Today, we will do a Holler Homestead roundup review and look into fall. That’s right, it has been a few months since we took a look at my homestead here, how it is doing, and where we are going as we move into fall. Right now is when you should be readying your fall beds. Now is when you should be at least half wat finished canning your winter stores. Now is when you should be thinking – Christmas is coming, what will I make for gifts? And now is a great time for the quarterly assessment of your lifestyle goals.

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Membership Sign Up: https://livingfreeintennessee.com/iump-subscription-plan/

What Mother Nature is Providing

This is where we talk about what is coming off the land around us to enrich our lives.

• Passion flower: Goats have unearthed passionflower which will turn into passion fruit this fall
• Elderberries are coming on fast and I will miss harvesting some due to my business trip this week. 
• All the vegetables: squash, beans, corn, cabbage, tomatoes, peppers, herbs, swiss chard
• Sweet potato greens: Recipe and processing and the sifference from potatoes
• A tale of the megadill plants at Cider Hollow Farm

What we are preserving this week

This is where we talk about what we preserve, when we preserve it, and how we process it.

• Drying herbs
• On the road
• A word on recovering from Pneumonia and the relative level of activity a person can sustain (It’s like altitude sickness)

An aquaponics update

• A word on pests
• Balancing the system and what we did to fix it
• Funky germination
• Volume of food and what I will do differently next year
  • Trellising
  • Prune and layer things differently
  • More purposeful layering
  • More beds and not all the things in all the beds

Tales from the prepper pantry

• Bee update: Wax moths and the related cleanup
• It’s official, we are 1/3 ready for winter. 1 room is full of jars.
• Still pushing slowly forward on the reset for fall storage

Operation Independence

• Three new ducks and a chicken
• Campground expansion in process
• #my3things is growing
• Headed to Houston for the week to earn money

Summer at the Holler Homestead.

Song: Every Way, by Sauce

Today, we have an exploration topic: Navigating tough communications and interpersonal relationships. What does that have to do with homesteading or independence? Well it turns out it has a lot to do with both those things.

What Mother Nature is providing

• Squash bugs and vine borers have won yet again - the early heat wave.
• Tomatoes, green beans, okra, corn
• Elderberry, sumac berries, lemon balm
• Mimosa flowers are still going strong
• Still haven’t seen blueberries
• Confession on garlic: You can’t dig when you have pneumonia

What we are preserving this week

• Buch update
• Drying sage, lemonbalm and peppermint
• Canning corn and beans

Tales from the Prepper Pantry

• From last week: It’s about time to re-organize all the canned goods and take an assessment
• Operation prepper pantry fury as Brian would say
• Defrosting the chest freezer will happen soon - as soon as I am well

Listener Feedback

• Phone consultation question
• Listening twice

Operation Independence

• Refined focus has helped despite losing weeks to illness.
• Increased the debt payoff allocation (emergency fund is back in place, had a good month with our Airbnb, paper sold the most ads ever this edition)
• Taxes are getting closer

Topic: Navigating Tough Communication

Song: Cilly Song

Today, we have a chat with the Tactical Redneck about the MBTI personality types and how he has learned from this way of categorizing people to improve his interpersonal skills at work. It is a fast interview paired with an update from Samantha the Savings Ninja.

Today, I want to talk about how focusing on a few things can help you get many things done. That’s right. We have touched on this concept in other episodes, but today, I thought we could dive a little deeper. And what sparked this idea? Well, it is the new Facebook group, Living Free in Tennessee Coffee Break. This is where lots of listeners are starting to post up to 3 do or die items that they will get done that day to move themselves forward toward their long-term goals. Some of the things are small, like taking a walk every morning. Some are big: like put up 6 bushels of corn — or some crazy amount — that took that person three days, but she got it done. And people are posting pictures of their progress and sharing ideas. But why three? Why now? We will talk about that after our segments.

What Mother Nature is providing

• Lots of tomatoes, cukes, squashes, onions, cabbage, greenbeans
• Mullein flowers have arrive and it is time to harvest
• Mimosa flowers are here – tincture
• Someone put a goat roast in my freezer and we are having a curry from that
• Potatoes are here but I hope to put off getting any until October because my storage area is not well enough insulated to keep those puppies cool
• Peaches arrived this week but I have not seen any blueberries. I fear the frost killed those

What we are preserving this week

• Dried our runner beans so we can hull them (what happened last year)
• Should be canning corn, but I am sick and taking another week off – maybe 2. It’s totally freaking me out
• Drying mullein flowers
• Bee balm would be coming on had I not killed it
• Making komboucha Karley / continuous style (see member portal for her fermentation video)
• Should be making pickles but again – sick

Tales from the Prepper Pantry

• It’s about time to re-organize all the canned goods and take an assessment
• Operation prepper pantry fury as Brian would say
• Defrosting the chest freezer will happen soon – as soon as I am well

Operation Independence

• Updating the duplex: New deadline – end of August, and a trade
• Airbnb has been jammin

Build Personal Productivity with #My3Thing

Song: Special, By Sauce

Resources

• Membership Sign Up
• Holler Roast Coffee
• LFTN Coffee Break

Today we talk about five uses for an abundance of cucumbers. Everyone else around me who got their gardens started on time are drowning in cucumbers! I even got a text from a long time friend asking me how to make pickles this week. And SHE doesn’t do canning ---- yet. So if I am drowning in cucumbers without even having mine even begin to develop yet, then other people who were more responsible about planting this year must be covered up in these tasty veggies.

NEW Membership Portal Discount! MT Knives.

Resources
MT Knives: MtKnives.net
The MTK Talon
Membership Sign Up
Cucumbers as beauty supplies
Canning in 8 Projects Episode: Pickles
Tomato Cucumber Soup

What Mother Nature is providing
Lots of tomatoes
Overwhelming numbers of cucumbers
Sweet potato greens
Early onions
Cabbage - sauerkraut
Watercress and salad are done

Tales from the Prepper Pantry
Hashbrowns on pizza - buy sharpies
Dealing with smelly/mildew clothes in the south at this time of year
Dishwasher soap experiment

Listener feedback
New Facebook Group: Living Free in Tennessee Coffee Break
Mewe Group

Ideas from the Booze Whisperer
Cucumber Cocktail

Operation Independence
Updating the duplex:
$800 for roughing in three fixtures in a duplex remodel with a friend. (Numbers derived from national average installation pricing)
Managed to keep my commitment to myself and keep the dishes and laundry caught up in the past week of busy

And now for the main topic of our show: 5 uses for an abundance of cucumbers.

If you are new to this show, or new to homesteading, etc., do feel free to reach out and suggest topics for me to cover. Just shoot an email to nicole@livingfreeintennessee.com.

Make it a great week.

Song: Tripped Out by Sauce