- Home
- Glossary
Glossary
Homesteading terms, explained
Short, plain definitions of the words you'll see on product pages and spec sheets. Each one links to a guide when there's more to know.
A
- Automatic coop door
- A powered or mechanically timed door opener for a poultry-house entrance. Read the guide →
B
- Ballast
- Weight added to a tractor configuration as specified for an implement or operating task. Read the guide →
- Bantam
- A small breed or variety of chicken, about a quarter to a third the size of standard birds. Read the guide →
- Battery bank
- A group of connected batteries that stores electrical energy for a system. Read the guide →
- Brooder guard
- A barrier that keeps hatchlings within the brooder area while they move around the heat source. Read the guide →
- Brown materials
- Compost inputs with relatively low nitrogen, such as dry leaves or straw. Read the guide →
C
- Compost tumbler
- A rotating enclosed chamber used to mix compost materials. Read the guide →
D
- Dial gauge
- A pressure canner gauge that shows pressure and needs yearly testing. Read the guide →
E
- Electric netting
- Portable mesh fencing with built-in posts and electrified strands. Read the guide →
F
- First-flush diverter
- A device that routes an initial portion of roof runoff away from rainwater storage. Read the guide →
- Float valve
- A valve that opens or closes to maintain the water level in a tank or trough. Read the guide →
- Forced-air incubator
- An egg incubator that uses a fan to circulate air. Read the guide →
G
- Green materials
- Compost inputs with relatively high nitrogen, such as fresh plant trimmings or kitchen scraps. Read the guide →
H
- Hardening off
- Gradually acclimating indoor-grown seedlings to outdoor conditions before transplanting. Read the guide →
- Hardware cloth
- Welded wire mesh that keeps predators out, stronger than chicken wire. Read the guide →
- High tunnel
- A walk-in, usually unheated growing structure that commonly uses a frame and plastic cover. Read the guide →
- Honey super
- A hive box where bees store surplus honey. Read the guide →
- Hoop house
- A growing structure built around curved hoops and a flexible cover, often used for season extension. Read the guide →
I
- Inverter
- Equipment that converts direct-current electricity from a battery or array into alternating-current power. Read the guide →
J
- Joule rating
- The energy an electric fence energizer delivers per pulse. Read the guide →
L
- Langstroth hive
- The standard beehive with removable hanging frames in stacked boxes. Read the guide →
- Light transmittance
- The proportion of visible light that passes through a greenhouse covering. Read the guide →
- Low-acid food
- Food with a pH above 4.6 that must be pressure canned. Read the guide →
M
- Multiwall polycarbonate
- A rigid greenhouse panel with multiple internal walls that form insulating air spaces. Read the guide →
N
- Nipple waterer
- A water delivery fitting that releases water when a bird activates it. Read the guide →
- Nuc
- A nucleus colony: a small established colony of bees on frames. Read the guide →
O
- Overhead netting
- Mesh installed above an outdoor run as a partial barrier against aerial access. Read the guide →
- Oxygen absorber
- A packet that removes oxygen from sealed food storage. Read the guide →
P
- Passive solar heating
- Heat gained from sunlight without a powered heating system. Read the guide →
- Photoperiod
- The length of light and darkness a plant receives during a day. Read the guide →
- Plant-based compost
- Composted plant material used to add organic matter to garden soil. Read the guide →
- Pollinizer
- A plant that supplies pollen for pollination of another plant. Read the guide →
- PTO
- Power take-off, the shaft that drives tractor implements. Read the guide →
- PTO horsepower
- The power available at a tractor power take-off to run a driven implement. Read the guide →
- PV array
- A group of photovoltaic panels connected as a solar-electric source. Read the guide →
R
- Radial extractor
- A honey extractor basket that arranges frames like spokes so both faces can be extracted without turning each frame. Read the guide →
- Raised bed
- A garden planting area raised above surrounding ground as a mound or contained frame. Read the guide →
- Roof footprint
- The horizontal area beneath a roof used to estimate the catchment area for rainwater. Read the guide →
- Roost
- The bar chickens sleep on at night. Read the guide →
- Rootstock
- The lower, rooted part of a grafted tree that influences its growth and mature size. Read the guide →
- ROPS
- Rollover protective structure on a tractor. Read the guide →
S
- Scion
- The upper part of a grafted fruit tree that produces the named variety of fruit. Read the guide →
- Seedling heat mat
- An electrically warmed mat placed beneath seed trays to warm the growing medium. Read the guide →
- Soilless mix
- A seed-starting medium made without garden soil, often using materials such as peat or coconut coir. Read the guide →
- Still-air incubator
- An egg incubator without a circulation fan, where warm air can form layers. Read the guide →
T
- Tangential extractor
- A honey extractor basket that presents one face of a frame to the drum at a time. Read the guide →
- Three-point hitch
- The standard lifting hitch for tractor implements, sized by category. Read the guide →
- Trough feeder
- A long open feeding channel with a defined access edge for birds. Read the guide →
W
- Waterer perimeter
- The accessible edge around a livestock waterer where animals can drink. Read the guide →
- Weighted gauge
- A pressure regulator that rocks at a set pressure and does not need testing. Read the guide →