Join me for a group discussion with John Willis of Special Operations Equipment and members of our community and beyond about building the life you choose, current events, building a durable life, community development, business, getting started, health and more.
Each Tuesday, we welcome a different guest to tell their story, as well as take your questions live.
Featured Event: The Self Reliance Festival, SelfRelianceFestival.com
Sponsors:
Show Resources
Main content of the sho
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
Today we talk about what you can do now to get your garden beds ready for spring planting, even though you procrastinated til late winter on setting them up. We will also cover Tales From The Prepper Pantry, The Weekly Shopping Report, A Frugality Tip, Operation Independence.
From the Weekly Mail. Livestream Schedule https://www.youtube.com/@lftn/streams
🎙️ Monday, 2pm, Late Winter Garden Preparation
🎙️ Tuesday, 12:30pm, Tuesday Live with Wazoo Gear Company, and John Willis, Special Operations Equipment
🎙️ Wednesday, 2:00pm, Accelerator for Ken Eash!
🎙️ Thursday, 7:00pm, Three Sisters Live
🎙️ Friday, 9:30am CT: Homestead Happenings with the Tactical Redneck
Featured Event: Early Bird Is Almost Over for The Self Reliance Festival! SelfRelianceFestival.com
Sponsor 1: HollerRoast.com
Sponsor 2: AgoristTaxAdvice.com/Webinar
Tales from the Prepper Pantry
Weekly Shopping Report from Joe
Dollar Tree was first. Some of the drink coolers are again completely empty. I think they may still just be trying to assemble their defecation in there, because there are plenty of drinks on shelves. The food coolers are well-stocked, and other aisles look to be in good shape too. Don't overlook Dollar Tree for cleaning supplies; that area has always been well-stocked. They have a lot of the Awesome branded products, which we really like. Lysol, Ajax, and other name brands are all represented in this section. A buck and a quarter (plus extortion) beats the tar out of typical grocery store prices on these products.
Although we did not go into Home Depot, the online price of a 2x4x8 has gone up, to $3.38, a 13-cent increase.Aldi has had slightly larger crowds the past few weeks. Other than the hiatus with the Masa, they have not had difficulty maintaining stock, and we found everything we wanted. Staple prices were: eggs: $2.78 (+); whole milk: $2.93; heavy cream: $4.69; OJ: $3.29; butter: $3.69; bacon: $4.25; potatoes: $3.99; sugar: $3.09; flour: $2.29; and 80% lean ground beef: $3.99 (+). That egg price is a full dollar higher; if not hand-written, I'd think it was a typo. We didn't buy eggs this week, so I can't confirm on our receipt. Although I had heard egg prices might be going higher again, I'll keep an eye on this one, as that's a huge jump.
Untainted regular gasoline was $3.699/gallon last week. That's slightly higher, but could also be a station difference.
Frugality Tip from Margo with an oCool weather, means outside projects. For me one was a painting project. I did some house touch up, and I painted the driveway. My frugality tip is NEVER buy the Cheapest paint roller. Save yourself paint and energy expended by buying a good roller!!! Ask me how I know.
Operation Independence
Main topic of the Show: Late Winter Garden bed Preparation
Intentions can help us move toward our best goals and build the life we want to live, rather than continuing to live a life that was developed for us, by someone else. We talk about this a bunch here because the systems in our society increasingly lead toward a life lived in service to the system rather than to ourselves and our chosen communities.
It can be so hard to get people who have been programmed by the system to see the system as the only option on how to break out. Yet when the system fails people, they get scared and start looking for options. And when they start looking for options, if we can be mentors and connectors, a small percentage of those looking for a better life will start to make the changes it takes to get here.
Many of you have heard my story of transitioning from a socialist leaning toward communist to libertarian overnight. <Tell the story>
And that change seems like it just happened and I became the Nicole Sauce you know today, but that is not at all how it happened. I still had habits and programming to bust through. Heck, despite being a thought leader in the world of agorism, I still find programming that I MUST deprogram.
But the Intention to move myself toward true freedom and opt out of the system as much as I can is how I have moved from an urban chick completely unprepared to take care of myself through anything, to a prepared, badd-assed homesteader not afraid to share failures alongside successes because the INSTAGRAM homesteading community often only shows the good side of homesteading and, gorsdurnit, homesteading is heartbreaking, hard, messy, gross and one fo the most rewarding parts of the life I have built for myself.
What does all this have to do with garden prep you ask?
Well, I HAD intentions to get my garden beds put away for the fall, but what really happened is I spoke at a bunch of events and handled a major repair to my home. And it is time for spring planting in Tennessee though we are not in spring for another 3 weeks.
So today I talk about getting your garden ready for spring planting.
Never had a garden there before:
Existing garden
Stephen Raisner: https://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/naturalframing-ai
All in all it is not too late to get your beds ready but you will not do as well as you would have done. However, you can make a HUGE difference this year by simply making some IMF, which you still have time to do, for example. And if you do a bit each weekend between now and planting, you should be in good shape anyway.
So get out there and grow some food guys!
GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce.
Community
Resources
Today we talk about rabbit poos systems, a sheep hay sled, more on electric fences, building community and more.
Featured Event:
LFTN Events Calendar: https://www.livingfreeintennessee.com/events/
Self Reliance Through Permaculture: https://www.livingfreeintennessee.com/event/self-reliance-through-permaculture/
Marc 2 in Crossville, $25
Sponsor 1: DiscountMylarBags.com
Sponsor 2: SelfRelianceFestival.com
Listener Feedback
I GOT STARTED!
I've been a listener for a couple years now and between you and Tim I finally started a business. Still getting things moving but I used Joshua at getahostnow and he was great at getting me off the ground with a website (still building it now). Thank you for being an inspiration for those that want to be free! Jesse
Tattooing Rabbits
You probably know this already, but I thought I would share my experience tattooing rabbits.
If you can get tattoo paste (black is best, in my opinion) that works so much better than other options So here is what did:
-clean left ear
-use a towel over the head (to prevent bites/scratches)...a lot easier with two people..but otherwise, hold in your arm with rabbit head in your elbow
-Clamp
-wipe any blood
-smear and press tattoo paste into the holes
-wipe off excess with a slightly damp cloth, check to make sure color in every hole
With characters-we would put the number of the year as last character (so 2024, 4 at the end), and first digit of which doe it came from (so, doe "Aphrodite," all her descendents started with A)
And I'd HIGHLY recommend starting pedigree so you can avoid too much incest . The does will become too dumb to take care of babies, or become vicious, or do other dumb things.
Hope this helps! Also, did you get my email about recirc pump to help with frozen pipes in your house?
Take care, Kelsey
Parallel fence and power lines especially can interfere with your circuit.
It might be possible, in an Edge Case situation like that, that the grounding rods and salt could combine to form cupric oxide diodes around the ground rods, which will rectify the voltage into the ground (passing DC voltage in one direction and passing it in the other).
Disclaimer: I am not an electrical engineer. I'm a liberal arts grad and math is a distant second language.
Sorry about the sheep. That is rough. Something to "look forward to" (not) at the time we get animals on our place. Best, packradt packradt
Forage
Livestock
Grow
Holler Neighbors/Community
Infrastructure
Finances
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
Join me today for a dive into Matt Hundley's journey from deciding to opt out of the city, acquire a spot of land, and transforming it into an asset instead of a liability. We talk about the sacrifices he made to get this done, as well as personal growth he experienced along the way.
Sponsor 1: The Wealthsteading Podcast, InvestableWealth.com
Sponsor 2: EmpShield.com, Coupon code LFTN gets you $50 off
Connect with Matt, Get Your Trees, Etc!
www.TennesseeHomesteadDesign.com
https://www.facebook.com/centervillefarmtennessee
Main content of the show
GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce.
Community
Advisory Board
Resources
Join me for a group discussion with John Willis of Special Operations Equipment and members of our community and beyond about building the life you choose, current events, building a durable life, community development, business, getting started, health and more.
Each Tuesday, we welcome a different guest to tell their story, as well as take your questions live.
Featured Event: The Self Reliance Festival, SelfRelianceFestival.com
Sponsors:
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
Resources
People always ask me how to build community and today I will talk about the advent of our strong network and how that worked for me as an introvert.
Featured Event: The Freedom Cell Challenge FREE online event on building real community. https://livefree.academy/op/the-freedom-cells-challenge/?ref=183
Sponsor 1: Agorist Tax Advice: AgoristTaxAdvice.com./Webinar https://event.webinarjam.com/register/8/0y70ruk
Sponsor 2: HollerRoast.com
Livestream Schedule
Tales from the Prepper Pantry
Weekly Shopping Report from Joe
First stop was Dollar Tree. They've finally gotten off their butts and restocked all the drink coolers. The food coolers are also in good shape. Although it's always hit or miss in there (e.g. no decongestant-only OTC meds), the health aisle is pretty full, if a little messy.
We skipped Home Depot on Saturday and went next to Aldi. The Masa that had been missing for the last two weeks was back in stock. We found everything we wanted. Staple prices were: eggs: $1.78 (-); whole milk: $2.93; heavy cream: $4.69; OJ: $3.29; butter: $3.69; bacon: $4.25; potatoes: $3.99; sugar: $3.09; flour: $2.29; and 80% lean ground beef: $3.59.
Home Depot: The store looked normal-busy to me. A 2x4x8 remains at $3.25.
I went to my regular Weigel's earlier in the week, and I think the untainted regular was still $3.639/gallon.
Frugality Tip
NONE
Operation Independence
Wood chips and garden prep - Spent $50 on seeds
Main topic of the Show: Building Community for the Intervert
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
Today we talk about tragedy on the Homestead, the return of eggs, two people projects and more with theTactical Redneck.
Featured Event: Kentucky Sustainable Living Expo
Sponsor 1: Agorist Tax Advice- FREE webinar! AgoristTaxAdvice.com/Webinar
Sponsor 2: Freesteading.com
THE LIST
Forage
Livestock
Grow
Harvest meals
Holler Neighbors/Community
Infrastructure
Finances
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
Today I am joined by John Willis of Special Operations Equipment and Sonny Puzikas from the Gospel of Violence Podcast to talk about what societal collapse AND RECOVERY looks like. Because most who frame these topics have never been through one, but Sonny has.
Each Tuesday, we welcome a different guest to tell their story, as well as take your questions live.
Featured Event: The Self Reliance Festival, SelfRelianceFestival.com
Sponsors:
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
Resources
Today I am joined by Jonathan Kitzen, https://waterplantir.com/, to talk about water treatment and septic systems
Featured Event: Webinar Tomorrow at 2pm with Sue Zoldak, https://nicolesauce.podia.com/view/courses/marketing-for-success-q-a
Sponsor 1: The Wealthsteading Podcast:
Sponsor 2: EMP Shield, Coupon Code LFTN
Show Resources
https://www.demizinetechnology.com/projects-2
Main content of the show
Jonathan is a serial entrepreneur having started more than 10 companies in nearly 3 decades that have focused on manufacturing, hardware, visual sciences, entertainment and commercial real estate. He has run companies in the USA, Canada, UK, Russian Federation, Dominica, Colombia. His past achievements include developing a digital 3D camera system which won the prestigious Mario Prize at the National Association of Broadcasters convention, founder of MKA Inc the only company making a profit manufacturing in the FSU according to the US state department in the early 1990’s, Founder of BHW of the UK (2002) which was early on sustainability and forestry, and has worked as professional cat herder trying to get engineers to do various tricks for over 30 years.
Jonathan is a big promoter of the decentralized movement - that more smaller redundant and local systems create more robust and sustainable response to climate change. He guided Demizine into the alternative housing market: mobile, emergency, rapid living solutions. He recognized that the market is bottle necked on the need for water and septic solutions. A house without running water and septic is a glorified tent – and formed WUB to change the way we think about and deal with water and septic.
His creative work includes multiple IMAX films, Co-Producing the academy award winning Lady in Number 6, co-author of an upcoming novel with Phillip K. Dick (Blade Runner) and Ron Schusett (Alien)
Interview
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
Today, we talk about starting your garden plants from seed. We will take this from a beginners perspective and sprinkle in "Innovations" for those of you who are old hands at it. We will also cover our usual Monday Segments: Tales From the Prepper Pantry, Weekly Shopping Report from Joe, Frugality Tip, Operation Independence.
Featured Event: Feb 25 RV Solar Installation Workshop, $50, Westmoorland, TN, https://www.livingfreeintennessee.com/event/rv-solar-install-workshop/
Sponsor 1: DiscountMylarBags.com
Sponsor 2: HollerRoast.com
Tales from the Prepper Pantry
Weekly Shopping Report
Frugality Tip from Red Fyer Media (Rebecca)
For your DIY Construction projects
Get free lumber, hardware, plumbing PEX, Electrical supplies & even tools!
Building contractors, especially smaller ones who build 1-5 houses at a time, have to pay clean up crews to haul off the excess lumber & they rent the dumpsters & sometimes have to pay extra by weight & to be emptied.
If you see a house is being built, stop by and talk to the contractor about dumpster diving or collecting left overs. They will usually say ok, as long as you promise to go by after the crew is done for the day and they also want you to guarantee you are not going to sue them if you hurt yourself.
Every contractor I have talked to is THANKFUL that I am taking stuff away and they don't have to pay to haul off.
Here''s a short list of what I have gotten for free that way:
1/2 pex - appx 150 ft because crews don't like to mess with the last 20-30 ft of the roll stuck in the plastic.
3 strand wire (at least 150' from 4 different houses. They are short runs, maybe 2' - 7', but most DIY homestead projects use a lot of short runs and a few long ones. Super heavy duty wire like for 220 - enough for any DIY project.
Lumber! 2x4s, 2x6, 2x8, trim pieces for both indoor and outdoor - most NEW lumber that was extra at the end of a house build. Right now I have 20 20' 1x4 cedar boards that were left overs for ONE house.
Other items:
Insulation, pipe insulation.
Door hardware, cabinet hardware, plumbing hardware, electrical boxes (like on power poles) All NEW!
Operation Independence
Main topic of the Show: Starting Seeds for Beginners
First: Why try?
Next: What can go wrong
About failure:
<Story: extra tomatoes and holey hoses>
Things to cover
Seeds: Heirloom, vs hybrid and its all okay
What to grow via seedlings: Tomatoes, peppers, kale, swiss chard, broccoli, lettuce, loofahs
1) Light, light, light. Generally a window isn't going to have strong enough light. By far, this is most common pitfall.
Lighting - and what to do if you dont have any
2) Soil temperature. Too low, and you'll have bad germination rates and weak seedlings.
Heating source - and what to do if you dont have any
Seedling mats
$13
3) Consistent moisture, not overwatering. Dampening off and failure to thrive despite good lighting is generally due to overwatering.
Watertable method - redneck style
Plant tray:
Pots
Trays
4) Potting mix. Find one you get good results with and stick to it. You want good moisture holding capacity but also a light enough texture that pricking out and potting up is easy.
Potting Mix
Soil mix
Some first year advice: choose 1 or 2 things and just try them out. And dont be sad if you end up buying seedlings - try again next year. It will work at some point.
Borrow from a friend
Visit nurseries for their extras - we ended up with 100 tray carrier things that way.
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
Today, we talk about electrical fencing woes, escaping sheep, egg issues and more with the Tactical Redneck.
Featured Event: Wild Foraging Class April 8, 2024 with Kerry Brown. https://selfreliancefestival.com/product/wild/
Sponsor 1: HollerRoast.com
Sponsor 2: Freesteading.com
Fence Charger Woes - Is it the battery?
Forage
Livestock
Grow
Homegrown Meals
Holler Neighbors/Community
Infrastructure
Finances
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
Join me for a lively discussion with Julie Wentz about preserving your freedom to choose your health care.
Featured Event: Sequatchie School Trapping Class Feb 24 - Join me there. $125. Email: Sequatchieschool@gmail.com
Sponsors:
Show Resources
Bio: Julie Wentz is the Founder/Trustee of Freedom Healthcare. Julie has an extensive background in marketing and management in big box retail management, senior living communities and technology start-ups, along with decades of event management. She received her bachelor’s at Oregon State University and spent six months in Vienna Austria at the University of Vienna obtaining her International Business degree. She was a respite Foster Parent for the west valley in Arizona and has recently moved to Tennessee to further expand Freedom Healthcare. The goal is to create the NEW healthcare system for the future of America’s real foundational health. It is time to create the New Standard of Health for humanity.
www.freedom-healthcare.us
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100076849533990
Instagram -https://www.instagram.com/frhealthcare/
Gab - https://gab.com/FreedomHealthcareAZ
Truth Social - https://truthsocial.com/FreedomHealthcare
Twitter - https://twitter.com/FreedomHealthAZ
Linked in: https://www.linkedin.com/company/freedom-healthcare-us/
Telegram: https://telegram.org/FreedomHealthcare
Clout Hub https://clouthub.com/c/przbwbnd @FreedomHealthcare
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
Join me for a group discussion with John Willis of Special Operations Equipment and members of our community and beyond about building the life you choose, current events, building a durable life, community development, business, getting started, health and more.
Each Tuesday, we welcome a different guest to tell their story, as well as take your questions live.
Featured Event: The Self Reliance Festival, SelfRelianceFestival.com
Sponsors:
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
Resources
Join me at 2pm Central for a live recording of the Monday podcast. Today's topic is how to stay motivated when you just aren't feeling it. We will also cover our usual segments: Weekly livestream schedule, Tales From the Prepper Pantry, Weekly Shopping Report, Frugality Tip (if there is one), Operation Independence.
Featured Event: Paul Wheaton's Permaculture Jamboure, July 1-12, $1850 : https://wheaton-labs.com/permaculture-tech?f=495
Sponsor 1: InvestableWealth.com
Sponsor 2: EmpShield.com, Coupon Code LFTN
Livestream Schedule:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@lftn/streams
Odysee: https://odysee.com/@livingfree:b
Tuesday 9:30am CT: Live with John Willis and Jack Spirko
Wednesday 2pm CT: Interview with Julie Wentz (Healthcare Freedom)
Thursday 7pm CT: SRF Livestream
Friday 9:30am CT: Homestead Happenings w
Tales from the Prepper Pantry
Weekly Shopping Report
Dollar Tree. The drink coolers are still being neglected, with none of them any more than 3/4 full, and about half of them empty or nearly so. I noticed the mix of canned and bottled drinks on the shelf are becoming more unusual. There's still some Monster, but it is all coffee-flavors, and a smattering of Rip-it and Rockstar, but it's mostly stuff I don't recall that I've never seen before. Other aisles look typical. The Health aisle still has a decent mix, and there are plenty of soaps and shampoos.
Home Depot was next. a 2x4x8 remains at $3.25. They have some more 4-packs of Lithium AA cells now. If you're in need of some very light-duty tools (e.g. cordless screwdrivers, rotary brushes, a few different lights), they have more of the new Ryobi USB-charged tools in stock.
Aldi was last. We did see a few holes, but found what we wanted except for Masa, a corn flour mix. We asked again, and they get it in, but Mexicans are buying it by the case.
Staple prices were: eggs: $1.86 (+); whole milk: $2.93; heavy cream: $4.69; OJ: $3.29; butter: $3.69; bacon: $4.25 (low-sodium was back in stock); potatoes: $3.99; sugar: $3.09; flour: $2.29; 80% lean ground beef: $3.59 (-).
A gallon of untainted regular has stayed at $3.639.
Frugality Tip
Member Webinar: Marketing for Success with Sue Zoldak, Feb 15 at 2pm https://nicolesauce.podia.com/marketing-for-success-q-a
Operation Independence
Main topic of the Show: How Do You Find Motivation?
I have watched a telegram group of people wanting to stay motivated go nuts this past few months. People get on and share successes, learn to forgive themselves for failures, and try to stay motivated.
Stay motivated - that is the key. How do you stay motivated? I get this question all the time, particularly as relates to managing a homestead and starting side hustles.
Caritalees Weekend Post
And there is the lesson - Staying motivated in business, on the homestead, on your chosen dietary path, in exercise - is the same formula every single time.
You have the good days
You have the bad days
You have the meh days
You have the temptations to waver
But has anyone ever said, after hauling their butt to the gym when they did not want to – has anyone ever said - Man I wish I hadn’t taken that spin class, or lifted those weights?
Before, and even during, you may be hating it. But when you are finished, are you ever mad you did it?
This is the thing about finding your motivation - it is the wrong question to ask. I mean sure, knowing things that get you motivated is a helpful tool. But the question you really want to know is not, how do you stay motivated, it is how to you stay dedicated or disciplined.
Ways I trick myself into doing things on bad/meh/temptation days.
The bad news about staying motivated? No one does. The difference in perception between people who you think do and who you think dont is that those who look motivated all the time do the work even when they dont want to.
Do find your passion, do build the life you want, but now that sometimes, you just gotta go get started, even if youre having a bad day.
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
Today I am joined by Tactical to talk about priority schizophrenia on the homestead, electrical fences, preparing for spring planting and more.
Featured Event: Kentucky Sustainable Living Expo: KentuckySustainableLiving.com
Sponsor 1: The Wealthsteading Podcast, InvestableWealth.com
Sponsor 2: HollerRoast.com
Forage
Dandelion is already up
Firewood update
Grass Update (Was looking for wild onions)
Livestock
We Need Good Hay - And it is out fault
Eggs are slow - may adjust feed because they really should all be laying
Coop management is not working
Rooster slaughter is upon us
Time to process bunnies and breed the does
Retraining sheep, failing fence chargers, etc
Grow
Final day of the pantry challenge: Swiss chard
Time to plant peas
Pollarding and trimming
February on the Homestead: Bed preparations, Pruning, Seedlings, Operations Eyesore
Homestead Meals
Reverse searing Lambchops
Holler Neighbors/Community
The Car Schedule
Infrastructure
Fence Charger Story
Spare parts are great - KH was bailed out by the collection (So how do you balance that with clutter problems?)
Finances
In the midsts of a deep dive with Agorist Tax Advice and may need to make some tough decisions
Scheduling Chicken P
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
Advisory Board
Samantha the Savings Ninja
Resources
Join me today at 2pm Central for a discussion with Brian from The Lots Project. We will discuss the Amazon Influencer's Program and its potential role in your content creation project.
Featured Event: Fight Like a Girl with Sonny Puzika: https://selfreliancefestival.com/prod...
Sponsor 1: DiscountMylarBags.com
Sponsor 2: FreeSteading.com
Show Resources
Brian's Amazon Storefront
https://amazon.com/shop/thelotsproject
Playlist of Brian's Amazon Influencer Program Videos
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhVhFByPLDZnqD7XQ82fTu2yAo6xQoK_e
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
Advisory Board
Resources
Tuesday Live With John Willis, Nicole Sauce and Agorist Tax Advice.
Join me for a group discussion with John Willis of Special Operations Equipment and members of our community and beyond about building the life you choose, current events, building a durable life, community development, business, getting started, health and more.
Each Tuesday, we welcome a different guest to tell their story, as well as take your questions live.
Featured Event: The Self Reliance Festival, SelfRelianceFestival.com
Sponsors:
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
Resources
Today, We talk about how I make decisions on what to do, and what to leave - and why this is an important place to make purposeful decisions.
It only takes 60 seconds to unload the dishwasher so why not just go for it if the dishes are in there. Even if you are running late those 60 seconds are not the reason. Featured Event: Earlybird Tickets are Up for the Self Reliance Festival, April 6-7
Sponsor 1: AgoristTaxAdvice.com
Sponsor 2: Emp Shield, Coupon Code LFTN
Livestream Schedule
Monday, 2PM: Should I Do It?
Tuesday 12:30 PM: Tuesday Live With John Willis and Matthew Sercely, AgoristTaxAdvice.com
Wednesday, 2PM: Interview with Brian from The Lots Project on Amazon Influencer Program
Friday, 9:30 AM: Homestead Happenings with The Tactical Redneck
Tales from the Prepper Pantry
Weekly Shopping Report from Joe
Sorry for the hiatus. We were stuck behind 8" of snow last week and did not get out, but we returned to our usual routine this Saturday, plus a second trip today.
Dollar Tree was first on Saturday. The drink coolers were in very bad shape, with maybe one of them fairly full, but the others empty or nearly so. There were plenty of drinks on the shelves though, so I'll chalk it up to laziness. I stopped in here again on Sunday, and perhaps one of the empty ones had been refilled, but not the others; slackers.
Home Depot was second on both days. A 2x4x8 remains at $3.25. We forgot it on Saturday, so I returned for a snow shovel today, but they just don't stock them. I did grab one of the few remaining bags of ice melt. I will order a snow shovel; rare or not, when needed, it's needed.
Aldi was third on both days. They had no Masa in stock, which Sonia uses a lot (including for the birds, who love it). I asked someone today, and she said it's a core item and should be on the next truck. We found everything else we wanted. Staple prices were: eggs: $1.66; whole milk: $2.93; heavy cream: $4.69; OJ: $3.29; butter: $3.69; bacon: $4.25*; potatoes: $3.99; sugar: $3.09; flour: $2.29; 80% lean ground beef: $4.49. Although the price of bacon had not changed, there was none of the low-sodium variety, and they added a couple boxes of the cheap stuff, which was priced at $3.99. We just got regular bacon.
Finally, I stopped for gas. A gallon of untainted regular at this particular Weigel's had dropped to $3.639.
Frugality Tip from Jed Froggy
During covid, all Ball products were hard for me to find, especially pickle crisp. Upon researching and realizing that it is just hydrated calcium chloride, I found some in stock at a home brewing supply. That supply line is obviously more robust, the container is larger, and the larger container was actually cheaper. Pickle Crisp is just pearled CaCl2 and this looks exactly the same. Despite Pickle Crisp becoming available, I have continued to shop at the brewer instead. While you’re in there, price check other food grade chemicals, and ask if you can leave your name as someone that wants waste mash.
Operation Independence
LFTN 24 is sold out - Wait List
Main topic of the Show: Should I do it?
I was up at 5 today and sat with my coffee for an hour working on the My3Things sales copy before taking the dogs for a walk, doing a 30 minute set on housekeeping, and evaluating My3Things for the day.
Along the way, I glanced over at my sink and saw last night’s dishes drying - well really - DRY in the put away rack. I frowned at the dishwasher a few times. It was full of clean dishes.
We often spend time putting off doing things, worrying about doing things, and talking about doing things while not doing them – only to discover that they take less time to do that it was worth worrying over.
It only takes 60 seconds to unload the dishwasher so why not just go for it if the dishes are in there. Even if you are running late those 60 seconds are not the reason. And usually that extra minute will not hurt you any more than running late has already hurt you.
On the flip side, if you do fifteen 1-minute tasks instead if heading out to your appointments, then doing those things is, in fact the problem.
I often say, spending fifteen minutes in the morning deciding what is for dinner and making sure you have what you need to make that happen on time is the difference between a nourishing, home cooked meal and either eating at 9pm or getting takeout. Especially if you are lucky enough to practice homegrown cooking.
So when and how, then do you decide to do something, versus put it off for another time
The Underlying Problem: More to do than hours in the day.
>Ask why
>But why
Ah, now we are getting somewhere. To decide what is important, you must decide what is not important. Or said another way: If everything is important, nothing is.
Goal at home: Home that empowers me AND nourishing, home-cooked food that we grow.
Must haves
Not important
That being said, a non-healthy environment does not meet my needs.
Question: When should I do it? Comes to mind.
Back to the dishwasher - mine did not get emptied until lunch time - why? Because to have clean clothing, I needed to do laundry. To have healthy food tonight - a tough night for it - I had to have my plan and supplies ready to go. To make my 8am call, I needed to do the most important things first to get the outcomes I wanted and there were only 30 minutes for household stuff after I did my book session and walked the dogs.
Laundry takes time to get done, but little interaction, so I knew I could start it, then be on that call.
Dinner has to happen at 5pm (1 hour early), so I made sure we had everything in place for taco salad night, which includes harvesting swiss chard that gets built into my day.
And Monday is pretty important here in the morning. Monday is when the discussion of who is doing what on which day happens, so we knocked that out.
By the time that was all done, there was not a minute left before my first call, so I took it, then hyperfocused on work until it was time to cook lunch - and only then was there space for the 1 minute dishwasher unload.
People often say women can multitask, but this is not how I work. I rapidly task - I fill the breaks with small things, like unloading the dishwasher, while I wait for other things that are not ready for the next input. Example: While waiting for onions to caramelize, I, in fact, finally unloaded the dishwasher. It takes 4 minutes to caramelize onions, so the dishwasher is the perfect thing to add into that tiny space.
And it is these spaces that make the difference between keeping up, and ending up way behind. Filling the empty spaces in your day makes a huge difference.
I know it sounds like a bit of torture, this filling of spaces but think about what it can give you:
Now I know you expected me to dive into why you should ALWAYS do it as part of today’s show but that is not the point. Quite the opposite.
I was thinking today how these little domestic “tweener” projects are foundational to the functioning of the Holler Homestead. And this goes beyond the homestead.
In your “work mode” you also have important little maintenance things that must be done. We sit around waiting that ten minutes from calendar reminder to appointment, afraid we will miss it, when we could be sending a single email to someone, or paying bills, or sweeping the roasting shack.
But in my house, I manage to fit the 60 seconds it takes to unload the dishwasher during the 4 minutes it takes to caramelize onions
Why? Because I can tell at a glance that the onions need stirring so I know I will be successful at getting both done.
But that call? Ah the call is a different things altogether. If I wander off to do the 5 minute sweeping of the shack while waiting for the specific call time, I may not make that call. And there is a simple fix: A second notification.
Setting the calendar for the 10 minute warning AND a your need to start now alarm makes that space usable again.
It is a simple fix. It works. And it gives you back ten lost minutes to add to your afternoon focus session - a powerful gift.
So in answer to should I do it? I don’t know. It depends on you choosing actual, big picture priorities like I talk about in my book, My3Things. It depends on what you have set up to make yourself get the most important things TO YOU or FOR YOUR PROJECT done.
Asking the question is the first step - building purpose into your answer is the answer.
Here’s to a sink full of clean, drying dishes and a dinner that cooked itself while I ate lunch my friends.
Make it a great week!
GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce.
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Join us at 9:30m Central for a live discussion of managing the homestead alone, mud season, life without the grocery store, seed starting and more.
Featured Event: Sequatchie School Trapping Class, $125
Date: February 24, 2024
Location: Spencer, TN
Sign up: sequatchieschool@gmail.com
Sponsor 1: AgoristTaxAdvice.com
Sponsor 2: DiscountMylarBags.com
Careful what you pray for - Snow turns to rain turns to mud city
Update on the truck key situation
Freezer Probe Problems -
Guest form is off until April 1, 2024
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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!
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Today I talk about building your brand, remaining positive, the Ruckus and more with Bear Independent and John Willis.
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.
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Everything that has gone well for me in building a business has started with the first step: deciding to take the risk. Today we will talk about that as well as our usual Monday segments.
Featured Event: BEE KEEPING BASICS
SATURDAY, JANUARY 27
10 AM - 12:30 PM
THE WAR ROOM
3519 BLUE SPRINGS ROAD
STRAWBERRY PLAINS, TN 37871
It’s open to the public here’s the Facebook link for the event.
https://www.facebook.com/share/zxnVqt7kxw8k2WTC/?mibextid=9l3rBW
Sponsor 1: John Pugliano and the Wealthsteading Podcast, InvestableWealth.com
Sponsor 2: Homestead Apprentice, https://homesteadapprentice.com/
1 Million Satoshi Highlight Episode
3D Printing WIth Brad and Leslie Ferrier
https://www.livingfreeintennessee.com/2020/12/04/3d-printing-with-brad-and-leslie-ferrier/
Submit Your Favorite Here!
https://www.livingfreeintennessee.com/2023/08/14/one-million-downloads-celebration/
Livestream Schedule
Monday, 2pm, Take That Risk, Make It Work, Prerecorded But Live - A Test
Tuesday, 12:30pm, Live with Nick Ferguson and John Willis
Friday, 9:30am, Homestead Happenings with The Tactical Redneck
Tales from the Prepper Pantry
Weekly Shopping Report
Frugality Tip
Operation Independence
Main topic of the Show: Take That Risk, Make It Work
I want to but what if I get too many orders and cannot fulfill them? The economy is looking really sketchy, what if people can’t afford my product? I may look stupid if I try that and it doesn't work.
What if no one cares? What if I cant do it? What if I cant make enough money to pay for amy family? What if I move and real estate crashes and I end up upside down in my mortgage?
What if we go to war? What if the economy crashes? What if I am not good enough.
What if I am not good enough?
WHAT IF IM NOT GOOD ENOUGH?
Ever single thing that has moved me ahead in life. Every business that has succeeded. Every event that has sold out. Every big name speaker I’ve booked. Every time I have attempted to grow. And every time I have not gone as far as I wished, has involved taking a risk. An action. A decision. And lots of focus and work.
Nothing has come easy but imagin how things would be different if I had gone the more steady, conservative path?
In the late 90s, I would have become a school teacher, despite the fact I could see the schools systems are broken training grounds for generations of kids to NOT learn the skills they will need in our modern future. Impossible to change from within.
<Executive training, but first, side hustles (Mad Science)>
In the early aughts, what if I hadn’t quit my relatively low paying job at a software and training start up? What if I handn’t jumped at the chance to have that mortgaged home and rent out rooms to make ends meet? (Rental business, side hustles painting and cleaning, website development, coaching, Public Policy Career).
In 2016, what if I had stayed with my secure income, not started this podcast, not sold my roasted beans at the farmers market for too little money? (Rentals added some stability, newspaper, egg sales, facilitation, story coaching, websites, speaking engagements)
In 2017, what if I hadn’t taken my last $400 to go to Jack Spirko’s? (Kickstarter Holler Roast, membership, facilitation, processing classes, rentals)
And 2018, the leap of faith into the LFTN Spring Workshop when my land wasn’t ready? (Workshop 7 will be sold out this week if it isn’t already)
2019: HELP THE REDNECK
2020: BUY THE BEANS, UNLOOSE THE GOOSE
2021: SRF
2022: UPGRADE THE ROASTER ON SPEC
2023: GET OUT TO EVENTS, SELL THE COFFEE, LAUNCH WEBINAR CENTER
All of this has taken risk and then making it work. Some of if has been more successful than others. None of it abject failure. And we learned a few things along the way.
On risk taking:
On Making It Work
The true question: What do you really want? Are you talking about the latest unstarted idea with worry an anxiety to have something to talk about, or do you really want to do it?
Do you want to have success, or a story about what could have been?
Make it a great week!
GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce.
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Tickets go on sale tomorrow and here is who got added to the speaker lineup
Sponsor 1: Discount Mylar Bags
Sponsor 2: Permies.com
Maine is colder but this sucks more because it is rare here.
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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!
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Join us for a roundtable discussion with Kerry Brown, Ryan Steva, Jake Reed and Lettie Lou.
Featured Event: LFTN Spring Workshop: https://www.livingfreeintennessee.com/spring-workshop-2024/
Sponsor 1: The Wealthsteading Podcast
Sponsor 2: Emp Shield, Code LFTN
Show Resources:
Lettie Lou, Backwoods Consulting
Jake Reed: Arsenal of Freedom
Ryan Steva: The Homestead Consultant
Kerry Brown: Strong Roots Resources
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
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Today, we talk about addressing the things that keep you from doing what you love, from being who you are, and from building the life you choose. We also discuss an important tax code change and will do all our usual Monday segments.
Featured event, LFTN Spring workshop - sessions from folks who will come are awesome. Managing tragedy, rain water collection, starting fires, soap, bread, and so much more - the decision will be tough!
Ticket go on sale here on Jan 20 at 9am: https://www.livingfreeintennessee.com/spring-workshop-2024/
Sponsor 1: Agorist Tax Advice - play his segment
Sponsor 2: Holler Roast Coffee
Livestream Schedule
Tuesday Live with John Willis and Tag from Life Done Free, 12:30pm
Wednesday Live: TBD at 2pm
Friday Live: Homestead Happenings with The Tactical Redneck, 9:30AM
(Subject to our having power)
Tales from the Prepper Pantry
Weekly Shopping Report - cant find it and I DO know that it was mayhem this weekend as folks prepared for coldmageddon.
Frugality Tip from Margot
I went to the store and all that they had was this giant bag of carrots. So I made roasted root vegetables, with carrots, butternut squash soup with some carrots, I shredded some for the salad and I cut some up to dip (and if there is some left they will be chopped for soup). And all the tops and bottoms and peels were saved with the onion tops and skins to go into a pot next week with that ham bone to become bone broth and pea soup. So that large bag of carrots, that the girl next to me at the store turned her nose up at, is getting used to the fullest in this house . And I am saving money buy using them in multiple ways. Also I was hoping to have some left to ferment, but I don't. So don't be scared of the big bag of carrots, just get creative.
Operation Independence
We have eggs again which is Ducky - or chickeny - as the case may be
Main topic of the Show:
Our focus this month has been all about blossoming into 2024, despite the fact that the start of a new year is just a symbolic experience. Truly, it doesn't matter if you blossom into 2024 or blossom into October, the blossoming is the part that matters.
In the last ten days, we have taken four trips to Goodwill, 1 trip to the auction house, 4 trips to the garbage dump, and 5 trips to the store to return unused items that we purchased - usually for projects or other things. I’ve posted things to Facebook Market place that I would just give away but you have to charge money or people jerk you around.
My cash jar is full. My home less so. And I feel like I can soar. It feels great.
And it all comes down to garbage. What are you doing with your garbage?
Attia Book:
Hone - What stand in my wa
Story: The wood pile and moving wood
Hone - time to do better
As I journey through the household purge, which is taking weeks so far, I realize that in the same way that exercise helps improve your mental health, this process of removing physical road blocks is helping me get through emotional and mental garbage I have kept around because it is comfortable. It is also not serving me.
One can only conclude that cutting the garbage from your life is as important as building the life you choose. If you leave the garbage around, it gets in the way.
Deep Dive into Garbage:
Yep - it is all about the garbage. I just spoke with Aurora about her developing off grid homestead in Texas and she is ALL EXCITED about her bio digester. She is turning her scraps into cooking gas. In other words, her garbage is being eliminated and turned into positive forward momentum in a very tangible way. And the stories about it are building her content business. She told me she cant cook with it every day but that she loves that is replaces some days worth of cooking energy. She is managing her garbage well.
Are you? If not, start with one thing, add it to your 3 things, and let’s do this together. Let’s bust through the garbage to create space for opportunities.
Make it a great week!
GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce.
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Today we talk about winter, Tactical’s thumb, sheep infrastructure, managing woon on the homestead and more.
LiveFree.Academy - Free Webinar on Saturday - $57
Update on Tactical’s Thumb
Morning meeting - Morning routine got disrupted, now what
Forage
Livestock
Homestead meals
Grow
Holler Neighbors/Community
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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