Homestead Living and Livestock

Clicker Training Farm Animals (with Video)

By Fala Burnette, Wolf Branch Homestead

Would you like to make small-scale handling of your livestock less stressful? Are you interested in a fun summer project with your flock? Learn about clicker training for farm animals in this article.

What is a Contemporary Ecovillage?

By Timothy Miller

Learn about the history of this type of American intentional community, which focuses on sustainability and meshing people on a small scale.

Short Growing Season Solutions

By MOTHER EARTH NEWS Readers

Find out how this Colorado gardener overcame climate and terrain obstacles to cultivate her own best growing practices.

Host a Homesteading Camp for Grandchildren

By Carole Coates

We all want children to treasure the earth and build life skills. Hosting a homesteading camp for grandchildren is a fun-filled way to do it.

The Making of a Vegetable Herding Dog

By Ilene White Freedman, House in the Woods Farm

Our farm puppy tested out different jobs. Here is the story of how our farm dog found his place in the work of a vegetable farm. He's a vegetable herding dog.

The Value of Mentorship

By Dyan Redick, Bittersweet Heritage Farm

Meeting your farming community and making friends with folks who’ve been growing things or raising animals for a while, can make all the difference.

Landscaping with Goats

In this episode of Mother Earth News and Friends, Shawn and Beth Dougherty join podcast host Charlotte French to discuss the up-and-coming business of landscaping with goats and the strengths that goats can bring to land maintenance.

We Made Some Mistakes Along The Way Series: Leaving The Nest, Part 2

By Jennifer Dickinson

The third and final installment of the author’s homestead saga, Leaving the nest: Trading comfort and stability for space and possibility. In this, the finale episode, we learn that mistakes are part of the plan, and nobody knows what the plan is.  Sure, people like to think they know what the plan is, they preach it to others, try to sell it on TV and in best selling self-help books, but really. No one knows. No one but God, and he’s not telling.