Living Free in Tennessee - Nicole Sauce

We've gotten lots of feedback n that episode from folks who wanted to go to that workshop and have never been able to. It got me to thinking. What if we do a homesteading workshop right here this coming September? In former years, we have had one or two orientations followed by lots of raucous camping fun, but wouldn't it be fun to do something that allows us all to share best practices from Tennessee on what we are best at? Deal: Cider Hollow wants to offer 5% off their bare root trees and comfrey. Get 'em while you still can! Eating Seasonally and Tales from the Prepper Pantry This is where we share what we are eating as it comes to us - and talk about ways to use what we store Wild Mustard, watercress, dandelion roots, hairy vetch From the pantry: garlic and onions are gone so we are depending on wild garlic chives and early green onions from the garden Watercress is almost done for the season, though we have another cold snap on the way which may give us a reset The season of tea is almost here: Bee balm, blackberry leaves, mint Getting the Gardens Ready Where we share what we are doing to get our food growing operation up and running Greenhouse tomatoes are growing strongly and will be for sale soon Potatoes up and wood-chipping the walkways is in process Selling watercress online this week Wild Forage Nutrition in the Spring Chickweed: Beta-carotene (Vitamin A pre-cursor), B vitamins (B1/Thiamin, B2/Riboflavin, B3/Niacin), Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) Deadnettle: Iron, vitamins, and fiber Stinging Nettle: Vitamin A, Calcium, Iron Watercress: Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin K, Calcium Observing your local forest Right now as spring is springing - it is a great time to see what likes to grow in you area - and glean inspiration from it Mulberry Elderberry Wild raspberry and blackberries Hairy vetch and other vines Poke weed These all grow on the edges and also provide us food in my area We also have Walnut trees Hickory nuts Wild persimmons Wild cherries Crabapples Pawpaws These varieties are already acclimated to our region - look at where they grow on their own Stories from the Holler Facelift for spring Ducks are back in synch with us Communities versus guilds And with that, remember, if like the show you can support us while drinking a marvelous cup of hand-roasted coffee! Make it a great week! Song: Sauce - Wolf

This week I took the opportunity of being in the car for 26 hours with the famous Mike Vertrees to record an interview with him about the workshop we attended at Jack Spirko's place. This workshop was fantastic - and exhausting. There will be expanded show notes on Wednesday, my friends. Song: Dr. Feeley, Dr. Skinner - Sauce

Today we will talk about how important it is to build flexibility into your life because it helps make you more resilient when things change. We will also talk about what has happened since we started getting serious about the egg and coffee business, cover how the paper is doing and I will share with you a bit about how the Grafting workshop went over at Cider Hollow. Eating Seasonally and Tales from the Prepper Pantry This is where we share what we are eating as it comes to us - and talk about ways to use what we store. Wild Mustard, watercress, dandelion greens Baby kale from the super kale plant From the pantry: there is half a box of potatoes left and we are par boiling them, then making hash browns about once a day! Corn and green beans on salads as usual Hitting the pickled goods hard. Forgot to can the extra pork stock from the shoulder roast so here is what we did... Getting the Gardens Ready Where we share what we are doing to get our food growing operation up and running. Operation Eyesore Transplanted the tomato seedlings and moved then to the GH Beets, carrots, lettuce, radish, etc seeds are in the ground and the radishes have germinated! Working on more woodchipping for areas where we want better weed control Someone dug the horseradish plant - wtf? Why Build Resilience in Your Life Part of our lifestyle here on the homestead is about building resilience into our day to day activities. Because no matter what happens, we only know one thing: change is coming. This idea that you work one job your whole life and retire to play golf - and that this is the norm - was a nice dream, but it is really a fiction. First and foremost: flexibility Secondly: responsibility - no excuses Finally: more control of the things you can control Four ways to get started: Simplify and frugalify Grow some of your own food Find ways to build ongoing income from your local area that you control Develop a real community around yourself Holler Homestead Business Progress Center Hill Sun Update Stories from the Holler Cider Hollow Event with Cliff from Spiral Ridge Permaculture Hive splitting - check out the video on youtube And with that, remember, if like the show you can support us while drinking a marvelous cup of hand-roasted coffee - order here. Youtube channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-PX-bHfC3AEOUPWgJ5d40g/playlists Well my friends, next week it is a 50-50 chance that the podcast will be skipped - sorry about that. I will be down at Jack Spirko's not getting enough sleep for five days, giving a presentation and learning a TON from other homesteaders. And in two weeks, we may have a very special interview lines up with one of our listeners who is this very moment one her brand new pice of land. That should be fun. Anyway - go out and make it a great week! Song: Sauce, Tripped Out.

Today we are going to talk about what NOT TO DO when you first move to your new homestead. These are three things that I really wish we had known before we dove into the Holler Homestead. Also today, a brand new gluten free, dairy free, soy free potluck recipe. I've got some updates to share about the Holler Homestead and we will go over Toby Hemenway's 8th chapter of Gaia's Garden. Eating Seasonally and Tales from the Prepper Pantry This is where we share what we are eating as it comes to us - and talk about ways to use what we store. Wild Mustard is everywhere Wild Salad Harvesting Dandelion Roots Harvesting Sassafrass Root Prepper Pantry Recipe: Roasted Garlic Spread Gluten free, dairy free, soy free potluck dish Getting the Gardens Ready Where we share what we are doing to get our food growing operation up and running. Operation Eyesore Final bed preparation is in process and it will take a few weeks to finalize Blackberry Propagation Seedling light update 3 Mistakes to Avoid on Your New Land Don't rush in Don't do everything at once Don't underestimate Three things you should do on your new land: Take time and observe Set clear priorities with your big picture goal in mind and stick to them Double your estimate in time and money for everything so that you have enough resources to complete your projects Toby Hemenway Chapter 8 of Gaia's Garden Questions to ask yourself about this chapter What one community do I want to set up this year? How can I make plants, insects, soil organisms, birds and mammals work in concert on my land? Where can I try out polyculture in my garden this year and what succession will I aim for? Do I have time each day to oversee a succession planting project in my veggie garden? And with that, remember, if like the show you can support us while drinking a marvelous cup of hand-roasted coffee! Order here. You want to drop me a question, topic idea, or comment, feel free to email me. And for those of you who prefer youtube, we have the show up over on a youtube channel, but they won't let me do a vanity domain until I have 100 followers - apparently this is something new. Youtube Link It is funny how simplifying your life, putting more energy into gleaning a living from a piece of land, when done well, can add resilience to your household. Next week we will talk about this resilience a bit more when I share with you s big change that has happened in my job. I am so glad to see spring springing here in Tennessee - along with its new plants, snow, 70 degree days and more visits from friends. Living this way is great fun, really hard, sometimes scary - but it is always rewarding to know that we have made what we have with our own two hands. Make it a great week! Song: Sauce, Belly Dancing Vamp Song

And a listener shot me an email last week after hearing the garden section with a pretty important question that has led to today's topic: Starting Seedlings for the Newbee. Also today, a comment on some of the divisiveness we have all been experiencing and some thoughts on why certain words are triggering bad behavior - especially online. More importantly, we will talk about something you might do to de-escalate these situations. Also, we will be re-upping the Toby Hemenway segment not THIS WEEK, but next week - Honestly - chapter 8 is taking me a long time to develop because there is so much information in it and I just don't want to do a bad job for you. Be ready next week for that one. Notes at: http://livingfreeintennessee.com/2017/03/06/episode-26-starting-seedlings-for-the-newbee/

On today's show, I will walk you through a specific recipe you can try at home with produce purchased at the store for your first canning project. This is in advance of our soon to be produced youtube series: Learn Canning with 8 Home Preservation Projects. Also cued up for the show is another segment from Samantha the Savings Ninja! She will give us her top picks for phone apps that can save you money. Also, Holler Roast coffee is officially for sale online at livingfreeintennessee.com. It is $14 a pound plus shipping, and of course the best shipping rate is for 5 pounds, but two pounds ship for a fairly reasonable price too! More show notes at LivingFreeinTennessee.com

Do you ever give some advice to people, then realize the person who needs it the most is you? That's basically how last week went here at the Holler Homestead. The ducks discovered the creek resulting in a cascading series of projects that were of top priority, and not originally on my list. Today, I will cover something promised from last week: potato preservation, go over questions to ask as a result of reading chapter 6 of Gaia's Garden, there will be the first in a series of gardening economics discussions, and, last but not least, Dances with Ducks - a view into how keeping animals means you can't depend on any plan you ever make. Justin Rhodes chicken tractor plans Eating Seasonally Wild Garlic and Watercress still going strong Dead Nettle, Lamium purpureum , Identifying it (Salads, sautee's and with eggs) Chickweed, more on this next week Getting the Gardens Ready Where we share what we are doing to get our food growing operation up and running. Sweet Potato Slip Update: The first slip is starting to poke out! Organized seeds Tales from the Prepper Pantry How we are keeping our winter stores interesting. Freezer Audit: (Notebook is awesome, in theory) Sweet potato, potato puree Green beans as breakfast Renewed effort on the pickled things - Man! Dilly beans are fantastic! Stories from the Holler Bee mentor/ Hive inspection Potato Preservation Drying. Canning - The guide: http://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/usda/GUIDE04_HomeCan_rev0715.pdf Lessons learned from Toby Hemenway This week: Chapter 6 Next Week*: Chapter 7 Questions What do I want/need to support with my plants? (shade, forage for animals, shelter from wind, food for us, enjoyment, pest resistance vs attracting beneficial bugs - or wildlife for that matter? What problems do I currently have that plants can help with? (Deer destruction, sad soil, etc) What do I really love? How can I plan my homestead to support those things? What balance of mulching, soils loosening, nutrient mining, fungal growth sparking, and so forth will be best for my land - and therefore what plants should I integrate to set this up? What areas should I develop first with intensive planting, versus setting the stage for a longer-term play? Garden Economics Do home gardens save you money? Dances with Ducks It is so nice at this time of year to go outside in the morning with my cup of coffee and watch the world go by for a few minutes before diving in. And despite the ducky duties this week, things are still moving forward at the Holler Homestead. Thank you so much for joining me today here on Living Free in Tennessee and make it a great week!

Today we will take some time to review four strategies for managing a busy spring on the homestead without losing your mind. Spring has begun early this year and with it, a dangerous situation is in the works: The potential for an early April deep freeze. But what if it doesn't? What if we just go straight into a spring that no longer gets below 26 degrees and ends in a super hot May that kills all the peas and lettuce? Our daffodils are blooming. Our trees are budding out. Our bees are madly bringing pollen to the nest. We might have swarms soon - they are already starting in Texas. And I am just one person on a homestead with a job, starting a new business, with limited time. It occurred to me, those of you listening to this for the first time probably have no idea what the segments are or why we have them. Living on a homestead requires a different, more simple approach to living, eating and planning. In the first few episodes, I was haphazardly sharing some of our experiences and eventually the fell into categories. So today, along with each segment, I'll share a bit about what the segment is. Eating Seasonally This is where we share what we are eating as it comes to us. In the winter, things slow down, but here I talk about what is still growing in the woods that we can eat. For free. Having done nothing to make it grow. Well sometimes I throw garden items in, but not for much longer because it is time to have a stand-alone wild foraging section. Wild Garlic and Watercress have come into their own Eggs - I launched the subscriptions - ! First ones going out today :-) Jerusalem artichokes And the Deadnettle is starting to peek up at me Getting the Gardens Ready This is a spring segment where we share what we are doing to get our food growing operation up and running. Sweet Potato Slip Update Cider Hollow Farm Workshop on Grafting! in Savannah, Tennessee: This will be a half day grafting workshop. Start time will be 9am on Saturday March 18 and will run until approx. 2pm. Cost is $45 and Registration Tales from the Prepper Pantry It is so easy to stock your pantry, but not always easy to remember to eat the food from it. In this section, I share with you how we are using what sounds like the same things all the time but in different ways to The weekly squash - week 8: Rotting Spaghetti Squash Cushaw Squash Pie - Just like pumpkin but better! Onions - 1 grew! Making French Onion soup this week, but with the wrong kind of stock! A sweet potato in every salad Salad Corn Pottage: Lang, goat and beef with canned corn and beans, potatoes and sweet potatoes with curry and onions. Serve over rice with freshly diced onion, salad greens and chutney. Stories from the Holler The sinkhole A visit from Mike Vertrees, soil expert My dog disappeared Four strategies for navigating spring... Strategy 1: Get Real on the garden or homestead plans. Cut in half your current garden plans unless you are a seasoned garden planner - More plants, less space=good Take 10 minutes to look at your journal from last year and look for trends: What i am doing If you don't have a journal from last year, go to the dollar store, but a notebook and start one. Write in it at least once a week. Strategy 2: Take a step back and breathe when you feel overwhelmed and remind yourself to visit the three changes you can use for you can make for a great year from episode 18 Decide the 1 thing you want to do best this year (Did you? What is it?) Set a weekly time to reflect on your progress and set a small, attainable forward step (Are you? Why not?) Remember the small things are the most important. (What is one small thing you can do this week?) Strategy 3: The List of Minimums There can be only 3 - this part is hard - and do them first. You will find there is more time for everything else if you do this. Trust your gut on putting things off Link choices to your personal strategic plan. Strategy 4: Have some fun man! Spring is one of the busiest times. Oh who am I fooling? We only really get to slow down in the winter. And with lots of project piling up it is easy to get overwhelmed. Yet sometimes the worrying about getting things done is worse than just choosing one thing and doing it. But not at the expense of your health, happiness or relationships, right? Thank you for joining me today here on Living Free in Tennessee and make it a great week! Song: Cilly's Song, Sauce

Today we will talk about progress we are making here at the Holler Homestead, and along our own pathway toward more independence in Tennessee. I'll give you an Independence Fund update, tell you how the newspaper is doing, share some of the progress we've made on or new farm concepts - and how they have already changed, and tell you some exciting things about the cookbook. Direct Download Eating Seasonally Wild Garlic Watercress Elephant garlic shallots Eggs Jerusalem artichokes Time to harvest the last of the carrots - they are about to become woody Getting Ready for Spring Planting Sweet Potato Slip Update Preparing potatoes for planting early Getting our beds ready with lots of manure and mulch Tree and vine trimming time - wish I had done this in December Horseradish Plant propagation Comfrey Propagation Moving the day lilies Tales from the Prepper Pantry The weekly squash - week 7: Squash A'Gratin Bake fried potatoes Roasted potato salad Pre-grated sweet potatoes for salad toppings Salad Corn and Green Beans soaked in a bit of pickled beet juice with mandolin onions Announcement: we have our first Holler Roast event order! Workshop in Savannah, Tennessee: This will be a half day grafting workshop. Start time will be 9am on Saturday March 18,2017 and will run until approx. 2pm. Cost is $45 and Registration Independence Fund Newspaper This is our make it or break it year. We built in online subscriptions for folks who want to get the paper from our of our distribution area. Building websites for small businesses and giving short start up advising sessions. Holler Homestead Progress Holler Roast Coffee: Local story carrying it, workshop presentation, online sales kicking off this week at both Hollerhomestead.com and livingfreeintennessee.com Egg subscriptions: Woefully behind promotion for this. I've reached out to restaurants and run into a USDA issue that I plan to research and write about. WTF? But either way, we are about to have duck and chicken egg subscriptions. Financial benefit: Covers feed and power for the poultry and keeps us in eggs, and then only about $200 a week profit between all the products. Cookbook Seasonal cookbook might shift to the story of Darby's Restaurant paired with seasonal recipes because I found a goldmine of information in Oregon when my grandmother died. Canning series Lessons Learned from Toby Hemenway This week: Chapter 5 Next week: Chapter 6 Questions What can I do for my soil this year to help increase its natural ability to hold and/or drain water? What plants might I put in to help me move my property toward more abundance, better shaded soils, and water retention? Do I need earthworks, or is the work done well before I got here? How hard would it be to build grey water systems? How should I build in water collection to help in times of draught? Would large scale water/soil changes increase the stability of springs and river near me? Today was a great day to reflect on progress we are making so far this year and I hope you, too, have time to do this some time soon. Song: Wolf, by Sauce

Thanks for humoring me last week as we took a step back together and walked through a how to podcast episode. I know you may be wondering what does that have to do with a walk to independence or homesteading? Well there is this thing we all need on the homestead - cash. And one way to generate income is to use tools like podcasting to promote your products. Plus, a podcast is a great way to capture what you are learning as you start on an adventure. You get the double bonus of helping others as they start a similar adventure. This week, though, we are back to a homesteading topic with a show about mushrooms. I have never seen so many oyster mushrooms as we have had this year here in the south and that has taken me on a bit of a foray in what to do with them all - Because when nature gives us bounty, it is best to take advantage of it! There must be a reason I need vitamin D this year because the mushrooms have the D - and come to think of it - it has been darker than usual this winter. We've passed a benchmark. 100 listeners! What mother nature is providing Wild Garlic Watercress Stinging Nettle Abounds Chickens are laying eggs again! Just in time for Fat Tuesday Crepes! Comfrey is peeking up and the garlic looks happy Make your own sweet potato slips Tales from the Prepper Pantry The weekly squash - week 6: Butternut Squash Enchilada Casserole Mashed potatoes Salad Corn Bread, bread, bread! Stories from the Holler Many hands make light work A weekend of fun and good living 120 pound of green beans have arrived Storing and Using Oyster Mushrooms Storing Dry and in the fridge for a week Dried and vacuum sealed Diced and frozen Canned Pickled Pickling Brines can be found here. Using Sauteed in butter - always try this! Add to soups and stews Oyster mushroom/corn chowder Pizza Stir fried vegetables Wild mushroom turnovers On your hamburger Wild Mushroom Crepes Lessons learned from Toby Hemenway This week: Chapter 4 Next Week: Chapter 5 Observation about this chapter: Growing soil seems to be the best place to focus my attention. A test can be helpful, but if you can't get one, don't let it stop you. Look at what grows there, how well it grows and learn. There is no silver bullet Questions to ask yourself: What is the state of my soil and what can I do to make it better? What resources (like forrest loam) do I have access to as I take on the yard? Where do I want to start first? The whole enchilada, or just a small part of my land? How can I manufacture fertility on my homestead? Chickens, rabbits, table scraps, etc. Spring is coming. Make it a great week! Song: Strange Child, Sauce