Many people daydream about a self-sufficient existence. A few rare ones live it every day. Ron and Johanna are what some people call modern-day pioneers. Ever since the late 1970s, they’ve been surviving and thriving off-the-grid by:

• Growing their own food year-round
• Collecting enough water for drinking, cooking, and bathing
• Making their natural remedies from backyard plants
• Heating the house and getting hot water practically for free
• Generating the electricity needed by their entire homestead from solar and wind
• Plus, many…many others!

In their new book, The Self-Sufficient Backyard: For the Independent Homesteaders, they share the homesteading and self-sufficiency knowledge they’ve acquired over 40 years for the first time.

This is simply a must-have for anyone interested in going off-the-grid or just saving and making some money on their property. And it all adds up! Ron and Johanna don’t have a big pension to fall back on, but they still manage to make a more than decent living just with what their tiny ¼-acre homestead produces.

That’s how little you need to be self-sufficient in modern-day America. And the best part is that it doesn’t matter if that property is a few acres big or just a tiny apartment in the city. Everything inside the book can be upscaled or downscaled to fit your daily needs.

With over 100 practical DIY projects, there is something for everybody’s property inside The Self-Sufficient Backyard: For the Independent Homesteader – so get ready to start living the life others will keep dreaming about.

Keeping chickens isn’t just a common practice in homestead settings, it’s also taking the urban community by storm. Whether you’re raising a flock in the suburbs or on a small farm, the articles found in Community Chickens Guide to Backyard Chickens, 1st Edition will help you learn to keep and maintain a flock of your own.

From choosing a type of breed to making new recipes that use collected eggs, this guide is with you from start to finish. The special issue gives you an inside look at all things related to flocks, as well as provides you the opportunity to explore ideas such as: using your chickens to turn the soil in your garden, building a portable coop, discovering what a day in a hatchery looks like, making your own feed specific to your flock’s health needs, and more! No matter what your skill level is in raising chickens, you will want this resource for all your chicken-related questions.

Other articles include:

• Exploring Backyard Chicken Behavior: The pecking order is a natural and healthy form of communication that helps the flock establish and maintain dominance.
• A History of Geese as Guard Animals: Owning a flock of geese is also a great way to control weeds.
• Summer Success for the Flock: Keeping chickens during hot and sticky days can be tricky, but follow these guidelines and your birds will make it just fine when temperatures soar.
• Home on the (Free) Range: To free-range or not to free-range? For folks with a flock, that is the question.
• Hybrid to Heritage: Choosing chicken breeds for quality meat production.
• And more!