Organic Gardening and Homesteading

Sue Merriam writes Organic Gardening and Homesteading, a site that offers lots of useful tips and advice for a self-reliant lifestyle.

There is a Homesteading Blog too, with recipes and frugal living tips.

Living in France

Living in France is a fascinating and informative blog written by a couple from Leeds, England about their new downshifted lifestyle in the countryside of the French Limousin.

If you are considering moving to France. Living in France, offers a lot of practical advice by sharing their personal experiences about buying a house in France , taking pets , filling in forms (French translation), internet, phone, utilities, taxes, DIY terms with French translation, buying and raising chickens and much more. They also provide a list of resources for living in France such as French emergency telephone numbers.

Breezy Break Blog is a source of more delightful stories about their experience in France.

Musings from a Stonehead: The trials and tribulations of a modern crofter

Musings from a Stonehead is a fascinating (and eye-opening) blog about a crofter in Aberdeenshire, Scotland trying to lead a self-sufficient and more traditional lifestyle. Stonehead (and his family) raise pedigree Berkshire pigs, and a small mixed flock of chickens.

His blog includes a page listing a variety of useful how-to information about such topics as pig husbandry, how to rear poulty, how to skin a rabbit, and how to grow vegetables.

No Impact Man

If you are trying to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle and looking for ideas about how to change the way you live, you will find a lot of ideas and inspiration from No Impact Man, a blog about a family trying "...to live in the heart of New York City while causing no net environmental impact."

I've been reading No Impact Man for a while and I'm not at all surprised to learn that the blog has been named one of the world's top 15 environmental websites, by Time Magazine. It's a well-deserved honour.

Poultry Pages: Keeping Chickens or Poultry at Home

Poultry Pages is a useful resource if you are considering keeping chickens or poultry.

In addition to the informative articles on the site, there is a forum called The Hen House, a list of Breeders & Suppliers in the UK, and a blog called Grannie Annies Chookblog about keeping hens in Lincolnshire, England.

How to Keep Chickens - the UK beginners guide

Keeping chickens is becoming a very popular hobby and also a step toward self-sufficiency. If you are considering keeping chickens, the site, How to Keep Chickens - The UK beginners guide to keeping chickens will provide everything you need to know to get started.

Pocket Farm - a blog

Pocket Farm is the name of a fascinating blog about living a sustainable way of life on a "farm". This is one of the first posts about Pocket Farm:

Well, it’s not exactly a farm now, but it will be someday. Currently PF consists of a 150 year old farmhouse, 50 acres of fields, woods, and a farm pond, a big vegetable garden that grows all the veggies and roots that two people can eat for a year (and then some), and six laying ducks. The plan is to add some rabbits and some sheep in a few years. I would love to make cheese and yogurt, plus sheep have all that lovely fleece. It is an experiment is sustainability…just how much can we depend on ourselves?

Liz writes about her interesting life on the homestead and slso shares recipes, tips and stories about her lifestyle.

Urban self sufficiency

Self sufficient 'ish' - "The urban guide to almost self sufficiency."

The site offers lots of articles with useful and practical information about self sufficiency.

The site also offers organic gardening advice and recipes plus there is a forum with additional advice and information about self sufficiency.

The Cottage Smallholder: "Stumbling self sufficiency in a small space" - a blog

If you think about changing your life and living a self sufficient life style, you will enjoy this blog about life in a 16th century cottage in an English village:

The Cottage Smallholder is a charming blog about a "journey towards self sufficiency and beyond."