It has been a pretty long time since Dori Mulder was on the show. And today, we are fixing this! Dori has had a ton of things change in her life over the past year or so and today she joining us to talk about those changes and what that has meant for her homesteading adventures.
Main content of the show
Dori Mulder first came on the LFTN scene in 2017 when she was purchasing a piece a unique property with a large cave and multiple cabins. She has been on the show 4 times (I think). She lives in Jefferson City MO, works part time for the Army National Guard, and works full time as a Loan Officer for Veterans United Home Loans. She is an hobby homesteader who loves gardening, making kombucha, fermenting sauerkraut, making herbal salves, and learning how to forage from the weeds in the area. She learned all this homesteady stuff from Nicole who has been her catalyst for inspired inquiry into self sufficiency.
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 website questions you have in a semi-live, semi-social media Q & A Session.
#HollerHatWednesday: Where is she and who is she with? See in Instagram @nicolesauce
Holler Neighbor Special Edition - New Neighbors: https://youtu.be/ZNV--iWgg74
Unloose the Goose, episode 3 : https://www.unloosethegoose.com/2020/07/29/the-futility-of-politics-the-utility-of-community/
Stump the Sauce
What’s Up in the Garden
Main topic of the Show: Website Q & A
Make it a great week!
GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce.
Advisory Board
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Today I want to share some thoughts on Community quality and why I think some really large communities are no goes for so many people.
Next Wednesday will be a website Q&A show and will record live on Youtube at 12pm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl3OvqIp4J8
Then Thursday is a special Edition of the Holler Neighbor LIvestream at 7pm Central. We will be welcoming a new neighbor - any idea who it might be?
TOTW on Community Quality
Have you ever thought you found a great group of people that you could interact, a community say surrounding a hobby like kayaking or building birdhouses, only to discover that they SEEMED great from the outside but once you got to the inside, most folks just talked about doing these things rather than doing them.
Our community quality metrics are skewed. Facebook launched way back when and it quickly became a competition about how many friends you had. And this is similar to how we measure the success of community. When successful groups and communities are talked about, they are measured by how many people are in them. What matters is size.
But what if this measure is wrong?
The best communities are not successful because they are large, it is because they are effective. And to be effective, a community needs high quality members. Therefore, community success is more dependent on the quality of the community members rather than how many will join.
This can be a hard concept for people to embrace because we have been taught that more is better. Sometimes more is not better. More of what is the best question to ask. More members who take instead of do? More members who focus on discouraging action rather than encouraging action? More members who unload piles of problems on everyone around them?
Or more members who also enjoy making birdhouses and share places to get free materials that can be repurposed?
Yep, communities should be measured by the quality of their participants, not the quantity. But it goes a little further than that. The flip side is that the overall quality of your community will tend to be measured by your weakest member.
You heard me.
The weakest one.
You can have an all-star, super awesome lineup with groups of great participants, but if you also have a trainwreck or two and allow them to stay in the community, you will soon see things reduced to the lowest denominator.
And this is why is can be so hard to keep a community strong. Because we want to be nice. Because we want to lift people up. And these desires are not a bad thing.
But as you navigate finding a community to join, or starting one yourself, remember what quality means. And when you find yourself in the position of leader, remember what that means - it means that it becomes up to you and other leaders in the group to maintain a quality membership. THe less fun part of that is ejecting the trouble makers.
But when a group comes together, unified by common values and interests, you will find that cutting the drama and drag is not very hard. Often the community will handle it quietly.
Over the years at LFTn we have had a few energy vampires show up and move on. And we have seen community members face hard times and become a temporary drain. And over the years, the community has gotten stronger and stronger in part because every one is a doer and supports doers. They help each other get past the hard times. And the best thing? They do stuff so the vampires get fed up and leave. It is a self-regulating culture rather than a dictatorship.
So as we think about the communities we want to help, to join, to invest in -- remember the big picture. Quality, not quality, is how you and your community win the game.
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!
Advisory Board
Resources
Today, we will discuss what you need to know if you want to build your business website -- or outsource it to someone else. It does not have to be a bear.
#HollerHatWednesday: Where is she and why is she not home?
Holler Neighbor Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s24fyyTuVxU
Email feedback to nicole@livingfreeintennessee.com
What’s Up in the Garden
Featured Forage: The Tulip Poplar, Liriodedron tulipifera, http://www.eattheweeds.com/tulip-tree/
Main topic of the show: Your Business Website
Live Q&A next week
Make it a great week!
GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce.
Advisory Board
Resources
Today, I talk about the tenacity of an earlier generation and what we can glean from them to navigate this shifting economy.
Holler Neighbors Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s24fyyTuVxU
Tales from the Prepper Pantry
Preservation Process
Operation Independence
Main topic of the Show: Income in a Shifting Economy
Last week, I joined a gaggle of other podcasters in the creation of a new show, called Unloose the Goose. We are focusing on solutions for big problems, talking about freedom and liberty, and other random things. But the intention is to help people who want it to navigate this changing world.
One fellow, Vin Armani, brought up that he thinks we are at the end of an age and we discussed the transition a bit.
Yes. You got it. Change. We talked about change.
As the weeks have passed and Portland Oregon - my home town - has erupted into a hotbed of people taking sides, people acting out, people being violent, and people refusing to talk outside of an us vs them world, there is more indications of a change in our culture incoming. And if we as a society allow it to be a violent revolution, we all know what follows right?
What follows is the opposite of freedom.
So how then, can we navigate the coming weeks, months and years? How can we stop this madness? How can we get back to a peaceful, relatively prosperous life?
Many people hear me ask this and they don’t think they have had a prosperous life.
But think about it. Most of us have rarely felt real hunger - if we have at all. Few of us have been homeless.
16 years ago, I was dating a man who asked me “Do you think we are living in a golden age?” and I thought and thought and reflected and came to the conclusion that yes. We are living in a golden age. And it is shifting. And where we end up, no one knows.
I read a quote today that stuck with me in USA Today. It was about a second stimulus check:
"I have terrible anxiety because of the unknown"...this is the crux of the national panic right now, isn’t it?
People didn’t realize that life has been as unpredictable our whole lives as it is this very moment. We just thought we were going a certain way, often did, and now this has shown us that the world can and will change on a dime. And we need to change with it or we get left behind.
So while we may be transitioning into a different kind of society, a different kind of economy, and a different kind of culture, we may even be heading into another dark age -- there is no way to really know. But we do know ONE THING. Change is constant. Each day has an unknown set of opportunities and challenges. So what do we do to navigate this changing thing?
Well, back in April, when we let the economy screech to a halt, people started getting scared. They had no income from their jobs. The unemployment offices were backed up and they could not get unemployment checks. The stores were bare of supplies and they could not buy what they needed.
Listen to this again
When you hear all this, what do you perceive?
Well a bunch of us feel like that lady in USA today who used her stimulus check to cover basic bills. Scared because of the unknown. Depressed because things have gotten hard. Tired of putting in work every day just to find basic supplies.
Navigating a world where things are not instantly available at all times, while new to some of us, is old news when you look at human history. It is actually kind of cool that we have been able to go so long without having to plan for this -- but if you want a model of how to navigate the coming change, you can look at what your grandparents or great grandparents did: take personal responsibility for your well being, tap into the changing opportunities that you find, don’t be afraid of hard work, never underestimate the power of relationships.
Take personal responsibility for your well being - and that of your family
Tap into the changing opportunities that you find
Never underestimate the power of relationships
Don’t be afraid of hard work
Income in a shifting economy is no different than income in a stable economy - it is there, it is up to you and me to find it. Even in Russia with the tightest of controls on housing, supplies and income, people managed to barter, to trade, to build, to do what they could in the reality in which they found themselves. You may need to make some changes inside you, in how you live, maybe even in where you live -- but change is part of life. And while sometimes change feels scary and it even can look bad. Usually, change leaves windows that you can pass through to find something better - even though it is different.
I know that many of you are looking at this world and worrying. You feel anxious. You feel tired. You feel scared. And your feelings are valid. Give yourself a moment. Embrace your feeling then do me a favor? Find one thing. One good thing. One positive step. One thing you can make happen. Do that thing. It can be really big. It can be one small step. Like going for a walk to start taking control of your health. Or signing up to deliver groceries through Shipt. Or building and selling a birdhouse. Or reaching out to the people in your community who want to band together and coming up with a gsd plan. Or writing that first blog post. Or learning how to string a weed whacker. Or changing your own oil. Doing your taxes. Learning to cook lasagna. Taking that cheesemaking webinar.
Do one thing.
Then shoot me an email and tell me what it is.
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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Last week, I posted in our online communities a question - who has canning questions. So today, I will cover the first set of a TON of questions that arrived. This really makes me wonder when we can schedule that canning webinar this month?
#HollerHatWednesday: What is she up to today?
Canning webinar tomorrow - sign up here: https://calendly.com/sparkcomm/canning1?month=2020-07
New Podcast! Unloose the Goose: Unloosethegoose.com
What’s Up in the Garden
Featured Forage: Jewel Weed, Impatiens aurea (MUHL.), Impatiens biflora (WALT.)
https://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/j/jewelw08.html
Main topic of the Show: Canning Q & A, Part 1
Buddy
What about stuff like pumpkin or sweet potatoes?
Jessica
Which vegetables are better to can, and which are better frozen, if “prepping” is not the priority?
Just curious. Prepping is always the priority. 😬
Victoria
DeEllen
For experienced canners, what are some different things that we may not have thought to can? (butternut squash, soups and stews, tunafish, broth, lard, pie fillings, IDK it is hard to know what you can now)
Dawn
How to can salsa if you don’t want to “cook” it.
Krystal
Stock/bone broth...
Christie
Ok, here is another. I’m not new to canning by any stretch of the meaning, but when I make broth, I usually don’t have enough for a full canner. Can I freeze and thaw when I have enough for a full canner of quarts?
Jenni
Any info on canning meat. It's the one thing I have anxiety about canning.
Lisa
Lisa Davis Jenni Hill This winter I canned meat for the first time, too! Startled with ham and bean soup (3 hams on sale, lol). It got to the point I just canned the rest of the ham!! I’ve only used the Carey Canner for meat—not my All American. I didn’t have enough to justify. Plus I got to stay in the upstairs kitchen (glasstop stove upstairs, electric burners on downstairs stove).
Samantha
Samantha Comfort Tattlers? What your take?
Andy
Andy Eddings More of a jarring question instead of canning, what is the proper pH of lacto fermented hot sauce? I have the kombucha test strips.
Chris
We can our old laying hens bone in and raw. We think it creates a better tastier product. Is there any evidence this is true?
Karla
Is it better to can separate ingredients? For example, should I can plain puréed tomatoes vs. tomato sauce (with seasonings) vs. spaghetti sauce with or without meat. Thanks!
Bravo Uniform
The best way to store lactoferminted foods. I have a cellar but what I'm reading says 32 - 50 degrees and the cellar is warmer than that until about October. Right now I'm vacuum sealing Mason jars because the heat of water bath / pressure canning kills the probiotics.
R.
Canning jelly/jam.
Safe recipes.
Make it a great week!
GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce.
Advisory Board
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Today we will walk through a day in a country kitchen that is filled with preserving, cooking, harvesting and other “from scratch” undertakings. Summer time is the high point for so many projects that it can get a little overwhelming -- and sometimes just knowing that everyone else who lives this way faces the same problems can go a long way in how your approach summer inn a farm, homestead or urbanstead kitchen.
This week’s webinar: https://calendly.com/sparkcomm/canning1?month=2020-07
Introduction to canning - Thursday, July 16, 12pm Central
Tales from the Prepper Pantry
Feature Forage - (defer)
Operation Independence
Main topic of the Show: Kitchen Logistics for Summer Processing
What motivated this show
From Christie and Victoria: How can a person make the process simpler instead of having a bunch of things going on all over the kitchen. How can it be made more like a factory assembly line?
Here is my issue. My usual canning day Wake up early to beat the heat picking the garden. Wash up whatever I picked - say green beans but it could be anything cucumbers, whatever. Snap a 5 gallon bucket. Get out all the canning stuff. Can the green beans. Let’s say 2 canners full. Now it’s 5:00 or later and this old lady is exhausted! Hard, hard work, but! Well worth it in January. Any tips or tricks are welcome.
My weekend: tomatoes, pig kidney, beans, eggs, beets, chard, cucumbers, pecans, dill, coriander - actual food for the humans. Planting the fall garden.
Tip 1: Choose your timing carefully
Tip 2: Plan your meals carefully
Tip 3: The canning/processing pantry or kitchen
Tip 4: Ask for help
Tip 5: Finish
What really happened
Day 1
Day 2
The result - nothing was really an assembly line - if you want to do this, you end up putting other stuff on hold for the day which I do when I have a big amount of salsa to make, or a bushel of beans. Therefore, I try to only do 1 day of assembly line stuff.
Kitchen was basically clean for the first time Sunday night -- it was never dirty - dirty but there was a constant flow of dirty and cleaned and drying dishes and lots of rotating vegetables on the bar and counters so it looked a sight!
I guess what I am trying to say is this: Martha Stewart has a staff, Julia Childs had a staff. Most of your big personalities with “perfect” kitchens have a staff. They were/are also very good organizers and teachers and there is nothing wrong with that. But the real deal on a homestead is that, during processing season, you end up either blocking time to do things in between cooking meals, you pre cook, you get friends together to knock a bunch of stuff out, or you end up with multiple preservation projects rolling one to the next. And sometimes this equals an untidy looking kitchen. If it is morphing into a place where things are left long enough to rot and smell, best to admit that you have taken on too much. But if you are simply rolling from dried herbs, to canning, to meal preparation, to freezing and packing -- find a way to accept some of the chaos -- and to ensure that you are able to really clean your kitchen all the way at least daily or every other day.
If you have a better approach than I do on your homestead or urbanstead, drop me a line...
Make it a great week!
Song: Calling my name - by Sauce
GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce.
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Yesterday I posted in our online communities a question - who has canning questions. So today, I will cover the first set of a TON of questions that arrived.
#HollerHatWednesday: What in tarnation is that?
What’s Up in the Garden
Main topic of the Show: Canning Q & A, Part 1
Christina
For the person who has never canned before.
Lettie
What's the best thing for a first time cancer to can?
Kira
What kind of pressure canner do you recommend? Easiest first time pressure canning recipes?
Brett
What is better water bath versus pressure canned? Rather, why not pressure can everything?
Lisa
Differences in canners and using the right tool for the job. I’ve got a water bath canner for jams and such. My All American 930 is the bomb for large batches (and no gasket), but have discovered the Carey Smart Canner for small batches of soups, broths, leftover chili, etc. It’s great to have more than one option.
Crystal
If you don’t have enough for another quart of say green beans, can you put a pint with the quarts and pressure can for time required for the quarts? Or would you recommend to just cook them for a meal?
Cindy
If you only have 5 quarts to can and your canner when full fits 7 quarts is it necessary to add sealed quarts if water to fill the space or is it ok to just can 5 quarts? The water can be used as an emergency water source later on.
Stephanie
Why do you have to use a “replacement” jar or jar filled with water if you don’t have a full pressure canner load?
I usually have a full canner when I run it but I just found out you’re supposed to do this. i never have....😳😬🤭
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 go back to that discussion I started just before the workshop in episode 313. It breaks my heart to see the destruction and violence that has erupted this year. To watch people who managed not to lose everything during the covid shut downs, lose it to vandals as things start to open up breaks my heart. To see people claim there is no racism in the us when there so clearly is, breaks my heart. To see an ever mounting list of demands that do nothing to address the core issue but cause lots of news buzz breaks my heart - and all of this heartbreak is done from the quiet solitude of my home. Where I am also doing nothing.
So I thought to myself, what if I start talking about it on the podcast. And that was episode 313 was all about. The beginning of a discussion. An invitation to interact on this topic in a meaningful and open way. And several of you had something to say.
In the first of this series, we talked about, well, talking. How silencing discussions on the topic of racism is counterproductive. How bullying people for saying things that may not be quite right when on this topic leads to the kind of silence where people do not evolve their hearts and minds. And a bit about how government has amplified racism in recent years through its policies -- though if you look at the entire history of our country, racism was there at the beginning.
SO to have a reasonable talk about this, I asked the following:
So today, I want to read you some of the feedback we got. This is a series of things from multiple people in our network.
Make it a great week!
Song: Tripped Out by Sauce
GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce.
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This week, I harvested a little over four gallons of honey and realized we have not talked honeybees in a long time. Today I will walk you through my honey extraction process.
#HollerHatWednesday
Email feedback to nicole@livingfreeintennessee.com
Stump the Sauce
From Sarah: What to do with too many pickles
What’s Up in the Garden
Main topic of the Show: Extracting Honey
It is not hard, but it is dangerous as I have illustrated this week with my bee sting incident. I could have avoided it by waiting a bit longer before processing but I was being efficient. How about you other beekeepers out there? What do you do to process your honey?
Make it a great week!
GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce.
Advisory Board
Resources