Monte Burch

Building your own barns and outbuildings offers many benefits, perhaps the most obvious being the money you can save. About half the cost of any building project is the labor and, by doing it yourself, you can construct your building more economically, or even put up a larger building on the same budget.

Growing your own food is a hot topic today because of the high cost of transporting food long distances, the heightened problem of diseases caused by commercially grown foods, and concerns of the overuse of chemicals in mass food production. Many people—from White House executives to inner-city kids—have recently discovered the benefits of homegrown vegetables and fruits. Community gardens, and even community canning centers, are increasingly...