Today, we will discuss the Home to Homestead project I have started at the Basecamp Lodge and how a single email from a friend has changed everything. We will also cover our usual segments Tales From The Prepper Pantry, Operation Independence and More.
Sign Up for the Soil Microscopy Intensive Here: LivingFreeinTennessee.com
Sponsor 1: AgoristTaxAdvice.com/LFTN
Sponsor 2: StrongRootsResources.com
Tales From The Prepper Pantry
Jerusalem Artichokes - what to do with them at this time of year
Operation Independence
Holler Roast Update
From Mickey
As to installing your chimney liner, sometimes there will be mortar clumps hanging inside that it can get caught on. The best method I've used for this is to duct tape a clothesline to end of liner with about 6" of rope sticking up, then loop that back down and put on another layer of duct tape to help keep rope from pulling off. On other end of rope drill a hole through a tennis ball and insert rope through it then tie knot on other end. This gives the rope enough weight to go down chimney while the ball is soft enough to not damage chimney crock. Then one person on roof guiding liner down, while another person inside guides liner with the rope to keep it from hanging up. Often a mirror from underneath helps in guiding liner down so you don't have to try to get your head in chimney.
For the hard water, it's already filled with minerals and therefore raises specific gravity. Since water does have a saturation point relative to its specific gravity you can dissolve your soap in a jar of warm water. Shake well or stir. Allow it to settle for about 10 minutes then pour through a sieve, or gently pour out without spilling settled solids. Once you discover the actual amount of soap your water will completely dissolve you'll then know how much to safely add to a load, based on how much dissolves in a known quantity and multiply it out to how much water your machine adds per load. That's the hard part, is figuring out how much water is in a load for your machine.
This got me to thinking about our community and the vast amount of knowledge we have housed among us on the Facebook group and Telegram group. Sometimes I feel like I might be boring you all with some of the things we do here because we live fairly differently than most modern world things.
So let's talk crowdsourcing homestead systems...
I started out wanting to build a repository of homesteading skills. What I ended up building was a community of people who know how to do things. And that's far more useful.
So let's end with this recipe thought: The best pork chops
>Coffee, cumin, smoked paprika, garlic, salt and pepper
Sous vide at 155
But cook with what you have yo.
And really the bigger conversation to have here is this - what are YOU really good at? Have you shared it with the community?
Make It A Great Week!
Today I'm coming to you live from the Midwest Preparedness Project Fall Festival with a few of the people who make events like this worth showing up for. We talk about building a life on your own terms, knowing when to reset, raising capable kids, testing your gear before you need it, and why the conversations around the campfire may matter more than anything happening on stage.
Midwest Preparedness Project Fall Festival
The Gorum Homestead: https://thegorhamhomestead.com
Get your coffee at Holler Roast Coffee: https://hollerroast.com
Make it a Great Week!
Today we have our First Tuesday Coffee with John Willis of Special Operations Equipment, Jack Spirko of The Survival Podcast, and Nicole Sauce of Living Free in Tennessee. As usual, we wander through business, preparedness, current events, building your life, and whatever else comes up over coffee.
Soil & Microscopy Intensive – October 2 & 3
Alan Booker, Chase Jones and Nicole Sauce at Holler Homestead
https://livingfreeintennessee.com/event/soil-and-microscopy-intensive/
SOE Party – October 10
Free to attend and free to vend. RSVP so John knows how much food and how many porta potties to get.
https://SOETacticalGear.com
The Survival Podcast Fall Workshop – November
Registration opens September 19 at 9 AM Central and usually sells out FAST.
https://TheSurvivalPodcast.com
Remembering Dolly Parton and the difference between genuine people and fake media
Tight budgets, layoffs and making yourself useful
Stop underpricing your work
Entrepreneurship, employment and preparing for a changing job market
Housing costs, building codes and why modern houses suck
Mold, drywall and healthier building
Beef imports, wild horses and doing the math on internet conspiracies
Government overreach, census takers, game wardens and learning to say no
Build something instead of letting doom invade your life
Family, kids and personal responsibility
Generators, fuel, critical-load solar and actually testing your preps
Harbor Freight, battery adapters and inexpensive tools that work
Shipping, Amazon, Walmart and what your time is actually worth
Upsells, customer value and lessons from companies that are really good at getting your money
TheSurvivalPodcast.com
SOETacticalGear.com
LivingFreeinTennessee.com
Mewe Group: https://mewe.com/join/lftn
Telegram Group: https://t.me/LFTNGroup
Odysee: https://odysee.com/$/invite/@livingfree:b
Make it a Great Week
Homestead happenings
Today I am joined by the Tactical Redneck to discuss the latest from the Holler Homestead: It''s HEEERE, Sheep Hammock, Preparing for SRF, more.
Featured Event: Self Reliance Festival. Get Tickets Here https://selfreliancefestival.com/
Sponsor 1: The Wealthsteading Podcast: https://wealthsteading.com/
Sponsor 2: DiscountMylarBags.com: Https://DiscountMylarBags.com
Topics:
Make it a great week!
Today we're talking about what it really looks like to go from a home to a homestead, and I get to answer a question I've been asked for years in real time: If I had it all to do over again, what would I do differently?
LFTN Stocking Exchange
Featured Event: Soil Microscopy Class
Sponsors
Above Phone
Strong Roots Resources
Tales from the Prepper Pantry
Frugality Tip: 100% Cotton Throws
Operation Independence
Main Topic: From Home To Homestead
One of the questions I get when on panels and suck is "If you had it to do all over again, how would you build your homestead?" Or "What are the 2 or 3 biggest mistakes you made early on in building your homestead?"
As homestead advising types we tend to tell people to build things one at a time and go slowly so that you can get your systems working. Or we say get a permaculture plan in place first. Or we have more practical advice like infrastructure before livestock, get your zone 0 in place before you do anything else, etc
All these things are true and not true at the same time
Then came the question: If you had it all to fro over again
So if I had it to do all over again, how would I build my homestead differently? That is a question you can't really answer unless you are doing it
So how will we start? The assessment is this week. What have we got? What do we need? How will we navigate what to do first?
This may become the constant topic of the podcast or a segment - I don't really know, But it is the BUILDING of the Holler Hub in real time and I am excited to finally answer the question for real - what would you do if you had it all to do over again? I guess we will find out.
But one thing is true - the one most important part of homesteading that you can never let languish - BE FEARLESS.
Homestead happenings
Today I am joined by the Tactical Redneck to discuss the latest from the Holler Homestead: Finances, big moves, broken 4 wheelers and more.
Featured Event: September 19 Farm to Table Dinner - Email me for sponsorship. Get Tickets Here https://livingfreeintennessee.com/event/farm-to-table/
Spponsor 1: https://abovephone.com/?above=104
AbovePhone.com Code: LiveFreeTN
Sponsor 2: AgoristTaxAdvice.com/LFTN
Topics:
Mini Skin Steer Is Not Here
4 Wheeler Situation
Some weeks it is hard to get lots done on the homestead: State Fair update, Duplex update
BIG MOVES- Basecamp
Financial Tracking Upgrade
Today, I will cover our usual segments as well as Last week, a listener asked a question that led us on an adventure about how to let go of the clutter in your life that are things you may not be things you LOVE but you love the person or memory that they trigger discuss what to do when all your green beans get ripe at the same time. Spoiler: You handle too many green beans much differently than too many tomatoes.
Featured Event:Farm to Table Experience on September 19th at 1pm at the Holler Homestead in Lancaster, TN. $115 https://livingfreeintennessee.com/event/farm-to-table/
Sponsor 1: The Wealthsteading Podcast https://wealthsteading.com/
Sponsor 2: Strong Roots Resources: https://strongrootsresources.com/
Tales From The Prepper Pantry
Frugality Tip
Most of us have tile somewhere in our house, and I have tried all kinds of things to get the grout lines clean. I personally have spent lots of money on a variety of cleaners. Well here you go: grab some peroxide and a toothbrush and prepare to be as amazed as I was. The grout looks brand new. So stop trying all of these weird chemicals that don't actually clean anything and go back to the basics.
Operation Independence
Summer Time brings me memories of lazy days at the family pool, mom in the kitchen processing food or in the garden tending things. Picking strawberries at 4 in the morning, then getting home by 3 or 4 to shower and do it all over again.
It was lazy but not lazy.
There was always a sense of go with the flow in the summer where I grew up. And back then, a kid could still earn pocket money in the fields.
Sometimes I miss that life, but it was also work. And perhaps that is why I find it fun to do the garden work or the canning work.
Once again, I got the call every homesteader wants to get: Hey do you want all the green beans in one of my rows? I have too many.
And it was hot, I had just spent 2 days painting and only had a single day to prepare for a Saturday event here. So I said.
YES PLEASE!
Last week we talked about how to process an abundance of tomatoes by basically NOT processing them. This week it is beans.
Ways to preserve green beans
Timeline
Pre-freezing green beans for canning still means you need to blanch them so - why bother?
My Secret to processing so many beans in just 24 hours - it was either a bushel and a half or 2 bushels.
In sum: Hard work but not really that hard
Recipes with green beans
Make it a great week.
Today I am joined by the Tactical redneck to discuss updates from the Holler Homestead. Nuking the house, gardening for future you, sometimes you just get peed on, Mini Skid Incoming and Tactical CANT WAIT.
Featured Event: Self Reliance Festival MWPP Takeover on September 10.
Sponsor 1: TheWealthsteadingpodcast.com
Sponsor 2: AbovePhone.com
Topics:
Mini Skid Steer
What its like without T - and how we have set it up for success
Planning for SRF, being gone
Nuking my house
Getting Peed On
Gardening for future you (compost)
Presto Electric Canner and real life
Ducks to bed working better
State Fair Meal Planning
Fencing Class Update, and webinar ,October 12
Today we talk about purging the sentimental stuff, from ball gowns and family heirlooms to someday projects that never seem to get done. How do you decide what stays, what goes, and how do you let go of things that carry memories without feeling guilty about it?
Featured Event
Homemade Condiments: The Secret Is in the Sauce
Holler Homestead • $75
Learn how to make mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup and homemade salad dressing from scratch, including what I've learned from failing mayonnaise, mushroom ketchup, and how to build your own salad dressing flavor profiles.
LivingFreeInTennessee.com/event/condiments
Sponsors
Strong Roots Resources
StrongRootsResources.com
Agorist Tax Advice
AgoristTaxAdvice.com/LFTN
Tales from the Prepper Pantry
49 jars of green beans put up, with four more jars worth coming out of the garden
Using the Presto electric pressure canner alongside the regular pressure canner to get more done
Purging old food from the pantry that we simply don't eat anymore
Cooking with what we grow: squash, pork, homemade tomato sauce, herbs, garlic and onions
What regenerative soil does for the flavor and nutrition of the food we grow
Getting a "second flush" of cream by letting the raw milk sit longer before skimming
Frugality Tip
It's clearance season for gardening and summer supplies
Look for deals on hoses, sprinklers, connectors, grills, pools and plants
Back-to-school season also means deals on office supplies
Stocking up on good journals while prices are low
Operation Independence
Picking a huge batch of green beans from Trippy Acres
Main Topic: Purging the Sentimental
How sentimental stuff quietly turns your home into storage for decisions you don't want to make
Why grief can turn us into repositories for family heirlooms nobody else wants to deal with
Stuff begets more stuff: once you're the person who says yes, everyone knows where to send the family heirlooms
The ball gowns I loved, wore, no longer fit into and finally decided to let go
Giving the original giver the right of refusal when something may still matter to them
Being grateful for a gift does not mean you have to store it forever
Letting go of useful things that are no longer the right things
Why keeping the old thing until you replace it can leave you surrounded by worn-out shoes, furniture and other junk
Getting rid of something can force you to finally find the solution you actually want
Looking at what you want to do in a space before deciding what deserves to stay there
Why boxes of old technology, cables and unused cameras are keeping me from having my sewing table
If something can easily be replaced for $20–$50 and you haven't used it, consider letting it go
Trusting that you can get what you need when you actually need it
Keeping things because Grandpa or Grandma made them, even when you don't particularly like them
Taking a picture when you want to preserve the memory without preserving the object
Choosing the sentimental things you genuinely love instead of keeping every sentimental thing
Keeping Grandpa's ironwood roadrunner instead of every object he made
Vintage clothing, family glassware, quilts and other inherited things that carry emotional weight
If another relative will be upset when you get rid of something, give them the opportunity to take it
Don't transfer your guilt by forcing sentimental things onto someone else
How physical clutter, financial clutter, paper clutter and mental clutter feed one another
Clearing things out has created more than physical space—it has created space in my brain and in my day
Making room for the things I actually want to do: swimming, singing, playing piano and writing songs
Getting rid of the someday projects
The broken chair you're someday going to repair
The supplies you bought for a project six months ago and still haven't used
Buying supplies for the project you're actually going to do now instead of the one you might someday do
The emotionally difficult someday projects, including an embroidered pillow cover my grandmother intended for a baby I never had
Either do the thing or make a decision about the thing—don't let it live forever in a someday pile
Why centering your identity in old memorabilia can keep you looking backward instead of building your future
You can appreciate the memories without allowing the objects attached to them to control your space
It's okay to be ruthless
Keep the things that genuinely matter. Preserve a picture when that's enough. Give things to people who actually want them. Then move forward.
Reference Links
Living Free in Tennessee
LivingFreeInTennessee.com
Holler Roast Coffee
Make It A Great Week!
Today I am joined by Tori the Mom to talk about the wildfires that came within a mile of her home in Spokane, what it was like to watch evacuation zones move toward her neighborhood, and what she learned when preparedness suddenly became real. We talk about evacuation plans, knowing more than one way out, preparing kids and animals, cash, gas, communications, technology that helped her stay ahead of the fire, and the things she plans to do differently next time.
Featured Event
The Art of Containment: How to Contain Small Ruminants with Fencing
Saturday at 10 AM
We will cover how electric fencing works, running stranded wire for small ruminants, rechargeable systems when you don't have power nearby, and our "graveyard of shame" of fencing ideas that didn't work.
LivingFreeInTennessee.com
Sponsors
The Wealthsteading Podcast with John Pugliano
InvestableWealth.com
Strong Roots Resources
StrongRootsResources.com
Topics Covered
Reference Links
The Wealthsteading Podcast
InvestableWealth.com
Strong Roots Resources
StrongRootsResources.com
Living Free in Tennessee
LivingFreeInTennessee.com
Watch Duty
FlightRadar
HipCamp
Tori's Property
Shielstra Braehaven on HipCamp
20 acres of raw, forested land near Loon Lake, Washington
Holler Roast Coffee
HollerRoast.com
Make It A Great Week!