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A free course on small, self-sufficient homesteads

Plan the home and the systems that let you live on your land.

A homestead is a set of budgets that must balance over a year: energy, water, heat, food, money and time. Learn how each one works, feel the trade-offs in a simulator, and leave with a real plan you can take to a supplier, inspector or contractor.

Start the course Try the Homestead Lab

Free. No ads, no accounts, no tracking. Works offline after your first visit.

One homestead, several budgets: sun to power, roof to water, envelope to heat, soil to food.
Text description

A cutaway of a small homestead. Sunlight falls on a solar array on the south roof slope, and power flows down to a battery cabinet inside. Rain runs off the roof into a gutter and a storage tank beside the house, and piped water returns to the house. The walls, roof and floor are insulated. To the south are a compost bin and raised garden beds, and to the north a woodlot.

How it works

Short lessons

44 lessons of 8 to 12 minutes. Each has one hands-on interaction and a quick check, written in plain language with every claim sourced.

A living simulator

The Homestead Lab runs a small homestead hour by hour through real seasons for your climate zone. Change one thing and watch what happens.

A plan you keep

Planning projects build a brief, floor plan, water budget, load list, solar sizing and year-one budget. Print it, or export it to move devices.

The tracks

  1. Track 1 · 6 lessons

    The whole homestead

    What self-sufficient really means, the five budgets, climate, your site and phasing.

  2. Track 2 · 7 lessons

    The small home

    Home types, how buildings stand, the envelope, passive solar, fresh air and permits.

  3. Track 3 · 7 lessons

    Water

    How much you use, where it comes from, catching rain, storage, treatment and greywater.

  4. Track 4 · 9 lessons

    Energy

    Units, load lists, efficiency, solar, batteries, system types, backup and other sources.

  5. Track 5 · 4 lessons

    Heat and cooling

    How heat moves, heating options, low-power cooling and hot water.

  6. Track 6 · 6 lessons

    Food

    Realistic yields, the kitchen garden, perennials, small livestock, indoor growing and storage.

  7. Track 7 · 5 lessons

    Waste and putting it together

    Toilets and septic, compost, buying less, and your year-one plan.

Homestead Lab

Can you get through a cloudy week in December?

Seven scenarios, each tested both ways: neglect fails and sensible choices win.

Open the Lab
Understand and plan, not a build-along

This course explains how systems work and how to size and budget them. It does not give step-by-step instructions for wiring, framing, foundations, septic, gas, stoves, wells or drinking-water treatment. Those need licensed professionals and, usually, permits. Lessons in those areas include a Pro and permit box that says what to ask for.