogurt can replenish intestinal bacteria after a round of antibiotics.
2. Be thoughtful about what goes down the drain. Gentle cleansers deplete fewer bacteria, and grease just clogs up the system. As Jim suggested, we scrape all our grease and fatty leftovers into old cans that we keep in the freezer until our next trash run.
3. Space water use. Despite having a high-efficiency washer, we have discontinued laundry day in favor of a trickle of laundry throughout the week. We’re also careful to space out dishwashing, showering and other water-intensive chores.
4. Coated toilet papers might be nice for the tush but they’re garbage in the tank. The folks at Outhouse suggested testing paper by putting a couple of sheets in a jar of water and giving it a good shake. If it shreds, it’s septic safe. Just say no to any TP that stays in nice, neat squares.
5. Allow only grass or shallow-rooted bulbs and perennials to grow in the septic field. Tree roots are the main cause of system failure.

For more septic system tips, try these articles:

Understanding Septic Systems
The Truth About Septic Systems
Septic System Basics

Share your septic woes and hard-earned tips for a healthy system in the comments section below.

Sarah Beth Jones and Rob Jones sold their business in the big city to learn how to live mindfully in Floyd, Va.