Recently my home heating 'backup', a criminally inefficient old furnace, died. Pondering replacement options gave me an opportunity to consider the many ways one can power a furnace.

If you can tolerate the price, I heartily recommend a Stihl powerhead in a size that's comfortable for your needs, or slightly larger if you can justify a professional saw fitted with a bar that's not too long.

The Off Grid Living blog carnival, where we share some of the best posts on the internet from people sharing their off grid living tips, personal stories and thoughts.

You can't put a price on peace of mind and the safety of yourself and your loved ones. Here's what I'm doing to protect our place.

I just spent two hours researching and choosing a hand-cranked grain mill. Here are a few of the mills I considered and which I ended up going with in the end.

A few pictures from stuff we've been up to over the weekend. Working a full time job and trying to take care of an old farm isn't easy, but it'll all pay off in the end....

I think I'll use this spring to feed a pond I plan to dig in the marshy area at the bottom of the hill.

Whatever corporate hack decided to go overboard with silly bells and whistles should be thrown into a volcano so they can get back to making high quality machines. Bottom line: This may be the best snowblower for the price, but it isn't perfect.

Heating with wood can be as high or low tech as you choose. I favor technology to save labor. You'll have to choose: woodsplitter or maul.