Today we have an interview with some folks who I have known for a long time, but who I never met until this past weekend. We talk about building resilience into your life on LFTN, but we don’t examine very closely how communities, real communities work. Communities of people willing to put aside small differences of opinion to help one another. Self reliance and taking care of yourself is important.  So we will talk about how a scrappy group of independent people who love homesteading, learning new things, and increase stability in their lives and in the lives of those around them found each other, built trust, and became a tight community despite having never really met. I’ll also give you an update on how the pig roast went and tell you how the Holler Roast Kickstarter went!

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.

• The first beets are upon us! Root bake recipe
• New Potato Salad
• Green onion, kale and beet green fry
• Squash is at the farmers market, but I just have squash blossoms.
• Day lillies are blooming and the flowers taste great on salads
• And of course we have 9 toms of cabbage.

Getting the Gardens Ready

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

• Germination is looking great, particularly under that peach tree. Its noticeably cooler under there and we have a set of carrots, radishes, spinach and other plants, alongside squashes.
• Planting another round of butternuts and green beans.

Link to the "CB" channel that we talk about on the show: https://zello.com/channels/k/dZ8O

Make it a great week!

Song: Calling My Name, Sauce

Today we get to have some fun with lots of different topics. We’ve had quite a few questions in the last two weeks, and with a looming weekend pig roast in the offing, I thought today would be the perfect time for a Listener Q&A show. So we will talk about grinding your own wheat for flour and the pros and cons of that, give a shout out to a small craftsman who made me something extraordinary - sounds mysterious I know but it will make sense when we get there, talk about hindsight on my homestead, talk about my favorite itchy rash a bit more, cover raised beds in year one when you are using commercial dirt, and then wrap it up with a question about a doggie first aid kit.

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.

• Lambs quarter should be coming on but I haven’t gone searching for it
• Cabbage everything and the first squash is at the farmers market
• Radishes and spinach
• Last garlic scapes
• Salad dressing recipe of the week: Mustart, bbq sauce, balsamic, honey, water, salt, smoked cayenne, mainnaise

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

• The garden is in and one of our chickens is in danger of being processed - she killed SIX cucumber plants!
• Putting in the okra seeds and sweet potato slips - why not earlier?
• Seeding tomato trays for the fall garden

  Grinding your own flour

1. Cost
2. Flavor
3. Health
4. Time
5. Equipment

Pros

• Less per pound
• Tastes better
• Makes me feel better

Cons

• You still need to buy flour for very fine applications unless your equipment is expensive
• It’s another appliance you have to buy - unless you have a vitamix
• Relearning to bake

Overall: two thumbs up The belt: A shout-out to OMG Leather Works: http://www.omgleatherworks.com/ Poison Ivy Feedback

• Neosporin plus jewelweed is a winner
• The poke weed root rub method did not work (But there is the boiled poke root bath method I have not tried)
• The Poison Ivy Guy

From Ford in TN: If you could change one thing about your homestead what would it be?

Frank in Wisconsin: Raised garden beds and how to make the dirt good?

As a bald man when you wash your face, where do you stop

Willow in east TN: What are some items you would keep in a homemade first aid kit for animals?

1. Tailored for your animals - learn a bit about what they need.
2. Know where to go before you have the emergency and write it down on actual paper
3. Look for crossover with human first aid needs

That said, this is what I have

• gauze and animal wrap tape - in fact I use the horse leg wrap for humans too
• Clippers
• Sharp scissors
• Clamps
• Tweezers
• gloves
• Peroxide - spray bottle
• Povidone-iodine
• Sani wipes
• bleach
• Neosporin
• Bluekote
• Probiotics
• Kickin Chicken vitamin mix
• Antibiotics and a syringe
• Benedryl
• aspirin
• Extras of medication if you have animals that require them (My dog has congestive heart failure)
• I wish i had suture thread and needles but I dont yet
• Cayenne pepper, ground
• Topic herbals like comfrey/plantain/etc

Our kickstarter is LIVE! <link> We’ve almost broken the $600 mark!

Also, on Wednesday I am being interviewed by Jack Spirko over at The Survival Podcast if you want to hear more about the coffee business! With that - get out there and Make it a great week!

Song: Sauce, Every Way

Today we are going to take on a topic that many of my fellow homesteaders are having right now: How to use an abundance of eggs. I will share with you how storing food has put us on a much more stable footing as we have navigated my recent professional transition. Plus, there will be a big announcement about Holler Roast at the end of the show that I hope you will like.

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.

• New Potato Salad RecipeSalads are winding down, but we hope for an uptick again in a week or so
• Kale, cabbage, broccoli, green onions
• On the wild side: not much happening aside from the hairy vetch and honey suckle blossoms.
• EGGS - the topic of today’s show

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

• Stuff

Garden Economics project: Added $3 for pepper plants and now I know why my plants have not sold!

Using and Storing an abundance of eggs Egg storage

• Unwashed at cool room temperature for 90 days if they are uncracked
• Washed eggs in the fridge for 30 days (they say)
• Hard boiled eggs 1 day at a cool room temperature, but they can last longer or go bad sooner after boiled
• Canning eggs (Pickled)
• Freezing eggs (water expands)
  • Scrambled
  • Whole in ice cube trays, then in a bag
• Dehydrating eggs

Egg Recipes

8 eggs - Crepes

12 eggs - Deviled eggs

4 eggs - Flan (Ive never made this):

12 eggs - Angel Foodcake:

2 eggs - spinach brownies (11 oz greens, flour, 1 cup milk, ½ cup onion, 2 stick butter, mix it, 1 tsp bk powd, 1.5 cups grated cheese, bake it in the for about 45 minutes at 350) (8 eggs - Quiche Like Substance with No crust)

8 eggs - Spatzle

Stories from the Holler

Brooding Ducks Food storage

TSP Episode

Holler Roast Kickstarter

With that - get out there and Make it a great week!

Song: Grandpa's Song, Sauce

Today I will share a Holler Homestead update and coffee progress, talk a bit about the health care bill that passed last week, and what I have been able to find out it, then walk you through project two of the Learn Canning in 8 Projects series.

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.

• Saladpalooza goes on and cabbages are beginning to hit the farmer’s markets! Fresh lettuce from the garden (or my friend’s garden, radishes, carrot greens, pea shoots)
• A NOTE ON TOMATOES - they aren’t from here, or they are coming from a greenhouse and, frankly, don’t taste as good as the real thing
• Kale, cabbage, broccoli, green onions
• On the wild side: dead nettle is gone, chickweed is too large, watercress is VERY peppery, poke weed is getting large, jerusalem artichokes are well into their leafing out. BUT - day lilies are still yummy, dandelions can be found young from time to time
• Theoretically, there are new potatoes but I haven’t looked
• EGGS - just like last week, leading to lots of “sandwich salad”

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

• The last of the garden planting for a bit will happen this week
• Attacking the bramble we should have handled
• Spraying the trees with garlic and pepper tea
• Operation shade creation
• Bee food

Healthcare WTF Late last week, the House passed a bill to “fix” The ACA, or Obamacare. Since that time there has been so much spin that it is difficult to stand up I am so dizzy.

• Individual mandate is gone in this version
• Some taxes added by the ACA are gone
• Pre-existing conditions are mostly covered
• Medicaid cannot be expanded in any additional states, but will remain expanded in the states where it was expanded
• Republican spin that this reform is somehow different than the ACA is way off. This will ultimately hurt their credibility when the system continues to crash since they have not addressed any of the underlying flaws, they have simply managed to pass a bill that lets them claim a "victory."
• Democrats spin that rape is now a pre-existing condition is bull. The steps that would have to be gone through to make that a pre-existing condition are so convoluted that making claims like this only hurt their credibility.

What should I the homesteader do about this? Nothing. Basically this process is out of our hands. They are using this topic to control us. The divide us to pit us against one another. So consider not being a jerk about the whole thing. Personally, I am going to do my best to support our innovative medical providers directly, with my business. I am going to also plant poppies.

Holler Homestead Update

Bees

Garden is a mess - video tracking what can be done in a week a little at a time: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-PX-bHfC3AEOUPWgJ5d40g

Coffee update - we are going to go for it: I found a roaster that will allow us to launch a subscription service and sell a ton more Holler Roast coffees - but we will need to add blends.

Project 2 of canning in 8 projects: Canning Peaches

Method: Waterbath, raw pack

Risks: Low

Why? Sugar   Link to processing chart: http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/general/selecting_correct_process_time.html  

With that - get out there and Make it a great week!

Song: Learning What Leaving Is, Sauce

The show content today is near and dear to my heart. I don’t know why, but it seems like every year, no matter how careful I am, I get a bout of poison ivy. Mankind has had problems with poison ivy for a very long time. And that is why it is surprising that we only seem to know as much about it as we do the common cold. Become a Patron! https://www.patreon.com/livingfreeinTN 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.

• Saladpalooza! Fresh lettuce from the garden (or my friend’s garden, radishes, carrot greens, pea shoots)
• Dryads Saddle Mushroom
• Goats milk, which means cheese season is here
• EGGS

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

• Progress report on the weed experiment

Garden Economics project

• A store in Smithville is trying out my eggs
• Plant sale announcement: tomatoes for sale in a joint project between Purple Maize Farm and the Holler Homestead - click here to order.

Poison Ivy Remedies Remedy 1: Scrape it until it bleeds Remedy 2: Jewel Weed Salve/ointment/juice Remedy 3: Poke Weed Roots

• Dig up the roots and smash them up than rub them into your outbreak. It will burn like the dickens, but then the poison ivy dries up.
• Never tried this and forgot to give it a go this time – will try it if I get another poison ivy gift this year.

Remedy 4: Pramagel/ Calamine

• Oatmeal + Baking soda, etc
• The hot water scratch

Remedy 5: Technu and related products

• ZanFel – (Mama Sauce says it is the only thing that ever worked for her)

Remedy 6: Hydrocortisone cream

• Over the counter does not work
• The prescription also does not work
• But you know what works really really well? My prescription for chlobetasol.

Prevention

• Get this friggin vine off your land
• Wash every night with a good lye based soap with activated charcoal – this also helps with chiggers and other lovely Tennessee bugs
• Don’t re-wear the same clothing
• Think before you burn
• Watch your animals

  In sum – what works for me:

1. Prevention
2. The hot water scratch
3. Pramagel (Pramaxin)
4. Jewelweed salve plus Neosporin

Stories from the Holler

• Rains and Bees
• I fired a client this week and here is why

Support the show:

1. Coffee
2. Plants
3. Patreon

Make it a great week! Song: Calling My Name, Sauce