Final Thoughts on Raising Cattle
Sixteen posts later, we’ve made it through the entire book. So let’s talk about what it all adds up to.
Kim pezza
Fun Facts About Cattle and Beef Recipes
After thirteen chapters of practical cattle farming information, Pezza wraps things up with some fun stuff. Interesting cattle facts from history and a bunch of recipes you can make with your own beef and dairy products. This chapter is basically the dessert course of the book.
Culling Your Herd and Other Uses for Cattle
Two chapters in one post here because chapters 12 and 13 are both shorter but cover topics that fit together well. Culling your herd and other things you can do with cattle besides the obvious milk and meat.
Raising Your Own Beef Cattle on a Small Farm
This is the chapter where things get real. If you’ve been reading along thinking about cute calves and fresh milk, chapter 11 is where Kim Pezza talks about the other side of cattle farming. Raising beef. Processing meat. The whole deal.
What to Do With All That Milk
So you have a dairy cow. She’s producing milk twice a day. And pretty quickly you’re going to realize something: that’s a lot of milk. Like, way more than your family can drink. A single dairy cow can produce 6 to 8 gallons per day.
How to Milk a Cow by Hand
If you have a dairy cow, you need to learn how to milk. There’s no way around it. This is probably the single most important skill a dairy cow owner needs to develop. And it’s not as simple as just sitting down and squeezing.
Raising Calves From Birth to Weaning
You bred your cow. She’s been pregnant for roughly 285 days. Now what? This is where things get real. A calf is coming, and you need to know what’s normal, what’s not, and what to do in both cases.
Breeding Cattle on Your Homestead
Not everyone who raises cattle needs to breed them. If you’re just buying calves every year to raise for beef, you can skip this whole chapter of your life. But if you want to raise your own beef from birth, or you’re keeping a dairy cow that needs to freshen, breeding is part of the deal.
Common Cattle Diseases and Ailments
Nobody gets into cattle farming because they’re excited about disease management. But this is one of those chapters you need to read. Knowing what can go wrong is how you keep things from going wrong.
Feeding Your Cattle Right
There’s a simple formula for healthy cattle: good diet plus good management. That’s it. You can have the best breed and the nicest barn, but if you’re feeding your animals wrong, nothing else matters.
Housing and Fencing for Cattle
Your cow needs a place to live. And she needs to stay where you put her. Those are two separate problems, and both cost money. Let’s talk about shelter first, then fencing.
Growing Fruit Trees and Berries in Containers - A Practical Guide
No yard? No problem. That’s basically the thesis of Chapter 4 in Backyard Farming: Fruit Trees, Berries & Nuts by Kim Pezza. If you’ve got a balcony, a patio, or even just a sunny corner near a window, you can grow fruit trees and berries in containers.
Should You Keep a Bull or Just a Cow?
So you’ve picked a breed. Maybe you’re leaning dairy, maybe beef. But now comes a very practical question: should you get a cow, a bull, or both?
How to Propagate Fruit Trees and Berry Bushes at Home
This is post 4 in my series on Backyard Farming: Fruit Trees, Berries & Nuts by Kim Pezza (ISBN: 978-1-57826-532-9). Chapter 3 covers propagation, and honestly, this is where things start to feel like real gardening science.
Beef Cattle Breeds and Miniatures
We covered dairy breeds last time. Now let’s talk about the cattle you raise for meat, and the miniature breeds that are quietly becoming a smart option for small homesteads.
The Basics of Growing Fruits, Berries and Nuts at Home
This is post 3 in my series on Backyard Farming: Fruit Trees, Berries & Nuts by Kim Pezza (ISBN: 978-1-57826-532-9). Chapter 2 gets into the actual basics of growing fruits, berries and nuts. And honestly, there’s more to it than just sticking a tree in the ground and hoping for the best.
Dairy Cattle Breeds Guide
Before we get into specific breeds, let’s cover some basics. Because cattle terminology can be confusing if you’re new to this.
A Brief History of Cultivating Fruit Trees Through the Ages
This is post 2 in my series retelling and reviewing Backyard Farming: Fruit Trees, Berries & Nuts by Kim Pezza (ISBN: 978-1-57826-532-9). Today we’re looking at Chapter 1: A Brief History of Cultivating Fruit Trees.
A Brief History of Cattle in America
Pop quiz: where did American cattle ranching start? If you said Texas or somewhere out West, you’re wrong. The first cattle region in America was actually southwest Florida. Not exactly what the cowboy movies told you.
Backyard Farming: Fruit Trees, Berries and Nuts - A Book Series Introduction
So you want to grow your own fruit. Maybe some berries. Possibly even nuts. But you don’t have a farm, or acres of land, or any real idea where to start. Same. That’s exactly why I picked up Backyard Farming: Fruit Trees, Berries & Nuts by Kim Pezza, and that’s exactly what this blog series is about.
Backyard Farming: Raising Cattle by Kim Pezza - Series Introduction
So you want to raise cattle. Maybe just one cow. Maybe a small herd. Either way, you probably have questions. A lot of them.
Keeping Honey Bees by Kim Pezza - Book Review and Final Thoughts
We made it. Sixteen posts. One book. A lot of bees.
This is the final installment in our series covering Backyard Farming: Keeping Honey Bees by Kim Pezza (ISBN: 978-1-57826-453-7, Hatherleigh Press, 2013). If you have been following along from the series intro, thank you for sticking with it.
Honeybee Fun Facts and Honey Recipes You Need to Try
We have spent most of this series talking about the serious side of beekeeping. Hive management, diseases, seasonal care, colony collapse. All important stuff. But bees are also just genuinely fascinating and honey is genuinely delicious.
Colony Collapse Disorder Explained - Why Bees Are Disappearing
If you have been following this series, you know bees are incredible. They build complex societies, produce honey, pollinate a huge chunk of our food supply, and generally keep things running. So what happens when they just vanish?
Bee Stings, Honey Allergies, and Apitherapy - What You Need to Know
Let’s talk about the part of beekeeping that scares most people. Getting stung.
Chapter 12 of Backyard Farming: Keeping Honey Bees by Kim Pezza (ISBN: 978-1-57826-453-7) covers bee stings, honey allergies, and a centuries-old practice called apitherapy. There is a lot more going on here than just “ouch.”
Beekeeping Through the Seasons - A Year in the Apiary
Beekeeping is not a set-it-and-forget-it hobby. What your bees need in January is completely different from what they need in July. Chapter 11 of Backyard Farming: Keeping Honey Bees by Kim Pezza walks through the entire year, season by season, so you know what to expect and when.
Honeybee Diseases, Parasites, and Predators Every Beekeeper Should Know
This is the chapter nobody wants to read but everybody needs to. Your bees have enemies. A lot of them.
Final Thoughts on Backyard Farming: Growing Vegetables and Herbs
This is part of our series retelling Backyard Farming: Growing Vegetables and Herbs by Kim Pezza (ISBN: 978-1-57826-460-5).
We’ve gone through the whole book. From the history of vegetable gardens to planning your layout, building your soil, planting seeds, fighting weeds and pests, preserving your harvest, and putting the garden to bed for winter. That’s the full cycle. So what’s the verdict?
Honey Uses, Storage Tips, Royal Jelly, and Beeswax Products
You have harvested your honey. You have some beeswax. Now what do you actually do with all of it?
Chapter 9 of Backyard Farming: Keeping Honey Bees by Kim Pezza covers the uses of honey, how to store it properly, the deal with royal jelly, and what you can make with beeswax. Turns out, the stuff coming out of your hive is useful in ways that go way beyond toast toppings.
End of Season: Winterizing Your Garden and Storing the Harvest
This is part of our series retelling Backyard Farming: Growing Vegetables and Herbs by Kim Pezza (ISBN: 978-1-57826-460-5).
The growing season ends. That’s just how it works for most of us. But ending well matters as much as starting well. What you do now sets up next year’s garden. Pezza dedicates this chapter to closing out the season the right way.
Honey Harvest, Types of Honey, and Beeswax - How Bees Make Liquid Gold
Bees have been making honey for about 150 million years. Let that number sit for a moment. They were doing this long before humans showed up and decided to take some for ourselves.
Harvest Time: Food Preservation, Canning, Freezing, and Saving Seeds
This is part of our series retelling Backyard Farming: Growing Vegetables and Herbs by Kim Pezza (ISBN: 978-1-57826-460-5).
You did it. Your garden produced more food than you can eat this week. Now what? This chapter is all about making that harvest last. And if you end up with way too much, Pezza even covers how to sell it.
Why Honeybee Pollination Matters for Our Food Supply
This is the chapter that puts everything into perspective. We have talked about bee biology, hive setup, and equipment. But Chapter 7 of Backyard Farming: Keeping Honey Bees by Kim Pezza (ISBN: 978-1-57826-453-7) answers the bigger question: why do honeybees actually matter?
Maintaining Your Garden: Watering, Weeding, and Pest Control Tips
This is part of our series retelling Backyard Farming: Growing Vegetables and Herbs by Kim Pezza (ISBN: 978-1-57826-460-5).
So you’ve got your garden planted. Seeds are in the ground. Now what? This is the chapter where Pezza gets into the daily grind of keeping a garden alive. And honestly, this is where most beginners either level up or give up. Maintenance isn’t glamorous, but it’s the whole game.
Beehive Types and Setup Guide - Choosing and Placing Your First Hive
You have the gear. Now you need a home for your bees.
Chapter 6 of Backyard Farming: Keeping Honey Bees by Kim Pezza (ISBN: 978-1-57826-453-7) covers hive types, setup, and how to actually get bees into the thing. There is more variety here than most people realize.
Creating Your Garden: Soil Prep, Seed Starting, and Essential Tools
You’ve planned your garden, picked your type, and decided what to grow. Now it’s time to actually build this thing. Chapter 5 of Backyard Farming: Growing Vegetables and Herbs by Kim Pezza gets into the hands-on work of creating your garden from the ground up.
Beekeeping Equipment for Beginners - What You Actually Need to Get Started
Before you get your first bees, you need stuff. Not a ton of stuff, but the right stuff.
Chapter 5 of Backyard Farming: Keeping Honey Bees by Kim Pezza (ISBN: 978-1-57826-453-7) walks through the basic equipment every beekeeper needs. And it is less than you probably expect.
What to Plant in Your Garden: Seeds, Plant Types, and Companion Planting
So you’ve got your garden type picked out. Now comes the fun part: deciding what to actually grow in it. And this is where a lot of first-time gardeners overthink things.
How Easy Is Beekeeping? Feeding Bees and Seasonal Care Explained
Let’s talk about the question everyone asks before getting into beekeeping. Is it hard?
Chapter 4 of Backyard Farming: Keeping Honey Bees by Kim Pezza (ISBN: 978-1-57826-453-7) tackles this head on. And the short answer is: no, not really. At least not compared to other livestock.
Designing Your Garden: Traditional, Raised Bed, Container, and Vertical Options
You know what’s going to happen in this chapter. You figured out where your garden goes. Now you need to figure out what kind of garden it actually is. And there are more options than you might think.
The Honeybee Hierarchy - Queen, Workers, and Drones Explained
A honeybee colony is basically a tiny civilization with a strict class system. There are 50,000 to 60,000 bees in a healthy hive, and about 99% of them are female. The males are there for exactly one reason, and it does not end well for them.
Planning Your Vegetable Garden: A Beginner's Wish List Guide
This is part of our series retelling Backyard Farming: Growing Vegetables and Herbs by Kim Pezza (ISBN: 978-1-57826-460-5).
Before you buy a single seed or touch any dirt, Pezza wants you to sit down and make a plan. And she’s right. The number one mistake new gardeners make is jumping straight into planting without thinking about what they actually want. Then they end up with thirty zucchini plants and no idea what to do with them.
What Makes Honeybees Different From Other Bees? Species, Anatomy, and Fun Facts
There are over 20,000 species of bees on this planet. Twenty thousand. But only 7 of them are honeybees. So what makes those 7 so special?
The Basics of Backyard Farming: History and Benefits of Growing Your Own Food
This is part of our series retelling Backyard Farming: Growing Vegetables and Herbs by Kim Pezza (ISBN: 978-1-57826-460-5).
Pezza starts the book by making a simple but important point. Gardens aren’t just about making your yard look pretty. For most of human history, gardens existed for one reason: food. Flower gardens and decorative landscapes came later. The original purpose was survival.
A Short History of Honeybees and Beekeeping - From Ancient Egypt to Your Backyard
Before we get into the practical stuff about keeping bees, let’s take a step back. Way back. Like, 60 million years back.
Backyard Farming: Growing Vegetables and Herbs - A Book Worth Reading
So you want to grow your own food. Maybe you scrolled past one too many “farm to table” posts on Instagram. Maybe you’re tired of paying five dollars for a single bell pepper. Or maybe you just want to know where your food actually comes from. Whatever your reason, you’re in the right place.
Backyard Farming: Keeping Honey Bees by Kim Pezza - Book Series Intro
So you want to keep bees. Maybe you have a backyard. Maybe you have a rooftop. Maybe you just really like honey. Whatever brought you here, this series is for you.
Final Thoughts on Backyard Farming Composting by Kim Pezza
Book: Backyard Farming: Composting | Author: Kim Pezza | ISBN: 978-1-57826-587-9 | Hatherleigh Press, 2015
We made it. Twelve posts later, we’ve covered everything from ancient Egyptian worm decrees to DIY bin plans to the science of thermophilic bacteria. And honestly, I think composting might be one of the most underrated things a person can do.
Composting Troubleshooting Guide for Common Problems
This is a retelling of Chapter 9 from Backyard Farming: Composting by Kim Pezza. Consider this your quick-reference guide for when something goes wrong with your pile. Because something will go wrong eventually. That’s just composting.
Final Thoughts on Backyard Farming Raising Pigs by Kim Pezza
This is the last post in the series, and I want to end with something personal. Not my story. Kim Pezza’s.
How to Clean and Use Your Finished Compost Everywhere
Book: Backyard Farming: Composting | Author: Kim Pezza | ISBN: 978-1-57826-587-9 | Hatherleigh Press, 2015
You did the work. You built the pile, turned it, waited, maybe even raised some worms. Now you’ve got this dark, crumbly, earthy-smelling stuff sitting in your bin. Congratulations, you made black gold. Chapter 8 of Pezza’s book covers how to clean it up and actually put it to use. This is the payoff chapter and honestly? It’s pretty satisfying to get here.
Composting Processes and Stages Explained Simply
Book: Backyard Farming: Composting | Author: Kim Pezza | ISBN: 978-1-57826-587-9 | Hatherleigh Press, 2015
Composting sounds simple because it is. Stuff rots. But Chapter 7 of Pezza’s book gets into the actual science of what’s happening inside your pile, and honestly? It’s way more interesting than you’d expect. There are bacteria working in shifts, temperatures that could cook an egg, and yes, the possibility of spontaneous combustion. We’ll get to that.
Fun Pig Facts and Pork Recipes From Backyard Farming
Every book about raising pigs eventually gets to the fun stuff. The weird trivia. The facts that make you stop and say “wait, really?” Kim Pezza saved some of the best material for the end of her book, and honestly, some of this is wild.
Pigs as Pets Truffle Hunters and Other Surprising Uses
Not every pig ends up as pork. Some end up on your couch. And some end up doing jobs you would never expect from an animal most people only associate with breakfast.
Understanding Carbon and Nitrogen Ratios in Composting
This is a retelling of Chapter 6 from Backyard Farming: Composting by Kim Pezza. And look, I know “carbon to nitrogen ratios” sounds like something from a chemistry exam. But it’s actually really straightforward once you see what’s going on. Let’s break it down.
Composting Livestock on the Farm When Animals Pass Away
Book: Backyard Farming: Composting | Author: Kim Pezza | ISBN: 978-1-57826-587-9 | Hatherleigh Press, 2015
Okay. This is the chapter most composting books skip over, and honestly, I get why. It’s not a comfortable topic. But if you keep animals on a farm, death is part of the deal. It just is. And when it happens, you need a plan for what comes next. Pezza addresses this head-on in Chapter 5, and I respect that.
Culling and Slaughtering Pigs: What Every Small Farmer Needs to Know
This is the chapter nobody looks forward to. But if you raise pigs for meat, this is where the whole operation leads. Understanding the process makes it less overwhelming and helps you do it humanely.
Breeding Pigs and Raising Piglets on a Small Farm
Most small-scale pig farmers never breed their own pigs. They buy piglets, raise them to slaughter weight, and that is the whole operation. Simple. But some farmers do breed, and if you do it right, it can actually be more profitable than raising pigs for meat.
What to Compost and What to Avoid Putting in Your Pile
Book: Backyard Farming: Composting | Author: Kim Pezza | ISBN: 978-1-57826-587-9 | Hatherleigh Press, 2015
So you’ve got a bin or a pile set up. Now comes the question everyone asks: what actually goes in there? Chapter 5 of Pezza’s book breaks it down into two categories you’ll hear about constantly in composting. Greens and browns. Plus a solid list of things that should never touch your pile.
Common Pig Diseases and Health Problems Every Farmer Should Know
Nobody wants to think about sick pigs. But if you are raising them, you need to know what can go wrong so you can catch it early. Or better yet, prevent it from happening at all.
Red Worms and Vermicomposting Guide for Beginners
So you want to keep a box of worms in your house. I get it. It sounds weird. But Chapter 4 of Kim Pezza’s Backyard Farming: Composting makes a pretty convincing case that vermicomposting might be the best way to compost, period. Especially if you live in an apartment and your landlord would lose it if you started a compost pile on the balcony.
Choosing and Placing Your Compost System for Best Results
So you’ve seen the DIY options from the first half of Chapter 3. Cool. But maybe you don’t want to build something from scratch. Maybe you want to just buy a bin, set it up, and start composting this weekend. That’s totally valid. Kim Pezza covers commercial bins and placement in the second half of this chapter, and there’s more to think about than you’d expect.
What to Feed Your Pigs: Diet Nutrition and Water Requirements
Pigs will eat almost anything. That is a fact. Historically, they were called “mortgage lifters” on dairy farms because you could feed them leftover whey and scraps, fatten them up, and sell them for extra income. Pretty smart system.
Composting Systems You Can Build at Home From Trenches to Tumblers
Book: Backyard Farming: Composting | Author: Kim Pezza | ISBN: 978-1-57826-587-9 | Hatherleigh Press, 2015
One of the first excuses people make about composting is space. “I don’t have room for that.” Pezza shuts this down early in Chapter 3. Whether you’ve got 30 acres or a studio apartment, there’s a composting method that fits. No excuses. Let’s talk about the systems you can build yourself.
How to House Your Pigs: Sheds Fencing and Space Requirements
Before you bring home a single pig, you need somewhere to put it. And not just “a spot in the yard.” Pigs need real shelter, real space, and real fencing. Get any of these wrong and you will have a very bad time.
Pig Breeds for Small Farms: From Berkshire to Yorkshire and Everything Between
Before you pick a breed, you need to learn the language. Pig farming has its own vocabulary, and if you do not know the basics, everything else will be confusing.
What Is Composting and Why Should You Care About It
Book: Backyard Farming: Composting | Author: Kim Pezza | Chapter 2: What Is Composting?
Composting is basically using nature’s own recycling system on purpose. You take organic materials, things that were once alive, and let decomposition turn them into rich, dark soil. That’s it. That’s the whole concept.
A Brief History of Composting: From Ancient Egypt to Your Backyard
You know what’s funny about composting? We treat it like some trendy new sustainability thing. Like someone on TikTok just invented putting banana peels in a bin. But people have been doing this for literally thousands of years. Chapter 1 of Kim Pezza’s Backyard Farming: Composting lays out the full timeline, and honestly, some of it is wild.
The Surprising History of Pig Farming From Ancient Times to Your Backyard
Before we talk about raising pigs, it helps to know how we got here. Humans and pigs have a long history together. Longer than you probably think.
Composting for Beginners: A Book Series on Backyard Farming Composting by Kim Pezza
Book: Backyard Farming: Composting | Author: Kim Pezza | ISBN: 978-1-57826-587-9 | Hatherleigh Press, 2015
So I picked up this book about composting. And honestly, I wasn’t expecting to get this into it.
Raising Pigs on Your Backyard Farm: A Book Retelling Series
So you want to raise pigs. Maybe you have a little land. Maybe you just like the idea of knowing where your food comes from. Either way, you are going to need a solid guide, and that is exactly what this series is about.
Backyard Farming Homesteading: Final Thoughts and Book Review
We made it. Twelve posts later, we have covered every chapter of Backyard Farming: Homesteading by Kim Pezza (Hatherleigh Press, 2015, ISBN: 978-1-57826-598-5). And I have to say, this book has a lot more in it than its slim size suggests.
Homesteading With Absolutely No Experience: A Beginner's Starting Point
You have never planted a seed in your life. That potted plant someone gave you as a gift? It died because you forgot to water it. You have never seen a chicken in person. The closest you have been to farming is buying “organic” at the grocery store.
Selling Your Produce: Farm Stands, Farmers Markets, and Agritourism
So your homestead is producing more food than you can eat, give away, or preserve. That is actually a great problem to have. Because now you can start making money from it.
Preserving Your Harvest: Canning, Freezing, Drying, Pickling, and More
Your farm is actually producing food. Congrats. But here is the problem. It is producing a lot of food. More than you can eat. More than your neighbors want. More than your coworkers will accept before they start avoiding you in the break room.
Raising Chickens, Cattle, Goats, and Bees: Homestead Livestock Guide
Plants are great. But if you really want to level up your homestead, animals are where things get interesting. And a lot more complicated.
Homestead Garden Types: Traditional, Raised Beds, Containers, and Vertical Growing
You have your location figured out. You know your space. Now comes the fun part. Deciding what to actually grow and how to grow it.
Choosing Your Homestead Location: Property Selection for Self-Sufficiency
Finding the perfect homestead location is a bit like finding the perfect apartment. You have a wish list. Reality has other plans. And you end up somewhere in between.
Urban Farm vs Rural Homestead: Farming Anywhere From Rooftops to Ranches
Here is something that might surprise you. You do not need 50 acres and a red barn to be a farmer. People are growing food on city rooftops, suburban driveways, and apartment balconies. And it is working.
Homesteading: Is It a Job, Hobby, or Lifestyle? What You Need to Know
So you are growing food. Maybe you have a garden going, some chickens in the yard. People start asking: “Are you a farmer now?” And you think about it. Are you? Is this a hobby? A side hustle? A whole lifestyle?
Homestead Basics: Getting Started With Backyard Farming for Beginners
OK so you know the history. You are inspired. Now what? How do you actually start homesteading?
This post covers Chapter 2 of Backyard Farming: Homesteading by Kim Pezza (Hatherleigh Press, 2015, ISBN: 978-1-57826-598-5). It is all about the basics. And some of these basics might surprise you.
The History of Homesteading in America: From Colonial Farms to Modern Backyards
Before you plant your first seed or build your first chicken coop, it helps to know how we got here. Homesteading in America did not start as a trendy lifestyle. It was survival. And the story of how farming shaped this country is honestly pretty wild.
Backyard Farming Homesteading: A Complete Guide to Self-Sufficiency (Book Series Introduction)
So you want to grow your own food. Maybe you are tired of reading ingredient labels that look like a chemistry exam. Maybe you want to save money on groceries. Or maybe you just want to know exactly where your tomatoes came from. Whatever your reason, you are not alone.