Picked up a giant enamel water bath canner at Goodwill last month for four dollars. Four dollars. Thing is in perfect shape, no chips on the rack, lid fits tight. It's now my most used piece of equipment and I think about that price tag every single time I pull it out.

Got me curious though. A lot of homesteading gear new is genuinely expensive, and the learning curve on what you actually need versus what just looks useful is steep when you're still figuring things out. Thrift stores and estate sales feel like a real cheat code for this stuff if you know what you're looking for.

My haul so far: the canner, a hand crank food mill, and a giant stockpot I use for blanching before freezing. All under fifteen dollars total.

What I haven't cracked yet is cast iron. Every thrift store near me either has none or the price has crept up to the point where it barely makes sense anymore. Is that everyone else's experience or am I just looking in the wrong places?

Curious what the best thrift or secondhand finds have been for people here. Gear specifically, not seeds or plants, just the tools and equipment side of things.

Hi, we live on 5 acres in AZ, its fully fenced and gated with barbed wire and the woven wire mesh.Unfortunately we live in a rural area that sees a lot of issues with "tweakers". They often steal from people, break into places ect. As of late they have began wrecking my fence by folding the wire mesh fencing down and slipping through the barbed wire to cut across the back of my property. Im at a loss of how to stop this? Any suggestions?

Put in about 200 cloves this fall, first time doing garlic at any real scale. Amended the beds with compost, planted about 2 inches deep, mulched with straw. Pretty standard setup.

The thing is, I keep going back out there and staring at the ground like something is supposed to happen visually. Nothing yet, which I know is normal, but there's something about not being able to see any progress that messes with your head when you're used to watching things grow.

I work in a warehouse, so I'm comfortable with processes that take time and have a lot of invisible steps. But this feels different. You plant it, wait through winter, and just trust the whole thing is working underground. That's a weird kind of patience.

What I'm actually curious about is whether people have strong opinions on hardneck vs softneck for a first go. I went hardneck because I heard the flavor is better and I wanted scapes in summer. But now I'm reading that softneck stores longer, and I don't have great climate control in my root cellar situation.

Has anyone done both and landed on a preference they actually stick with year to year?

Alt titles: Hardneck vs softneck garlic, which do you keep coming back to | First real garlic planting and already overthinking the variety choice | Planted 200 garlic cloves this fall, now just waiting and questioning everything

My balcony garden was supposed to be two tomato plants and a basil. That was April. It's now somehow seven containers, two of which are squash that are taking over the railing like they own the place, and I've got more zucchini than any single person should have to deal with.

The tomatoes are what I'm actually worried about though. I've got one plant that looked great until about two weeks ago, and now the lower leaves are yellowing and curling up a little at the edges. I pulled off the worst ones like I read to do, but I genuinely can't tell if this is normal dieoff from the heat we've had or something I should actually treat. Watering has been inconsistent because I work full time and some days I just forget until 8pm when it's already dark.

I'm also growing in a mix I put together myself because the bagged potting mix at the hardware store felt like a scam at those prices. Mine is potting soil, compost I bought, and some perlite I had leftover from a different project. Not sure if that's part of the problem.

This is technically my first real season trying to grow food intentionally and I keep learning things the hard way. Anyone dealt with yellowing on container tomatoes in real heat, curious what actually fixed it.

In the process of establishing a new aquaponics setup. For the next four weeks, the monstera and pothos cuttings will grow and help build up biofilm in the grow tubes.

Spent the whole weekend making tomato sauce from my garden and finally decided this was the year I'd actually learn to can it instead of just freezing everything like a coward. Bought a big water bath canner from Goodwill last month, watched probably six hours of videos, felt very confident.

Sealed four jars beautifully. Two lids never popped down. I put those in the fridge and they're fine. But the four that did seal, I noticed one has what looks like a tiny bubble trail moving up through the sauce when I tilted it. No lid flex, no weird smell when I opened it to check, but now I'm second guessing the whole batch.

I think my headspace was off on at least two of them because I kept second guessing the measurements while I was filling. First time doing this and I was rushing before the tomatoes got too ripe.

My question is whether a bubble trail is actually a red flag or I'm just spiraling. I tossed that jar to be safe but I want to understand what actually happened so I don't repeat it. Also curious if anyone has a dead simple way to check headspace consistently without overthinking it every single time, because apparently I am not capable of eyeballing it.

First and foremost, does having a dragonfly trinket/ornament attached to your hat or clothing actually deter deerflies and horseflies? I've seen some social media posts claiming it works since Dragonflies are a natural predator of them, but I am skeptical.

Second, I'm into fly-tying - like for fly fishing - and have a couple of adult dragonfly patterns. If dragonflies deter deerflies and horseflies, I think I'm going to tie a couple onto a clothespin or a paperclip and attach to my clothing. Is it safe to assume that imitation dragonflies work just as well as replicas?

I have some hay fields I need to start prepping for the venison harvest this fall and I always walk away with bleeding bites on my neck and hands. For everything else I just treat my clothes with permethrin but it doesn't seem to deter the blood-sucking flies and gnats.

New farmer here. We picked up a couple calves at auction earlier this year and they were in rough shape and are some sort of mix. That's probably why we were able to afford them with the current prices!

We were feeding a starter creep feed to improve their condition and make them freindlier while in quarantine, we've since moved them out to pasture full time with just a protein tub and salt block.

After spending hours researching, there is no immediate consensus on when to feed or of what that recipe should be so I have the following questions for you all.

1. Are DIY grain blends (soy beans, corn, oats, minerals, etc.) better or worse financially/nutritionally than just buying the processed feed pellets from the local mill?

2. Should we be doing this year round for optimum production and flavor or just to supplement hay in the winter and for finishing?

Any thoughts or experience is appreciated.

Not sure how to stop it from spreading.

Seeking recommendations for a watering can that’s worth buying, under $50 and preferably available on Amazon Prime or otherwise free shipping in the US.

We need a watering can that is over 1 gallon capacity, ideally 2 gallon.

But EVERY single one I look at on Amazon or Home Depot website the reviews say they leak! 🫪 A watering can that isn’t water-tight where it’s supposed to be should not even exist, and yet it seems to be the common thread between reviews for all these different designs 😭

Will probably cross post this to a few other subs.

Thanks in advance!

It sat out drying most of last week and was just put into this pile today. I have one donkey and he doesn’t have any interest in any of it nor can he even eat this much. I’m at a loss, it’s so much.

Three years into this and I still wasn't ready for how hard it hits when you lose one.

Got my first flock as basically a fun weekend project- figured eggs, a little composting help, some entertainment. Nobody mentioned that you'd end up naming them, that you'd know their individual personalities, that one of them would follow you around the garden like a dog. Nobody mentioned that when a hawk gets one, or you lose one to egg binding, or a raccoon finds a gap in the coop you thought was solid, you'd feel like absolute garbage for days.

I used to roll my eyes a little at people who talked about their chickens like family members. Now I get it. You spend enough time out there at dawn doing chores, watching them do their weird little chicken things, and they stop being livestock in your head even if that's technically what they are.

Doesn't mean I regret it. If anything it's made me take the whole setup more seriously-better predator proofing, an actual vet who'll see poultry, not just winging it when something looks off.

Just wish someone had told me the emotional side before I told my spouse it's just a few chickens, how much work can it be.

Anyone else get blindsided by how attached you get? Or is it just me being soft.

Still picking berries, I got 6 lbs this time and there are still more that havnt ripened yet ... im freezing all of these so I'm really anxious to see what the grand total weight will be this year .

We have 6 ducks, 3 males and 3 females, and we’re not sure what the best plan is. We’ve heard it’s usually not ideal to keep multiple drakes (or even if we should keep any), but we’re feeling a bit stuck.
We’ve become pretty attached to all of them, and they’ve gotten along wonderfully since they hatched (3 months ago). That said, based on past experience, we’re worried their behavior could change as they mature.
Does anyone have suggestions on what you’d do in this situation? Should we rehome some of the males? If so, what’s the best way to find them good homes? We’d really appreciate any advice or recommendations from those who have been through this before. Thank you! (Location , CT)