Tending Seeds: Adventures in Gardening

Ep 69 - Growing Seedlings and Running Plant Sales w Marla Alexander

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 06:00:00 +0000

Hey friends! I'm super excited to have my friend and fellow herbalist, Marla Alexander, on the show today! In addition to running an herbal seed library, Marla has been growing plant starts for bigger and bigger plant sales every year for quite a while now. She currently organizes a large Denver-based plant sale every spring and coordinates growing lists for three different growers that provide the plants for that sale. Today we'll dive into Marla's tips and tricks and she'll share TONS of knowledge and advice for how to make sure your plant sale is successful. This is a great potential way to make a little sidehustle income for your homestead, or to just deepen your community connections by offering plants to neighbors, community gardens, etc. In the past, doing a small spring and/or fall plant sale has been an easy way to at least cover the cost of our farm's seed order for the year. Also, after we finished recording the episode, Marla reached out with one more piece of advice for the planning/prep portion of the episode: she suggested having signage for each species of plant being offered, if possible with photos included of the mature plants, to help people visualize what they will look like after growing. Marla said to make sure to laminate your signs for easy re-use the following year! This is especially great because it lets more introverted folks get the info they need without having to talk to you, and it leaves you free to focus on helping people with sales! It might be a bit of work on the front end, but they're reusable so you'll just have to add new signs for any new plants you add to your grow list the next season :) ~*~*~*~*~*~ Connect with Marla on Instagram The herb seed library that Marla started! The plant labels that Marla recommended in the episode. ~*~*~*~*~*~ Our farm shop is full of goodies for you! If seasonal allergies are getting you down, I'd highly suggest our Green Spiral Tea! SPRING TEA SALE!!! Get 20% off all teas when you buy 4 or more bags (mix and match for as many types as you like). Use code TEATIME at checkout. Follow Nordic Fox Farm on: Instagram * Facebook * TikTok Coming through Hotchkiss, Colorado? Swing by our in-person farm store at 148 E Bridge St!

Ep 68 - Latine Herbalism with Josie Castaneda

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 05:11:00 +0000

Hey friends! Spring is in full swing and we're making lots of headway on some big projects, like our greenhouse build! Today I'm excited to bring you an interview with Ioselleve "Josie" Castaneda, a modern-day curandera or practitioner of Mexican Folk Herbalism. She is the author of Latine Herbalism: A Beginner's Guide to Modern Curanderismo, Healing Plants, and Folk Traditions of the Americas. ~*~*~*~*~*~ Connect with Josie at Curandera Remedies or on Instagram Get a signed copy of Latine Herbalism. Also mentioned in the episode: Episode 61 – Italian Folk Healing with Jill Fazio ~*~*~*~*~*~ Our farm shop is full of goodies for you! If seasonal allergies are getting you down, I'd highly suggest our Green Spiral Tea! Follow Nordic Fox Farm on: Instagram * Facebook * TikTok Coming through Hotchkiss, Colorado? Swing by our new in-person farm store at 148 E Bridge St! We'd love to see you and have a chat over a cup of tea! Use code PODCAST25 at checkout to save 10% on everything in the farm shop!

Ep 67 - 2026 Homestead and Herb Farm Goals

Fri, 13 Feb 2026 07:04:00 +0000

Hey friends! As promised, we're kicking of our 2026 episodes by diving into our goals for both our homestead and our herb farm! We got really focused when writing up our goals for the year and cut the size of our goal list to about a third of what it's been in prior years. In 2026 we are really honing in only on the projects that will truly move our off-grid homestead and farm forward in big ways. Mike and I super excited about what we have planned for this coming year, and if we truly knock the majority of it off the list then we will be extremely happy campers! We'd love to hear about your big goals for this year as well -- drop us a line on social media if you're so inclined :) ~*~*~*~*~*~ Our farm shop is full of goodies for you! We've got all the great things for winter health -- our Winter Wellness tea, elderberry tincture, elderberry syrup kits, and our broth bags for delicious soups! Coming through Hotchkiss, Colorado? Swing by our new in-person farm store at 148 E Bridge St! We'd love to see you and have a chat over a cup of tea! Use code PODCAST25 at checkout to save 10% on everything in the farm shop! You can follow us on Instagram and Facebook.

Ep 66 - 2025 Wrapped

Tue, 30 Dec 2025 06:30:00 +0000

Hey friends! We hope your holidays were great and that you're getting as excited for 2026 as we are. Before we close out this chapter, I wanted to share a wrap-up episode of all the cool challenges and projects that we took on in 2025! It was a super eventful year that saw a TON of growth for us, both on our homestead and for our farm business. I can't wait for next year! Stay tuned in January to hear about our plans and goals to make 2026 even more amazing <3 ~*~*~*~*~*~ Our farm shop is full of goodies for you! We've got all the great things for winter health -- our Winter Wellness tea, elderberry tincture, elderberry syrup kits, and our broth bags for delicious soups! Coming through Hotchkiss, Colorado? Swing by our new in-person farm store at 148 E Bridge St! We'd love to see you and have a chat over a cup of tea! Use code PODCAST25 at checkout to save 10% on everything in the farm shop! You can follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Consider leaving us a positive rating and review -- it really helps! And please share the podcast with a friend so we can reach more fantastic like-minded people!! <3

Ep 65 - Market Vending Tips with Sara and Mike

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 06:13:00 +0000

Today Mike and I are talking about some of the big things we've learned over the last few years of vending at various farmers markets, festivals, craft fairs, and other events. We hope you'll find a lot of useful info here that you can use to level up your own market experience!! Some of the areas we dive into include: -things to think about when choosing markets (and when to leave a market behind) -tips and tricks for making your booth stand out to customers -reducing friction for your customers (aka making it easy for them to buy from you) -improving customer interactions We'd love to do another follow-up episode, so please reach out to us if you have questions you'd like us to answer, or if you have market vending tips that you'd like to share with our audience! ~*~*~*~*~*~ Our farm shop is full of goodies for you! Grilling season is upon us and we have TONS of amazing seasonings and smoked salts to upgrade your meals. I'd highly suggest our smoked garlic salt and/or smoked jalapeno salt for your burgers, and our herbs de provence for some amazing grilled veggies. Coming through Hotchkiss, Colorado? Swing by our new in-person farm store at 148 E Bridge St! We'd love to see you and have a chat over a cup of tea! Use code PODCAST25 at checkout to save 10% on everything in the farm shop! You can follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Consider leaving us a positive rating and review -- it really helps! And please share the podcast with a friend so we can reach more fantastic like-minded people!! <3

Ep 64 - Mushroom Foraging with Whitney Johnson

Wed, 30 Apr 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Hey friends! My guest today is Whitney Johnson, also known as the Appalachian Forager. She's here to talk about her beautiful new book, Go Forth and Forage, which is all about mushroom foraging. We dive into some of the common misconceptions about mushrooms, how to go about identifying mushrooms properly, the debate about whether we should cut or pluck when harvesting, and lots of other hot shroomy topics. Whitney also shares some knowledge about how learning tree identification can really help you when out mushroom hunting and we talk a little bit about other foraging adventures and the joys of seasonal eating. I loved this convo with her and I think you will too! Connect with Whitney: Website - Facebook - Instagram ~*~*~*~*~*~ Our farm shop is full of goodies for you! We have four new teas -- Strength, The Sun, The Moon, and The Star. The Moon is our first caffeinated tea, with a white tea base plus cornflowers, butterfly pea flowers, and more! And The Sun is perfect for this warmer weather, with hints of orange peel and hibiscus. Coming through Hotchkiss, Colorado? Swing by our new in-person farm store at 148 E Bridge St! We'd love to see you and have a chat over a cup of tea! Use code PODCAST25 at checkout to save 10% on everything in the farm shop! You can follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Consider leaving us a positive rating and review -- it really helps! And please share the podcast with a friend so we can reach more fantastic like-minded people!! <3

Ep 63 - Seed Farming with Dan Brisebois

Tue, 15 Apr 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Hey friends! Hope you’re doing well! Spring is poking its head up here but we’re still getting snow off and on as well, so we’re not able to start planting outdoors yet. We have lots of great stuff happening inside though! We’ve got loads of grow lights and heat mats set up and we have tons of seedlings already taking off! We’re really trying to narrow our focus this year to growing larger quantities of a fewer number of crops. Specifically we’re focused on the things that we need big amounts of in order to produce the things we make for our farm store – mainly our seasonings and our herbal teas. We’re also still growing vegetables for our personal use, and continuing to expand our perennial food forest of course. But we’re getting a lot more dialed in on prioritizing what we really HAVE to have versus all of the fun random things that I WANT to have when I flip through seed catalogs. Which sometimes is easier said than done, because there are just so many cool varieties out there and I want to try them all! Speaking of seeds, that’s our focus today! My guest today is Dan Brisebois, a farmer who focuses on growing seeds. His newest book is The Seed Farmer and I was sooooo ridiculously excited to get to talk to him about it! I’ve been a bit of a fan girl about Dan’s work for quite a while now, ever since I learned about his worker co-operative farm and then got to go through his Farmer Spreadsheet Academy a few years back. Yall know how much I love a spreadsheet! Dan’s book is absolutely fantastic and I think you’ll get a ton from it whether you’re wanting to learn to save seed and come up with your own plant crosses for your own personal garden use, or if you’re interested in selling seed someday yourself. I hope you enjoy our conversation! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Connect with Dan: Dan's website -- get a copy of Dan's book, check out his great blog, learn about the Farmer Spreadsheet Academy, and listen to the Seed Farmer Podcast! Dan's Instagram ~*~*~*~*~*~*~ As always, if you enjoy the podcast please share it with a friend or two and leave us a positive rating and review! You can also support our work by checking out our farm store at NordicFoxFarm.com. We have some great new tea blends up in the shop plus all of our delicious seasonings and smoked salts. Make sure to use the code PODCAST25 for 10% off your first order, and hop on our mailing list while you’re at it. I hope you’re doing well and getting to have some planty fun this spring. Our next episode will be all about mushroom foraging! Until then, keep your hands dirty and your heart open.

Ep 62 - Traveling Farm Work with James Miller

Thu, 13 Mar 2025 06:15:00 +0000

Today I have a really great guest for you! His name is James Miller and I actually met him as a tattoo client. We did a large piece that took several sessions and so as I was tattooing him we had some really amazing conversations that then led to me wanting to bring him on the podcast. James was here in Colorado to work on a local farm as a WWOOFer. Now what is WWOOFing? WWOOFing stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. This is an organization that networks small farms with individuals who are interested in working on farms. This usually isn’t paid work, but instead a pre-set arrangement of working a certain number of hours per day or week in exchange for meals and housing, plus the knowledge that you will get to pick up along the way. So WWOOFing can be an amazing opportunity for someone who is interested in traveling all over the country, or even the world, and learning some cool skills as they do so. It’s something I was looking into doing when I was younger so when James told me he was a WWOOFer I knew I had to have him on the show! Today James will share his experiences with us traveling through two different organizations – WWOOFing, as well as another similar site called WorkAway. We recorded this episode in December right before he left Colorado for his next farm destination. His travels have taken him to several different states as well as Spain and Morocco and who knows where he will go next. If you’re interested in learning agricultural skills, WWOOFing can be a really cool option and James will outline some of the things he looks for when considering a new potential work arrangement. I hope this episode will inspire you and give you the travel bug! Enjoy! Connect with James on Instagram. ~*~*~*~*~*~ Our farm shop is full of goodies for you! We have two new offerings in the shop -- our Hot Italian Seasoning, and our Tummy Mender Tea. Our seasonal Lymph Love vinegar is also back in stock to guide us smoothly out of winter and into early spring over the next few months. Your support helps us to keep growing, literally and figuratively <3 Coming through Hotchkiss, Colorado? Swing by our new in-person farm store at 148 E Bridge St! We'd love to see you and have a chat over a cup of tea! Use code PODCAST25 at checkout to save 10% on everything in the farm shop! You can follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Please share the podcast with a friend so we can reach more fantastic like-minded people!! <3

Ep 61 - Italian Folk Healing with Lisa Fazio

Fri, 28 Feb 2025 07:15:00 +0000

Hi, friends! We’ve been working hard this month getting back into the swing of things. We spent four days vending at various markets this month and March and April are slated to be busy as well. We also had the official grand opening of our farm store in Hotchkiss and it’s been so amazing to connect with people in person when they come in to browse our teas and other herbal products! We’re getting ready to jump on our next project, which is getting the greenhouse built next month! We’re also getting some seeds going indoors in the meantime, and then they’ll move out to the greenhouse which we hope to have done by mid-April at the latest. This will let us get a HUGE jump on the growing season, as we can’t really put many plants outside until the end of May. And as we wait for spring to arrive, I’m having fun editing some of the great interviews I’ve had time to record these last couple months, including today’s wonderful convo with Lisa Fazio. Lisa is an Irish/Italian American folklore witch, herbalist, and astrologer, as well as the mother of 4 children and Nonna to 2 grandchildren. Her principal training is in Traditional Western Herbalism, Western Astrology, and the folk ways of her Italian immigrant family. The primary focus of her work is ancestral revival and remembrance within the Italian diaspora as well as with anyone who longs for ancestral connection. She has an academic background in Psychology and Ethnobotany as well as years of study and practice in the traditions of Trika Shaivism and Plant Spirit Medicine. She is also a tracker, a wilderness first responder and has spent 20 years working as a clinical and community herbalist. I’m so honored to have gotten to chat with Lisa about her book, Della Medicina: The Tradition of Italian-American Folk Healing. We had such a wonderful conversation and one thing I really want to emphasize is that you don’t need to be of Italian heritage to get a ton of value out of Lisa’s work! So much of what she shares crosses different cultures and backgrounds and I hope this will inspire you to dive into your own ancestry as well. Grab your own copy of Della Medicina! Connect with Jill: Instagram * Substack * Website ~*~*~*~*~*~ Our farm shop is full of goodies for you! We have two new offerings in the shop -- our Hot Italian Seasoning, and our Tummy Mender Tea. Our seasonal Lymph Love vinegar is also back in stock to guide us smoothly out of winter and into early spring over the next few months. Your support helps us to keep growing, literally and figuratively <3 Coming through Hotchkiss, Colorado? Swing by our new in-person farm store at 148 E Bridge St! We'd love to see you and have a chat over a cup of tea! Use code PODCAST25 at checkout to save 10% on everything in the farm shop! You can follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Please share the podcast with a friend so we can reach more fantastic like-minded people!! <3

Ep 60 - Tiny Farm Planning with Jill Ragan

Fri, 31 Jan 2025 06:35:00 +0000

Hey friends! Hope you’re doing well as we wrap up January here. We have been SUPER busy with some big projects behind the scenes. One of them is that we now have our farm store open in Hotchkiss! For the last two years, Mike and I have, in addition to homesteading, had a small tattoo studio in Hotchkiss. Our lease was coming to an end and we had really outgrown the space so we started looking for something bigger. One of the things we were hoping to find was a new studio space that would be big enough to actually house both of our business! We lucked out and found a great commercial space that’s still on the main road through town and the property owner is super cool and very supportive of everything we’re doing. We've also been trying to find some time to pause and do some planning before things pick up steam here with markets again. I think taking the time to really reflect on what we’ve done before planning for the next season is so incredibly important and that’s why I’m so excited to have Jill Ragan of Whispering Willow Farm on the podcast today! She’s the author of the Tiny But Mighty Farm but our focus today is to talk about her newest project, The Tiny Farm Planner. We had an awesome conversation about so many topics, like honoring the different seasons of our lives, getting away from the cultural urge to monetize everything we are doing, and instead focusing on the joy that activities bring to us. Hope you enjoy! Grab your own copy of The Tiny Farm Planner! Connect with Jill: Instagram * Facebook * Website ~*~*~*~*~*~ Our farm shop is full of goodies for you! We have two new offerings in the shop -- our Hot Italian Seasoning, and our Tummy Mender Tea. Our seasonal Lymph Love vinegar is also back in stock to guide us smoothly out of winter and into early spring over the next few months. Your support helps us to keep growing, literally and figuratively <3 Coming through Hotchkiss, Colorado? Swing by our new in-person farm store at 148 E Bridge St! We'd love to see you and have a chat over a cup of tea! Use code PODCAST25 at checkout to save 10% on everything in the farm shop! You can follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Please share the podcast with a friend so we can reach more fantastic like-minded people!! <3

Ep 59 - Preserving with a Purpose with Sarah Thrush

Sat, 18 Jan 2025 06:30:00 +0000

Hi friends! Welcome to our first episode of 2025! We're getting back to releasing two new episodes a month, and we have some awesome interviews already recorded and ready to share with you -- like this one! Today’s guest is Sarah Thrush, who I’ve been following for a few years over on TikTok. You might know her there as @peeliesandpetals and she shares tons of great information with her followers about food preservation. I was also able to snag a copy of her book, Preserving with a Purpose, and I have to tell you it’s quickly become one of my favorite books about canning! It covers all of the basics if you’re new to canning but Sarah also offers up a lot of kitchen wisdom and her recipes are not the same ones that we see time and time again in other canning books – there’s some really cool unique stuff in here that I am excited to try out for myself this coming year as we start bringing in the garden harvest. I loved having Sarah on the podcast, I think her knowledge and enthusiasm for the freedom that comes from preserving food for your family is really contagious and I hope you will catch the bug as well! Enjoy the interview! Connect with Sarah Thrush: Instagram - TikTok - Get her book! ~*~*~*~*~*~ Our farm shop is full of goodies for you! All of our seasonings, including our smoked jalapeno salt and smoked garlic salt, are back in stock and ready to ship. We also have seasonal offerings like our Elderberry Syrup Kits to get ready for cold and flu season. Your support helps us to keep growing, literally and figuratively <3 Use code PODCAST25 at checkout to save 10% on everything in the farm shop! You can follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Please share the podcast with a friend so we can reach more fantastic like-minded people!! <3

Ep 58 - Homestead Chats with Natalie and Sara

Fri, 27 Sep 2024 05:30:00 +0000

Hi friends! I'm back with an awesome repeat guest today -- Natalie, the Alaska Redhead! Natalie is a fellow off-grid homesteader who lives in Alaska and was on the podcast a little over a year ago. We became friends and have stayed in touch, so decided to have an on-going series that we're calling Homestead Chats with Natalie and Sara. Today we catch up on what's been going on at each of our homesteads, how we made it through winter, our different crafty endeavors, and lots more! Hope you enjoy! ~*~*~*~*~*~ Find Natalie on Instagram: @alaska.redhead Natalie's Podcast My Far North Cabin Natalie's crochet Etsy store Our farm shop is full of goodies for you! All of our seasonings, including our smoked jalapeno salt and smoked garlic salt, are back in stock and ready to ship. We also have seasonal offerings like our Pumpkin Pie Spice Blend and our Elderberry Syrup Kits, to get ready for cold and flu season. Your support helps us to keep growing, literally and figuratively <3 Use code PODCAST24 at checkout to save 10% on everything in the farm shop! You can follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Please share the podcast with a friend so we can reach more fantastic like-minded people!!

Ep 57 - Botanical Cocktails with Tenae Stewart

Wed, 18 Sep 2024 05:30:00 +0000

Hi friends! It's been a minute since our last episode but we have lots of fun progress updates to share! Things are moving along nicely with our shop build and we've been having a great season at different farmers' markets and festivals. Today I’m super excited to have Tenae Stewart on the podcast to talk about her book, Botanical Cocktails. Residing in California, Tenae is a cottage witch and astrologer who has previously published two other books, The Modern Witch’s Guide to Natural Magick and The Modern Witch’s Guide to Magickal Self-Care. In her latest book, she shares delicious cocktail and mocktail recipes with us that feature beautiful herbs that we can cultivate in our gardens or find while out foraging. I hope you enjoy this episode! ~*~*~*~ Want to connect with Tenae? You can find her on Instagram, or visit her website to get signed copies of her books. Our farm shop is full of goodies for you! All of our seasonings, including our smoked jalapeno salt and smoked garlic salt, are back in stock and ready to ship. We also have seasonal offerings like our Pumpkin Pie Spice Blend and our Elderberry Syrup Kits, to get ready for cold and flu season. Your support helps us to keep growing, literally and figuratively <3 Use code PODCAST24 at checkout to save 10% on everything in the farm shop! You can follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Please share the podcast with a friend so we can reach more fantastic like-minded people!!

Ep 56 - Next-Level Tools for Your Homestead

Thu, 18 Jul 2024 06:15:00 +0000

We're back with our second episode in our Homestead Tools series! Make sure to check out Episode 53 - Essential Tools for Your Homestead if you haven't already listened to that one. Today we're moving past the basic tools that we previously covered and talking about some investments that can really help to level up your projects. Mike answers my questions about everything from cutting metal and welding to a variety of options for sawing your own lumber, and so much more! We hope this episode will be super useful for you. Here is the Miller welding app that Mike mentions. Our third installment in this series will talk about tool maintenance so that you can make sure to protect your investments! ~*~*~*~ Our new website and farm shop are finally up! All of our seasonings, including our smoked jalapeno salt and smoked garlic salt, are back in stock and ready to ship. Your support helps us to keep growing, literally and figuratively <3 Use code PODCAST24 at checkout to save 10% on everything in the farm shop! You can follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Please share the podcast with a friend so we can reach more fantastic like-minded people!!

About Gardening

Sat, 29 Jun 2024 09:36:34 +0000

Follow along on our journey of living off-grid on our 42 acre homestead in western Colorado as well as running a medicinal herb farm and creating seasonal herbal products to meet the needs of our community. Other topics discussed will include planning and goal setting for your best life, the importance of community building, and tons of DIY projects for the farmstead. Help keep the show going by checking out our online farm store at foxandelder.com/shop. We appreciate your support so, so much!

Ep 55 - Spring Means Worktime

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 05:25:00 +0000

It was a long winter but we're back with some great project updates now that the weather has gotten nicer and we can get back to work on our property! Spring means worktime around here for sure!! Mike and I share what we've been up to thanks to an excavator rental, and some tips for those of you who might also be renting large pieces of equipement. We also discuss the pros and cons of working with repurposed materials, specifically using old tires for building projects. ~*~*~*~ Our new website and farm shop are finally up! All of our seasonings, including our smoked jalapeno salt and smoked garlic salt, are back in stock and ready to ship. Your support helps us to keep growing, literally and figuratively <3 You can also follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Please share the podcast with a friend so we can reach more fantastic like-minded people!!

Ep 54 - Our 2024 Goals

Mon, 22 Jan 2024 06:00:00 +0000

Hi friends! Happy New Year! We're back with our first episode of 2024 where we reflect on what we accomplished in 2023, share some big life events that happened, and then dive into our goals for this coming year. We talk about goals for our land/homestead, the farm business, our tattoo studio, our health, and more. We'd also love to hear about your goals for this year as well! We think speaking our plans aloud helps with accountability and it's also fun to see the commonalities in goals across our whole community. This year is going to be AWESOME! ~*~*~*~ Please consider supporting the show by checking out our online farm shop! All of our seasonings, including our smoked jalapeno salt and smoked garlic salt, are back in stock and ready to ship. You can also follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Please share the podcast with a friend so we can reach more fantastic like-minded people!!

Ep 53 - Essential Tools for Your Homestead

Fri, 01 Dec 2023 04:30:00 +0000

Hey friends! Mike is back on the podcast with me to discuss essential tools for your homestead. We start off by talking about hand tools and then progress to battery-operated power tools and corded power tools. Mike answers some of my questions and we share things we've learned over the years. We think this is useful info even if you aren't homesteading yet because it's great to have a basic toolkit no matter where you live! We'll be doing a second tool episode covering specialty tools and also answering any questions that you all send in, so feel free to message us through our social media if there's something you'd like us to cover! ~*~*~*~ Please consider supporting the show by checking out our online farm shop! Pre-orders are open for our quarterly seasonal box of herbal products. This box ships in time to receive it before the winter solstice, Yule, and Christmas -- so it also makes a great gift! It comes with our best-selling Winter Wellness Tea, elderberry syrup, and lots more. Check it out!! You can also follow us on Instagram and Facebook. (You'll notice we've switched our farm name to Nordic Fox Farm -- we talk about this in the intro to the episode! New website coming soon!)

Ep 52 - Reflections After One Year Living Off-Grid

Thu, 12 Oct 2023 06:00:00 +0000

Hey friends! October 20th marks one year of us living off-grid on our land in Colorado, so we thought it would be nice to take an episode to reflect on everything we've accomplished so far! We also dive into how our lifestyle has shifted living so remotely, some of the unexpected challenges we've faced, what we really value and consider to be luxuries now, and lots more. At the end of the episode we also touch on some tough news regarding our pig herd. This episode is dedicated to Franklin, Clementine, and their piglets <3 ~*~*~*~ Please consider supporting the show by checking out our online farm shop! We've got loads of seasonal goodies stocked up there for the fall and winter. You can also follow us on social media as @foxandelder.

Ep 51 - Alaskan Homesteading with Natalie, the Alaska Redhead

Thu, 22 Jun 2023 05:30:00 +0000

Hi friends!! I’m recording this intro on the summer solstice, looking out at the garden and just really loving life at the moment. This weather is absolutely amazing. We’ve gotten a TON of work done on the homestead recently and we’ll share about that in an upcoming episode. We’re also getting fun new summer herbal products listed in the Fox and Elder shop, including our summer solstice boxes which we have just a couple of left. Today I have Natalie, the Alaska Redhead, joining us on the podcast. I found her through a mutual friend and immediately knew I had to have her on the show. I’m so glad to have been able to strike up a friendship with her and convince her to come on and share her experiences with you all. Alaska is one of those homesteading destinations that has become more and more popular in recent years, but there are some big challenges to consider if you’re thinking about moving there! Natalie and I dive into those and she shares some of her challenges in living off grid in Alaska. She has some great insights to share and I hope you enjoy our conversation! I hope everyone is doing well out there and that your seedlings are healthy and happy. Be good to each other! Until next time, keep your hands dirty and your heart open. ~*~*~*~ Find Natalie on Instagram: @alaska.redhead and @nataliesoffgridkitchen Natalie's Alaskan Life blog Natalie's crochet Etsy store ~*~*~*~ Find Sara on Instagram: @foxandelder Check out our farm's herbal products: Fox and Elder shop Our newest seasoning blend: Herbs de Provence

Ep 50 - Our Off-Grid Infrastructure

Thu, 01 Jun 2023 06:48:00 +0000

Today is our 50th episode!! I have Mike on the podcast with me again and we're diving into all of the different parts of our off-grid infrastructure. We share what has worked, what hasn't, and things we wish we had known ahead of time. Some of the topics we cover include:

road access to your land
hauling water
septic vs composting toilets
generators
camper batteries
battery tenders
solar power
off-grid internet options

We hope this episode will be really helpful to you if you are considering homesteading at some point, or are already homesteading and looking to possibly change up some of the things you're doing! We are definitely not even close to being experts, but always happy to share whatever knowledge we can in the hopes it will save you from some of our own mistakes! ~*~*~*~ If you’d like to support the podcast, please spread the word about it by sharing it on your social media! You can also support us by checking out our online farm shop. We have lots of great herbal offerings in stock and pre-orders for our summer solstice box will be opening up soon. Until next time, keep your hands dirty and your heart open.

Ep 49 - Small-Scale Homesteading with Michelle and Stephanie

Thu, 18 May 2023 06:15:00 +0000

Hi friends! I hope the month of May has been treating you well! Things here are looking great – it’s finally warm enough that we have some seeds started and sprouting, and we were invited to vend at a local market for a spring event last week. Our farmers' market also starts up at the end of this month and we’re looking forward to being there every Saturday! Today’s interview features two awesome guests who I’m excited to introduce you to: Stephanie Thurow is a Certified Master Food Preserver and Master Gardener Volunteer from Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is a homesteader, author of bestselling cookbooks Can It & Ferment It, WECK Small-Batch Preserving, and WECK Home Preserving. You can find here on the Minnesota from Scratch blog, or on Instagram under the same name. Stephanie hopes her experience with homesteading will help others reach more of their goals. When she isn’t in the kitchen preserving, she can be found in the garden with her hens, teaching food preservation classes, or at the lake with her family and friends. Michelle Bruhn homesteads in suburban Minnesota. She's a local food advocate, Master Gardener Volunteer, writer, garden educator, and farmers' market manager. As the founder of ForksInTheDirt.com, an information hub for garden and farm-to-table living, her passion is helping folks "dig" their food. She can also be found at ForksInTheDirt on Instagram. When not in the garden, Michelle enjoys spending time with her backyard flock, family, and friends while immersing herself in nature (usually with a foraging basket in tow). Their book Small-Scale Homesteading covers topics such as:

Gardening tips and tricks: from composting, soil health and what plants thrive best during the different seasons.
All things preserving: Canning, curing and how to keep your vegetables last year round.
Raising chickens: how these feathered friends can inhance your homestead.
DIY products and recipes: healthy alternatives to everyday cleaning products, lotions and soaps.

~*~*~*~ If you’d like to support the podcast, please spread the word about it by sharing it on your social media! You can also support us by checking out our online farm shop. We have lots of great herbal offerings in stock and pre-orders for our summer solstice box will be opening up soon. Until next time, keep your hands dirty and your heart open.

Ep 48 - The Sustainable Homestead with Angela Ferraro-Fanning

Thu, 27 Apr 2023 06:15:00 +0000

Today I’m excited to welcome Angela Ferraro-Fanning to the podcast. She is a self-taught first-generation farmer who runs Axe & Root Homestead, a six-acre farm in central New Jersey. She grows and preserves her own homegrown produce for her family and runs a farm bustling with Clydesdales, geese and ducks for eggs, an apiary with ten beehives, sheep, and a small orchard. She shares her love for self-sufficient living with others through social media as @axeandroothomestead, her books and online homesteading classes, published articles, and public speaking. She is also the cohost of the HOMESTEADucation Podcast and the author of the Little Homesteader children’s book series. Angela joins us today to talk about her book, The Sustainable Homestead: Create a Thriving Permaculture Ecosystem with Your Garden, Animals, and Land. ~*~ We're celebrating spring with a 10% off sale over at the Fox and Elder online farm shop! Check out our Good As Gold herbal body oil and our Nettle and Seaweed Seasoning Salt, which I love to put on everything from omelettes to popcorn. Use the code SPRING10 at checkout. Please help spread the word about the podcast by subscribing, rating, and sharing with a friend or three. Follow us on all social media (IG, TikTok, FB) etc at Fox and Elder.

Ep 47 - Moving to Our New Homestead

Thu, 13 Apr 2023 06:30:00 +0000

Hi, friends! We're back with our second episode with my partner, Mike, as a guest. We're continuing this series discussing the process of restarting our homestead out here in Colorado. Today's episode focuses on our actual move from Tennessee to Colorado and some of the big decisions we had to make and the logistics that we had to organize. I hope this episode is helpful to anyone who finds themselves in the position of needing to move their homestead in the future. And I hope everyone else finds it entertaining to hear about our adventures! Some topics we touch on :

Deciding when to actually make the move.
Deciding where/what to live in once we got to Colorado -- we bought raw land so we were starting completely from scratch!
Working to get our TN homestead on the market to sell.
Moving in stages -- we needed to have infrastructure ready to go for the animals before we brought them out.
Our first work trip -- what we accomplished; help from friends.
The actual move -- worrying about our animals; finishing fencing in the dark.
The rush to beat winter -- getting ourselves situated; not letting solar equipment freeze.

The cover photo for this episode is the first selfie we took on our new property, the morning after we arrived and started stumbling around our land for the first time. If we look sleep-deprived and a bit wild-eyed, it's because we were! ~*~ As always, we appreciate your support of this podcast and our work! Please check out the spring seasonal items in the Fox and Elder shop! Lymph Love, our favorite herbal vinegar, is back in stock. We also have violet leaf salve and calendula salve available in two different sizes now – both are great if you’re dealing with dry skin from winter still. And of course we still have our normal stock of delicious herbal teas and tinctures. Thanks so much for supporting our farm with your purchases! It means the world to us, especially as we work to get our farm re-established in a new location this year, which comes with a lot of expenses. If you're enjoying the podcast, please share it with a friend or three to help us reach more listeners! Until next time, keep your hands dirty and your heart open <3

Ep 46 - Growing Mushrooms with Nashville Farmacy

Thu, 30 Mar 2023 06:30:00 +0000

I’m so excited to welcome Dylan and Mickenzie of Nashville Farmacy to the podcast today! This is the final interview that I recorded back in Tennessee, and some of the only guests that I was fortunate enough to get to meet and hang out with in person! In today’s conversation, we talk about what it’s been like establishing their new homestead, their passion for sharing and teaching others about mushrooms, some of their favorite mushrooms, running a gourmet mushroom farm, and how to grow your own mushrooms. I hope you’ll hop on over to their website to check out their offerings, including some of their grow kits if you want to try your hand at growing some shrooms! Also make sure to give them a follow on their Instagram. Enjoy!! ~*~*~ It’s the end of March, but we still have over 3 feet of snow on the ground at our place in Colorado! I’m itching to get the garden going but it looks like I’m still going to be waiting a while. Our kune kune Clementine gave birth to five super healthy and adorable piglets last weekend so that’s keeping us busy in the meantime. If you want to see some really cute pictures, check out the Fox and Elder Instagram and Facebook. We’ve also released some of our spring seasonal items in the Fox and Elder shop! Lymph Love, our favorite herbal vinegar, is back in stock. We also have violet leaf salve and calendula salve available in two different sizes now – both are great if you’re dealing with dry skin from winter still. And of course we still have our normal stock of delicious herbal teas and tinctures. Thanks so much for supporting our farm with your purchases! It means the world to us, especially as we work to get our farm re-established in a new location this year, which comes with a lot of expenses. Our next episode will be another joint episode with my partner Mike as we continue to talk about our move from Tennessee to Colorado and transitioning to off-grid life here. Hope you’re doing well out there! Love extra hard on the people you care about, and plant some good seeds – both literally and figuratively. Until next time, keep your hands dirty and your heart open <3

Ep 45 - Finding Our Colorado Homestead

Thu, 02 Mar 2023 08:00:00 +0000

Today I'm so happy to welcome my partner Mike to the podcast! This is our first episode together in what will be an on-going series talking about our move from homesteading in Tennessee to now living off-grid in Colorado. In this episode we're talking about why we wanted to move West, what we were looking for in a piece of land, some of the properties we fell in love with, and various obstacles to actually getting a purchase to happen. And of course we talk about the piece of land we ultimately ended up purchasing and are now recording this podcast from :) ~*~ Pre-orders are now open for our spring herb box -- packed with seasonal herbal products to help you transition from winter to spring. Check it out here! Please help spread the word about the podcast by subscribing, rating, and sharing with a friend or three. Follow us on all social media (IG, TikTok, FB) etc at Fox and Elder.

Ep 44 - Growing Bonsai with Jerome and Mari of The Bonsai Supply

Mon, 30 Jan 2023 08:00:00 +0000

Today I have a super fun interview for you about a different kind of growing – bonsai trees! I’m sharing a fantastic conversation that I had with Jerome and Mari of the Bonsai Supply. They are also the authors of the beautiful book, Freestyle Bonsai. In today’s episode, they’ll discuss the origins and history of bonsai, some common myths about bonsai, and the different types of trees that can become bonsai. Jerome and Mari also offer their thoughts on what tools you need to get started, and walk us through the process of tending to and pruning your bonsai trees. There’s a lot of great information here and you can really hear the passion that they both have for bonsai and their craft! Enjoy! ~*~ Check out Jerome and Mari's book, Freestyle Bonsai, and follow them on Instagram @TheBonsaiSupply. ~*~ We're having our biggest sale of the year over at the Fox and Elder online farm shop! All of our tinctures are currently Buy 3, Get 2 Free -- this includes all of our single herb extracts as well as our herbal formulas like Evening Ease and Heart Lifter. Please help spread the word about the podcast by subscribing, rating, and sharing with a friend or three. Follow us on all social media (IG, TikTok, FB) etc at Fox and Elder.

Ep 43 - Growing Spices with Tasha Greer

Thu, 12 Jan 2023 07:00:00 +0000

The Fox and Elder online farm shop is finally back open after our big move! Come check out what we have to offer this winter for teas, tinctures, elderberry syrup kits, and more. We appreciate your support so, so much! ~*~ For today’s episode, I’m thrilled to bring you a conversation with Tasha Greer about her wonderful book: Grow Your Own Spices. Tasha lives and homesteads in North Carolina and has so much wonderful experience to share with us. If you've ever wondered if you could grown spices such as ginger, vanilla, and cumin -- this one is for you! We recorded this conversation this past summer before I left Tennessee and I really hope you’ll get a lot from this episode. More than anything, I hope you’ll be inspired to work a few new spices into your garden plans for this coming spring! Enjoy! ~*~ Check out both of Tasha's books: Grow Your Own Spices and Weed-Free Gardening. You can also find her on Instagram at @exploresimplestead. ~*~ Please help spread the word about the podcast by subscribing, rating, and sharing with a friend or three. Follow us on all social media (IG, TikTok, FB) etc as Fox and Elder.

Ep 42 - Farmers and the Land with Kathleen Moss

Thu, 22 Dec 2022 06:30:00 +0000

The podcast is back and we've been absent because of some big news -- we're not in Tennessee anymore! Over the last few months, we purchased 41 acres in western Colorado, sold our TN homestead, and are now living completely off-grid (except for satellite internet) in the mountains. We're exhausted but so, so happy, and looking forward to sharing more of this wild journey in future episodes. Today though I'm sharing a lovely conversation with fellow farmer Kathleen Moss of Fox Briar Farm in Easton, Maryland. We're talking about land and some of the different options (buying, renting, farmer co-ops, etc) available to farmers looking to find a space to start growing. We share our own experiences over the years -- the joy and love of connection we develop with land, and the heartbreak if we have to unexpectedly move on. We also talk about stewardship, community building, and pondering what will happen to a piece of land after we either stop farming or pass away. I had such a good time talking with Kathleen and this is a really intimate conversation between two growers about something that becomes inherently personal the longer you are growing in one place. I hope you enjoy it! ~*~ Connect with Kathleen over on the Fox Briar Farm instagram! Her CSA is open to new members right now for 2023! ~*~ Please support the podcast by subscribing, rating, and sharing with a friend or two. Find us on all social media (IG, TikTok, FB) etc as Fox and Elder ...but please note that we're becoming *Nordic Fox Farm* in 2023!

Ep 41 - Spiritual Herbalism with Josh Williams

Thu, 16 Jun 2022 07:00:34 +0000

I have Josh Williams on the podcast today to talk about his book, Spiritual Herbalism, and I’m so excited to share this conversation with you. I think this is one of my favorite interviews so far on the podcast! Before we dive in though, a little background about Josh: Josh Williams is an award-winning herbalist and owner of Salt Lake City's Greenthread Herbs apothecary. He is a lifelong student of the plants, and a graduate of several of the world's top herbal education programs including the rigorous East-West school. Josh has been in clinical practice since 2015 and opened the shop in 2018 with Bryan Lindquist. Josh has won Best Herbalist in Utah award since 2018 and the shop has won best of city and state in several categories since its opening. Josh's approach to herbalism and plant work is radically rooted in the spirit of plant people. He is a fierce animist and practices The Green Arte, a craft tradition of plant sorcery that honors the spirits of place, the old gods, and the ancestors. Josh’s approach to herbalism really resonates with my own beliefs and I highly recommend his book to new and seasoned herbalists alike. I really hope you enjoy this episode and then will pick up a copy of his book and check out his online course offerings. ~*~ Connect with Josh on Instagram Visit the Greenthread School Learn about the Green Arte ~*~ Please support the podcast by subscribing, rating, and sharing with a friend or two. Join our Full Moon Community on Patreon! Follow Fox and Elder on Instagram Check out the herbal offerings in our farm shop!

Ep 40 - Pressing Seed and Nut Oils with Bevin Cohen

Fri, 15 Apr 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Today's guest is Bevin Cohen of Small House Farm. Bevin is an herbalist and educator who offers lectures and workshops across the country teaching about the many benefits of locally grown and wild harvested plants, seed saving, and oil production. Today we'll be discussing his latest book, The Complete Guide to Seed and Nut Oils. I hope you'll be inspired to try pressing your own oils at home after listening to this episode! This is a fun homesteading topic that we've never discussed on the show before. We also talk about Bevin's work creating an umbrella network to connect the many seed libraries in his home state of Michigan. ~*~ Find Bevin's books, seeds, and more at Small House Farm. ~*~ Please support the podcast by subscribing, rating, and sharing with a friend or two. Join our Full Moon Community on Patreon! Fox and Elder on IG Check out the herbal offerings in our farm shop!

Ep 39 - Farm Finances with Brittany Peters of Sun and Soil Farm

Thu, 24 Mar 2022 07:00:23 +0000

Today's guest is Brittany Peters, one half of Sun and Soil Farm in Madison, North Carolina. We're talking about one of those taboo subjects: money! We might not like to talk about finances, but I think it's an aspect of farming for a living that needs to be talked about much, much more. I'm really grateful to Brittany for how open she is on social media about their farm finances and how that impacts their quality of life and decision making about working off-farm jobs or not. We dive into their debt-free journey and then the progress they've made financially over the last few years with their market garden. We also talk about some of the projects they're excited about, such as their composting service, the greenhouse they built, and the pond they're working on. I think there's so much great stuff in this episode and I hope you'll get a lot out of it! ~*~ Sun and Soil Farm on IG Sun and Soil Farm - Brittany's YouTube Ana White DIY Greenhouse ~*~ Please support the podcast by subscribing, rating, and sharing with a friend or two. Join our Full Moon Community on Patreon! Fox and Elder on IG Check out our farm shop!

Ep 38 - Regenerative Gardening with Stephanie Rose

Wed, 02 Mar 2022 09:00:24 +0000

Today we've got our first interview of the year with Stephanie Rose, author of The Regenerative Garden: 80 Practical Projects for Creating a Self-Sustaining Garden Ecosystem. Stephanie talks to us about what brought her to gardening in the first place, what makes a garden regenerative, some of her favorite projects from the book, and about her work designing gardens for children. ~*~ Please support the podcast by subscribing, rating, and sharing with a friend or two. Join our Patreon community! @foxandelder on instagram Our Lymph Love herbal vinegar is back in stock in our farm shop! foxandelder.com

Ep 37 - The Upward Spiral

Wed, 05 Jan 2022 08:00:00 +0000

The podcast is back! Season 3 is here and we're kicking off the new year with a deep dive into some techniques I use for goal setting, with examples related to the farm and homestead. ~*~ Please support the podcast by subscribing, rating, and sharing with a friend or two. Join our Patreon community! @foxandelder on instagram foxandelder.com

Ep 36 - Self-Sufficient Herbalism with Lucy Jones

Thu, 03 Dec 2020 06:00:00 +0000

Today I'm bringing you a lovely conversation with herbalist and herb grower Lucy Jones. We dive into the incredible story of how she got started down the plant path, training in two different herbal modalities and then integrating them into her clinical practice, and why she chooses to grow and gather the majority of her herbs rather than purchasing them from other growers. She also shares loads of knowledge with us from her book Self-Sufficient Herbalism, covering topics such as proper harvesting, drying, and storing of herbs and that there's no "one size fits all" approach to drying our plant material. I think you'll get so much from this interview and hopefully want to do some growing and gathering of your own! If you're inspired to dive deeper into Lucy's work and purchase her book, her publisher Aeon Books has kindly offered a 20% discount code for our listeners. That code is SH20 and is good through December 31st, 2020. If you are in the US or Canada, use that code to purchase through Red Wheel Weiser. If you are in the UK, you can use the same code to purchase through Aeon Books. ~*~ Lucy Jones is a medical herbalist with a busy high street practice, Myrobalan Clinic, in Somerset, UK. She grows or gathers the majority of the herbs that she works with and is a passionate proponent of self-sufficient herbalism. Prior to qualifying in western herbalism, she studied Tibetan Medicine with the great master Khenpo Troru Tsenam. This experience deeply influences her approach to therapeutic practice as well as the way that she grows and processes her herbs. She originally trained in Agriculture and Forestry and has two degrees from the University of Oxford. Her book ‘Self Sufficient Herbalism’ is published by Aeon Books. Connect with Lucy on Instagram, on Patreon, or her website. ~*~ Please support the podcast by subscribing, rating, and sharing with a friend or two. Join our Patreon community! @foxandelder on instagram foxandelder.com

Ep 35 - Seed Saving with Quin Shakra

Tue, 24 Nov 2020 06:00:00 +0000

Today we have Quin Shakra to talk to us all about seed saving! Quin is the farmer and seed grower behind the Plant Good Seed Company. Quin gives us an overview of how he got into growing for seed and walks us through the seed saving process. We also dive into his favorite tools for farming and seed saving, refining his process over the years, being in community with other growers, how to store your precious seeds after you’ve cleaned them, and so much more. You'll want to check out Quin's seed saving comic as well as a seed cleaning demo video he so kindly shared with us. You can find those in a public post over on our Patreon. And we're doing a seed giveaway over on the Fox & Elder Instagram, so don't miss out on that! Connect with Quin on Instagram or PlantGoodSeed.com #SmallBusinessSaturday is this week, and we'll have some special offers as well as releases of new herbal products from our farm! Check out the shop on Saturday, November 28th to see what's new!

Ep 34 - Indoor Plant Care with Tyler Thrasher

Thu, 12 Nov 2020 06:30:00 +0000

I'm so excited to bring you a fun conversation with Tyler Thrasher! We dive into how to care for your indoor plants over the winter, the inspiration for Tyler’s beautiful plant journals, his thoughts on the state of the plant market today and plant Instagram, why he no longer talks about plants being “rare,” how to get started propagating your own plants, how learning to propagate plants increases accessibility, encouraging plant diversity, and so much more. Connect with Tyler on Instagram or through his website. Enter the giveaway for one of Tyler's "Propagate Goodness" totes and a bag of our Winter Wellness tea! Ends November 18th. ~*~ @foxandelder on instagram foxandelder.com

Ep 33 - Herbal Support for Your Body Systems with Leah Larabell

Fri, 06 Nov 2020 19:02:56 +0000

I'm so thrilled to share this conversation with Leah Larabell of High Garden Tea. As we head into cold and flu season during an on-going pandemic, it's natural to wonder what we can be doing to fortify ourselves this winter. Leah walks us through an in-depth explanation of how Covid impacts our different body systems and then offers ways we that we can work to support and nourish those body systems before getting sick in the first place. She also gives suggestions for caring for ourselves during an illness as well as while recovering from having been sick. There's so much wonderful information here to take in! Connect with Leah via Instagram or on the High Garden website. ~*~ Join our Patreon community! @foxandelder on instagram foxandelder.com

Ep 32 - Put It to Bed

Mon, 02 Nov 2020 06:00:00 +0000

Today I'm bringing you a short solo episode reflecting on all of the things that are being put to bed here on the farm, the homestead, and in my life. I also talk about why it's so important to have seasons where we tie up loose ends so that we can move forward with new things and fresh energy. And I talk a bit about how we put the gardens to bed for winter here, and prep new areas for planting. ~*~ If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us over on Patreon! @foxandelder on instagram foxandelder.com

Ep 31 - Flower Essences with Nan Moak

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 02:26:24 +0000

Nan Moak of Dandelion and Crow joins us today to share her work making flower essences. She explains what a flower essence is, how we can all make them at home, and how she creates her offerings using her intuition and the cycles of the moon. Make sure to come on over for the handout on making your own flower essences, how to get in touch with Nan, and the episode transcript. ~*~ If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us over on Patreon! @foxandelder on instagram foxandelder.com

Ep 30 - Pruning Fruit Trees with Aimi Hamraie

Fri, 16 Oct 2020 02:15:11 +0000

Today I'm speaking with Aimi Hamraie who gives us a really knowledgeable overview of the ins and outs of fruit tree pruning. They discuss what types of tools to use, why we should be pruning, what to look for when pruning, and even some recommendations of plant guilds for your fruit trees. Make sure to check out our Patreon for additional materials to accompany this episode, including pruning links and book suggestions from Aimi as well as the episode transcript. ~*~ If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us over on Patreon! @foxandelder on instagram foxandelder.com Episode Transcript

Ep 29 - End of Summer Foraging

Sat, 26 Sep 2020 16:53:13 +0000

Summer is coming to a close but there is still so much gorgeousness to forage right now!! Plants discussed today: goldenrod, ironweed, sumac, spicebush, poke, milk thistle, paw paws, and persimmons. ~*~ Please support our show on Patreon so we can keep creating great content! @foxandelder on instagram foxandelder.com

Ep 28 - shiny from Scrapberry Farm

Wed, 02 Sep 2020 04:30:00 +0000

I'm beyond thrilled to share our first-ever interview with you today! I'm joined by shiny of Scrapberry Farms and we dive into her transition to being an herb farmer as well as her journey of finding the land she currently farms on, starting a farm collective, and running a farmers market. We also touch on time management, dealing with aging and chronic pain, farming alone vs with others, the need for farm incubator programs, and so much more! Find out more about shiny by following her on Instagram @scrapberryfarm scrapberryfarm.org racemefarmers.org ~*~ Join our homesteading and herbal community on Patreon! Would you like me to create a custom herbal tea blend just for you? Check out our farm shop!

Ep 27 - Fall Garden Planning

Sat, 15 Aug 2020 00:50:52 +0000

It's time for a summertime garden and farm update about what we've been up to here! 2020 has been a challenging year but with some great successes as well. Then we dive into tips for getting your fall garden planned (this part is a replay). I hope you'll feel inspired to get planning and planting! ~*~ Join our homesteading and herbal community on Patreon! Would you like me to create a custom herbal tea blend just for you? Check out our farm shop!

Ep 26 - Growing and Creating Herbal Teas

Sat, 08 Aug 2020 01:27:14 +0000

Today I'm sharing the audio from a class I taught last month for the Portsmouth Library on growing and creating your own herbal teas. We discuss a variety of herbs, including their herbal properties and how to grow them in your garden, and also how to dry your herbs, how to formulate your tea blend, and my favorite ways to enjoy loose leaf tea. The handout that is mentioned can be found HERE. ~*~ Want to support the show *and* receive Full Moon zines by snail mail every month? Check out our Patreon! Would you like me to create a custom herbal tea blend just for you? Check out our farm shop!

Ep 25 - Three Herbs for New Gardeners

Fri, 31 Jul 2020 05:00:00 +0000

Hey, friends! Back today with a short chat about current events and my feelings about radical love being justice in action. Then we dive into our main topic for the show: three of my favorite herbs to suggest for those who are new to gardening! I discuss which herbs they are, how to grow them, and ways to work with them in your life. Hope you enjoy! ~*~ Want to support the show *and* receive Full Moon zines by snail mail every month? Check out our Patreon! Interested in booking an herbal consultation with me? Learn more here.

Ep 24 - Quarantine Routines

Sat, 09 May 2020 19:38:18 +0000

I've recently found myself reflecting on which habits and patterns have been the most helpful to me during these couple of months of quarantine, so I wanted to share a few of them with you today. I also give my suggestions for my favorite pandemic podcasts - who would have guessed that would be a whole genre?? ~*~ Want to support the show *and* receive Full Moon zines by snail mail every month? Check out our Patreon! Interested in booking an herbal consultation with me via video conferencing? Learn more here.

Ep 23 - We Have Each Other

Sat, 28 Mar 2020 05:00:00 +0000

Not our normal episode today as we talk about the current state of the world. I try to offer up some of what's been working here for me, and how we can show up for one another and stay connected right now. ~*~ Want to support the show *and* receive Full Moon zines by snail mail every month? Check out our Patreon! Interested in booking an herbal consultation with me via video conferencing? Learn more here.

Ep 22 - Heading Into Farm Season

Sat, 29 Feb 2020 21:00:56 +0000

Spring is almost here! Today I'm talking about some farm updates, what projects are underway, the joys of farm help, and how my schedule is shifting beginning next month. I also answer three listener questions about herbal consultations, tarot teas, and what new things I'm excited to be trying this year. Also, we're having a giveaway starting March 1st to celebrate a full year of the podcast! ~*~ Want to support the show *and* receive Full Moon zines by snail mail every month? Check out our Patreon! Interested in booking an herbal consultation with me via video conferencing? Learn more here.

Ep 21 - Winter Homestead Projects

Fri, 17 Jan 2020 02:56:40 +0000

Today we've got a homesteading topic: what projects should we be working on during these winter months? We'll cover the basics of garden tool maintenance plus ideas for crafts, taking stock of your pantry, spring garden planning, and much more! ~*~ Want to support the show *and* receive Full Moon zines and herbal tea by snail mail every month? Check out our Patreon! Interested in booking an herbal consultation with me via video conferencing? Learn more here.

Ep 20 - Year Ahead Overview

Sat, 04 Jan 2020 04:37:59 +0000

We're kicking off the new year with an overview of all the various projects we'll be undertaking in 2020! Today I'm talking about personal goals, house and homesteading to-dos, the state of the farm and its connected businesses (herbal products, consultations, etc), a brand new offering that I'm so excited to share with you, and the future format of this podcast. Possibility abounds for this upcoming year! What are you looking forward to? ~*~ Want to support the show *and* receive Full Moon zines in the mail every month? Check out our Patreon! Interested in booking an herbal consultation? Learn more here.

Ep 19 - Putting the Garden to Bed

Thu, 12 Dec 2019 04:21:19 +0000

Today we're chatting about different methods to employ when putting your garden to bed for a restful winter. We discuss layering compost and mulching, tarping your garden, and employing cover crops. We also touch on the importance of reflection as the final wrap-up of your growing season. ~*~ Interested in a custom herbal tea blend? Let's chat! Connect with me on Instagram @foxandelder. If you're enjoying the podcast, please help spread the word by rating and reviewing, and sharing it with a friend!

Ep 18 - Goal Setting and Imposter Syndrome

Thu, 17 Oct 2019 02:42:24 +0000

Today I'm chatting about two topics near and dear to my heart that are often connected to one another: goal setting and imposter syndrome. I discuss my current planning systems, and how an opportunity to pursue a teaching goal really made me question myself - and then how I worked through it to make sure I was acting with integrity. This month's book recommendation: Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing. ~*~ Interested in a custom herbal tea blend? Let's chat! Connect with me on Instagram @foxandelder. If you're enjoying the podcast, please help spread the word by rating and reviewing, and sharing it with a friend!

Ep 17 - Song for Autumn

Thu, 19 Sep 2019 13:14:34 +0000

Hi, friends. A very short update here on everything going on - like prepping for the fall equinox and getting ready for my elderberry syrup workshop. And I leave you with a favorite seasonal poem.

Ep 16 - Start Your Winter Prep

Thu, 05 Sep 2019 01:54:10 +0000

Today we're chatting about the winter prep items that you should start thinking about (and budgeting for) now. Everything from getting your fireplace or wood stove inspected to mulching your fruit trees and even vehicle maintenance. Hopefully this will give you some food for thought, with time to work on it now rather than at the last minute on the eve of that first frost! (Do you know where your frost covers are for your fall garden? Are they in good shape?) ~*~ September 29th, here in Nashville: Elderberry Syrup Workshop and Herbs for Cold and Flu Season Interested in a custom herbal tea blend? Let's chat! Connect with me on Instagram @foxandelder. If you're enjoying the podcast, please help spread the word by rating and reviewing, and sharing it with a friend! New episodes on the first and third Wednesday of each month.

Ep 15 - All About Elder

Wed, 21 Aug 2019 14:44:47 +0000

Elderberry syrup is all the rage, but there is so much more to know about this wonderful and versatile plant ally! Today, on our first herbal deep dive episode, we discuss how to correctly identify elder, how and where it grows, culinary and medicinal uses and properties, and even some of the folklore surrounding this magical plant. ~*~ Interested in a custom herbal tea blend? Let's chat! Connect with me on Instagram @foxandelder. If you're enjoying the podcast, please help spread the word by rating and reviewing, and sharing it with a friend! New episodes on the first and third Wednesday of each month.

Ep 14 - Planning Your Fall Garden

Thu, 08 Aug 2019 01:50:17 +0000

Great things happening here on the farm: Tending Seeds is six months old, the wood stove finally got installed, and elderberry season has arrived! Today we're talking about planning your fall garden, how to decide what you have time to grow, vegetable crop suggestions, and some other things to consider planting around your land at this time of year. Connect with me on Instagram @foxandelder. If you're enjoying the podcast, please help spread the word by rating and reviewing, and sharing it with a friend! New episodes on the first and third Wednesday of each month.

Ep 13 - Caring For Cast Iron

Wed, 31 Jul 2019 18:18:56 +0000

Today we have a mini-episode on restoring, seasoning, and caring for cast iron. Next time you find a rusty piece of cast iron at a yard sale, go ahead and grab it!! Connect with me on Instagram @foxandelder. If you're enjoying the podcast, please help spread the word by rating and reviewing, and sharing it with a friend! New episodes on the first and third Wednesday of each month.

Ep 12 - Types of Food Preservation

Fri, 19 Jul 2019 02:07:37 +0000

Today we're talking about different methods of food preservation! We'll discuss the pros and cons of canning, dehydrating, freezing, fermenting, pickling, and root cellar storage. Connect with me on Instagram @foxandelder. If you're enjoying the podcast, please help spread the word by rating and reviewing, and sharing it with a friend! New episodes on the first and third Wednesday of each month.

Ep 11 - Build Your Homesteading Skills Now

Thu, 04 Jul 2019 01:30:49 +0000

I know so many folks dreaming of homesteading at some point in their futures, and today's episode is for them! We're diving in to discuss skills you can start building now so that you're ready to hit the ground running once you arrive on your land. Connect with me on Instagram @foxandelder. If you're enjoying the podcast, please help spread the word by rating and reviewing, and sharing it with a friend! New episodes on the first and third Wednesday of each month.

Ep 10 - Wildcrafting Thoughts

Thu, 20 Jun 2019 00:00:41 +0000

June has been such a positive and productive month here! Even as we tackle new "surprise" home repairs, there is such abundance coming off of the land and we are pushing forward with our projects. I'm also fencing in the garden because the deer have arrived and they are hungry. Our main topic for the week talking about some considerations for wildcrafting and foraging out in your neck of the woods. We discuss the need to know a plant's status (endangered, at-risk, etc) as well as understanding a plant's life cycle and how it propagates before we harvest anything. Connect with me on Instagram @foxandelder. If you're enjoying the podcast, please help spread the word by rating and reviewing, and sharing it with a friend! New episodes on the first and third Wednesday of each month.

Ep 9 - Paw Paws with Dan De Lion

Wed, 05 Jun 2019 14:07:00 +0000

So happy to share with you this informative guest audio piece from Dan De Lion all about paw paws! Dan is a forager, herbalist, and musician who is passionate about increasing biodiversity and spreading awareness and love of this awesome perennial fruit tree. I'm so grateful for his contribution and the energy he's putting into sharing the seeds of this wonderful plant. Ways to connect with Dan De Lion: Instagram @returntonature Facebook - including upcoming events Connect with me on Instagram @foxandelder. If you're enjoying the podcast, please help spread the word by rating and reviewing, and sharing it with a friend! New episodes on the first and third Wednesday of each month.

Ep 8 - The Most Important Part of Your Homestead

Wed, 15 May 2019 17:15:08 +0000

Lots of updates today about all of the goodness coming off of the land and what we're working on around the homestead. Our main topic for the week is caring for the most important part of the homestead: ourselves! I dive into some self care practices that I've been implementing for myself and how they're working out for me. Tea of the week: lemon balm, rose, and orange peel. Podcast recommendation: Forest 404 from BBC Radio. Connect with me on Instagram @foxandelder. If you're enjoying the podcast, please help spread the word by rating and reviewing, and sharing it with a friend! New episodes on the first and third Wednesday of each month.

Ep 7 - Planting Frenzy

Wed, 01 May 2019 12:50:29 +0000

Just a quick episode today to talk about the busy happenings on the farm and in the garden! I also share a short story about one of the first mishaps we've had here with the new house. And I'm joined with a kitty background co-host today. Connect with me on Instagram @foxandelder. If you're enjoying the podcast, please help spread the word by rating and reviewing, and sharing it with a friend! New episodes on the first and third Wednesday of each month.

Ep 6 - Digestive Health and Deep Immunity

Thu, 18 Apr 2019 02:49:12 +0000

I'm back from the Midsouth Women's Herbal Conference and excited to talk about my experience there! I talk in depth about my three favorite classes:

Stone Medicine with Sarah Thomas
Digestive Health with Phyllis Light
Deep Immunity with Rebecca Word

I also give some updates on projects here on the farm, getting to use our new lawnmower for the first time, and feeling happier and more energized with the arrival of spring. Connect with me on Instagram @foxandelder. If you're enjoying the podcast, please help spread the word by rating and reviewing, and sharing it with a friend! New episodes on the first and third Wednesday of each month.

Ep 5 - Where to Begin

Thu, 04 Apr 2019 02:27:52 +0000

Today we talk about where to begin when you first get onto your homestead and you have a list of potential projects a mile long. We tackle some listener questions such as: How to prioritize? How to avoid taking on too much? And how large should your garden be your first growing season? Other topics this episode:

big farm purchases such as a riding lawnmower
starting to work soil that is compact clay
to till or not to till?
applying permaculture zones to your home
my impending canned tomato shortage

Connect with me on Instagram @foxandelder. If you're enjoying the podcast, please help spread the word by rating and reviewing, and sharing it with a friend! New episodes on the first and third Wednesday of each month.

Ep 4 - Organic Growers School

Thu, 21 Mar 2019 00:35:32 +0000

Happy Spring Equinox! Today's episode starts with some thoughts on planning for spring and then I delve into my three days at Organic Growers School earlier this month. Classes on year-round growing, invasive plants, carbon farming, biodynamic preps, building good soil, fruit tree grafting, and lots more! Botany Everyday course by Marc Williams starts March 23rd. Connect with me on Instagram @foxandelder. If you're enjoying the podcast, please help spread the word by rating and reviewing, and sharing it with a friend!

Ep 3 - Spring Medicinals and Homesteading Economics

Wed, 06 Mar 2019 14:57:53 +0000

We're back for our first episode of March and it seems like spring is teasing us! Our main topics today are the wonderful spring medicinal and culinary greens popping up everywhere as well as answering a listener question about the economics of homesteading. Other topics we discuss:

progress on the sunroom and herb office
community berry orders
natural barriers for neighbors as well as deer
United Plant Savers!
heading off to Organic Growers School tomorrow

Feel free to connect with me over on Instagram, @foxandelder. If you're enjoying the show, I'd love for you to share it with a friend! And if you're so inclined, ratings and reviews are always much appreciated.

Ep 2 - Choosing an Herbal Program

Thu, 21 Feb 2019 03:31:36 +0000

Our main topic today is answering a listener question about what to look for when choosing an herbal program. I talk about the program I'm currently enrolled in, things to research about potential herb schools, and some legal/business considerations to working as an herbalist. Other topics discussed:

all of this never-ending rain!
progress on some homestead projects
using veggie scraps to make herbal broth
places on the land that resonate with me

Connect with me on Instagram @foxandelder.

Ep 1 - Finding My Place

Thu, 07 Feb 2019 02:34:18 +0000

Our main topic today is searching for the right homestead to purchase. I talk about the importance of a realtor who's a good fit as well as getting really specific about what you're looking for. Other topics discussed:

getting ready for spring planting
connecting with other homesteaders via social media
seed saving programs at local libraries
my current favorite herbal tea blend
upcoming event: Organic Growers School
current inspiration: Richard Powers, The Overstory

Find out more about the Organic Growers School Spring Conference. Connect with me on Instagram @foxandelder.

Ep 0 - Welcome and Introductions

Fri, 01 Feb 2019 19:58:17 +0000

Hello and welcome! Today's episode is a short introduction about who I am, how I got here, what this podcast will focus on, and what you can expect from future episodes. New episodes will be published on the first and third Wednesday of each month. Connect with me on Instagram, @FoxandElder. Music by Marney McCague.