HomesteadEditor

When Chris Chmiel leaves his farm in southern Ohio for the weekly drive to the farmers’ market, he brings along blocks of his handmade goat cheese and jars of his pawpaw-spiceberry jam. In Michigan, Vicki Fuller, owner of Maple Island Pies, recruits family members to help sell her flaky treats at four different farmers’ markets. […]

Setting Up Quickbooks Excerpted from The Farmer’s Office by Julia Shanks The Initial Setup When you first open up QuickBooks, you will want to Create a New Company and select Advanced Setup. QB will guide you through an interview process. Following are the questions QB asks, with my suggestions on how to answer (and set your preferences). You may […]

Dos and Don’ts of Presenting to Investors Excerpted from The Farmer’s Office by Julia Shanks • Do explain your business concept clearly in one to three sentences. Don’t run on and on. Readers of your business plan want to be able to quickly capture the essence of your business. The more concise your words, the better. • […]

This week marks 6 months that I’ve been making a living full time from our little piece of heaven in the forest. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, it was a long held dream of mine to bring my work home and spend more time with my son. Of course, as is so often the case, dreams have a […]

The street where I live is probably familiar to most people: rows of well-kept houses, manicured lawns, and pretty trees. While this may be an attractive picture to some, the only thing these yards produce is work for the homeowner, without much return. From my front yard, my house appears to be, more or less, […]

You’ve already spent time growing your own food and raising animals. You did it in your spare time, perhaps when you got home from a full-time job at the office, but it’s something you enjoy and are good at. Now, you’ve grown enough food to sustain you and your family, and you’re getting to the […]

How to Make Extra Money From Your Farm Written By:Megan Wild, Grit Blogger Most people have no idea what challenges face a small farm each year. Yes, they might appreciate the occasional trip to a farmer’s market, where fruits and veggies always seem to be in abundant supply. That’s not telling the whole story. It only takes […]

7 Tips for Preparing Your Farm for Fall Festivals Written By:Megan Wild, Grit Blogger Autumn is a lovely time of year and the perfect season to host outdoor festivals to celebrate. Are you considering hosting a fall festival on your farm or homestead but not sure where to start or even what all is involved in the […]

Pumpkins are for laughter — for Jack-O-Lanterns and Halloween — during the cool, overcast days of autumn. Pumpkins are for pies . . . all winter long. And pumpkins are for extra cash: their sales bring in dollars when most other money crops are gone. A fellow homesteader put it this way: “Pumpkins are our […]

Find Cottage Food Laws for Your State! Shared from MOTHER EARTH NEWS – Written by Rebecca Martin Want to sell your homemade food but worry that the law won’t let you? Check out Forrager, an online clearinghouse for information on how home cooks and bakers can have their cake and sell it, too. Forrager focuses on […]