Old Fashioned On Purpose

Now more than ever, it seems people are looking to move and start a homestead of their own. However, there's some very important things to consider when uprooting your life and moving to a new area. In today's episode, I cover why fully understanding the weather is crucial, why you need to look into Food Freedom laws, how long a growing season lasts, and so much more. This episode is CRU...

As a whole, we as humans are more distracted than we've ever been at any point in our history. We now have available to us an unlimited stream of instant distractions in the form of phones, email, apps, social media, Netflix, etc. Ultimately, what it all boils down to is focus. In today's episode, I share with you some of my best strategies to stay focused on day-to-day tasks and keep on...

Without question, reading outside on the porch is my favorite way to relax on the the homestead. However, contrary to popular belief, you won't find me sitting around reading homesteading books for 8 hours a day. In today's episode, I cover my favorite subjects, what I'm reading right now, my feelings on audio books vs. physical books, and what's next on my reading list. Make s...

As I touched on in a previous episode, much of my evolution as a homesteader and as a person in general has revolved around saying 'NO' to traditional systems. However, a recent trip to Virginia forced me to confront another system that I'm not so fond of but have reluctantly accepted in the past: public transportation. Listen to today's episode to find out why I had so much an...

When it comes to homesteaders, in many ways we're natural born preppers. While we might not be preparing for the apocalypse, we're always focused on looking down the road to be ready for any situation. One particular situation that always comes up in my head is "What if you couldn't buy food at the grocery store?" In today's episode, I cover the three steps I'm t...

Society creates systems for us to live by far before we are ever conscious of what is going on. While some of these systems might help us, many of them can also harm us and prevent us from achieving greater things in life . In our pursuit of our homestead dreams, we inadvertently cast aside several of the most common and harmful societal constructs. In today's episode, I'm going to cover...

For a variety of reasons homeschooling has become a hot topic in 2021. While I consider myself to be a homeschooling veteran by now, I'm dealing with something completely brand new this year. For the first time ever, I will have three kids in school at the same time! No matter if you're a seasoned professional or a first time homeschooler, I'm here to dish out my favorite tricks to...

Hello again my friends! With so much going on in my personal life and business, I realized I was hitting a wall. After going and going non-stop, I found myself becoming resentful. No matter how much I fought it in my mind, everything around me was telling me I needed to take a break. The past month or so has made me realize that while homesteading is a major part of my life, by no means is it the...

It's that time again my friends. We've reached the end of another season. As I reflected on the different methods of food preservation we've covered over the past several weeks, I came to a surprising realization. There was one common thread between every preservation method. Can you guess what it is? Yes, that's right! Salt is the one constant for all your preservation needs....

When it comes to the art of canning, many times it's best to do things by the book. However, as my guest today will explain, there are still opportunities to push the boundaries and get creative. In today's episode I'm joined by my friend Angi Schneider, an author and food preservation specialist who is an expert canner. Together we discuss some of the biggest myths about canning, w...

A few episodes ago, my friend Jessica and I laid out all the basics when it comes to getting started with dehydrating. Today, I'm thrilled to be joined be Darci Baldwin to push this conversation even further. Darci is an author and blogger who specializes in helping homesteader preserve their harvests through dehydration and pantry planning. In today's episode, we discuss why you have to...

Canning has always been my go-to food preservation method, but navigating the world of canning can be a daunting challenge. Fear not my friends, today I'm excited to bring to you my second ever canning Q&A. This episode is a recording from a Q&A session I held with my followers on Facebook Live. Today we discuss things like canning condiments, what to do with bad recipes, what soups y...

As someone who recently started cheesemaking, I can very much verify that cheesemaking is most definitely an art form. Today I'm thrilled to be joined by a master of her craft, Robyn Jackson from Cheesemaking from Scratch. In today's episode, Robyn describes what supplies you need to get started, how to determine what cheese press to buy, the difference between freeze-dried and natural c...

While I love to use my dehydrator for preserving food, I can't even begin to claim to be an expert. If you're anything like me, you never really venture beyond the very basics. Well my friend, that's about to change. On today's episode I'm joined by my good friend Jessica Spiers. Listen as Jessica lays out all the necessities when it comes to dehydration. Discover the best...

For many of us accustomed to the standard American way of food preservation, fermentation can be a strange topic to broach. Although it's a subject I've discussed before on this podcast, given the focus of this season I thought it'd be great to bring in a true expert. Today we're joined by my good friend, author and fermentation guru Wardee Harmon. In this episode we cover why...

When it comes to preserving homestead staples, there is perhaps none more confusing than the egg. If you spend time researching some of the methods used in the past, you're likely to question the validity and safety of the vast majority of them. Thankfully, today I'm joined by a true expert in egg preservation, Carolyn Thomas of Homesteading Family. In this episode we cover everything in...

Modern conveniences have made most of us accustomed to one primary method of long-term meat preservation. Without a doubt the freezer has become an essential tool on every homestead, but what happens if you run out of space or have limited access to electricity? Fear not my friends. Today I'm joined by my friend Derek Smiley, a veritable expert in all things regarding meat preservation. In th...

For most of us gardener's around the country, we're currently sitting in that honeymoon phase. It's that time where everything is starting to grow and looking beautiful, but nothing is ready to harvest. However, before we know it the time will be upon us. In this season of the Old Fashioned on Purpose podcast, I'm going to make sure you are able to maximize your bounty while di...

As we reach the end of this season and reflect on what we've learned, today I'm thrilled to be able to give you an update on how I've been applying these lessons within my own life. At the beginning of the season I told you that Christian and I bought a soda fountain in a neighboring town. Two months later I'm here to share our progress, the lessons I've learned in the pro...

Growing a business anywhere is a challenge, but doing so in a small town can seem almost impossible.   Whether it's a tiny population, a small amount of foot traffic, or a perceived lack of demand, the obstacles always seem to outweigh the opportunity.  Today it's time to bust that myth as I'm joined by my friend Dana Larson.  Dana is the founder of Rural Revival, a podcast dedicate...

While this entire season has been dedicated to generating additional income for your homestead, there's a good chance that you've already heard of or contemplated many of the ideas we've discussed. Today that's about to change my friends. In this episode I'm joined by Chloe Mackintosh of Boxwood Avenue. Despite living in a tiny town in California, Chloe has been able to su...

Have you ever sunk a TON of your valuable time, energy, and effort into something only to see little-to-no results on the backend? Despite what you might see on my YouTube page now, this was my experience on the platform several years ago when I first started. In fact, I got so frustrated I nearly gave up on it entirely. Does this describe your current circumstance? If so, fear not my friend. Toda...

While social media platforms like Pinterest and Instagram might be all the rage right now, the trusty blog remains an extremely powerful tool for building your business and your brand. However, when it comes to monetizing a blog and actually turning it into a business, most people have no idea where to start. If that's you, don't worry my friend. My guest today is the incredible Julie Bl...

Without a doubt, Instagram is one of the best tools we have today to help grow our blog, business, or side-hustle. However, it can be daunting to even know where to get started. Fear not my friends, help is on the way! Today we're joined by Instagram marketing guru Ruthie Gray. Ruthie helps her clients by teaching them how to build an authentic following. She also hosts the Instagram Insider...

Throughout this season, we've been covering some extremely important concepts when it comes to building a business. However, much of what we've discussed has been broad in nature up to this point. Fear not my friends, today we're going to get tactical and practical. I'm excited to be joined by Laura Patterson of Hand-Grown Greens. Hand-Grown Greens specializes in growing organi...