Small flocks have always been at the forefront of grassroots local production. During the COVID-19 pandemic, small producers proved that they’re an important part of continuity and resilience. The coronavirus shelter-in-place exposed issues of how American food production works – or doesn’t. Local sources became more important for putting food on the table. Community-supported agriculture […]

Laws tend to be about following rules, something that many homesteaders aren’t necessarily keen on embracing. Matt Wilkinson shares his take on existing small-scale poultry keeping and chicken processing laws and how you can make them work for you. Skeptic and Solution Finder I’ve never enjoyed being told what to do, especially if I could […]

Enjoy this excerpt from The Woman Hobby Farmer and their perspectives on securing the future of small farms for all women. No matter what you do as a farmer, it’s important that you tell others about it. This book illustrates some of the limitless forms that farm education takes. As women, our roles are limitless as well, […]

Second in a three part series. Dr. Jacquie Jacob shares her research on how to effectively use heritage breeds for small-scale meat production operations.  As discussed in Part 1 of this three part series, we ran a study at the University of Kentucky poultry research farm comparing three heritage breeds (Black Australorp, Barred Plymouth Rock […]

by Barbara Palermo — Photographed by Junial Enterprises As the current economy increasingly troubles us, we consider the environment, food safety, animal welfare and emergency preparedness, and strive to become more self-reliant. We are now gardening, canning food and raising chickens for eggs – relaxing activities that provide a sense of security in our urban […]