Old Fashioned On Purpose

The fear of failure can prevent even the strongest among of from pursuing dreams and passions that will lead to a truly fulfilling life.  I know Christian and I have had our own share of fear throughout the process of building our homestead and dealing with it hasn’t been easy.  Over the years I’ve actually come to see failure as my best friend.  Crazy, right?  On today’s episode I’m going to expl...

No matter how excited you might be about your homesteading venture, I can guarantee you not everyone around you shares this same excitement.  How do I know?  I’ve been there myself.  Sharing your passion with loved ones only to get instantly shot down is one of the most discouraging things that could ever happen.  The truth of the matter is when you do anything that is as far out of the norm as ho...

Even amongst the homestead community, raw milk isn’t necessarily a common topic of conversation.  Maybe it’s a product of our current situation, but in our household we can’t get enough raw milk at the moment.  For the completely uninformed, raw milk is simply unpasteurized milk.  On today’s episode, I go well beyond the unpasteurized label and explain the phenomenal benefits of raw milk, includin...

It’s no secret.  The vast majority of the world considers us homesteaders to be a bit of an odd bunch.  If we’re being honest with ourselves, what we do on a daily basis is certainly abnormal in modern society.  Even my non-homesteading friends have a major misconception when it comes to why we actually do what we do.  I must admit, it certainly would be much easier to go to the store and buy a ga...

With the widespread quarantines across the country, we’ve witnessed disruption in nearly every single industry.  Perhaps has this been most apparent within the food supply chain.  Isn’t it incredible that we’re seeing both food shortages in areas at the same time farmers are dumping out excess crops?  It seems what we’re feeling at the moment are some of the repercussions of a shift away from smal...

Even prior to our current situation, there has been an explosion of interest in local food production.  While we’ve always produced food for our own use, it wasn’t until this year that we chose to start producing for our community.  For our family, grassfed beef was an obvious place to start.  On today’s episode, I begin from the ground up with everything about grassfed beef.  Learn why every calf...

Recently I’ve been sorting through my library of homesteading books.  I’ve read countless books over the years, but the ones that still remain on my shelf today are the one’s that I truly cherish.  Finding great homesteading books can be a pretty difficult task.  Many books tend to be more of a broad brush rather than digging into specific topic.  Listen today to find incredible reference books fo...

Tomatoes are easily one of my favorite things to grow.  These versatile vegetables can be eaten off the vine, turned into pasta sauce, and so much more.  On today’s episode, I explain my preferred process for growing tomatoes and what I do to get the best yield.  Find out whether it’s best to plant your own seeds or buy them from the store.  Learn why you might be getting “leggy’ seedlings and wha...

Just a few weeks ago, I made mention of our mission to increase our food production this year.  While I’ve already covered several topics regarding food production, chicken power is one we’ve never really utilized.  While this might be a foreign concept to some, it’s truly incredible how useful (and even entertaining) chickens can be on the homestead.  From disposing of food waste to pecking compo...

In one of the more exciting developments on the homestead over the past couple months, we have calves!  For many  of you, the idea of dairy producing animals might be completely foreign.  On today’s episode, I’m here to demystify the process of breeding milk cows.  I cover topics such as artificial insemination, when and how to begin the milking process, and how to ensure you wind up with heifers....

After nearly 10 years of talking about it, we’re finally taking the plunge.  As discussed in previous episodes about increasing food production, now is the time to put a greenhouse on our homestead.  In all honesty, I’ve been getting tired of the short growing seasons we have here in Wyoming.  On today’s episode I share the in-depth research I’ve performed over the past couple months on different...

If there’s one positive to come out of our current situation, it’s the incredible surge of interest in gardening.  Now more than ever, people are realizing the importance of growing and producing their own food.  As any veteran gardener knows. your soil is perhaps the most important factor when it comes to successfully growing your own food.  While it’s not necessary for everyone to get their soil...

While most parts of homesteading are extremely fun and rewarding, it’s not all sunshine and roses.  Sometimes I make mistakes.  Sometimes Christian and I face serious challenges that simply aren’t pleasant to deal with.  If you’ve been listening to the podcast or reading the blog over the past couple months, you’d know that we’ve been working on breeding goats.  When my daughter Mesa went to check...

For a long time, I’ve lived under the belief that gardening season in Wyoming runs from June to September.  In the midst of the Covid-19 epidemic I’ve been obsessively reading about new and different approaches to gardening that quite frankly have blown my past beliefs to pieces.  Today I’m dishing out my favorite new tips and tricks that I’ve learned over the past couple weeks and explain what I’...

It’s a rather interesting time to be alive, isn’t it?  Even though I tend to spend a lot of time at home under normal circumstances, the current state of the world has made it even more extreme.  Even though I haven’t been going anywhere, it feels like I have even less time than ever before.  Are you feeling that way as well?  After getting too caught up in things I have no control over, I knew it...

Somehow, someway, more chicks have found their way onto our homestead.  In the name of food security and the uncertainty surrounding our current time, I broke a promise I made to myself just a couple weeks ago.  If you’re feeling that same itch or you have yet to purchase chicks this season, I’m here to give you a thorough rundown on the best practices when it comes to finding the right chicks to...

While this most certainly is a homestead focused show, the whole reason I’ve been able to sustain and grow my homestead is because I took the time to establish other businesses.  Whether you’re currently pursuing another business or have been thinking about venturing out on your own, growing an online presence is a necessity at this point.  Case in point, many of you listening arrived at my podcas...

Have you ever discovered a forgotten piece of equipment at just the right time?  With the madness going on at the grocery, I stumbled upon an old dusty grain mill.  While I’ve stuck to all-purpose flour for quite some time, our current circumstances have forced a slight pivot in terms of the grains I use.  If you’ve never used a grain mill and you find yourself running out of flour, this episode w...

What is and isn’t a homesteader?  If you’re anything like me, this question has weighed on your mind at one point or another.  To be honest, the deeper I dove into this topic, I quickly realized how difficult it is to define what homesteading is.  I’ve come to find that homesteading is less about certain behaviors or checking off certain boxes and more about living by a mindset and a lifestyle.  L...

Time and time again, I get inundated with questions about sourdough.  On this very special episode (which was broadcast live on Facebook) I answer every sourdough question you could throw my way.  We cover everything from why sourdough starter separates, why it molds, how to tell if sourdough is active, and everything in between.  If you’ve ever had any questions as to why your sourdough isn’t pan...

During uncertain times, basic survival needs like food security become a topic of daily discussion.  While I realize homesteading is essentially preparing us for times like these, not everyone that listens to this podcast are on a homestead.  Many of you live in a city or in suburbs and don’t have a ton of extra space.  Today I’m here to lay out what I’d do if I had to start over in the suburbs. ...

Lately it seems Christian and I have been talking a lot about our dreams for the homestead.  More than anything, we’ve realized we share a strong desire to increase our food production this year.  Listen today as we take our vision well beyond just adding more chickens and cows.  We’re taking steps to further protect our crops from hail and other natural elements to preserve our final yield.  Most...

On today’s episode, I’m taking a bit of a departure from my traditional format to dive into the present state of our homestead.  I cover everything from prepping raised beds, meat chickens, what we’re doing with our milking setup, and so much more.  While we might still be waiting for the cold weather and the snow to pass, things are slowly starting to ramp up in our world.  Let’s get ready for sp...

The chicks are here!  Yes, it’s that time of year.  Last year we were a bit behind the eight ball and missed out on meat chickens.  Not this time my friend.  If you’ve ever wanted to raise meat chickens but have yet to take the plunge, this episode is for you.  I dive deep into what makes a great meat chickens, why you shouldn’t let your chickens grow too fast, what to feed your chicken, and so mu...

With everything going on in the world today, it’s important to always check back in on some basics.  For everyone that has followed me for any period of time, you’d know canning is easily one of my favorite things when it comes to homesteading.  I know what many are you thinking right now:  why can dry beans?  On today’s episode I’m going to explain the many benefits of canning dry beans as well a...