Summary: This week it is our pleasure to speak with Anna Hess of www.waldeneffect.org. The Walden Effect is a homesteading blog (currently in year 5) which chronicles successes and failures of Anna and Mark as they carve out a homestead and a living from their rural acreage in southwest Virginia. I think that this was a great interview packed with useful information. Check out their blog for more great homesteading information. Topics discussed: * Purchasing land cheaply * Starting a microbusiness and leaving your day job behind * Chicken pasturing: growing plants to sustain your flock without buying feed * Tips on keeping a rooster (hen/rooster ratio) * The avian aqua miser: automatic chicken waterer * Growing mushrooms * Composting and worm bins * Raising protein for chickens References: * http://www.waldeneffect.org/ * Starting a microbusiness: http://www.wetknee.com/microbusiness/ * Automatic chicken waterer: http://www.avianaquamiser.com/ * Mycelium Running, by Paul Stamets * http://theoutdoorpodcast.com/
