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Today we will address a question that came up in the context of building community: How much of your true self should you share with a new community, particularly if you are an intense person? I realized this goes for courting as well so we will discuss it along with all our usual Monday Segments: Tales From The Prepper Pantry, Operation Independence and MORE…

 

Featured Event: Self Reliance Festival

Sponsor 1: DiscountMylarBags.com

Sponsor 2: Jack Spirko, The Survival Podcast, Laws of Life Launch

 

Feedback to: nicole@livingfreeintennessee.com

 

Tales from the Prepper Pantry

  • Pantry Road Food – check (We still ate out along the way)
  • Getting more swiss chard than we can eat at the moment
  • Final Freezer Re-organization and recipe of the week
  • Prepper Pantry Redo Update: WAAAAY Easier to share resources

 

Frugality Tip From Margo

I do grow some plants from seed, but I  buy plants too. This year Walmart has a store brand of plant starts that are $2.48, which is more than half the price of the other name brand.  The selection isn’t large, but if you want to grow something without having to spend too much this is a great option. 

 

Walmart also marks plants down on Tuesday and Friday, I go in on Wednesdays. This week I got a pot with two jalapeno plants that are over 2′ tall with flowers and some peppers on them for $4, marked down from $12, and a few weeks ago I found some tomato starts for $1.  

 

Operation Independence

  • Gutter Magic

 

Filter or Firehose

  • Set: Bear’s presentation on layers of community and the question (I’m weird)
  • Dating these days
  • 5 elements of building community
    • Create
    • Contribute
    • Connect
    • Clarity
    • Compassion
  • Purpose of dating
    • Partnership or hookup – which person are you?
    • Courting
  • Filter or Firehose?
    • Why not both? (The honesty issue)
    • The weird factor
    • Learn Social Cues – but be willing to directly communicate
    • You are the story you tell yourself
    • Eyore Syndrome
    • Doers, neutral, takers
    • Journey versus destination
  • Digital impact on relationship and community development, in-person communication
    • Sussing out shared values, priorities, long term vision

 

Filter or firehose? Why not both?

 

Make it a great week!

 

GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce. 

 

Community

Resources

 

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I was hijacked by a Redneck! Tactical is HOME ALONE and experiencing lots of mid spring things on the homestead from the latest forage, to escaping sheep.

Featured Event: Midwest Preparedness Project Spring Event with Joel Salatin, Bear, and more. https://www.midwestpreparednessproject.com/

Sponsor 1: TheWealthsteading Podcast: InvestableWealth.com

Sponsor 2: AgoristTaxAdvice.com

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

Advisory Board

Resources

 

Nicole Sauce loves German food, and Rouladen may be her favorite German main dish. When a pork butt emerged from the depths of her freezer last week, Nicole decided to cook with what she had and came up with a delicious take on Rouladen, which she dubbed Rouchetta.

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Direct Download

Join me for a group discussion with John Willis of Special Operations Equipment and Jack Spirko of The Survival Podcast.

Featured Event: Midwest Preparedness Festival: https://www.midwestpreparednessproject.com/

Sponsors:x

Show Resources

Special Operations Equipment

TheSurvivalPodcast.com

Living Free in Tennessee

NicoleSauce.com

HollerRoast.com 

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

Resources

 

Direct Download

Today I’m fired up from the Spring Workshop and a pretty fantastic concert we had yesterday with my choir in Cookeville, tn. We will share the stories, the people, the late-night brainstorms, the amazing food, and yes… the sea sponges. If you’ve never been to one, this episode will be a fun listen and if you have – I hope you enjoy the journey through LFTN25.

Featured Event: Wild Foraging Walk with Strong Roots Resources – May 10, strongrootsresources.com

Sponsor 1: EMP Shield – Protect your home, car, and gear from lightning strikes and power surges. empshield.com — Use coupon code LFTN for a $50 discount.


Sponsor 2: Discount Mylar Bags – Long-term food storage doesn’t have to break the bank. Quality mylar bags, oxygen absorbers, and more. discountmylarbags.com

Tales from the Prepper Pantry

– The prepper pantry is finally usable and mostly organized—still clearing out the last of the Spring Workshop aftermath


– Pulling road food from the freezers: steaks travel well, plus premade chili, soup, scotch eggs, and dried salami


– May is audit month for leftover canned goods


– Planting a much smaller garden this year since we moved it—but still planting


– Also, I GOT BROCCOLI.

Weekly Shopping Report

I made a trip on Tuesday to Food City for a couple of bags of flour and a 22 lb. bag of Meow Mix (that our cats ask for by name); and Walgreens for the goop I put in my eye at night (“Stye”) so it doesn’t dry out. Only the first Tuesday in the month is Walgreens’ “senior day,” when Grumpy Old Men (and women) get a discount.
For our usual trip, the weather gave us a clear stretch amidst the bands of heavy rain on Thursday. Most people must have decided to wait, as there was little traffic.
Dollar Tree was first. They’re finally out of the big non-carbonated Monsters I was getting, but there were plenty of other choices. Stock levels throughout the store looked good. Sonia has been able to find some craft items in there lately.
We also went to Hobby Lobby for some acrylic paint. We didn’t walk around the whole store looking at other stock, but I didn’t see empty sections or anything else odd. Things may change with the tariffs on Dragon Country, but not yet. They were “normal-busy” with a short wait to check out.
The online price of a 2x4x8 stud at Home Depot is still $3.85.
Aldi was last. We found everything we wanted. Staple prices were: bread (20 oz. white): $1.39; eggs: $4.97; whole milk: $2.92; heavy cream: $5.29; OJ: $4.09; butter: $3.49 (-); bacon: $3.99; potatoes: $4.39; sugar: $2.99; flour: $2.35; and 80% ground beef: $4.59.
Untainted regular gasoline at Weigels is still $3.59/gallon.

Operation Independence

I had a great conversation with John Pugliano this week that’s helping bring clarity to the next big project here at the Holler. I’m still sorting out the details, but it’s one of those moments where a few things click into place, and you realize what really needs to happen next. Hint: It starts with some RV spots.

Main Topic: Behind the Scenes at the LFTN Spring Workshop

Today I want to pull back the curtain on what really makes the Spring Workshop special—not the agenda, not the official sessions, but the stuff that makes it unforgettable.


Glenn’s Rum – He always shows up with something we’ve never tried. This year? It was memorable. Let’s just leave it at that.

Carnivore Scotch Duck Eggs – Y’all, the food. This isn’t your standard workshop fare. It’s duck eggs. It’s bacon. It’s food that fuels you for real work.

Alan Booker measuring brix – Alan showed me how to measure brix in my plants, gave me a compliment, then called my leaves “aphid food.” And you know what? He was right.

Patrick Roehrman’s precision strike – My one-of-a-kind MT Knives kitchen knife got used to slice a carpenter bee out of the air. No, really. While it was flying.

Emily Zanotti Skyles and the plantain spit war – She left fired up about wild edibles. Her kids? They took that knowledge and turned it into backyard ammo.

The greenhouse swim spa debate – We planned to function-stack a greenhouse over the swim spa… and ended up realizing Nicole just needs to bury her electrical lines already.

Ian’s moment – On his way home, Ian stopped by his family land and decided: it’s time. That’s the kind of clarity these weekends bring.

John Pugliano and Meshtastic – He helped all of us finally understand how Meshtastic works—and why it matters.

Leos’ pop-up blacksmithing – Did I mention we had a surprise forge session? Because of course we did.

Glenn’s hamburgers – Day one. Fire. Flavor. No notes.

Gavin and the birds – Gavin wandered through the holler like a nature monk with binoculars, pointing out the birds we miss every day.

Jack Spirko’s bioreactor breakthrough – Sometimes the right fencing and weed cloth are all it takes to spark a better compost design.

Community eggs – Between scotch eggs, scrambles, and three separate egg suppliers, we fed the holler crew with ease—and had leftovers.

Late-night wrestling matches – You know who you are. I won’t name names… this time.

Pocket door rescues – Multiple saves were made, but one prepper decided to handle it solo. Mad respect.

The sea sponges – If you know, you know.

And finally—YOU – The participants. Every single person showed up not just to learn, but to help each other figure out their next chapter.

So why haven’t you taken your shot? Is it the money? The time? The fear of people? Or do you just think you’re not good enough? If it is that last one, take a good hard look at that because you are. You are good enough. You deserve to build your dream. And you can do it – it may look different when you get there than you thought it would, but you can go further – but it takes hard work, strong community and it takes being a DOER.

Make it a great week,

GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce. 

 

Community

Resources

 

Direct Download

Today I am joined by the Tactical Redneck for an update from the Holler Homestead at 12:30PM CT. Spring is springing here and we just had the LFTN Spring Workshop which was a resounding success! I also got tested for my vegetable quality and have some work to do on that.

Featured Event: Midwest Preparedness Project Spring Event with Joel Salatin, Bear, and more. https://www.midwestpreparednessproject.com/

Sponsor 1: TheWealthsteading Podcast: InvestableWealth.com

Sponsor 2: AgoristTaxAdvice.com

Isolation

Fencing on new pasture

Yarrow is up

Baby rabbits

4 wheeler broke

Plant brix

Wood chip mecca

Red clover 

Poison Hemlock

Rose petal

Stormy’s swelling back down

Hoof trimming in the future and youtibe vs reality

Voice problem

Rams on second rotation Herr

Egyptian walking onion

Broccoli success

Restart the sunflower system in the carport

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

Advisory Board

Resources

 

Direct Download

Today, I am joined by The Lunatic Farmer, Joel Salatin, as we discuss his freedom journey, food freedom and developing generational farms and homesteads.

Featured Event: The Exit And Build Land Summit, May 22-23 at Polyface Farm: https://courses.livefree.academy/land-summit-5-polyface-farms

Sponsor 1: AbovePhone.com: https://abovephone.com/?above=104
Use coupon code for $50 off: LiveFreeTN

Sponsor 2: Holler Roast Coffee: https://hollerroast.com/

Make it a great week

 

GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce. 

 

Community

Advisory Board

Resources

Direct Download

Today, I am joined by the Tactical Redneck to talk about lamb births, getting ready for the Spring Workshop and more.

LFTN Spring Workshop – 1 open ticket – deposit paid: https://www.livingfreeintennessee.com/product/2025-lftn-spring-workshop/

Sponsor 1: TheWealthSteadingPodcast – InvestableWealth.com

Sponsor 2: EMPShield.com, Coupon Code LFTN

Grafting the baby to its Mom

Update on the pulled baby

Infection?

Rabbits due next week

Workshop Set Up

Transplanting tomatoes

Assessing dead plants

Morrels

Wild Mustard

Watercress Update

Yarrow

Ducks are in jail

All the people are stopping by to help us get set up this weekend, despite Easter being in the offing

Wood boring bees

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

Advisory Board

Resources

Direct Download

Last night, my bottle-fed Ewe went into labor. She never got as big as the naturally raised ewes and this ended up being a problem. We will talk about the long night in the pasture, as well as tales from the prepper pantry, a shopping report, operation independence, and more.

Featured Event: Exit ad Build Land Summit at Polyface, May 23 & 24: https://courses.livefree.academy/land-summit-5-polyface-farms

Sponsor 1: AgoristTaxAdvice.com/LFTN

Sponsor 2: DiscountMylarBags.com

Tales from the Prepper Pantry

Weekly Shopping Report from Joe

Dollar Tree was first.  They’re finally out of the big non-carbonated Monsters I was getting, but there were plenty of other choices.  Stock levels throughout the store looked good.  Sonia has been able to find some craft items in there lately.

We also went to Hobby Lobby for some acrylic paint.  We didn’t walk around the whole store looking at other stock, but I didn’t see empty sections or anything else odd.  Things may change with the tariffs on Dragon Country, but not yet.  They were “normal-busy” with a short wait to check out.

The online price of a 2x4x8 stud at Home Depot is still $3.85.

Aldi was last.  We found everything we wanted.  Staple prices were: bread (20 oz. white): $1.39; eggs: $4.97; whole milk: $2.92; heavy cream: $5.29; OJ: $4.09; butter: $3.49 (-); bacon: $3.99; potatoes: $4.39; sugar: $2.99; flour: $2.35; and 80% ground beef: $4.59.

Untainted regular gasoline at Weigels is still $3.59/gallon.

Operation Independence

2 lambs born, so $800 goes into the independence fund

Main topic of the Show: A Wonderful, Horrible Livestock Experience

Make it a great week!

GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce. 

 

Community

Resources

 

Direct Download

Join me for a group discussion with John Willis of Special Operations Equipment and Jack Spirko of The Survival Podcast.

Featured Event: The Self Reliance Festival, SelfRelianceFestival.com

Sponsors:

Show Resources

Special Operations Equipment

TheSurvivalPodcast.com

Living Free in Tennessee

NicoleSauce.com

HollerRoast.com 

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

Resources