Homesteading Spring on a Traditional Family Farm — The Healing Land Guest Post, May 8, 2023June 9, 2023 Share this:By Shawn and Beth Dougherty, Plain Values There’s no time like spring for seeing how bountifully God provides for His creatures, and that’s especially true here in central Appalachia, where young, green grass and blossoming fruit trees are everywhere we look. Our seven dairy cows put gallons of rich, creamy… Continue Reading
Homesteading Confessions of a Steward — Carbon Development on the Farm Guest Post, May 3, 2023May 3, 2023 Share this:by Joel Salatin, Plain Values Last month I introduced the concept of the carbon economy for soil fertility and the numerous ways God designed soil fertility and development to run on sunbeams converted to biomass. From bison on the prairie to wildebeests on the Serengeti, perennial prairie polycultures pruned by… Continue Reading
Big Tech The Roundtable | Amish Insights on: Technology | Pt. 1 Guest Post, May 1, 2023 Share this:by Ivan Keim, Plain Values This Month’s Question: The balance between the blessings and pit-falls of modern-day technology can be hard to find. How do we balance using technology with staying connected to our community? Answered by: Ivan Keim, a minister in his local Amish church “How do we balance… Continue Reading
Homesteading Confessions of a Steward — Carbon Economy Guest Post, April 4, 2023April 4, 2023 Share this:By Joel Salatin, Plain Values Five hundred years ago, North America produced more food than it does today. That should stir your imagination and make your heart race. Decades ago, as I was studying controlled livestock grazing, I was amazed that production per acre in wild systems exceeded production in… Continue Reading
Christian Living How To Go Rogue Guest Post, March 30, 2023March 30, 2023 Share this:by John Moody Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have the government show up at your door? To come to your business or your homestead? To your farm or your house? To shut you down or take your stuff or even arrest you? Continue Reading
Go And Build Giving Little Ones with Special Needs Room to Bloom Guest Post, February 9, 2023February 9, 2023 Share this:By Marlin Miller, Publisher of Plain Values I began our first post with this question and a statement. “What do the Amish, little ones with special needs, two nonprofits, four adoptions, two one-room schoolhouses from the 1800’s and a monthly print magazine have to do with homesteading in 2023? It… Continue Reading
Go And Build Confessions of a Steward—Beginnings Guest Post, February 6, 2023 Share this:By Joel Salatin, Plain Values Does God Care How I Farm? That question defines my life’s work and vision because it moves the visceral, practical decisions I make in my farming vocation to a place of sacredness and godly living. If God cares about physical and practical things in my… Continue Reading
Christian Living The Roundtable — Amish Insights on: Pride Guest Post, January 31, 2023March 6, 2023 Share this:by Ivan Keim, Plain Values First, a note from Marlin Miller, Publisher of Plain Values Magazine: Across the news and nation, I have sensed a renewed drive to get communities together again, more like the “good ole days.” Now, I’m not a fan of wishing to go back, but the… Continue Reading
Go And Build How Four Adoptions Led to a Magazine Guest Post, January 24, 2023 Share this:by Marlin, Plain Values What do the Amish, little ones with special needs, two nonprofits, four adoptions, two one-room schoolhouses from the 1800s, and a monthly print magazine have to do with homesteading in 2023? It is the story of our family, and it is a joy to share how… Continue Reading
Bold Christian Writing Lessons from Livestock, Part Three Guest Post, January 21, 2023January 23, 2023 Share this:When the Lion Lies Down with the Bug by David Treebeard Read Part OneRead Part Two The other day I was hauling a couple of cows to the slaughterhouse when a new-model truck with blacked-out windows blazed past me on the left. Big block letters on the rear window read:… Continue Reading
Christian Living Lessons from Livestock, Part Two Guest Post, January 17, 2023January 25, 2023 Share this:To Be or not to Bug by David Treebeard Read Part OneRead Part Three When animals become numbers, human numbers are not far behind. For the past several hundred years since the imaginations of Descartes and other enlighteners permeated our power structures, people have been treated as machines or numbers… Continue Reading
Christian Living The War Against Chaos Guest Post, January 13, 2023January 23, 2023 Share this:by J.Pilgrim I’m typing this out while I’m racked out in the back of my SUV in a Walmart parking lot in a college town, sipping a beer. I was attempting to spend New Year’s Day camping at the homestead, but my fan belt frayed out on the drive and… Continue Reading