Old Fashioned On Purpose

Potatoes are by far my favorite food and it’s not even close.  This easy to grow vegetable is not only versatile in the kitchen, but they last long in storage and are fun and easy to harvest from the ground.  In today’s episode, I’m going to discuss how my potato growth has evolved over the years and provide my top tips for increasing your potato yield. If you’re looking to take your potato game t...

Have you ever had garden amnesia?  It’s that time of year you get so excited about beginning your garden that you completely forget about all the time and hard work needed to make it happen?  That’s where I’m currently at right now.  Even with the well-documented struggles I’ve had, I’m ready and raring to go for this gardening season.  Why you might ask?  This year I’m armed with three secret wea...

A BIG thank you to Remond’s Real Salt for being our podcast sponsor for the month of June! http://theprairiehomestead.com/salt Redmonds is my #1 go-to salt for cooking and food preservation. I love that it’s mined in the USA and contains 60+ trace minerals which makes it an easy choice for stocking your homestead pantry. During the month of June, use code HOMESTEAD to save 15% on your order. >&...

Today I’m thrilled to be joined by Darryl Bosshardt of Redmond’s Real Salt.  Darryl is a true salt expert.  His grandparents founded Redmond's 60 years ago and they have been my salt of choice for as long as I can remember.  As we discuss today, salt is an essential mineral for our daily lives, but it’s often misunderstood and sometimes carries a negative connotation.  Darryl provides an adva...

After being hardcore proponents of hand milking for a decade, we finally made the decision to cave in and buy a milk machine.  So why is now the time to make a change?  As I’ve mentioned in recent episodes, we’ve committed to becoming producers for our community.  Simply put, in order to be able to produce milk in large quantities, it was no longer viable to milk by hand.  While I did have some re...

If you’re hoping to grow high quality plants, you must first dig deep (no pun intended) into your soil.  Much like the foundation of a house, your soil sets the tone for everything that follows.  In today’s episode, I’m going to cover a variety of tips and tricks to help you strike the perfect balance in your soil that will allow your crops to flourish.  Learn about the three primary components of...

To put it lightly, this year has been one of revelations on our homestead.  As I’ve discussed in previous episodes, our goal to become producers for our community has necessitated some changes.  We’ve raised meat birds for almost five years now, but as you’ll find out today virtually nothing is the same from when we first started.  Listen to find out why we ditched the chicken coups,  how we sped...

If you’ve watched any of my videos or have seen any pictures on my social media, it’s pretty easy to tell that I’m not a gadget girl when it comes to the kitchen.  I must say that this does come with one key exception; the instant pot.  Being the control freak that I am, I understand there is a bit of irony in me using an appliance I’m not supposed to touch.  On today’s episode, find out why the i...

I don’t believe it’s any secret by now; we like to raise our own meat.  More than any part of the process, people question how we handle the butchering of animals.  While it isn’t always easy, I’ve come to recognize that butchering animals ourselves has only helped us to gain an even greater appreciation for the meat the we raise for ourselves and our community.  While some might find it inhumane...

Homesteading with kids isn’t for the faint of heart, but if you’re up for the challenge it will certainly make an incredible impact on their lives.  I know with our kids, life on the homestead has taught them the value of hard work, how to establish boundaries, and how to be creative.  More than anything, perhaps the most valuable lessons kids can learn is learning how to fail.  If you’v ever doub...

Now more than ever, interest in locally grown food is booming.  Not only are people looking to support small and local businesses during this chaotic time, but they’re also coming to realize the high quality food that exists outside of their normal grocery store.  On today’s episode I’m here to help guide you on your journey of tracking down some incredible locally sourced food.  Believe it or not...

For many different reasons, grassfed meats are all the rage at the moment.  While the incredible benefits are obvious, there seems to be one issue most people run into when preparing grassfed meats; if you’re not careful it can become extremely tough.  Don’t fret my friends, this simply means that grassfed meats tend to be much leaner due to more time in the pasture.  Listen today to learn best pr...

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...