Simply Sustainable Family

Simple, Sustainable, and Healthy Homestead Lifestyle

How to Install a Frost Free Hydrant for the Homestead

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Water is probably the most important commodity on any homestead. You need water for household use, the garden, and any animals that you may have. When we were deciding which homestead to buy, easy multi-level access to water was one of the main things we looked for. For example, we have 2 wells on our homestead, plus the river. The back side of our homestead is bordered by a river that is clean enough for our animals to safely drink from it. The well at the barn feeds a frost free watering trough and two Frost Free Hydrants. The second well is in our backyard and supplies water to our house. But, we ran into a few issues with this setup. The wells are on opposite sides of the homestead, which made it impractical to use the barn well for watering the garden or providing water to the cows when they were on the pastures around our house. So, we decided that we needed to install a Frost Free Hydrant that drew water from the well by the house.

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full installed frost free hydrant with water coming from both sides of a y fitting in a yard with a garden and trees in the background
Yes, our next step is to pour a cement slab around the base of the hydrant. I’m not a fan of mud pools in the backyard.
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How to Make a DIY Tree Guard for Fruit Trees

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Learning to combat Pests of all kinds is an essential skill to have when you live on a homestead. We battle foxes and coyotes, bugs, rodents, weasels, and birds on a daily basis. We have to take them into consideration with every building project and gardening endeavor. (And, don’t get me wrong, I know these creatures also have very useful qualities and are an essential part of our world. It just doesn’t mean that I prefer to have weasels in my chicken coop or potato beetles in my garden). But, out of all of these pests, the most challenging may be the Field Mice or Voles. They can completely destroy a root crop garden in a matter of a couple days, or girdle a small orchard overnight. They can travel and eat both above ground and below. And, they are active during all seasons of the year. Over the years, we have found various ways of combating them. One of these is to make a DIY Tree Guard for the Fruit Trees in our orchard.

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base of a DIY drainage pipe tree guard for fruit trees with fresh dirt around the bottom
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How to Choose a Homestead Property: 12 Question Checklist

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Buying a homestead might be the biggest investment you will ever have to make. And, also the most exciting. But, it can also be terrifying because of the time, effort, and money that goes into buying a homestead. For many people, it is a one-time chance to find their dream lifestyle. And, the chance to find a property that they will eventually retire on – and maybe even be buried on (not to be morbid). Your individual checklist may be different from someone else’s. But, there are 12 important questions that are pertinent to anyone who is looking at buying a homestead. You may be willing to compromise on some of these, but for us, most of these were dealbreakers. With that being said, let’s dive into the details of how to choose your homestead property.

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pinterest pinnable for how to choose a homestead property
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