Most homestead advice comes down to: work harder, wake up earlier, do more by hand. We did it that way and it sucks. So we flipped it — every chore we could hand to an affordable, simple system, we did.

Buried garden watering ollas so we quit daily watering. Extra-large, rodent-proof chicken feeders and waterers so the chickens go a week on their own. A drop-in chicken water heater so we never break ice again.

Now the place mostly runs itself and we spend our time on the projects we actually love. Everything we recommend, we use — and it has to earn its spot by saving us work.

Check out the products that do our chores for us: