The foundation of any backyard aquaculture system starts with one decision: your tank. In this episode of Farm Fresh Homestead's Protein series, I walk you through everything I've learned from four years and six tank builds — starting with the cracked seam that taught me why leveling precision is non-negotiable. We cover how to source the right vessel for your species and climate (IBC totes, polyethylene stock tanks, and fiberglass options), the complete cleaning protocol that protects fish from chemical residue, how to build a stable compacted gravel or concrete pad, and how to orient your inlet and drain for proper water circulation. Whether you're brand new to backyard fish farming or troubleshooting an existing system, this episode gives you the structural foundation that everything else depends on. Farm Fresh Homestead — practical homesteading wisdom from someone who's made the mistakes so you don't have to.

One batch of prawns. Three weeks. A pathogen I didn't know existed. In this episode, I share the WSSV crash that taught me why biosecurity is the single most important practice in freshwater prawn production — and the complete system for building it right from day one. We cover: zone mapping (public → farm → water zone), foot dip station setup and solution protocol, white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) — how it spreads, why it's untreatable, and how to prevent it, supplier selection and pathogen documentation requirements, 14-day quarantine protocol for all new stock, daily and weekly operational hygiene, and water source safety (well vs. surface vs. municipal). Episode 1 of the Farm Fresh Prawns series — Biosecurity Module. Subscribe to Farm Fresh Homestead for weekly backyard aquaculture and homesteading guides.

Building a raised bed garden is a weekend project that pays off for a decade — if you build it right. In this episode of Farm Fresh Homestead, your mentor walks you through everything a first-time raised bed builder needs to know: lumber selection, corner construction, site selection, soil mix, watering, first season planting, and the pest you will absolutely meet in your first year. She built her first bed wrong — it collapsed in April — and this episode is everything she learned from that failure. Practical, specific, and honest.

If your spring transplants are going limp or yellowing within the first week of planting, the problem almost certainly started before you put them in the ground. In this episode of Farm Fresh Homestead, we cover the three soil conditions that kill transplants before they root: soil temperatures below 60°F for warm-season crops, compacted beds that haven't been properly amended, and pH drift that locks out the nutrients your plants need. Learn what your trowel is actually telling you when you push it into spring soil — and how to fix the conditions before you plant, not after. New episodes weekly on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

If you grow squash east of the Rocky Mountains, the squash vine borer will eventually take your plants. This episode covers everything you need to know to prevent it: the prevention window (April and May, before the moth flies), how row cover works and when to remove it, stem wrapping for large plantings, and how to surgically extract a borer from a stem before the plant collapses. Plus: the single visual signal — a tiny hole at the stem base with orange frass — that most gardeners see and ignore, and what it means. Farm Fresh Homestead — practical, honest homesteading from someone who has lost more squash than she'd like to admit. New episodes weekly.

With grocery prices climbing from tariff pressure, the backyard garden is more valuable than ever. Learn exactly what to plant this week — tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, zucchini, herbs — and why the Days to Harvest column on your seed packet is the most important number in your garden all year.

Before you order your first chicks, read this. The mistakes that cost real money — and the one thing that tells you your flock is more stressed than you think.