This week I took the opportunity of being in the car for 26 hours with the famous Mike Vertrees to record an interview with him about the workshop we attended at Jack Spirko's place. This workshop was fantastic - and exhausting. There will be expanded show notes on Wednesday, my friends.

Song: Dr. Feeley, Dr. Skinner - Sauce

Today we will talk about how important it is to build flexibility into your life because it helps make you more resilient when things change. We will also talk about what has happened since we started getting serious about the egg and coffee business, cover how the paper is doing and I will share with you a bit about how the Grafting workshop went over at Cider Hollow.

Eating Seasonally and Tales from the Prepper Pantry This is where we share what we are eating as it comes to us - and talk about ways to use what we store.

• Wild Mustard, watercress, dandelion greens
• Baby kale from the super kale plant
• From the pantry: there is half a box of potatoes left and we are par boiling them, then making hash browns about once a day!
• Corn and green beans on salads as usual
• Hitting the pickled goods hard.
• Forgot to can the extra pork stock from the shoulder roast so here is what we did...

Getting the Gardens Ready Where we share what we are doing to get our food growing operation up and running.

• Operation Eyesore
• Transplanted the tomato seedlings and moved then to the GH
• Beets, carrots, lettuce, radish, etc seeds are in the ground and the radishes have germinated!
• Working on more woodchipping for areas where we want better weed control
• Someone dug the horseradish plant - wtf?

Why Build Resilience in Your Life Part of our lifestyle here on the homestead is about building resilience into our day to day activities. Because no matter what happens, we only know one thing: change is coming. This idea that you work one job your whole life and retire to play golf - and that this is the norm - was a nice dream, but it is really a fiction.

• First and foremost: flexibility
• Secondly: responsibility - no excuses
• Finally: more control of the things you can control

Four ways to get started:

1. Simplify and frugalify
2. Grow some of your own food
3. Find ways to build ongoing income from your local area that you control
4. Develop a real community around yourself

Holler Homestead Business Progress Center Hill Sun Update Stories from the Holler

• Cider Hollow Event with Cliff from Spiral Ridge Permaculture
• Hive splitting - check out the video on youtube

And with that, remember, if like the show you can support us while drinking a marvelous cup of hand-roasted coffee - order here.

Youtube channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-PX-bHfC3AEOUPWgJ5d40g/playlists

Well my friends, next week it is a 50-50 chance that the podcast will be skipped - sorry about that. I will be down at Jack Spirko's not getting enough sleep for five days, giving a presentation and learning a TON from other homesteaders. And in two weeks, we may have a very special interview lines up with one of our listeners who is this very moment one her brand new pice of land. That should be fun. Anyway - go out and make it a great week! Song: Sauce, Tripped Out.

Today we are going to talk about what NOT TO DO when you first move to your new homestead. These are three things that I really wish we had known before we dove into the Holler Homestead. Also today, a brand new gluten free, dairy free, soy free potluck recipe. I’ve got some updates to share about the Holler Homestead and we will go over Toby Hemenway’s 8th chapter of Gaia's Garden.

Eating Seasonally and Tales from the Prepper Pantry

This is where we share what we are eating as it comes to us - and talk about ways to use what we store.

• Wild Mustard is everywhere
• Wild Salad
• Harvesting Dandelion Roots
• Harvesting Sassafrass Root
• Prepper Pantry Recipe: Roasted Garlic Spread
• Gluten free, dairy free, soy free potluck dish

Getting the Gardens Ready
Where we share what we are doing to get our food growing operation up and running.

• Operation Eyesore
• Final bed preparation is in process and it will take a few weeks to finalize
• Blackberry Propagation
• Seedling light update

3 Mistakes to Avoid on Your New Land

1. Don’t rush in
2. Don’t do everything at once
3. Don’t underestimate

Three things you should do on your new land:

1. Take time and observe
2. Set clear priorities with your big picture goal in mind and stick to them
3. Double your estimate in time and money for everything so that you have enough resources to complete your projects

Toby Hemenway Chapter 8 of Gaia's Garden

Questions to ask yourself about this chapter

• What one community do I want to set up this year?
• How can I make plants, insects, soil organisms, birds and mammals work in concert on my land?
• Where can I try out polyculture in my garden this year and what succession will I aim for?
• Do I have time each day to oversee a succession planting project in my veggie garden?

And with that, remember, if like the show you can support us while drinking a marvelous cup of hand-roasted coffee! Order here.

You want to drop me a question, topic idea, or comment, feel free to email me. And for those of you who prefer youtube, we have the show up over on a youtube channel, but they won’t let me do a vanity domain until I have 100 followers - apparently this is something new. Youtube Link

It is funny how simplifying your life, putting more energy into gleaning a living from a piece of land, when done well, can add resilience to your household. Next week we will talk about this resilience a bit more when I share with you s big change that has happened in my job. I am so glad to see spring springing here in Tennessee - along with its new plants, snow, 70 degree days and more visits from friends. Living this way is great fun, really hard, sometimes scary - but it is always rewarding to know that we have made what we have with our own two hands. Make it a great week!

Song: Sauce, Belly Dancing Vamp Song

And a listener shot me an email last week after hearing the garden section with a pretty important question that has led to today’s topic: Starting Seedlings for the Newbee. Also today, a comment on some of the divisiveness we have all been experiencing and some thoughts on why certain words are triggering bad behavior - especially online. More importantly, we will talk about something you might do to de-escalate these situations.

Also, we will be re-upping the Toby Hemenway segment not THIS WEEK, but next week - Honestly - chapter 8 is taking me a long time to develop because there is so much information in it and I just don’t want to do a bad job for you. Be ready next week for that one.

Notes at: http://livingfreeintennessee.com/2017/03/06/episode-26-starting-seedlings-for-the-newbee/