It would appear that feeding people is my destiny. From dinner parties at the homestead, to branding calves, to owning the soda fountain, to hosting our annual horsemanship clinics, to helping with group functions in Chugwater, I’m continually in the kitchen. The funniest part? Once upon a time, cooking for a lot of people threw me into an absolute tizzy. Now, I regularly feed crowds of 20+ plus without blinking. So what changed?? REPS. As in repetition. As in doing it over and over again. Basically, I leaned into the hard thing until it no longer felt hard. This concept works with most aspec ..read more

“Is social media even worth it these days?”  The question came during a conversation at a recent homestead event. Naturally, I replied with a very helpful, “Eh… well… it depends.” Probably not the answer you’d expect from someone who has made a living online for the last 10+ years. But I’m wrestling with the Internet lately. The online world feels different these days. Maybe you’ve felt it too? People are especially volatile. The most innocuous statements are taken as direct attacks. Sometimes if feels as if folks are trying to take words out of context. For the first time ever ..read more

It’s the ultimate in home baking—the holy grail, the perfect standard…. I’m talking about 100% whole wheat sourdough bread, of course. This is the kind of bread Ma Ingalls would have made. It sustained the pioneers. It’s the quintessential old-fashioned loaf. Yet, it can feel stupidly hard to replicate in our modern home kitchens. In fact, whole grain sourdough bread stumped me for years, so much so that I gave up on it completely for a while. It wasn’t until many years later that I realized the problem: I was putting unfair expectations on my whole wheat dough. You can’t treat it like white ..read more

I’m about to say something heretical. Prepare your hearts. Sometimes the homemade versions of certain foods aren’t as tasty as the industrial, processed versions. There. I said it. Now of course… that’s not ALWAYS the case. And homemade versions are certainly healthier.  (And yes, we can train our palates over time, etc, etc, etc….) But industrial food manufactures sink MILLIONS into making their products irresistible.  Sometimes it’s hard to compete with the flavor burst of MSG or the scientifically-formulated mouthfeel of industrial fats + sugar. But today’s recipe is NOT an insta ..read more

How can we close our chicken loop? It’s a question that’s been rattling around in my brain since a long-ago podcast conversation with Kate from Venison for Dinner. In that episode, we talked about reducing outside inputs in our home food production. And I’ve been working towards it in small ways for a while by: Saving more seeds Shuttling volunteer seedlings around the homestead to eliminate buying certain plants Using cover crops in the absence of dependable compost (thank you herbicides) BUT. Closing the loop with our livestock has proven to be trickier– especially when it comes to chicke ..read more

“Where’s the perfect place to homestead??” The question comes up on every conference panel and podcast Q&A. I’m tempted to use the opportunity to shamelessly plug Wyoming (because I would LOVE more homestead-minded folks to join our community)… But instead, I figure it’s better to share the truth, so I reply, “The perfect place to homestead? Well….” It doesn’t exist. Northern states are wintery with minuscule growing seasons. The Pacific Northwest is gloomy and everything molds or floods. The Midwest has tornados and too much corn. The South is oppressively hot and humid (plus bugs). The ..read more

I’ve become a bit of a mulch evangelist. It started with my discovery of Ruth Stout all those years ago and has progressed into a full blown obsession. Now I find myself blathering on about mulch in almost every gardening conversation I have.  Nothing else has impacted my soil health and fertility as much as mulch. And while results won’t happen overnight, I’m continually blown away at the improvements that come faster than I expected. My mulched soil is softer, crumblier, and is filled with happy worms– just like nature intended.  Mulch vs. Bare Dirt: Why It Matters Stop what you ..read more

“What if the garden was easy this year?” The thought landed in my brain and I instantly felt uncomfortable. I love hard things. Impossible challenges are my oxygen. When people tell me something can’t be done, their pessimism becomes my fuel. If I’m not climbing a mountain, I’m restless. (read more of my thoughts on that here) I had been reading Effortless by Greg McKeown and when he proposed the idea of “letting things be easy,” my feathers ruffled. “Our culture has enough easy,” I thought… “Meaningful challenge is what we truly need…” And I still stand by that belief. BUT. Two thi ..read more

I’m not into pretentious recipe titles, but this one is a new low… even for me… I considered calling it “Salt Encrusted Roast Chicken with….” And then I got stuck because there is no “with.” The ingredients are salt and chicken. That is it. (Plus it sounded stuffy anyway.) Anyway… The ingredient list may be humble, but the final dish is spectacular. The magic lies in the technique. I first learned this method from Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat— a brilliant cookbook by Samin Nosrat. The first time I tried it, I almost bailed halfway through. This is one of those recipes that screams at you to “ABORT T ..read more

“I initially didn’t listen to your podcast because I assumed it was going to be full of conspiracy theories like all the other homesteading shows… but I’m glad I was wrong!” I stared at the DM and my heart sunk. It wasn’t the first time I’d received a message like that. I was torn between feeling grateful that they gave my show a chance and feeling sad. The homesteading movement has changed so much in recent years. A simple movement once fueled by love of food and land has seemingly transformed into a frenzied mob selling fear and paranoia 24/7. I’m not a fan. It’s not that I don’t believe we ..read more