First steps
Where would you like to begin?
Pick one path and follow it in order. Each guide is short, says what to do first, and lists the sources it leans on.
- Plant your first gardenFind 6–8 hours of sun, start with one bed, learn your frost dates and grow five easy crops.
- Keep a few hensCheck local rules, build the coop before the birds, start with three or four, and warm the brooder first.
- Start homesteadingBegin with what you eat most, preserve it with a tested recipe, compost your scraps, add one project a season.
A seed-starting calendar, made for your yard.
Free and printable, from your ZIP code's frost dates. Then a short letter from the homestead once a month.