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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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

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...

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.

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 more. Connect with Tyler on Instagram or his...

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...

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

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