Marc Dube

As for training dogs to not attack livestock. What I have done now with two dogs who chased down and killed everything that looked like it was running away from it is tied the dog close to the animals pen during the day for a week or two.

We have a Rottweiler now who used to chase the ducks and geese so bad I stopped free ranging them but a week and a half of being tied up next to the he has no care in the world about them.

I have fed meat birds whole wheat and oats before oh and barley, I always soaked it for a couple days and found that the birds liked it. They also had choice of normal grower aswell.

I know of one person who does 1000 meat birds a year feeding nothing but wheat, i don't know if its soaked or grinded or not, nore how long it takes to finish them.

After to many years of wanting one I finally got a good 240v arc welder to keep at my place giving me the ability to create untold amount of tools. My first major project that I've already started on is an outdoor wood fired forced air furnace. After that is some sort of grader to pull behind the atv.

I'm wondering what all projects you have built or dreamed of for your homesteads.

All the material I will use will be scrounged as im cheap and don't like buying things that i can find/make, i do have access to a few metal scrap piles.

If it wasn't for my day job I would completely be a hermit, as it is I only go to a small country store once every 2 weeks to fill up with fuel. I try to get to the lake once every week or two to go fishing but other than that I rarely leave.

I dont really travel anywhere other than work and home and both are in the country so I get to avoid town for weeks at a time.

I haul our water for our house though and I take the tank to work as the municipal well I use is on the way home. So it doesn't really take me any longer than normal to stop and get water.

In the winter though I actually do set some traps between home and work so my commute does actually become my trap line. I dont set very many though and I won't go out of my way as at that point you spend more in fuel than the fur is worth.

I mix ground Chaga fungus in about 50/50 with my coffee and sometimes even add some loose leaf herbal teas in with the grounds when i brew coffee. I don't necessarily do it to stretch the coffee out but it definitely does do that, I do it more for the flavour and other benefits that they may bring.

I dont know if this would work in every machine though I use a percolator.

hello I'm curious about how the fiberglass rope is secured? Is it durable for long term use like this?

I'm building a stove of my own and am stuck on how to seal the door and not sure if this would work or if it needed a channel for it to sit in.

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I keep things much simpler for the things that I keep in my pockets, I carry a bic lighter, ear bud headphones, small two bladed pocket knife, and a small belt knife for more demanding tasks.

We have one horse here on our 12 acres, he doesn't have a dedicated purpose persay. The fencing is old dilapidated barbed wire that im tearing out slowly and replacing with electric, for interior fencing only one strand is needed and now that he is used to it it doesn't even have to be on and he won't ever touch it. Heck one strand keept him in all winter without a charger (6 months).


I tried making small padocks that would last two or three days but found out quick that horses need more room than that to run, so now I have him in about a half acre to acre plots and rotate him every two to three weeks. I also leave six acres untouched all growing season and once winter comes in October I will put him there. The standing grass is a favorite over hay and he will pick at it all winter no matter how much snow there is.


The manure is by far the best benefit of having a horse, i mulch around fruit trees with it, and make a great manure tea that i use heavily in the garden. He has one favorite spot to manure in in the winter so that makes it super easy for me to collect.


He is broke to ride but I'm just to busy to really ride much without having a purpose to do so. I am training him to carry packs aswell and will use him for packing animals out that were harvested (hunted) in hard to reach heavily wooded areas.

Horses are communal animals and the reason I only have one is so he is bonded with me and when I go to the fence he runs up to be with me. My experience is when you have two or more they stay together and actively try to avoid you making working with them much harder. Plus I found my 12 acres which only 8 are used for the horse is perfect for 1 while keeping brought in hay to a minimum.