Hi! We’re SCAD senior UX design students conducting a survey about farm animal care and management.

We’re looking for input from farmers, ranchers, and anyone who works with or cares for farm animals. The survey takes approximately 3–5 minutes, and we’d appreciate your perspective.

Thank you for your time!

I look at all these online stores and all their pretty AI generated slop and I'm wondering can ANYONE tell me of an online kit provider that isn't bullshit and garbage and trying to waste my time and force a credit card charge back at just under 90 days? Yourgreenhouses.com isn't fucking it.

spent the whole summer sitting on those old plastic chairs that sink into the grass. finally decided to upgrade the space before fall hits.

looking at some patio furniture that can actually handle the rain and still look decent. want something low maintenance that doesn’t fall apart after one season.

anyone gone with all weather wicker or the recycled plastic stuff? how’s it holding up after a couple winters?

Is it pigs, chickens, rabbits, cows? Something else? Is hunting better? Very curious to know what you guys think.

Just trying to figure out what I should be purchasing. How do you guys feel about your machines either way. All of my fruit trees have decided to mature and I need to get my shit together for next year. Any help is appreciated! Cheers

I’ve had this idea for a while but wasn’t sure where to ask about it. The r /woodstoves subreddit has banned discussions like this, and when I tried r /massheaters, it didn’t get much attention, so I decided to share it here. The concept is simple: a large mass heater with a rocket stove at its core, designed not only for heating but also for cooking, similar to an AGA stove that uses radiant heat from a single massive heat source. The design would feature a main firebox with enough capacity to burn through the evening so I wouldn’t have to tend it until the next morning—I sleep late. One side would have a big, probably L-shaped couch, and the other side would be the kitchen, with the heater acting as the dividing wall between the kitchen and living room. It would burn continuously, lit at the start of fall and kept going until it too warm in the spring. Ideas and suggestions are welcome.

I just cut back my large leaf Basil and am stepping the seeds from the stems. The smell is wonderful but overwhelming.

What can I do with all the stems? Is there a use for them?

Hey everyone. I live in an old farmhouse and currently have a fuel oil boiler. With the way fuel prices are, I'm looking into an alternate heat source. I live on a farm and have access to cheap corn. I also have 6 acres of woods, so I have plenty of free wood at my disposal. Is it worth the work of making and storing wood every year? Is it really that much more expensive to burn corn/pellets? What do you guys think?

Roughly succeeded in my goal of doubling food output while making significant progress in establishing water and electricity infrastructure (explains the mess pictured). My motivation to work is high every day because I'm taking care of my future self here and potentially that of my family and friends.

We haven’t cleaned out our chicken coop run in forever. There’s several inches of chicken manure that need cleaned. We have 4 foot tall raised beds that have settled another foot this year (as to be expected) and we’re considering taking all the chicken manure and adding it into the raised beds and combining it with a lot of our fall leaves that’ll be dropping in the next week or two. i understand that fresh chicken manure is rough on plants, but I’m wondering if it’s left over winter (around 7 months) would be enough time for it to settle before planting in spring. Thank you!

I’ve read horror stories about heat lamp bulbs causing barn fires so just looking for a safer option for heating in the winter

I’ve got about 100 acres in southwest Wisconsin, and roughly 65 acres is very hilly, black walnut-dominated woodland. We’re planning to break ground on our homestead in 3–4 years. For now, we’re working on land restoration and planning, planning, planning.

In addition to letting the walnuts grow for a potential timber harvest for future generations, I’ve been trying to figure out whether we could manage portions of the woods for food and other useful plants.

The main goal would be supplemental food for our family, with perhaps a small secondary income someday.

I’ve been geeking out lately about agroforestry and perennial food plants, especially their ecological benefits. Last weekend, our family visited the Savanna Institute’s demonstration farm in Spring Green, where they research tree and shrub crops and agroforestry practices suited to our region.

That visit got me excited about a few possibilities. I’d love to hear from people who have tried any of these—particularly in the Upper Midwest or in walnut-dominated woods. Also let me know if there are ideas I'm not considering yet but should.

Fruit and nut shrubs along the woodland edges

We’ve been removing invasive honeysuckle, which has me thinking about what we want growing in its place. In the sunnier woodland edges and openings, I’m interested in elderberries, black currants, aronia, hazelnuts, and other perennial food plants. Has anyone established productive berry or nut shrubs along a black walnut woodland edge? What has done well, and how much sun and ongoing maintenance did it need?

Managing patches for woodland food and useful plants

Edible mushrooms, walnuts, ramps, American ginseng, wild berries, maple trees, willow for basket weaving, and other edible, medicinal, and useful plants grow in our area. Some are already on our land, but not in abundance (well except for walnuts, LOL). I’m wondering about establishing or expanding a few managed patches that could eventually provide reliable supplemental harvests for our family. Have you successfully encouraged woodland food or useful plants this way? What was worth the effort?

Possible silvopasture for a family milk cow and companions

We’re considering a family milk cow with some company, probably 3-5 cows max. We have about 3–4 acres of open pasture field available (the rest we're converting to tall grass prairie, which is the centerpiece of our restoration efforts). Could thinning selected areas of woodland create additional rotational grazing space? I’m interested in whether that could fit with our woodland restoration goals and growing walnuts for future timber. Has anyone combined a small open pasture with managed woodland grazing on hilly ground? What would you assess before deciding whether it’s feasible—and what would make you rule it out?

We’ve got time to experiment before moving out there full time, so I’d appreciate advice on what to start now, what to learn more about, and what to leave as a daydream.

If you’re curious about the visit that sparked these ideas, I made a video of the Savanna Institute open house.

When I built our place I put in an old water tank heater a buddy wasnt using in one of hist rental properties and its served us well for about 10 years. Now I am eyein tankless options because we can use the space for canning and other storage. We arent currently fully off-grid people in the traditional sense (in that we have gas and water to our property) but philosophically and practically we are trying to rely less and less on outdated systems and corroded infrastructure. can tankless be done if youre trying to move to solar? Google seems to think it would be difficult but possible. I am handy, but im not sure I am that handy and even when I built my place we hired out for a lot of stuff. Is this a roto rooter or contractor or DIY situation? Trying to understand venting requirements, gas line upgrades and maintenance costs before pulling the trigger too. Any homesteaders on tankless AND solar? I just dont know if gaining a little more space where the water heater was would be worth all the extra $$$

hey, we close our first real ground next month, 1.5 acres, but my partner wants a kitchen garden before fall and the kids want veggies, so i'm not really sure what do we plant first. The south side's full sun, north end's heavy shaded, and I have no idea which of those'll actually keep anything alive past July. We got no beds built yet, just containers on the shady side for now, picked a veggies seed pack from Organo just to test the soil, wyt about that?

Curious who would all leave a high paying job for a simple life if you had 1.3 million and early 30s

What would you do next

It’s always been a dream of mine to live on my own homesteading, and I may be able to buy my first piece of land in an area I like. Am I too young going into this? I have supporters but also those saying I need to “live my life first” whatever that means. I think I’m making the right decision but what do you guys think?

I'm building an off-grid homestead on 80 acres in the Canadian wilderness. My property is 3 km down an ATV trail, and I'm documenting the process as I go, mostly working alone with basic tools.

I'm starting from scratch and learning as I go. Looking forward to sharing the progress and connecting with others doing something similar!

Here's my latest video: https://youtu.be/j-L29I4w9PU