If you don't know this about us already. We raise our own chickens for meat and have been doing so for 4 years now. It is something we jumped into with ZERO experience and we are so glad we did. One of the least expensive ways to start raising your own homegrown quality protein. With the least amount of barriers to entry, I believe everyone with even a little bit of land should be raising themselves a handful of broilers (aka meat chickens). It takes just 8 weeks to raise them up from these little baby chicks you see here, to being 6-8 lbs butcher ready birds. I'll keep you guys posted on how this year goes! We are raising 90 broilers and 3 turkeys this year. My first time ever trying turkeys! Have questions about raising chickens for meat? Pop them in the chat below.

As the community continues to grow I'd love to hear where you are all from! I'll go first. I am from Northern Alberta and located in growing zone 3. It just snowed another 6 inches last night and I am, for lack of better words, OVER IT. I am just about 8 weeks away from my last frost date, so this week I have to set aside some time to start tomatoes among other things. For some reason, seed starting is my least favourite part of the gardening process. Probably because what I love about gardening is being OUTSIDE. But... as I mentioned... 6" of fresh snow on the ground... on top of the 3ft we already had... So I guess I'll be starting seeds in my basement. Would love to hear where you are from and what you got on the go right now!

I want to hear from YOU! I am in the process of planning another DIY greenhouse project and I want your intel. Tell me what your perfect greenhouse looks like. How big is it, what size? Is it a true 4 season greenhouse that you plan to grow in and heat or more of a potting shed to just extend your growing season? Have inspo photos saved? Share them here. Full disclosure, I am leaning towards a passive solar greenhouse design. I am stuck between 10x12 or 8x16 as far as size goes. Both sizes would cost close to the same to build. They are coming in at approximately $5,500 CAD. Is this something you'd want in your backyard? Would you invest $5,500 CAD ($4,000 USD) into a greenhouse if it meant you could grow in it year round? I attached photos of a mockup of a 10x12 passive solar greenhouse design I’ve been working on. I'd love to hear from you and get your input!

I hosted the first official Yardstead & Build call today! This biweekly live call exists specifically to give you guys access to me directly to answer your burning questions. Whether it be about your DIY project or how to turn your yard into a food producing machine. I am here to chat every other Thursday afternoon. Today we answered questions about DIY projects and chatted about starting your first garden! I am already looking forward to the next call with you guys ✌️ Want in on the live calls and all of our other Yardsteading resources? Click here to join!

Things are growing around here and I mean that literally and figuratively. Tomatoes in the basement AND we're almost at 300 members in this community. If you know someone who wants to grow more of their own food, stress less about grocery bills, or finally tackle that build they've been putting off, send them our way. The more the merrier. Now. About those tomatoes. 🌱 They're officially sprouting in my basement. Meanwhile it's still below zero outside and winter still has the audacity to exist. This is the part of seed starting I love. It's wintery and miserable outside yet inside there is... life. So let's talk seed starting. I want to know where you're at: 👉 Are you starting seeds this year? 👉 What are you growing? 👉 What's tripped you up before? Leggy seedlings, damping off, timing, space? 👉 Or are you skipping seed starting altogether? What's holding you back? (No judgment, I want to help you save time and money if I can!) Also, we're going live in 30 MINUTES to talk about building your first project. If you've been sitting on a build idea and don't know where to start, come hang out. Bring your questions. See you there! https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/share?slt=1AVwTtk4bGmrHtzOTgHOd7PRYK6Lff1l3O4Q2y6jVN-0Pybwscix9z-LeOquSBdgdoRWefgo3n1WzovzsOepr6R8hVKdJyOsqmPfI