Gifts For the Homesteader....

I LOVE magazines!  Who doesn't? But sometimes some articles just make you go, huh? A recent popular blogger turned TV personality that has her own magazine just put out (or her team did) a "gifts for the homestead" part of a Holiday Guide. I was just shocked. Nothing homestead about it. To me, "for the homestead", whether it be rural or urban, is not a $80 rainbow shaped bowl, a $20 toothpick holder,  a $50 pillow cover, or a $60 vegan leather basket sold by crate and barrel. AND what is up with that? A cattle rancher's wife promoting vegan leather instead of the byproduct of the industry she is surrounded by. huh?

My "gifts for the homestead" list is more for the real homesteader. To me, that's garden and orchard, chickens, bees, maybe some goats. After all, the definition of homestead in the U.S. is "a lot of land adequate for the maintenance of a family". None of the above gifts are for that. There are some people that are just dreaming of homesteading, some that are new to the homestead life, and some people are veterans of self-sufficiency.......yet always learning. It does take a village to supply everything you need in today's world to live comfortably, but here are some ideas to give those friends and family that are working toward this lifestyle.

For gardener:​

As a gardener, I can absolutely guarantee you we love seeds, literally can't get enough. A great gift that keeps giving is seed lots. The above affiliate links are some ideas. Once I was gifted a can of "survival seeds", it was so awesome! The best gift ever, literally the gift that keeps giving. To make the gift even more unique, you can specialize the seeds so that the plants serve a certain purpose....like a tea garden, or medicinal garden. Have fun with it and create your own theme. To promote pollinators in gardens add wildflowers under fruit trees (they get watered already), for Southern Arizona gardeners the Drought Tolerant seeds are recommended and you can get them from local suppliers such as Borderlands or the Native Seed Search as well. The Pollinator's Delight link above just tickled me! I love the can.

​Around the "farm": 
​

I have everything above in one from or another and find these are must haves for the homestead. "Where There is no Animal Doctor" is a great reference for having around the farm. I included affiliate links to medical tool kit and an otoscope / ophthalmoscope, many "newbies" in homesteading don't have these and will find them handy. Although these items do not take the place of a veterinarian, I find that I can do many "doctoring" of small issues myself thus saving money and helping my fur or feather baby by administering care immediately. A vet is an hour drive away for me, if they are even available. The spiral egg countertop egg holder is amazing, I first seen this at my parents house, it keeps the eggs fresh in rotation. Also, I have a mealworm kit that helps supplement my flocks protein needs, especially during these trying times as feed costs continue to rise. Lastly, for continued homestead education there are a few authors that are standing out above the rest for me, these are not all inclusive and I will add others to my next blog gift post, but first.........Brad Lancaster. Both his books are fantastic for the desert dwelling homestead. BOTH! Rainwater Harvesting Volumes 1 & 2. Then someone that will inspire your foraging imagination is Pascal Baudar. This guy can make any foraged weed dish look like it came from a five star restaurant. He has three books: Wildcrafted Fermentation, Wildcrafted Vinegars, and the New Wildcrafted Cuisine. All three are fabulous editions to any homestead library. Though Pascal is based out of California, many of the foraged vittles can be found in Southern Arizona, or substitutions are easily available.  If someone is new to foraging all together... John Slatterly's Southwest Foraging and Southwest Medicinal Plants are well done books with terrific identification and photos. 

​"We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites."