Tending Seeds: Adventures In Homesteading And Herbalism

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,

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 th

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 approac

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!

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 w

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

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 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.

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!

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!

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.

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.