This year has been the best of times and the worst of times. Okay, maybe not the worst. (after all, I am still employed).

But this is the dichotomy (or is it a contradiction?):

It is performance review time at work.

I just copied last year's review and changed the project names.

But my Goals and accomplishments in real life were off the charts!

This year I:

- Built 4 web sites/side businesses

- Got my Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) from Midwest Permaculture.

- Gained my first 2 paid Food Forest design clients, including a huge 3 acre orchard design and implementation that is a several thousand dollar gig.

- Grew 10x+ trees

- 5x my revenue from last year

- Learned to use a mini-excavator

Come along with me as I share my wins (and losses) and get encouraged!

Sponsors:

Thriving Food Forest Design - We can create an edible foodscape, a perennial paradise so you can grow more food and be more self sufficient. We use fruit and nut trees and perennial plants adapted to the Midwest to create a low maintenance food forest.

Grow Nut Trees - Chestnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, elderberry - all adapted to the Midwest.

Permies digital marketplace is YOUR source for all things permaculture for your homestead, side hustle, and designing your intentional life: from video courses, to blueprints, to books.

How Do You Use AI?

Most people use it as a search engine.

Some people use it write blog posts or customer emails.

Some for analysis.

But some assign it a role to do the analysis, like "evaluate this as an executive of XYZ company" or a hiring manager.

My son-in-law, Eric Niday, uses AI for all of the above. Talking with him about his experiences with it was interesting, so I decided to have him on and share it with you.

How far is too far?

In addition to using AI at work to evaluate candidates and write SQL, Eric uses ChatGPT to research and debate theology. He made a chat bot theologian, instructed it with which theologians that he liked, so he could ask it questions. He even made it so it would "counsel" him. The chat bot even offered to "pray" for him (!). Um, that may be going too far.

Episode website: Ep. 148 - How Do You Use AI? - with Eric Niday

Sponsors:

Thriving Food Forest Design - We can create an edible foodscape, a perennial paradise so you can grow more food and be more self sufficient. We use fruit and nut trees and perennial plants adapted to the Midwest to create a low maintenance food forest.

Grow Nut Trees - Chestnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, elderberry - all adapted to the Midwest.

Permies digital marketplace is YOUR source for all things permaculture for your homestead, side hustle, and designing your intentional life: from video courses, to blueprints, to books.

Last time, in Ep. 138, Jason Thomas shared stories and we discussed how to design your intentional life.

We talked about the main categories - wealth, health, relationships, and spirituality.

I was contemplating my journey to design my intentional life and I had more to add.

Having an Intentional Life means:

• Aligning your life and actions with your values, as much as possible.
• Being deliberate in your actions and forming good habits.
• Taking positive steps rather than being driven by your circumstances and surroundings.
• Preparing for adversity - both physically and mentally.
• Being more at peace and having a positive view of your future.
• Focusing on your physical and spiritual health.

Write down your values.

Evaluate things to Change:

Make a plan. Start simple.

There are no solutions, only tradeoffs. You won't get to 100% (unless you are very lucky, or you have the right situations). There will be some tradeoffs.

It's not All or Nothing.

Get out of the "I am going to replace my job!" mindset.

Redesign your life by changing your lifestyle and expectations:

Paul Wheaton's (in)famous "Story of Ferd and Gert"

Get out of the "progressive mindset"

Grow your own food.

Find your tribe - Grow community.

Episode website: Ep. 139 - More Tips to Design Your Intentional Life

Sponsors:

Permies digital marketplace is YOUR source for all things permaculture for your homestead, side hustle, and designing your intentional life: from video courses, to blueprints, to books.

Grow Nut Trees - Chestnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, elderberry - all adapted to the Midwest. Now taking orders for shipping in Sept/Oct.

Gift Economy vs Barter - Has Barter really been used anywhere at any scale?

Scott and Perpend have a lively debate on whether barter has been used as the main economy in any culture.

The gift economy applies to the Tribal model, family, or clan.<p>

We also discuss intentional community.

Are we a community? As he states in this episode, Perpend is seeking an intentional community that is willing to sell everything and move closer together.

Perpend also shares his spiritual journey.

Episode website: https://thrivingthefuture.com/barter

Sponsors:

- The Homestead Journal - Find us at www.thehomesteadjournal.net and follow us @thjdotnet on Twitter.

Ken and Sally are #Homesteading in the City. You would be surprised how much they do in their normal backyard - chickens, gardens, tree starts, composting bins, and an elaborate worm bin.

We also discuss how they #Thrive & prepare for retirement.

This is a part of our #Thrivers series.

Episode website: https://thrivingthefuture.com/homesteading-city

Sponsors:

- The Homestead Journal - Find us at www.thehomesteadjournal.net and follow us @thjdotnet on Twitter.

- https://FreedomFarmer.net - Where I focus on #SkillsOverStuff and designing your intentional life

Using the best homeschooling method for the season in a child's life.

Join the conversation with Winter, a mom who is from a homeschooled family and has homeschooled her kids.

Skip the usual homeschool topics - no complaining about public school, no politics here. We want to focus on creating lifelong learners.

- Adapting to your child' s learning style.

- Homeschooling with an ADHD child and a Gifted child at the same time.

- Unschooling

- Science - Instilling a sense of "wonder" in your child.

This is part of our ongoing #Thriver's series.

Episode website: https://thrivingthefuture.com/homeschooling

Sponsors:

- The Homestead Journal - Find us at www.thehomesteadjournal.net and follow us @thjdotnet on Twitter.

- https://FreedomFarmer.net - Where I focus on #SkillsOverStuff and designing your intentional life

Dodging the Regulations and Restrictions Land Mines

Continuing our #Thrivers series, join the conversation with Kurt. He is living on 27 acres in NW MO.

We discuss how he found his land in this tough market, strategies for determining regulations and restrictions. We deep dive into some of what he has accomplished so far with his land and livestock, as well as his plans to thrive in the next year.

Episode website: https://thrivingthefuture.com/finding-land

Sponsors:

- The Homestead Journal - Find us at www.thehomesteadjournal.net and follow us @thjdotnet on Twitter.

- https://FreedomFarmer.net - Where I focus on #SkillsOverStuff and designing your intentional life

Come on into the library, sit down and have a chat.

Join our conversation with Yardbird on culture, the podcast, and Radical Authenticity.

Radical Authenticity: Facing reality. Being authentic. learning to identify problems, and being willing to accept those.

We also discuss:

- The history and next steps for the podcast. <

- Yardbird's Philosophy Garden. He has generously provided an essay on the Philosophy garden that you can read on the thrivingthefuture.com website.

- Wendell Berry's "The Unsettling of America". We are in a competition with nature when it should be a conversation."

- What are YOU reading?

Episode website: https://thrivingthefuture.com/radical-authenticity

<p>You may think that gardening season is late, and you are just harvesting the tomatoes and the root crops and squash. If you live in the midsection of the country or the South, you can get two seasons in. Start succession planting now. Plant that Victory Garden!</p>

<p>Go to the episode website to see a helpful guide to succession planting:

https://thrivingthefuture.com/fall-garden</p>

<p>Sponsors:</p>

<p> - The Homestead Journal - Find us at www.thehomesteadjournal.net and follow us @thjdotnet on Twitter.</p>

<p> - https://FreedomFarmer.net - Where I focus on #SkillsOverStuff and designing your intentional life</p>

<p>Do you Get Stuff Done, or do you change course and start yet another project after seeing a new YT video, saying "I'm gonna try that!"</p>

<p>The result = A bunch of projects that never get done.</p>

<p>But I want to Get Stuff Done instead. Real stuff. Projects that I finish.</p>

<p>I want Proof of Work. I want to actually finish my projects.</p>

<p>It is also #SkillsOverStuff. Building skills, refining skills.</p>

<p>What skills are you building?</p>

<p>Episode website: https://thrivingthefuture.com/get-stuff-done</p>

<p>Sponsors:</p>

<p> - The Homestead Journal - Find us at www.thehomesteadjournal.net and follow us @thjdotnet on Twitter.</p>

<p> - https://FreedomFarmer.net - Where I focus on #SkillsOverStuff and designing your intentional life</p>

<p>Building Cultural Capital</p>

<p>You build Cultural capital through stories, songs, and rituals.</p>

<p>You are building Culture whether you know it or not.</p>

<p>What kind of culture are you building?</p>

<p>Episode website: https://thrivingthefuture.com/cultural-capital</p>

<p>Sponsors:</p>

<p> - The Homestead Journal - Find us at www.thehomesteadjournal.net and follow us @thjdotnet on Twitter.</p>

<p> - https://FreedomFarmer.net - Where I focus on #SkillsOverStuff and designing your intentional life</p>

<p>The Unwritten Rules of Social Capital and Your Social Capital Debt.</p>

<p> - If I do something for you, you generally "owe" me a favor.</p>

<p> - Social capital can be traded for other capital. If you do something for me, I can recompense you in some other way.</p>

<p>(Notice how uncomfortable this quickly becomes. Everybody knows these things, but if you verbalize them then you are seen as cold, calculated, and that you are using people.)</p>

<p>Social Capital Debt</p>

<p>"Everyone subconsciously keeps a tally book (of their social capital debt)"</p>

<p> - We are starved for social capital. We have let our social capital debt build up.</p>

<p> - If you have that debt, your sphere of influence shrinks.</p>

<p>Do you have social capital debt?</p>

<p>How are you building social capital?</p>

<p>Episode website: https://thrivingthefuture.com/social-capital-debt</p>

<p>Sponsors:</p>

<p> - The Homestead Journal - Find us at www.thehomesteadjournal.net and follow us @thjdotnet on Twitter.</p>

<p> - https://FreedomFarmer.net - Where I focus on #SkillsOverStuff and designing your intentional life</p>

<p>How to Use Social Media Without Social Media Using You.</p>

<p>Attention is Worship. All social media is about Attention.</p>

<p>Social Media steals your attention. Is social media stealing your intention and keeping you from designing and living your intentional life?</p>

<p>Listen to learn How to Use Social Media Without Social Media Using You.</p>

<p>Episode website: https://thrivingthefuture.com/temple-of-twitter</p>

<p>Sponsors:</p>

<p> - The Homestead Journal - Find us at www.thehomesteadjournal.net and follow us @thjdotnet on Twitter.</p>

<p> - https://FreedomFarmer.net - Where I focus on #SkillsOverStuff and designing your intentional life</p>

What does your perfect day look like? Does today look like that perfect day?

In this episode, Jason Thomas of Regeneration Nation Costa Rica shares foundational steps to design your intentional life.

Needs most people have:

• Wealth
• Health
• Relationships
• Spirituality

What does your perfect day look like?

We also discuss how to apply permaculture principles to your business or side hustle.

Check out Jason's FREE e-book: 77 Ways to Practice Permaculture Professionally. (some may surprise you)

Episode website: Ep. 138 - Jason Thomas on How to Design Your Intentional Life

Sponsors:

Permaculture Business Design Course from Regeneration Nation Costa Rica - This course will guide you step-by-step toward designing a profession that cultivates your permaculture education into a regenerative livelihood.

Permies digital marketplace is YOUR source for all things permaculture for your homestead, side hustle, and designing your intentional life: from video courses, to blueprints, to books.

Grow Nut Trees - Chestnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, elderberry - all adapted to the Midwest. Now taking orders for shipping in Sept/Oct.

<p>What we are planting this year - including some surprises.</p>

<p>Why Do We Garden?</p>

<p> - Why do we plant this year?</p>

<p> - Grow our own healthy food!</p>

<p> - Gardening provides a therapeutic and prayerful respite and reset in our day.</p>

What new things we are planting this year:</p>

<p> - Milpa - Mix of multiple seeds (corn, squash, beans, greens, okra, etc.) that provide ground cover and multiple crops to harvest over the summer months, plus good mulch over the winter.</p>

<p> - Indian Ricegrass - a perennial grass with a gluten free source for edible seeds of <p> - porridge, etc.</p>

<p> - New Jersey Tea - a herb that can be used as a stand-in for tea.</p>

<p> - Landrace squash - including Nanticoke squash, Jemi-Nanticoke squash mix, Desert Spirit Landrace Squash</p>

<p> - Landrace beans</p>

<p> - Grandpa McKay's Cream Pea Cowpea</p>

<p> - Perennial Pollinators - a mix of perennial flowers that can be used to sow bands of pollinators in your garden and improve crop pollination. Also brings in some other pollinators, such as wasps, that prey on typical garden pests.</p>

<p> - Sugar beets</p>

<p> - Spring Lentils</p>

<p>(links to the above seeds on our website)</p>

<p>Episode website: https://thrivingthefuture.com/why-garden</p>

<p>Sponsors:</p>

<p> - The Homestead Journal - Find us at www.thehomesteadjournal.net and follow us @thjdotnet on Twitter.</p>

<p> - https://FreedomFarmer.net - Where I focus on #SkillsOverStuff and designing your intentional life</p>

<p>Continuing our site survey of a friend's land - an off-grid property. We focus on what we would plant on this property to stabilize soil, improve "curb appeal" on the SE facing slope, and provide perennial vegetables and medicinals for animal and humans. We want things that look good at different times a year.</p>

<p>Perennial vegetables</p>

<p>Perennial vegetables definition:</p>

<p> - Living three or more years</p>

<p> - Used as a vegetable, not a novelty crop</p>

<p> - Use the leaves, stalks, shoots, flower buds, tubers, corms, rhizomes, roots, beans, or other above or below ground parts that are eaten raw, or cooked as a meal, or as a side dish.</p>

<p> - Not destroyed by harvesting - harvest some, replant some (like sunchokes)</p>

<p>List from A Global Inventory of Perennial Vegetables:</p>

<p>http://www.perennialsolutions.org/a-global-inventory-of-perennial-vegetables</p>

<p>Perennials that we cover:</p>

<p> - Asparagus</p>

<p> - Jerusalem Artichokes (sunchokes)</p>

<p> - Cattail</p>

<p> - Sunflower</p>

<p> - Showy and Common Milkweed</p>

<p> - Ostrich fern</p>

<p> - Perennial Leek</p>

<p> - Wild Onions and garlic</p>

<p> - Walking onions</p>

<p> - Solomon Seal</p>

<p> - Ramps - add to the oak tree area</p>

<p> - Sea beet</p>

<p> - Turkish Rocket</p>

<p> - Sea Kale - perennial kale</p>

<p> - Wild arugula</p>

<p> - New Zealand Spinach</p>

<p> - Maximillian Sunflower</p>

<p> - Goji Berry</p>

<p> - Marshmallow</p>

<p> - Mulberry</p>

<p> - Elderberry</p>

<p>Episode website: https://thrivingthefuture.com/choosing-plants</p>

<p>Sponsors:</p>

<p> - The Homestead Journal - Find us at www.thehomesteadjournal.net and follow us @thjdotnet on Twitter.</p>

<p> - https://FreedomFarmer.net - Where I focus on #SkillsOverStuff and designing an intentional life</p>

<p>Detailed site survey for an off grid property.</p>

<p>For our April workshop we did a property walk and site survey on a friend's land. His goal is to turn this into an off grid property. We include clips of some of the on-site brainstorming conversations.</p>

<p> - 3 Acre lot in NE KS. Currently pasture with trees (hedge, oak, hackberry, cedar) along the S side, which borders a creek/ravine.</p>

<p> - Land slopes down to the SE. Most of the land is south facing slope (good for solar and gardens).</p>

<p> - USDA Zone 6A</p>

Goals are important.</p>

Goal: Turnaround property in 5-6 years and retire.</p>

<p> - Do a proof of concept for off grid:</p>

<p> - 2 shipping containers, on trench footings, with a roof in between, enclosed space, and slab floor.</p>

<p> - Solar for power</p>

<p> - Rain catchment for water</p>

<p> - Compost toilet</p>

<p>Important considerations for a small acreage property:</p>

<p> - How much easement will you need? (building from the road or fence).</p>

<p> - How much space will be taken up by septic system and laterals? If putting in septic, this would limit your growing area. (Because of this, he will not initially put in a septic system).</p>

<p>Episode website: https://thrivingthefuture.com/choosing-land</p>

<p>Sponsors:</p>

<p> - The Homestead Journal - Find us at www.thehomesteadjournal.net and follow us @thjdotnet on Twitter.</p>

<p> - https://FreedomFarmer.net - Where I focus on #SkillsOverStuff and designing an intentional life</p>

<p>We plan out a Permaculture Site Survey</p>

<p>"No one is an expert , but we are still going to Get Stuff Done" #GSD</p>

<p>For our April community workshop, we plan out a site survey to evaluate and give some feedback on a friend's land.</p>

<p> - 3 acres in NE KS</p>

<p> - Approach it from "would we buy this land?"</p>

<p> - How would we use this land?</p>

<p> - What are their goals?</p>

<p>We are prepping you to think through a site survey yourself.</p>

<p>Considerations:</p>

<p> - Access</p>

<p> - Water - creeks, ponds</p>

<p> - Climate - wind, rainfall, USDA Zone, Sun exposure</p>

<p> - Take a shovel and a bucket. Dig a hole to evaluate how quickly water is absorbed in the soil.</p>

<p> - Are utilities available? What is the cost to add a meter, for example (it is a lot more than you may think).</p>

<p> - Off grid?</p>

<p> - Water catchment</p>

<p> - We also cover things that you may not have thought about - is there a quarry nearby? (is there a lot of dump truck traffic?).</p>

<p> - What are the neighbors like? If you don't like ATVs and guns you may want to know that the neighbor rides ATVs and shoots guns at daybreak on the weekends (a common occurrence in rural KS, especially near hunting season) before you move in there. Visit at different times of the days and week, especially on the weekend.</p>

<p>This is how easy it is to plan a workshop, whether you do a site survey, or any other kind of topic. Anybody can do this. Just set it up and do it.</p>

<p>Episode website: https://thrivingthefuture.com/planning-workshop</p>

<p>Continuing the discussion on the "How" to start and maintain a community</p>

<p> - What do you do when it all goes wrong with your community?</p>

<p> - How to surround yourself with people who benefit others as well as benefit themselves (Win/Win) rather than Hapless people.</p>

<p> - Note that you do NOT want to only surround yourself with people just like you (like-minded people). You need to have a variety of people with different skills.</p>

<p>We also talk about our workshops and how that builds and strengthens community.</p>

<p>We discuss the 5 Laws of Stupidity:</p>

<p>https://youtu.be/3O9FFrLpinQ</p>

<p>https://thrivingthefuture.com/2-dollar-eggs

</p>

<p>How crypto can help you to #Thrive in the tough times ahead.</p>

<p>“HODLing is for chumps!” - Perpend.</p>

<p>Why Crypto?</p>

<p> We talk about the Why - the base concepts of Money, Value, and determining what is Fair Value.</p>

<p> The basics of cryptocurrency, what it is really for (it's purpose was not for HODLing).</p>

<p> How crypto can help you to #Thrive in the tough times ahead.</p>

<p> Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) and what is coming.</p>

<p>A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution. - Bitcoin White Paper: https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf</p>

<p>Episode website: https://thrivingthefuture.com/why-crypto</p>

<p>#FreeYourMindset.</p>

<p>"You are not defined by what you do, but who you are, and what community you belong to."</p>

<p>Continuing our series about how to create and live an intentional life, this is a follow up up to Ep. 4 - Diary of a Wage Slave, Ep. 5 - Living an Intentional Life, and even ties together our Side Hustle episodes.</p>

<p>We start with a mindset that allows you to transition from your job to your intentional life, or ways to do both longer in ways that fulfill your intentions in your life. Hint: It's deeper than the side hustle.</p>

<p>We also talk about your place in the community and how to get back to that level of trust.</p>

<p>Perpend talks about What I Want in Community. "I don't care where everyone else is going. That's where I'm going. Who is joining me?"</p>

<p>Episode website: https://thrivingthefuture.com/how-to-use-your-job

</p>

<p>Thriving The Future Podcast Ep.19 - Who Can You Trust?</p>

<p>What does it mean 'To be a man of your word?'</p>

<p>We talk about Faith vs. Trust. Duty. Responsibility.</p>

<p>In the past, you didn't have to ask what it meant to be a man of your word, because they knew. And they knew because they had shared values. You ask that now and no one knows because they don't have shared values. What was agreed was valuable was fulfilling your duty and your responsibility. Now what is valuable is not having any responsibility.</p>

<p>Episode website: https://thrivingthefuture.com/who-can-you-trust </p>

<p>How you thrive in a war zone, or anywhere else, depends on your mindset.</p>

<p>See the KS flag superimposed over the Ukrainian flag above? Are we virtue signaling, showing solidarity, or pointing out something else? Listen and find out.</p>

<p>The Clowns started a war in Ukraine. Now what are you going to do? How will you Thrive in this situation?</p>

<p>Episode website: https://thrivingthefuture.com/how-to-thrive-in-ukraine</p>

<p>When times gets tough (1930's Depression kind of tough), how will you treat the Clowns?</p>

<p>The Clowns are at the gate. What will you do?</p>

<p>How do you determine who to help and who not to help?</p>

<p>How do you build community in this situation?</p>

<p>Episode website: https://thrivingthefuture.com/clown-world

</p>

It's been a crazy week. The assassination attempt on Trump.

Now a Global cyberattack (“no, it was just a bad patch!”)

What will you do with this moment?

• Focus on your local Circle of Influence and Circle of Concern
• Plant trees
• Cultivate gardens
• Raise livestock
• Prepare mentally and spiritually
• Grow your local community

Because Gov’t will not save you.

Episode website: Ep. 137 - What Will You Make of This Moment?

Sponsors:

Permies Permaculture Design Course - 70 hours of videos for $50. Watch what topic that you want to learn for your homestead (water, swales, ponds, earthworks) - without taking a week off of work or getting a certificate.

Grow Nut Trees - Chestnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, elderberry - all adapted to the Midwest. Now taking orders for shipping in Sept/Oct.

<p>The Consumer Mindset is Pervasive.</p>

<p>Examples of the Consumer Mindset</p>

<p> - Planned obsolescence</p>

<p> - Fear of missing out (FOMO)</p>

<p> - Confusing Needs and Wants</p>

<p> - Buying stuff to make yourself fell better</p>

<p> - Why are you buying gifts?</p>

<p> - Buying gifts as a proxy for not spending time with your loved ones</p>

<p>Solutions to Ditch the Consumer Mindset</p>

<p> - Regift stuff you no longer use</p>

<p> - Buy tools that are durable and the best that you can afford. You spend more now but they last longer.</p>

<p> - Make gifts from your side hustle, hobbies (teas, jams, vinegar, herbs, tinctures).</p>

<p> - Look at other means of exchange besides fiat.</p>

<p>Episode website: https://thrivingthefuture.com/consumer-mindset</p>

<p>We answer questions from listeners about our community.</p>

<p> - Workshops</p>

<p> - Seed swap</p>

<p> - Maintaining a community</p>

<p> - Perpend also shares about his recent visit to a monastery and what he learned about community on that trip.</p>

<p>It's important that we just do what we are doing, and people join of filter themselves out. Community will change, people may come and go. That is OK.</p>

<p>Episode website: https://thrivingthefuture.com/building-a-thriving-community

<p>We discuss Solzhenitsyn and Havel and how to thrive in the tough times ahead. Also the culture of the barter blanket and how to fit that into your community.</p>

<p>Warning - This is a tough conversation and may challenge your worldview.</p>

<p>There is a lot of online chatter about "we are being shut out/shut down; we need to build a parallel economy!"</p>

<p>Or "We just need to elect new people. Our people."</p>

<p>The answer is not a new government or a new economy. The core issue is taking responsibility for your own life. (not in the frequently repeated Republican definition, but in the Solzhenitsyn and Havel application).</p>

<p>A new government or a new economy is a totalitarian solution to a moral problem.</p>

<p>Too many people still believe that they have the right to tell another person what to do. You've heard it, and probably will default to it, under distress:</p>

<p> - "There should be a law!"</p>

<p> - "Someone should do something".</p>

<p>It always defaults to government, law, and forcing others to do something (which requires violence).</p>

<p>We discuss "Live Not BY Lies" and "The Power of the Powerless", and suffering.</p>

<p>We discuss community, reciprocity, and an economy that may be more based on other forms of capital rather than solely based on money. And the lore and culture of the barter blanket and how to fit that into your community.</p>

<p>Episode website: https://thrivingthefuture.com/parallel-economy</p>

<p>Why resolutions fail, but living an intentional life will succeed.</p>

<p>Intentional Life vs. Resolutions -</p>

<p>It is several weeks into the New Year and statistics, and personal experience, show that most of you have given up on your resolutions. That's because you are approaching it as a task and not adopting it as a mindset and core identity.</p>

<p>A resolution is "something I'm going to do." An intention is "what I am doing."</p>

<p>"The problem with a resolution is that you are not changing your identity, you are just changing an outcome." - Perpend</p>

<p>A new diet is a new identity -</p>

<p> - When you start a diet, you say, for example, "I am on the Paleo diet". This implies that you can get off the Paleo diet or you can have a cheat day. You start compartmentalizing and bargaining.</p>

<p> - Taking an example from the Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) diet: you have to adopt it as your identity to maintain it. Most of the people on AIP have a food allergy or get sick from certain foods.</p>

<p> - Instead of saying "I am on the Paleo diet", adopt it as your identity. "I am Paleo". Those who succeed at this see it trickle down to their friends, who know that they will have to have or make alternatives for this person at their dinner, party, or get-together.</p>

<p>Change your identity - "I am this now".</p>

<p> - Example: Don't say "I am going to start a garden this year". Say: "I am a gardener. I am a homesteader."</p>

<p> - Do it, not just say it.</p>

<p>Plan your life with intention so you are moving toward that goal.</p>

<p>Habits - </p>

<p> - Make a list:</p>

<p> - What do I feel rewards me?</p>

<p> - Someone who is X does this every day.</p>

<p></p>

<p>Today is the first day of the rest of your life. This mindset is real Freedom.</p>

<p>Episode website: https://thrivingthefuture.com/intentional-life-goals-not-futile-resolutions</p>

<p>Tips to overcome Imposter Syndrome and the Toolbox Fallacy</p>

<p>Imposter Syndrome</p>

<p>That self doubt, as an entrepreneur that you are not good enough or not an expert. It results in cutting yourself short, in pricing, in boldness, in success and thriving.</p>

<p>Everyone at some time struggles with Imposter Syndrome. From the entrepreneur to the kid having to present something at the front of the class.</p>

<p> - What is Imposter Syndrome?</p>

<p> - Self doubt</p>

<p> - Thinking that you are not good enough</p>

<p> - Being told that you are not an expert</p>

<p> - Competence – the willingness to try.</p>

<p> - Is confidence genetic or learned?</p>

<p> - What do I do if I fail?</p>

<p> - Every time you fail you learn a lesson or a new question to ask.</p>

<p>Toolbox Fallacy</p>

<p>“If only I had X, then I could start.”</p>

<p> - What is the Toolbox fallacy – “I need X (software, training, etc.) to start this activity/business”. #JustStart!</p>

<p> - How can you bridge that gap when you are just starting out?</p>

<p> - “It’s not a problem if you still have an action left.”</p>

<p>Episode website: https://thrivingthefuture.com/overcoming-imposter-syndrome

</p>

<p>Everything is a tradeoff, especially with others.</p>

<p>"There are no solutions, only tradeoffs." - Thomas Sowell</p>

<p> - What are tradeoffs?</p>

<p> - Perfect can become the enemy of the good.</p>

<p> - 8 forms of capital mindset - "Your gold is not our gold".</p>

<p> - You lost your job. Time for some self evaluation and designing an intentional life.</p>

<p> - Tradeoffs with food allergies.</p>

<p> "Are you using social media or is it using you?" - Perpend</p>

<p>Episode website: https://thrivingthefuture.com/no-solutions-only-tradeoffs</p>

<p>Side Hustles - Failure is an Option! </p>

<p>- Side hustles transition you from paycheck mindset to entrepreneur mindset. </p>

<p>- Definition of success </p>

<p>- Did I accomplish my intention? </p>

<p>- Exit strategy </p>

<p>- Side hustles are for children or for transition (?!) </p>

<p>- What about building a business so that it can run without you? </p>

<p>- Mentoring - do I need a mentor? </p>

<p>- Four hour work week? </p>

<p>Bonus: Market Gardening is NOT a rest period. Perpend gives his tips on accomplishing the most in the off season. </p>

<p>"The more often you fail, the less it hurts when you do. You learn to fail, grieve, get up, dream, and try again" - Perpend. </p>

<p>Episode Website: http://thrivingthefuture.com/failure-is-an-option</p>

<p>In Episode 6, Scott and Perpend start a series about Side Hustles.

</p>

<p>- The market is not saturated! You just have to compete for attention.</p>

<p>- Providing value uses the 8 forms of Capital (experiential, intellectual, social).</p>

<p>- "The more value you give them, the more they owe you, and they know this subconconsciously".</p>

<p>- Not everyone is your customer.</p>

<p>- Observe actions over words.</p>

<p>- Cash flow, and the reality check of accounts receivable. (not be boring).</p>

<p>- Real marketing.</p>

<p>We share many tips and details that you usually don't hear unless you pay someone for an ebook or online class. Skip the "build a website, gather email addresses, SEO" tips and instead give your best value.</p>

<p>Episode website: https://thrivingthefuture.com/know-your-customer</p>

<p>Do you live an intentional life? Do you have a roadmap? Have you defined your goals and designed your life (including your finances) around those goals?</p>

<p>In Episode 5, Scott and Perpend share some listener feedback from the previous episode.</p>

<p>We take the next step in helping our friend Will in conducting a personal inventory, and we share tips for living an intentional life.</p>

<p>

Episode website: https://thrivingthefuture.com/living-an-intentional-life/

Is your identity defined by your job? When someone asks you "what do you do?", do your answer "I am a..."?

<p> What does your perfect day look like? Probably not like your current job. Yes, really.</p>

<p> Take the first step to free your mind.</p>

<p> In Episode 4, Scott and Perpend discuss the "wage slave" mindset and begin a series where they brainstorm how to help their recently unemployed friend, Will.

Episode website:

https://thrivingthefuture.com/diary-of-a-wage-slave/

My friend Kevin Brubaker from Dallas Media Productions, an independent film producer in Dallas, joins me to talk about LLC Tips (and lots of film stuff).

What does a film producer have to do with my usual content of homesteading? It fits into creating side hustles and businesses to Design Your Intentional Life.

We were having a conversation about LLCs and we decided to record it. We also talk a lot about film. How can you make money on film production in the streaming era?

We dove into these topics:

• Should you have an LLC for each project or side hustle?
• Should you wait to become profitable before forming an LLC?
• Do you have to be profitable after 3 years to be considered legit (or bear the wrath of the IRS)?
• Should I spin Grow Nut Trees into its own LLC?

To answer these questions, you have to ask yourself - why have an LLC?

Although you want to use an LLC to offset your expenses, an LLC is mainly to protect you in a hyper-suing culture that we are currently in. If I was sued (for some reason) on trees, I would lose all my businesses, including the podcast.

Tips:

• It is recommended that you have an LLC for each project or side hustle.
• You do not have to be profitable after 3 years if you are showing growth and an "intent to make a profit".
• Make sure that you create an LLC in a state where the application and charge is one-time only. (some states require yearly renewal). I have mine in KS (cost me $166). Kevin has his in TX and cost about $150. You can create the LLC and get an EIN on the state website - you don't need a lawyer or Legal Zoom.
• Find a mentor.

Disclaimer: This is not tax or financials advice. Discuss with your tax or financial planner for your situation.

Episode website: Ep. 134 - Surprising Small Business LLC Tips

Join the mailing list and our Telegram group and you can keep up to date with all of Grant Payne, Homestead Padre, and my homesteading projects. Signup at https://Signup.ThrivingtheFuture.com

If you like this content and the podcast, here is how you can support the podcast and my Thriving empire of side hustles:

• Shoot me a tip on Venmo or CashApp @ThrivingtheFuture.
• ​Go to the Stuff page on Thriving the Future site and buy something.
• OR - click on one of the Amazon links on the Stuff page and then buy your other stuff that you want. Anything you buy on Amazon for 24 hours will give Thriving the Future a credit.

Sponsors:

• Grow Nut Trees: Buy Elderberry, pecan, hazelnut seedlings, and red mulberry seedlings - all adapted to the Midwest. Seeds and trees have “memory”. They thrived and reproduced in a certain climate.

Often when you buy chestnut trees, seeds, or plants online, you have to buy from nurseries in the Northeast or Southeast US, or the Pacific Northwest.

Take it from us, trees and plants grown in those climates do not do well in Kansas.

So buy Elderberry, pecan, hazelnut seedlings, and red mulberry seedlings - all adapted to the Midwest. At GrowNutTrees.com.

Episode 3 - You are More Wealthy Than You Think.

In Episode 3 of Thriving The Future podcast, Scott and Perpend look at wealth and the 8 forms of Capital and how to utilize those to enrich your life.

• Financial Capital

• Material Capital

• Living Capital

• Social Capital

• Cultural Capital

• Intellectual Capital

• Experiential Capital

• Spiritual Capital

Episode Website: ThrivingTheFuture Ep.3 - You Are More Wealthy Than You Think

In Episode 2 of Thriving The Future podcast Scott and Perpend talk about developing a skills based mindset.

"If you want to thrive, live life, do what you intend - develop a skills based mindset.

Skills will help you thrive rather than just survive."

Length 31:02

Episode website:

https://thrivingthefuture.com/podcast-ep2-skills-over-stuff

In Episode 1 of the Thriving The Future Podcast, Scott and Perpend talk about what makes community work, intentional community, and building parallel systems. Length – 28:28

What is community? It’s not what you think. What is necessary for successful community:

• Worldview

• Skin in the game/Proof of Work

• Proximity

• Common purpose

• Common culture

• Intentional community

• Building parallel systems

Episode website:

https://thrivingthefuture.com/podcast-ep1-community

Jeremy is better known as DeweyLikeDonuts on Instagram and TikTok.

• We start his story in 2008 and how a SHTF can be your own personal apocalypse. He turned to "raising chickens, growing his own food, and striving for a more sustainable life" (his tagline).
• Prepping to Thrive rather than survive. Not living in fear.
• He shares about is recent adventures with a bee swarm.
• How he grew his Instagram account with a chicken video that went viral.
• And what is the "Internet in a Box"?

Episode website: Ep. 133 - Striving for a More Sustainable Life - with DeweyLikeDonuts

Join the mailing list and our Telegram group and you can keep up to date with all of Grant Payne, Homestead Padre, and my homesteading projects. Signup at https://Signup.ThrivingtheFuture.com

If you like this content and the podcast, here is how you can support the podcast and my Thriving empire of side hustles:

• Shoot me a tip on Venmo or CashApp @ThrivingtheFuture.
• ​Go to the Stuff page on Thriving the Future site and buy something.
• OR - click on one of the Amazon links on the Stuff page and then buy your other stuff that you want. Anything you buy on Amazon for 24 hours will give Thriving the Future a credit.

Sponsors:

• Check out the Solar Food Dehydrator. Watch the movie, get the plans, all for a reasonable cost.
• Grow Nut Trees: Buy Elderberry, pecan, hazelnut seedlings, and red mulberry seedlings - all adapted to the Midwest. Seeds and trees have “memory”. They thrived and reproduced in a certain climate.

Often when you buy chestnut trees, seeds, or plants online, you have to buy from nurseries in the Northeast or Southeast US, or the Pacific Northwest.

Take it from us, trees and plants grown in those climates do not do well in Kansas.

So buy Elderberry, pecan, hazelnut seedlings, and red mulberry seedlings - all adapted to the Midwest. At GrowNutTrees.com.

Part of Thriving is embracing both the wins, as well as the losses.

Homestead Update:

My Spring garden has failed, for the most part.

I usually sow plants and then spread lettuce and kale seed around to act as a cover crop - hey, lettuce is a companion plant of everything.

This year hardly anything came up. The starter plants that I planted also did not thrive.

Why? Lots of rain.

In Kansas we do not get "April showers bring May flowers."

We get May and June thunderstorms. Almost all of our annual rain comes in May and June.

This year it rained almost every other day in May. We even had a mini-tornado pass just south of us and we got 8-10 inches of rain that week. Should have been a Spring bonanza of crops.

I added a couple of truckloads of compost from the nursery. The compost is worse-than-usual municipal compost.

The perennials saved the day - plantain, walking onion, bloody dock sorrel. They all did wonderfully.

Some trees thrived. Some did not.

My apple grafts are all thriving. Nearly 80% success so far, which is rare.

But the chestnut seedlings from last year didn't come out of dormancy. The 5 year chestnut trees are looking sickly, with half the branches with no leaves. I need to heavily fertilize and see if they recover.

Side Hustle Update on GrowNutTrees.

• I sold hundreds of $ of elderberry on FB marketplace.
• I am adding black lace elderberry for next Fall and in 2025.

Episode website: Ep. 132 - Never Give Up, Never Surrender

If you like this content and the podcast, here is how you can support the podcast and my Thriving empire of side hustles:

• Shoot me a tip on Venmo or CashApp @ThrivingtheFuture.
• ​Go to the Stuff page on Thriving the Future site and buy something.
• OR - click on one of the Amazon links on the Stuff page and then buy your other stuff that you want. Anything you buy on Amazon for 24 hours will give Thriving the Future a credit.

Sponsors:

• Check out the Solar Food Dehydrator. Watch the movie, get the plans, all for a reasonable cost.
• Grow Nut Trees: Buy Elderberry, pecan, hazelnut seedlings, and red mulberry seedlings - all adapted to the Midwest. Seeds and trees have “memory”. They thrived and reproduced in a certain climate.

Often when you buy chestnut trees, seeds, or plants online, you have to buy from nurseries in the Northeast or Southeast US, or the Pacific Northwest.

Take it from us, trees and plants grown in those climates do not do well in Kansas.

So buy Elderberry, pecan, hazelnut seedlings, and red mulberry seedlings - all adapted to the Midwest. At GrowNutTrees.com.

Enough talk. Get Stuff Done. It's Proof of Work.

Grant Payne and Matt Derosier share what Stuff they are Getting Done this Spring, as well as Side Hustle and Tree Nursery tips.

Hear why "The IBC King is Back":

• Grant's wedding
• Grant added MANY chickens and ducks
• Turkey production - if you start now will they be ready to sell for Thanksgiving?
• Tree nursery tips
• Hedge production by coppicing.

Grant Payne - PayneHomestead on Twitter

Matt at FarmHopLife

Episode website: Ep. 131 - Get Stuff Done - with Grant and Matt

If you like this content, shoot us a tip on Venmo or Cashapp @ThrivingtheFuture

Sponsors:

• Check out the Solar Food Dehydrator. Watch the movie, get the plans, all for a reasonable cost.
• Grow Nut Trees: Buy Elderberry, pecan, hazelnut seedlings, and red mulberry seedlings - all adapted to the Midwest. Seeds and trees have “memory”. They thrived and reproduced in a certain climate.Often when you buy chestnut trees, seeds, or plants online, you have to buy from nurseries in the Northeast or Southeast US, or the Pacific Northwest.Take it from us, trees and plants grown in those climates do not do well in Kansas. So buy Elderberry, pecan, hazelnut seedlings, and red mulberry seedlings - all adapted to the Midwest. At GrowNutTrees.com.

Real world examples to start and then grow your side hustle.

I am taking a Permaculture Business Design Course through Regeneration Nation CR. The exercises and worksheets are fantastic and have helped me to focus more on the customer.

• What is the problem you are trying to solve? What does your customer actually want? Are you trying to solve what you think the problem is?

Example: If you are evaluating someone's land and doing a permaculture design, have you asked: "what do you like to eat?"

So many people plant things that they actually don't eat, or will not likely eat.

Define who your customer really is and let your customer define themselves by what they really want.

• Niche down and then niche down some more so you are known as an expert in that space.
• Quickly go to market with a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to test the response and whether it is worth throwing money (and more importantly TIME) at.
• Charge less for it in a beta test. Get real world feedback.
• Let your customer ultimately decide if they are your customer. Don’t chase after someone who doesn’t want to be your customer.
• Learn skills while doing. Charge less while learning those skills, build clientele and experience, then raise your price.
• Become a producer and not just a consumer.
• Like the permaculture principle – Use your yield. It can be used to give, trade, or sell to grow your forms of capital.
• Don’t grift for the sake of the grift or people will easily see through you.

Use research tools like Google Trends and Answer the Public.

I do a deep dive on How to use Answer the Public in the latest Thriving News article on How to Overcome Writer's Block.

Episode website: Ep. 130 - Tips on How to Grow Your Side Hustle

If you like this content, shoot us a tip on Venmo or Cashapp @ThrivingtheFuture.

Sponsors:

• Check out the Solar Food Dehydrator. Watch the movie, get the plans, all for reasonable cost.
• Grow Nut Trees: Buy Elderberry, pecan, hazelnut seedlings, and red mulberry seedlings - all adapted to the Midwest. Seeds and trees have “memory”. They thrived and reproduced in a certain climate.Often when you buy chestnut trees, seeds, or plants online, you have to buy from nurseries in the Northeast or Southeast US, or the Pacific Northwest.Take it from us, trees and plants grown in those climates do not do well in Kansas. So buy Elderberry, pecan, hazelnut seedlings, and red mulberry seedlings - all adapted to the Midwest. At GrowNutTrees.com.

Times are tough. I talked with a recruiter friend the other day and there are >40 people in my field in our local job market that he knows that are looking for work. And those are just the ones that he knows.

Build something for yourself. It’s basic prepping. Build your side hustle. Multiple streams of income.

In this episode I will share tips on how to discover and develop your side hustle niche.

How to find your side hustle niche

Let's talk about YOUR side hustle.

Are you having difficulty finding your side hustle niche?

• What are you good at?
• You know stuff. You may not think it is much, but there is someone out there who will pay (or pay attention) for that knowledge.

Remember - Guys on YouTube are getting hundreds of views from sharpening knives or using a scythe. This week I saw a post on permies where a guy took a scythe blade that was mangled by a lawn mower and he fixed it. All are skills that can be taught or sold as a side hustle, or as sales of knives and scythes.

Grant Payne takes pruned and trimmed pieces of plants and rejects from the big box store and grows them out into full plants and sells them.

Anything like that can drive into a side hustle.

Even better - you can tell someone how to do a skill step by step and they will often PAY YOU to do it for them.

Try it. Talk about your skill in your community. Offer to show someone how you do it. Make a proof of concept web page, YouTube page, or use FB Marketplace. Sell your service or your product/what you make. Or sell your knowledge and skill.

Use Flippa as a Side Hustle Idea Generator

Get on Flippa. Check out the current listings. But, even more importantly, check out the listings that have recently sold.

The prepper site BunkerBasics.com sold not long ago for $1,100.

You could buy a website like this, build one similar, or use it as an idea for a niche.

This is my usual process and checklist for evaluating a website:

• Is the site within my niche or in an adjacent niche?
• Is the site in my price range? Most that I have bought are starter sites that are $100-200.
• They must be created in Wordpress.
• Do I have a vision for them:
  • Do I buy the site, build the audience, and then generate affiliate income?
  • Will I resell the site?
  • Do I think that I can make the site better?

I usually brainstorm 10-15 article topics that I would write for each site as a proof of concept to support my decision.

Check out the show notes on the Episode website: https://ThrivingtheFuture.com/side-hustle-niche

Guitar Pedal Mania

Sponsors:

• Duplicator Pro - when you buy a website off of Flippa, Transfer the website over easily with Duplicator Pro plugin. It creates the database and sets up all plugins and content. Check out Duplicator Pro plugin.
• Check out the Solar Food Dehydrator. Watch the movie, get the plans, all for reasonable cost.
• Grow Nut Trees: Elderberry, pecan, hazelnut seedlings, and red mulberry seedlings. At GrowNutTrees.com.

Andy Hickman (shagbark_hick on Twitter) shares his new adventures. Andy was on on Ep. 83 - You're Gonna Make it.

His video "You're Gonna Make it" is still the most encouraging video I have ever seen, and still puts a smile on my face.

Andy has a big Summer planned:

He is getting married to Keturah in June, with a wedding in the woods of upstate NY, with bring-your-own-picnic lunch, and campout. (Saving money and gaining family).

Before that, he is travelling the month of May coast-to-coast on Amtrak to visit new friends from Twitter in NE and TX, stealth camping, and in Oregon to greet the father he has never met.

He shares tips for traveling on Amtrak.

Plans to travel to Europe on QE2.

Making a living writing on Substack. Subscribe and support him (I do). It is a must-read!

We also talk about Thriving by being Time Rich.

Check out the show notes on the Episode website: https://ThrivingtheFuture.com/shagbark_hick

Sponsors:

• Check out the Solar Food Dehydrator. Watch the movie, get the plans, all for reasonable cost.
• Grow Nut Trees: Elderberry, pecan, hazelnut seedlings, and red mulberry seedlings. At GrowNutTrees.com.
• Do you forage nettles? A guy I know forages and freezes nettles and they are his main green veg for the entire year! Check out the How to Forage and Prepare Nettles on AllGardenAdvice.com

Jason Snyder of Doomer Optimism shares stories of how his family in NC weathered Hurricane Helene and what he is doing to regeneratively recover from the aftermath.

Resiliency through community and culture.

"Biblical flood? Plant trees, cultivate gardens, raise livestock."

Episode website: https://ThrivingtheFuture.com/hurricane

Sponsors:

Thriving Food Forest Design - We can create an edible foodscape, a perennial paradise so you can grow more food and be more self sufficient. We use fruit and nut trees and perennial plants adapted to the Midwest to create a low maintenance food forest.

Grow Nut Trees - Chestnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, elderberry - all adapted to the Midwest.

Permies digital marketplace is YOUR source for all things permaculture for your homestead, side hustle, and designing your intentional life: from video courses, to blueprints, to books.

New health challenges require Homestead Padre to rethink and redesign his garden to adapt to those changes.

After some health issues, Homestead Padre and his wife are adopting the Mediterranean Diet.

Padre shares about IBS and Crohn's Disease.

Unlike American Italian Food, the Mediterranean Diet is heavy emphasis on vegetables, seafood, lean meats, fat from olive oil, and whole wheat pasta (if they have pasta).

Padre is realigning his garden around those foods. Changing what he will grow in his garden - based on new dietary needs. Come and listen to how he plans out his journey.

The usual disclaimer: This is a personal story and is not medical advice.

Padre also shares about his updates and challenges with the farmer's market this year as they take on leadership of the market.

Check out the step by step instructions on the show notes on the Episode website: https://ThrivingtheFuture.com/garden-health

Sponsors:

• Check out the Solar Food Dehydrator. Watch the movie, get the plans, all for reasonable cost.
• Grow Nut Trees: Elderberry cuttings are still available. Now have hazelnut seedlings and red mulberry seedlings. At GrowNutTrees.com.
• Check out the Companion Planting Guide on AllGardenAdvice.com

Try to go without your phone for a few hours, or even the whole day.

Like most people, I reach for my phone when there is any break in the conversation, when a commercial comes on TV, or when I am even slightly bored.

This episode will empower you with some tips to reduce your screen use - and reclaim your life.

Phone Settings to Fight Screen Addiction:

• Night Shift
• Focus setting

Level Up on Fighting Screen Addiction with the Grayscale Setting:

This is a tip that Father Turbo gave to Perpend: You set your phone to Grayscale. Nothing changes, but everything is in shades of gray.

It is designed to lessen the draw to the phone, as well as decrease the dopamine hit that you get when on social media. Things just don't look as appealing in grayscale and they don't trigger the same things in the brain.

Watch Your Scrolling Habits

Focus on your Circle of Influence and Circle of Concern:

Let’s get real. That thing that is happening in Texas that is the Outrage-of-the-day on social media. Does it really impact me?

If I don’t live in Texas, chances are it doesn’t impact me at all.

Does it even concern me?

Probably not.

Wear Blue Blocking Glasses at night

This helps me to manage my circadian rhythm and helps me to sleep.

Be Time Rich:

Put things in perspective. Spend time on things that matter. Especially your family. Your kids will grow up before you know it.

Check out the step by step instructions on the show notes on the Episode website: https://ThrivingtheFuture.com/screen-addiction

Sponsors:

• Check out the Solar Food Dehydrator. Watch the movie, get the plans, all for reasonable cost.
• Grow Nut Trees: Elderberry cuttings are still available but Hurry before they come out of dormancy. Now have pecan seedlings and red mulberry seedlings. At GrowNutTrees.com.
• Check out the Companion Planting Guide on AllGardenAdvice.com

Scott the Little Pine Farmer on Twitter is back with me and we are talking about his bakery and how he favors

"Why don't you come down to this market or deliver to the boutique in the city? We want to feed our neighborhood first."

Scott the Little Pine Farmer

It's all about the goal:

"The overarching goal is to stay home, produce value, and have people bring us money."

Reaching that goal through:

• Bakery, focusing on sourdough.
• Making relationships with the animal shelter. Selling bread in the animal shelter parking lot, which is a schools bus drop off.
• Community compost program.
• Dog sitting service.
• Community pasture grazing - like Rent-a-Goat but in the neighborhood.

Be the Gray Man and Build Alternative Systems:

Choose the path of focusing on building new alternatives rather than fighting the behemoth. If you get to the point where you are driving tractors down to the state capitol - it is too late.

"I am of much more benefit to my community working here on the farm than sitting in a holding cell in the big city."

Spend your time building alternatives and be the Gray Man. Did you learn nothing from Covid? If you ignore them, fade into the background, and do your thing - it's most likely that they will not be paying attention to you.

Find the Remnant:

Go to dinner or drinks with people.

Build Local Community, Grow Local Food. be the Gray Man. Build alternative systems. Much more effective than protesting.

Episode website: https://ThrivingtheFuture.com/local-community-local-food

Sponsors:

• Grow Nut Trees: Elderberry cuttings are still available but Hurry before they come out of dormancy. Now have pecan seedlings and red mulberry seedlings. At GrowNutTrees.com.
• Check out the Companion Planting Guide on AllGardenAdvice.com

Grow Food, Not Lawns

How to Create a new garden bed with Milpa

How you create a new garden bed depends on what time of the year it is. Most people sheet mulch by covering an area with cardboard, then layers of compost and woodchips. This works well, but only if you do it in the Fall AND you get lots of rain in the Winter to break down the cardboard. This year we had lots of snow in January and the bed that I created last Fall broke down pretty well, although while digging a hole in the new bed to plant a hazelnut bush, I dug up a piece of cardboard that wasn't completely broken down.

To Use Cardboard or Not Use Cardboard?

Permaculture leaders, like Ben Falk and Paul Wheaton, are increasingly warning against using cardboard as the base when creating new garden beds over lawn grass. And scientists warn against using cardboard as well.

Cardboard reportedly has dioxin and PFAs and "forever chemicals". The article also says that cardboard inhibits soil life. Only plastic sheet mulching is worse (supposedly).

I use Milpa to create new garden beds

In the Spring, I don't have time to wait for the cardboard to break down. I would lose the entire planting season.

My soil is compacted heavy clay, with little worm activity in places, so I would have to add a large amount of woodchips and compost to get something to plant in. And the grass always manages to poke through and take over anyway.

So I take my trusty Meadow Creature Broadfork and turn over the sod. Then I add a layer of compost. I sow with a Milpa seed mix, and then cover with a light layer of woodchips.

Milpa Seed – Buy or Mix Your Own Seed

What is Milpa? It is a mix of seeds, usually with the Three Sisters - corn, squash, and beans - as the core plants. Beans to add nitrogen, corn to provide structure, and squash to grow up the corn or out. Milpa also has other seeds, with a focus to grow as much food as possible on a small garden plot. It sometimes can have buckwheat, okra, cucumbers, greens, radishes, or anything that you want.

The idea is to spread out the harvest through the seasons as well.

I mix my own mix of Milpa seeds:

• Grazing corn or Strawberry corn - something that is shorter. Mix it lightly.
• Red ripper cowpeas, which work well in heavy clay soil.
• Buckwheat
• Cucumbers
• Squash that I have leftover or I get from a Spring seed swap.
• Pollinators.

You will get a dominant crop based on when you plant. If you plant early in the Spring, the buckwheat and beans will be dominant and the squash will be shaded out. If later in the season (late May, early June) then the squash will become dominant.

By using this technique you can create a new garden bed with minimal effort, avoid using cardboard, and get an abundant crop in the first year (even with poor clay soil). At the end of the season chop and drop the chaff from the buckwheat and beans to mulch for the Winter.

Episode website: https://ThrivingtheFuture.com/milpa-garden-bed.

Sponsors:

• Grow Nut Trees: Elderberry cuttings are still available but Hurry before they come out of dormancy. Now have pecan seedlings and red mulberry seedlings. At GrowNutTrees.com.
• Check out the Companion Planting Guide on AllGardenAdvice.com