Welcome to the resources page for the March edition of Weekend Homesteader!  Feel free to leave comments on this page to let me know what you loved or hated about the ebook, or to share your experiences with others.  I hope you'll also take a minute to write a review on Amazon so that more readers will consider giving our ebook a try.


Spring planning
Weekend Homesteader May --- Learn the basics of no-till gardening.

Weekend Homesteader: October --- Build a quick hoop to extend your gardening season.

Weekend Homesteader: November --- Rotate crops in your garden to keep diseases and insects at bay.

Biochar --- Read my tips for why and how to use biochar in your garden.


Growing edible mushrooms
Mushroom spawn sources:

• Field and Forest Products --- This Wisconsin company has a wide variety at reasonable prices.
  
• Fungi Perfecti --- This company was founded by Paul Stamets and is located in the Pacific Northwest.
  
• Mushroom Mountain --- A small lab local to the Southeast.
  

Growing your own oyster mushroom spawn --- Oyster mushrooms can be propagated at home using hot water and corrugated cardboard.

Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms --- If you choose to delve deeper into homegrown mushrooms, this book by Paul Stamets is the best reference.


Compost
Weekend Homesteader: July - In depth information about the C:N ratio.

Compost calculator --- Estimate how much of each material to add to your compost pile using this calculator.


Bees
Native pollinators --- For more information about wildflower meadows, larger nest blocks, and identifying native pollinators, check out:

• Attracting Native Pollinators --- The beautifully illustrated book that tells it all.  You can also read my summary lunchtime series.
  
• Xerces Society website --- Shorter explanations of many of the topics covered in the book above.
  
• Four common spring pollinators --- My descriptions of some of our native pollinators.
  
• Bumblebees --- Everything you ever wanted to know about bumblebees.
  

Beekeeping --- If you decide to start a hive of honeybees, you'll want to explore:

• Extension service --- Check with your local extension agent to see if your state has beekeeping grants available.
• Top bar hives --- Download free plans to make your own top bar hive, and consider paying $10 for the excellent ebook "The Barefoot Beekeeper", which delves into why modern beekeeping produces sick bees and how you can fix the problems.
• Warre hives --- The Warre hive uses some of the same natural beekeeping theories as the top bar hive.  The link sends you to a free download of the translated book.
• Modified Langstroth --- If you're interested in using the same equipment as your neighbors while managing bees in a more natural fashion, you should read everything Michael Bush has written.  Most of his information is free on his website, and you can also buy it in the form of a book.
  

Want more in-depth information? Browse through our books.

Or explore more posts by date or by subject.

About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.



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