Tending Seeds: Adventures in Gardening, Homesteading, and Herbalism – Détails, épisodes et analyse

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!

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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!!

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.

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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!!

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!!

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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

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 :)

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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.

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!

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Check out Jerome and Mari's book, Freestyle Bonsai, and follow them on Instagram @TheBonsaiSupply.

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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.

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!

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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!

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Check out both of Tasha's books: Grow Your Own Spices and Weed-Free Gardening. You can also find her on Instagram at @exploresimplestead.

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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.

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!

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Connect with Kathleen over on the Fox Briar Farm instagram! Her CSA is open to new members right now for 2023!

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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!

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.

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Connect with Josh on Instagram

Visit the Greenthread School

Learn about the Green Arte

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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!

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.

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Find Bevin's books, seeds, and more at Small House Farm.

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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!

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!

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Sun and Soil Farm on IG

Sun and Soil Farm - Brittany's YouTube

Ana White DIY Greenhouse

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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!