Today we talk about new winter lives on the homestead, pregnant sheep, MUD SEASON, the portable sheep shelter and more.
Today’s Sponsor: Freesteading.com Read more
Today we talk about food shortages, inflation, aquaponics and aquaculture, panic prepping, and more with Jack Spirko and John Willis.
Show Resources
Main content of the show
Replay of the Tuesday Live on Youtube.
Make it a great week!
GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce.
Community
- Mewe Group: https://mewe.com/join/lftn
- Telegram Group: https://t.me/LFTNGroup
- Odysee: https://odysee.com/$/invite/@livingfree:b
Advisory Board
- The Booze Whisperer
- The Tactical Redneck
- Chef Brett
- Samantha the Savings Ninja
Resources
Today we talk about some homemade holiday gift ideas put together by the Holler Neighbors for this year.
Today’s Sponsor, Paul Wheaton of Wheaton Labs and Permies.com
Love listening to podcasts? Check out Paul Wheaton’s huge bundle of podcasts, videos, and stuff so you can learn all about permaculture from The Duke of Permaculture himself!
Livestream Schedule
- 9:30CT Tuesday Live with Jack Spirko and John Willis, TBD LINK
- Friday Homestead Happenings will be at 2pm (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-dYtvlhFjo)
- LFTN Weekly Mail
- LFTN Spring Workshop Presale Dec 17 at 9am
Tales from the Prepper Pantry
- Cow is safely in the freezer
- Meal plan by broken vacuum seal
- VakPakIt brand Vacuum Sealer Update (No longer recommend and why)
- Cruisin’ through the canned goods (Almost out of stewed tomatoes, using green beans)
- Still need to do the year end resupply and the Cozi Tool I use
Weekly Shopping Report from Joe
There’s likely to be yucky weather off and on all weekend, so we went during a pause in precipitation this afternoon (Saturday). Friday evening, however, a lot of the pumps at the Weigel’s I use most often were bagged. I went to my secondary choice, and it was fine. A gallon of untainted regular had dropped to $3.999; this was at both stations.
Today’s first stop was Dollar Tree. The drink coolers were in better shape, but still had a lot of empty spaces. They had lots of canned goods, but we didn’t see any of the lentils we’ve previously seen there, and the only beans were Northern White. We hadn’t bought any lentils in a while, so I don’t know if they’ve been missing for longer. The store was otherwise normally stocked. It was also busier than we’ve often seen it, especially for a poor-weather day.
Home Depot was next. Every open area had islands with a lot of smaller items. The prices looked reasonable. We found the couple of items we wanted without difficulty. A 2x4x8 remains at $3.75.
Aldi was last. We found everything on our list, including heavy cream (at least two boxes in the cooler). Stock everywhere looked good. They have more of that generically-packed chicken.
Frugality Tip from Christina
I find myself traveling quite a bit. Recently, I found myself on the road without good coffee (gasp!!!). Long story short – and leaving out the scary days of gas station coffee – I went to the store and bought a pack of coffee filters for $1.50 and a cheap coffee grinder. Someone could do this without the coffee grinder by also buying pre-ground coffee but I had a couple pounds of whole bean bouncing around the truck. I took out my trusty Coleman thermos, put a coffee filter in the top so it was hanging over an inch or so then filled it with coffee. I heated water and poured it through the filter. Voila! Redneck pour-over coffee. Hope this helps someone! I’ve learned so much from you and this community. I’m grateful to have a chance to give back.
Operation Independence
- Turned a corner from panic minimums to progress
Main topic of the Show: Homemade Holiday Gift Ideas
Past episodes on this topic:
- https://www.livingfreeintennessee.com/2016/12/12/episode-15-five-country-holiday-gift-ideas/
- https://www.livingfreeintennessee.com/2017/10/23/episode-54-five-homemade-holiday-gift-ideas/
- https://www.livingfreeintennessee.com/2018/08/27/christmas-gift-ideas-emotions-winter-preparation/
- https://www.livingfreeintennessee.com/2019/08/28/four-christmas-gift-ideas-to-start-now/
- https://www.livingfreeintennessee.com/2020/10/21/four-homemade-gift-ideas/
Why homemade?
Thoughts on the expectations surrounding gifts
Declare independence from debt, but have fun gifting people
Toxicity and gifts
Ideas
- Pine shaving ornaments (Reference)
- Preserved lemons and decorated jar (10 lemons, ½ cup salt, water or lemon juice to pack) Clean lemons, put 2 tbsp salt in quart jar, cut lemons into a blooming onion in quarters, sprinkle with salt, pack, press, fill with liquid, seal and refrigerate)
- Juniper berries (Or other spices)
- Handmade walking stick
- Homemade granola (reference)
- Homemade tea blend in mason jar, or in a decorative bag with a tea infuser
Make it a great week!
GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce.
Community
- Mewe Group: https://mewe.com/join/lftn
- Telegram Group: https://t.me/LFTNGroup
- Odysee: https://odysee.com/$/invite/@livingfree:b
Advisory Board
- The Booze Whisperer
- The Tactical Redneck
- Chef Brett
- Samantha the Savings Ninja
Resources
Today’s Sponsor: FreeSteading.com
LFTN on Free Steading: https://freesteading.com/groups/living-free-in-tennessee/
Forage
- Watercress
- Creek Mint
- Garden lettuce and chard
- Roots
- Must plan garlic this week
Livestock
- Still no baby sheep but we have udders
- Set up Brownie with Brunie – no romance to date
- Rabbits due next week
- Ducks appear to be through the molt but still no eggs
- LGDs getting more training
Harvest Meals
- Holler Stew
- The Dry Roast
- Black garlic
- Sauerkraut pork roast
Winter on the Homestead
- Musical plants – still alive but not looking very good
- Collecting leaves and mulching
- Rains finally came and there is some green
- Kinds of wood and temperature in the house
Holler Neighbors/Community
- Fun Holler Neighbor Dinners
- Christmas is coming – let’s buy from each other
Infrastructure
- Outlet covers on water tank redo project, making it done and powering the fence
- Pulling perimeter fence one section at a time
Finances
- Local, grass fed beef for $4-5 a pound
- Buying a roll of fence
Assessing progress
Membership Plug
Make it a great week!
GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce. It makes a great Christmas Gift!
Community
- Mewe Group: https://mewe.com/join/lftn
- Telegram Group: https://t.me/LFTNGroup
- Odysee: https://odysee.com/$/invite/@livingfree:b
Advisory Board
- The Booze Whisperer
- The Tactical Redneck
- Chef Brett
- Samantha the Savings Ninja
Resources
Today we talk about homesteading, community, using your mind to set yourself up for success, hard work, and more with Tag from Life Done Free and John Willis of Special Operations Equipment
Show Resources
Main content of the show
Make it a great week!
GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce.
Community
- Mewe Group: https://mewe.com/join/lftn
- Telegram Group: https://t.me/LFTNGroup
- Odysee: https://odysee.com/$/invite/@livingfree:b
Advisory Board
- The Booze Whisperer
- The Tactical Redneck
- Chef Brett
- Samantha the Savings Ninja
Resources
What are you waiting for? The New Year? Monday morning? Your next physical exam? The end of a particularly stressful time? Today is the day to start.
Show Sponsor: Paul Wheaton of Wheaton Labs and Permies.com
Paul Wheaton over at permies.com and Wheaton Labs wants you to see how easy permaculture can be! That’s why he wants to share Michael Judd’s webinar on water harvesting and soil building, so you can plan out your permaculture paradise!
For just 10 bucks, you can learn all about how to design water-harvesting swales and berms for your orchard and garden designs. You’ll learn how to plan them out, how to create them, and all the reasons why it will make your gardens go nuts.
Check out the link in the show description to get your hands on this 90 minute masterclass in water harvesting earthworks design to make your landscape flourish with ease.
Learn how to harvest water and build your soil with simple landscape design principles derived from permaculture! Check out the webinar here:
https://permies.com/wiki/171179/Water-harvesting-soil-building-webinar?f=495
Livestream Schedule
- Tuesday Live with Tag from Life Done Free – 12:30 Central
- Homestead Happenings – Friday at 9:30 Central
Tales from the Prepper Pantry
- Thanksgiving was so easy with a deep pantry – no fighting the crowds at the grocery store
- Cow arriving this week, had a closeout holler neighbor sale and deep cleaned one freezer
- Venisons are processed: 4 ham roasts (to be cured), ground, breakfast sausage, steaks
- The tinfoil story
Weekly Shopping Report
No report this week
Frugality Tip from Margo
So we just had a little Halloween party. I put out a veggie and dip tray. So I buy a celery and a bag of carrots and the like. I cut up veggies for the tray and then make two bags to put in the freezer. One with the tops and such for stock and then dice up some veggies in another bag to add to soups and stews.
Use all the parts of the vegetables and save yourself some money in the long run.
Operation Independence
- Loading up on meat
- Thoughts on sheep and winter timing
- Christmas Gift Workshop Tickets, Dec 17 at 9 am
Main topic of the Show: The End is Near – What Are You Waiting For?
What are you waiting for? The new moon? The New Year? Monday?
<thoughts on this>
Reasons to fail are many: <List them>
Reason to succeed are there too, but we often refuse to see them
<story: not practicing classical voice>
The bigger question is this: why do we choose to fail?
- Lazy
- Easy
- Fear of failure – as in real failure
- Fear of success
- I don’t really want to do it
The big reason: Change=losing a piece of yourself
As we sit in a very significant week: Tactical’s first year
I got to thinking about all the excuses we make to delay starting – yet starting is often the only thing we need to do to succeed – as in start every day. Without fail. And when you do fail, start again. And again. And again.
This is the time of year when LFTN starts discussing the word of the year.
So questions come up:
- Are you done with this year’s word of goals?
If yes, why not start early on next year? What is stopping you? What are you waiting for? You can do so much in the next 4 or 5 weeks.
If no, what do you need to do to focus on the most important things so that you DO finish your goals.
We often fail at new years resolutions precisely because we make a bigger deal out of the timing, rather than succeeding at the goal.
Back to T – We will be having a delicious steak meal on Thursday to celebrate one year of sobriety. And that celebration is a good thing.
But he didnt succeed by saying “Monday I will start”, or “Screw it, Christmas is around the corner, I will quit after that.”
He did it through making the hard decision every day, multiple times a day. He did it through addressing core underlying stressors. He did it by grieving a part of himself that will no longer be in his life – a part he sort of liked, I suspect.
And he started the last day of November when he realized NOW I will really make this improvement.
What about you? Are you ready to make your move? To Lose that weight? To cut those cigarettes? To add that side hustle? To plant that garden? To organize that house?
To let go of whatever you hang onto as part of your personality that keeps you delaying the start? To embrace that change is good – and also sometimes sad?
What are you waiting for? Today is your day.
Membership Plug
Make it a great week!
Song:
GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce.
Community
- Mewe Group: https://mewe.com/join/lftn
- Telegram Group: https://t.me/LFTNGroup
- Odysee: https://odysee.com/$/invite/@livingfree:b
- FreeSteading
Advisory Board
- The Booze Whisperer
- The Tactical Redneck
- Chef Brett
- Samantha the Savings Ninja
Resources
Join LFTN listener, permaculturist, and Still Side Hustling Sam Billings as he tells the story of how he realized that a JOB is part of what he needs in place to build the life he wants. Read more
Every Friday, we record our Homestead Happenings update, followed by a questions and answers session. Today’s podcast is the questions and answers session from yesterday’s podcast. We cover: Livestock Guardian Dogs, cooking roasts, livestock and more.
Don’t forget to grab your Small Business Saturday Gift Upgrade at Holler Roast! Read more
Today we talk about what Thanksgiving was like at the Holler Homestead, update you on the state of the livestock, talk about fermenting garlic and more.
Email feedback to nicole@livingfreeintennessee.com
Sponsor: Freesteading.com
Highlight Holler Roast as a Great Gift
Forage
- Root veggies
- Persimmons
- Winter herbals like Mullein
- Watercress is bouncing back after the freeze
- Lettuce looks great in the aquaponics system
- Duckweed
Livestock
- It’s raining deer
- Muscovey’s need wings clipped, no dang eggs
- Brownie has an appointment with a lady
- HH Sheep are on hay (1 bale a week right now)
- Off site sheep are still able to graze
- Rabbits are bred, we hope
Harvest Meals
- Pottage or Holler Stew
- FERMENTING GARLIC
- Smoked Brisket the day before Thanksgiving
- Sign up for the mailing list – chestnut dressing
- Blueberry/Cranberry Sauce Recipe
Winter on the Homestead
- Turned the AP back on as we have a set of time without a freeze
- Using up the not great firewood
- Log Splitter needs to go to the welder
Holler Neighbors/Community
- Holler Thanksgiving and Game Night
Infrastructure
- Do you want a fencing workshop?
- Redid power to the upper pasture
- Watering the food forest was easy with microswales
Finances
- Spent $120 on a pastured turkey, Yep. You heard me right. Other than that, we only bought cranberry, butter and apples for Thanksgiving and fed 11. Meal cost was $150.
- Rolling turkey into stew, casseroles, and another 3-4 meals this week. What are your turkey leftover ideas?
Membership Plug
Make it a great week!
GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce. It makes a great Christmas Gift!
Community
- Mewe Group: https://mewe.com/join/lftn
- Telegram Group: https://t.me/LFTNGroup
- Odysee: https://odysee.com/$/invite/@livingfree:b
Advisory Board
- The Booze Whisperer
- The Tactical Redneck
- Chef Brett
- Samantha the Savings Ninja
Resources
Today we talk about food shortages, owning your life, logical preparedness and more with Black Scout Survival and John Willis.
Boost O Gram Wednesday!
Show Resources
Main content of the show
Wednesday Live with Black Scout Survival
Make it a great week!
GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce.
Community
- Mewe Group: https://mewe.com/join/lftn
- Telegram Group: https://t.me/LFTNGroup
- Odysee: https://odysee.com/$/invite/@livingfree:b
Advisory Board
- The Booze Whisperer
- The Tactical Redneck
- Chef Brett
- Samantha the Savings Ninja
Resources