Living Free in Tennessee

Episode Links

Farm-to-Table Dinner – Nov 15 LivingFreeinTennessee.com/product/farm-to-table
North Spore Martha Tent (Affiliate): northspore.sjv.io/N9qEe2
LFTN Christmas Stocking Exchange: Sign Up Here
Holler Roast Coffee: HollerRoast.com

Summary

Sometimes the best thing you can do—whether it’s growing food or running a business—is stop forcing it. This week I share what mushrooms taught me about systems, patience, and letting things grow on their own.

In this episode:

Why I started cultivating mushrooms and how it ties to the Holler Roast coffee-grounds waste stream
Early failures with DIY bins and Tennessee humidity
The easy automated setup that finally worked
First-round lessons (including a moldy pink oyster experiment)
Cooking payoff: duck-fat blue oysters worth the wait
And the big picture—how the “don’t force it” mindset applies to business and life
You don’t make mushrooms grow, you make it easy for them to show up. Same goes for your business.
The Takeaway
Mushrooms—and systems—thrive when you build the right environment and step back. Stop forcing it, build your setup, and let the good stuff show up.

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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Homestead Happenings for October 25, 2025 - EP 1092 0

Oct 24, 2025

Today, I am joined by The Tactical Redneck to discuss updates from the Holler Homestead.

Featured Event: Oct 24 50s Show: Mastersingersinc.com

Sponsors:
The Wealthsteading Podcast

Discount Mylar Bags

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Homestead Revenue Stack: Airbnb Lessons Learned - EP 1091 0

Oct 22, 2025

Today, we talk about how the Airbnb at the Holler Hub became a real revenue stream — what’s working, what isn’t, and what we’ve learned along the way. If you’ve ever thought about turning a space on your property into income, this one’s for you. We’ll also cover our usual Monday segments.

Featured Event

Farm to Table Dinner
Friday, November 15
Basecamp Lodge, Lancaster, TN

Join us for an unforgettable evening featuring a full-course dinner sourced entirely from Tennessee farms. Real, local food, cooked from scratch, and shared in community.

Sponsors

AgoristTaxAdvice.com/LFTN – Helping entrepreneurs, homesteaders, and freedom-minded folks handle taxes the smart way.
StrongRootsResources.com – Homestead design, consulting, and high-quality plants to help you build resilient systems that last.

LFTN Stocking Exchange
Time is running out to sign up! We’ll assign your Secret Stocking Santa on November 1, so don’t miss out on this fun community tradition.
Sign Up Here

Tales from the Prepper Pantry

Lambs came in, lambs went out! Processing and rotation are in full swing.
Time to harvest the sweet potatoes.
The restackening of the firewood has begun — getting ready for cold weather.
Starting to tap into the canned goods, especially green beans.
Made powdered sugar from regular sugar after realizing I forgot to buy it.

Frugality Tip

I like a little lemon juice in my water. Some of those bottles pour out like a waterfall, which is wasteful and makes something I do not want to drink. So this is a hack and a tip in one. The cap from Worcestershire sauce bottles fits on a lot of other things, including every lemon juice bottle I have purchased. So keep the lids that help you regulate the amount of "stuff" coming out of a bottle so you do not end up wasting product.

Happy savings y'all
~Margo

Operation Independence

The Airbnb has been renting well since we got back from SRF! It’s great to see the Basecamp space generate steady revenue while serving the broader Holler Hub vision.

Main Topic: Airbnb Revenue Stream – Lessons Learned

Every property should have a purpose, not just be a payment.

Turning Space Into a System

The Airbnb wasn’t about renting space — it was about keeping the Basecamp Lodge working for the mission.
Formerly a long-term rental ($1,600/month). Now a flexible, short-term system that:
- Generates income when not used for training.
- Brings new people into the Holler Hub community.
- Connects us to potential partners and collaborators.
Tools like Airbnb and VRBO open us to audiences beyond LFTN, expanding both reach and opportunity.

What’s Working

Booked every available weekend in October by opening to tourists during fall travel season.
Earned ~$650 in October while still hosting events — a deliberate tradeoff between revenue and flexibility.
Low cleaning fee + clear expectations → relaxed guests and repeat visitors.
Purposefully low nightly rate to earn initial 5-star reviews and build credibility.
Making meaningful connections with guests — one couple with 10 glampers in California, another moving to Tennessee for homesteading.

Where It Got Messy

One guest left it a wreck → 8 hours of cleanup.
- Result: added language about cleaning expectations.
- Next step: keep a vacuum for pet-friendly stays.
“Clean beats new every time.”
Set boundaries early: check-out policies, no parties, pet rules.

Pricing & Positioning

Set nightly rate (~$100) based on $3,000/month gross goal if fully booked.
Kept pricing low to reflect the space (one usable bedroom, not remodeled).
Using Airbnb’s automated pricing to test how it behaves during peak season.
Cleaning service quote revealed current pricing barely covers costs — future plan to add modest cleaning fee.
Focus remains on mission-aligned guests first, not just volume bookings.

Systems That Keep It Running

Reset takes 45–60 minutes; double linens to avoid bottlenecks.
Pet stays add 1 hour for vacuuming and extra laundry.
Critical practice: always start cleaning immediately after checkout to stay ready for last-minute bookings.
Personal touch: greet guests, tell the Holler Hub story, collect feedback, and build relationships.

How to Apply It

Don’t build the Taj-Ma-Rental — start minimum viable and test.
Clean trumps new every time.
The biggest mindset shift: being comfortable letting strangers on your land.
Most people with bad intentions aren’t paying hundreds to sleep in your barn.

Reality Check

Short-term rentals aren’t easy money there’s always time involved:
- Responding to messages, building a guidebook, handling maintenance.
- Be available when problems arise — or you’ll hate the process.
The fast reset is key: handle the “yucky” stuff early so it never piles up.

What’s Next

Goal: book events at Basecamp that aren’t led by you — already in the works.
Next expansion: a miner’s cabin/tent rental to diversify the property’s offerings.
Each step builds toward the broader Holler Hub vision — systems that connect people, sustain the land, and generate reliable income.

Every property should have a purpose, not just a payment.

Make it a great week.

Make it a great week.

GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce.

Community

Follow me on Nostr: npub1u2vu695j5wfnxsxpwpth2jnzwxx5fat7vc63eth07dez9arnrezsdeafsv
Mewe Group: https://mewe.com/join/lftn
Telegram Group: https://t.me/LFTNGroup
Odysee: https://odysee.com/$/invite/@livingfree:b

Resources

Membership Sign Up

Holler Roast Coffee

Harvest Right Affiliate Link

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Winter Is Coming! Homestead Happenings for October 17, 2025 - EP 1090 0

Oct 17, 2025

Today, I am joined by The Tactical Redneck to discuss updates from the Holler Homestead. Featured Event: Oct 25-26 GSD Weekend at the Eversoles - Join the LFTN Telegram Group to RSVP

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How To Organize A Farm To Table Event - EP 1089 0

Oct 16, 2025

Today, we talk about what it takes to organize a real Farm to Table Dinner, as well as cover our usual Monday segments.

Featured Event

Chainsaw Milling Demo and Potluck
Sunday at 1 PM
Basecamp Lodge, Lancaster, TN
Join us for a hands-on chainsaw milling demonstration and community potluck! Bring a dish to share and see how we turn logs into lumber right here at the Holler.
Event Details

Community Highlight

LFTN Stocking Exchange
Time is running out to sign up! We’ll assign your Secret Stocking Santa on November 1, so don’t miss out on this fun community tradition.
Sign Up Here

Tales from the Prepper Pantry

Convenience meals this week: crockpot lamb ribs.
Drying the last round of fall herbs — mint, oregano, and holy basil.
Getting ready to fill the freezers with meat now that it’s almost cold enough to butcher.
Hoping for a venison this year.
Ground meat base for winter meals: beef, pork, and more pork.

Weekly Shopping Report

No shopping trip this week.

Frugality Tip

Did you know that if you put something in your online cart at Amazon (and some other online stores), when the price changes they notify you via email. So if you are looking to buy something but it is a little out of your budget, throw it in the cart and you just might be notified when it goes on sale.

Also, when looking around on eBay, go ahead and click that heart, a lot of sellers will send you a discounted offer just for liking an item.

So have a little patience and wait and see if you can save a few dollars on your next online purchase.

Happy savings y'all
~Margo

Operation Independence

We opened up the Basecamp Airbnb — and one hour later it rented for four days! That single booking covered baseline expenses for the property (though not the mortgage). Still, a solid win toward independence.

Main Topic: Organizing a Real Farm to Table Dinner

Why We’re Doing One
We wanted to show what real farm-to-table actually means — not marketing, not a photo op. A community meal built from what local farmers are actually harvesting right now, cooked by people who understand those ingredients.
Why It’s Harder Than a Typical Event
This isn’t catered convenience food.

The chef has to process everything from raw ingredients, not pre-trimmed or par-cooked product.
Every ingredient is sourced directly from farms, not distributors.
Timing is critical — you plan the menu around what’s in season, not what’s available year-round from a big box store.

This is NOT your typical farm-to-table experience. We’re not highlighting one or two local dishes and then filling the rest from Costco. Every ingredient — except the pepper and the coffee (which I roast) — comes from right here in Tennessee. No shortcuts.

What Other Farm to Table Events Get Wrong
Most are “farm to table” in name only — a token nod to local producers while relying heavily on imported or processed foods. They miss the deeper connection between local abundance, timing, and community.
Steps to Organizing One

Source the food: Build relationships with local growers and producers.
Find a venue: Needs to be accessible, scenic, and functional for cooking and serving.
Create a semi-flexible menu: Base it on what farmers actually have that week.
Explore legalities: Health codes, insurance, and any required permits.
Add extras: Things like a wild edible walk turn the dinner into an experience.
Sell the tickets: Clear messaging — you’re selling an authentic experience, not a restaurant meal.
Handle logistics the day of: Setup, cooking flow, seating, lighting, cleanup.

Customer Experience

How do you keep the night flowing smoothly and still make it feel personal?
How do you balance talking about the farms with letting guests simply enjoy the meal?

Scaling the Concept