Permaculture Velocity | Homesteading Skills You Can Use

Freezing is quick and easy—I understand why folks are fans. Chop green peppers, put in plastic bags, and toss in the freezer. Blanch and peel tomatoes, pack in freezer-safe containers, and stash in freezer. No doubt that freezing has a place in a preservation kitchen. I prefer to use a freezer as one of several preservation methods and not rely on it heavily. A freezer failing would make me sad and freezers fail from time to time. Instagram: Soirée-Leone Website: soireeleone.com Producer: Marina Darling Recorded in beautiful Hampshire, Tennessee Try a Podcasting 2.0 Certified app: Podfriend - Breez - Sphinx - Podstation - Curiocaster - Fountain In my freezer I stash, chopped bell peppers, tempe, bacon, some meats, blueberries, and pesto in small jars. Sometimes I freeze broth if I only have a few quarts and not enough to fire up the pressure canner. I rarely freeze leftovers as they take up valuable freezer space that I'd rather fill with bacon or pesto. I prefer to pressure can rather than freeze. Meat, chicken, fish, broth, carrots, beans, tomato sauce, and so forth are ready to use—no need to remember to defrost. I seem to remember to defrost exactly when I would like to making whatever it is that is frozen. Jars of foods that can put food on the table quick—no defrosting required. When I am canning I prefer to can tomato sauce and tomato paste so the food is ready to go in the way that I tend to enjoy it. Cooking down all the tomatoes at once rather than lots and lots of jars of whole or diced tomatoes. Tomato paste ready for adding rich tomato flavor or pizza night. Canned beans—5-pounds of dried beans yield about 18 pints of canned beans ready to go. Soup on the quick—broth, meat, vegetables, beans, fermented sour corn or kimchi, and perhaps some leftovers or sauté garlic and onions—dinner. Whether freezing or canning be sure to label and apply first in, first out best practices.

Perpetual ferments like nuka pickling beds and pao cai are wonderful because they allow one to add and remove vegetables (and fruits) as needed to ferment then enjoy—fermented turmeric paste is another perpetual ferment. I love having the turmeric paste around as we are a household of two and having one jar of paste around is perfect for adding a handful of vegetables to then enjoy. It's perfect when you have a radish or an apple or a couple cucumbers. The first step to all this convenient fermentation is to ferment the paste. Following Adam James's lead in Sandor Katz's Fermentation Journeys, combine 400 grams turmeric root, 400 grams turnips, 300 grams peeled garlic, and add 4% salt in a blender and blitz until it's a paste. I found that using my food processor didn't yield a paste. I then fermented the paste in a 3 liter jar for nearly six weeks because I forgot—it was during winter so it would've taken a bit longer to be happy. I didn't stir as the recipe indicated due to the same forgetfulness—there was some darkening on the top of the paste—but it was fermenting along happily and smelled terrific. Now the turmeric paste is happy and ready to accept foods to be fermented. I found that I love the dramatic presentation of turnips, radishes, yellow or brown onions, grapes, apples, pears and Asian pears, and cucumbers. In the summer time they are usually tasty wonderful after 3 or 4 days—in the winter it takes a week or two. I've found that if I need to add to the jar because the paste is running low or needs more salt, I make a half batch or so—adjusting the salt as needed—and add it to the existing paste. Stir and resume using the paste after a few days. While I am sure that the creative culinary folks will have lots of ideas about using the turmeric paste for cooking or adding to other ferments, I always use it to get a curry kicked off. It's more than half way there—sauté some garlic, ginger, etc. add the paste, and add a can or two of coconut milk. Done. Add tofu or meat if you like. Dinner on the quick along with some noodles or rice. Instagram: Soirée-Leone Website: soireeleone.com Producer: Marina Darling Recorded in beautiful Hampshire, Tennessee Try a Podcasting 2.0 Certified app: Podfriend - Breez - Sphinx - Podstation - Curiocaster - Fountain

Complete show notes: soireeleone.com/podcast Recommended reading: Lloyd Kahn's The Septic Tank Owner's Manual. Shelter Publications, 2017. Or start with the tons of free information: https://oasisdesign.net/wastewater/septic/failure.htm Some recommendations: Use grey water friendly products. This is good practice to get ready for having a grey water system or moving to a rural area with a septic tank. The major consideration is sodium and boron (borax) as ingredients. Learn more about grey water: https://oasisdesign.net/greywater/ or https://greywateraction.org/greywater-faq/ Instagram: Soirée-Leone Website: soireeleone.com Producer: Marina Darling Recorded in beautiful Hampshire, Tennessee Try a Podcasting 2.0 Certified app: Podfriend - Breez - Sphinx - Podstation - Curiocaster - Fountain

Complete show notes: soireeleone.com/podcast In 2008 there was flurry of folks starting gardens and again in 2020—both coupled with a run on canning jars. A gardener needs jars to put up the harvest—so do plan for a garden doing well—if not this year then next year. Buy canning jars and other preservation equipment and ingredients well ahead of canning season. Instagram: Soirée-Leone  Website: soireeleone.com My garden book recommendations: https://www.soireeleone.com/resources/gardening My favorite garden book: Alys Fowler's Garden Anywhere: How to grow gorgeous container gardens, herb gardens, kitchen gardens, and more—without spending a fortune. Chronicle Books, 2009. If you are in the Southeast U.S., I highly recommend: Ira Wallace's Vegetable Gardening in the Southeast. Timber Press, 2013. Producer: Marina Darling Recorded in beautiful Hampshire, Tennessee Try a Podcasting 2.0 Certified app: Podfriend - Breez - Sphinx - Podstation - Curiocaster - Fountain

I love cheesemaking. When I first learned to make cheese in 1991, I didn't think or know that I should be scared or concerned about doing it wrong. I was raised with a can do attitude, just do it, learn, learn more, then down the road master it or at least be better at it. There are risks but cheeses often tell us we screwed up. Bloated, bouncy cheeses are obvious for example. Off colors and undesirable textures and smells are also obvious. Quite unlike Clostridium botulinum, which causes botulism, hanging out with nary a sign of its paralyzing presence looming in a jars of home canned food, improperly cured meats, and so forth. Absolutely employ good milking practices from a healthy herd, milk from a trusted source, attentiveness to cleanliness of the cheesemaking equipment, etc but beyond that I just jumped in and still jump in—I didn't have anyone or the internet to warn me otherwise. With one thin cheesemaking book that I picked up used, I dove in. Some of my first cheeses were from allowing milk to naturally clabber and junket rennet cheeses. I was so excited when I spotted junket rennet at the local Hy-Vee! I didn't know about chymosin and pepsin and the difference between junket which is for making custards and legitimate cheesemaking rennet. But, I made cheese and it was exciting. It opened up a whole world to me—a world that I love dearly to this day. Instagram: Soirée-Leone  Website: soireeleone.com Recommend Reading Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking by Gianaclis Caldwell
 This book is a master class in book form and I highly recommend this book. She also has another book Mastering Basic Cheesemaking but if you are ready to get in the fast lane then Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking is a great start. Rather than mimicking cheeses from around the world; learn what makes all the different textures, flavors, and so forth. Make a cheese that is truly your own even if using commercial cultures. It is difficult, perhaps impossible, to duplicate the famous cheeses or regional specialities as so much relies on those pastures, those dairy animals, that climate, those caves and aging spaces, those techniques, that equipment, that scale, and so forth. Be inspired by all those magical cheeses and make your very own. The Art of Natural Cheesmaking by David Asher With a solid foundation in making cheese from Gianaclis you can make some amazing natural cheeses (no commercial cultures, non-GMO rennets or alternative rennets, natural wrapping, washing, brushing etc.) Make a cheese that truly represents your local terrior. And also check out Trevor Warmedahl on Instagram and prepare to have your mind blown! milk_trekker He also has a substack so check that out too.Thank you for sharing the wealth of your travels Trevor! Producer: Marina Darling Recorded in beautiful Hampshire, Tennessee Try a Podcasting 2.0 Certified app: Podfriend - Breez - Sphinx - Podstation - Curiocaster - Fountain  

Food is expensive and stocking the homestead pantry with bulk food, buying food on sale, and other strategies is a good thing—but pantry pest infestations can be devastating and expensive. In this episode I share my considerations for storing food and stocking up. My favorite storage containers other than glass mason jars with metal lid and ring or fancy plastic lids like Mason Tops lids are Vittles Vaults. Vittles Vaults are made by Gamma 2 in San Diego. They are large food grade plastic containers (BPA-free) that are suitable for storing large quantities (50 pounds or more) of flours, grains, beans, etc.  Gamma Seals are made by the same company convert plastic pails and buckets into secure food storage containers. Vittles Vaults and Gamma Seals are widely available in the U.S. including farm supply stores, pet supply stores, home improvement stores, and internet retailers. The silicone gasket, lid, and ring can be replaced if required. Good storage containers that are air and water tight not only protect foods from pests and moisture getting into the container but also contain an infestation from moving from container to container. Consider silica gel or other oxygen absorbers if you live in a humid climate. I use Wise Dry as the large pouches are great for Vittles Vaults and have indicator beads to quickly see if they need to be recharged and the smaller ones are suitable for smaller containers like half-gallon jars. Try a Podcasting 2.0 Certified app: Podfriend - Breez - Sphinx - Podstation - Curiocaster - Fountain Good food storage practice:  Inspect the food and packaging. Some folks store grains and flours in the freezer for protection or to kill any insects that might be present prior to long term storage. I don't have a large freezer but this is something to consider depending on your situation. Decant the food into a clean, air and water tight container. Many containers are not suitable for long term storage. Consider an oxygen absorber if you live in a humid climate or storage will be longer term (more than a month). Discard packaging (compost, recycle, fire starter, etc). Refrain from commingling container contents. My exceptions are pasta which I decant into clear bags to save space and store together in a Vittles Vault and commercially packaged and sealed mylar bags which I also store in together in a Vittles Vault. Label with contents and date. Rotate inventory if needed, adhering to the first in, first out rule. Store in a dark and cool location.

After a multiyear hiatus, Soirée is back and switched things up. Permaculture Velocity is now Soirée with The Sauce. In this episode I share why we moved to rural Tennessee from San Diego and some of the big considerations if you are thinking about ditching the urban grind and moving to the country. Try a Podcasting 2.0 Certified app: Podfriend - Breez - Sphinx - Podstation - Curiocaster - Fountain Thank you Mara Jane King for suggesting “the sauce” as that spurred the podcast name change that was long overdue. xoxo The sauce isn't really a saucy sauce but a tasty, umani punch of flavor, dry seasoning blend of dehydrated natto, sesame seeds, chili pepper, salt, and sichuan peppercorns inspired by douchi from Mara's travels with Sandor in China. Watch the eight films from their trip People's Republic of Fermentation with filming by Mattia Sacco Botto. Later back in Tennessee, after their most excellent trip, (seriously watch the films!) I watched as Mara lovingly pulverized the ingredients in a mortar and pestle, blended and tasted, and poured the special sauce into a honey queenline jar. Amazing and delicious! There are countless riffs, I've added dehydrated sour corn, finely grated salted goose egg yolks, and fried and dried tempe—though not all in the same blend. You can find more details about special sauce in Sandor Katz's book Fermentation Journeys. Producer: Marina Darling Recorded in beautiful Hampshire, Tennessee Find me on Instagram www.soireeleone.com

Of all the chicken breeds, which are good choices for a backyard flock? Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com

So many seeds, so many misunderstandings! Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com

Some products require special equipment, fancy ingredients, and so forth. These simple products are easy and economical. Each can easily be made as fancy as you like! Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com

Getting ready to preserve the summer's bountiful harvest means having the equipment on hand. What's the best pressure canner to get the job done? Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com

Unlike a food processor or a blender, a grain mill is essential if you are going to grind grains. But, with so many choices, how to select the right one for the homestead? Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com

What's not to love? Perennial. Easy. Relatively low cost. Beautiful. Fresh fruit. Adding fruit trees to the backyard garden can quickly had a bounty of terrific food. Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com  

New Years greetings come and go, resolutions are made, but another year seems to slip by! It's so easy to be distracted from our path. One day slips by, then another, then another.  How can you alter this course? Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com

Right up there with "so what do you do when the chickens stop laying?" is "what to do when a chicken dies?" No one is really signing up to get the gory details yet at some level we all know that chickens die...even our most favorite pet chicken. But what can we learn? Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com  

Toxins suck! They make us, the soil, the air, the water, and the animals sick. So many of them are simply not needed for the job we are buying them for, yet, there they are! How can we step-by-step make our homesteads less toxic and maybe the world too? Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com

Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com

Show notes at PermacultureVelocity.com

What is the gift economy and how can it impact the homestead? Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com

Don't freak out! Here are some tips for stress-free holiday meals! Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com

It's easy to get sucked into the fancy packaging, promises of cleanliness not possible any other way, and germs killed on contact. But, how much do we really know and understand about the products that we are bringing into our homes? How can we make changes to kick toxic products to the curb? Plus, how to stick to your guns with homemade cleaners. Show notes: PermacultureVelocity.com

Prevention, prevention, prevention. Let's get into some details to avoid problems with illness and disorder down the road. Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com

Botulism is not something to take lightly and if you are new to home canning it can be a scary thing.  Learn about what went wrong in home canning that made people sick. Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com

Of all the cool season vegetables, which are the best to get started in the garden for the cool season? Selected for ease and productivity plus some surprises. Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com

How can you manage a chicken run without nuisance smells, flies, and tons of work? This simple and easy approach to managing the litter in a chicken run is healthier for the flock while being less work for the chicken keeper. Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com

Many people who live in the city are not prepared for brief interruptions in services such as water, gas, and electricity. Living the in the city with stores packed with goods for sale gives rise to a false feeling of security that everything will always be available. Learn about basic preparedness. Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com

There are plenty of lists of money saving tips. But, how do we reshape our thinking about buying, harvesting, preparing, eating, and storing food? Learn a few ways to rethink buying, harvesting, preparing, and storing food. Plus, why we all should be sauce bosses! Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com

Whether boiling water bath canning or pressure canning let's be safe. Learn how to avoid common home canning mistakes. And news flash! The USDA recently (June 2015) approved steam canning! Steam canning is a fast, effective, and safe way to home preserve high acid foods! Yay! Plus, don't forget to check out the show notes for even more information regarding several types of canning jars and lids. Links to pressure canner manuals, USDA and university extension guidance, and learn more about a recent outbreak of botulism that resulted from improperly home canned food.  Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com

So many projects and tasks on the homestead and limited resources. Where to start? How to decide to pay for someone else to install a laundry-to-landscape system or DIY? Starting small, simple, and specialized can help. Then considering time, money, and reward can help us select the right project, at the right time, and keep it on budget. Even tiny gardens can seem overwhelming to a new gardener--learn a few tips that can help you get started. Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com 

Kombucha can be expensive at the grocery store, coop, or farmer's market. Save a ton of money and make great kombucha at home. It's super easy and it is best wild! Learn about the "transformational action of the microorganisms" and getting started with your very own batches of this wonderful naturally effervescent drink.  Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com 

Corn, beans, okra, meats, fish, poultry, soups, broths, and other low acid foods must be pressure canned. Sadly, pressure canning has a bad rap and many folks shy away from it. Pressure canning low acid foods means that we have even more foods that we can grab off our pantry shelves. Imagine being sick and reaching for a jar of chicken soup made just the way you like it. Think about that long day and all you want is a quick meal--you are able to reach for a terrific vegetable soup. Canned foods don't require refrigeration so you don't have to worry about a power outage. Canned foods like beans (black beans, kidney beans, and so forth) are cooked and ready to add to your favorite recipes--saving time, money, and energy. Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com 

There are two solidly divided camps regarding light to the hen house as the days shorten. One: Adding light is inhumane, kinda seems like an industrial operation, so let's leave the natural rhythms alone. Two: Adding light means that there will be eggs on all of the days including days before the holidays. Yes, it's true I have friends in the city who do not add light in the winter and after all the love, care, and feed--buy eggs in December.  Adding a moderate amount to light to maintain a 14-hour day means that our healthy hens get adequate rest and we get eggs on all of the days. Gosh, how would I figure out which eggs are the least evil at the market anyway. We have chickens so that I don't have to figure that out! Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com 

Is homesteading just a glorified hobby or can it make an impact on your household and the community? Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com 

School is starting soon, the days are getting shorter and cooler, and it's time to start getting ready for the fall garden. Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com

Panty pests can ruin hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of food. Hours will be spent cleaning out containers and jars. Food will need to be replaced. It is just not fantastic to have a problem with pantry pests. It is less expensive in the long run to prevent pantry pests! Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com 

So many skills to learn and so little time. Here are a few skills that can make a difference on the homestead. Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com 

Edible perennials can be key to balancing things on the homestead. While they can take a bit more time, patience, and care to establish they pay off by needing less care when things get busy or you get sidetracked. Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com 

Bagged feeds are seemingly inexpensive but what are you really paying for?  Homemade chicken feeds allow the flockster to control ingredients, protein content, and have the freshest food for the flock. Learn about how and why we formulate feeds for our chicks, pullets, and laying hens. Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com 

Keeping things orderly and tidy on the homestead can just make life easier. No lost tools or equipment. No closets overflowing with things you don't and wont ever use. Eliminate the stacks and piles! Have a place for all of your items that bring joy to your life! Learn about how to be tidy forever. Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com 

Learn what all the fuss is about mason bees and alfalfa bees. Listen in for a coupon code to grab a discount on gear to get all set up for hosting native bees. Questions--there are always so many questions. Here are a few answers. Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com 

Being ready to can means that you have everything on hand in case of a windfall of produce from a friend or a great deal at the farmer's market. Having to run around looking for jars or lids or other equipment to can--just isn't fun.  Being ready to can means that you can when the food is at its peak and not miss out! Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com 

Plastic pots, plastic trays, plastic pony packs...plastic everywhere.  How can you start seeds without little plastic pots? How can you avoid peat pots that never break down?  Using soil blocks means no poop pots, no peat pots, no plastic pots. Yay! Nada plastic. No plastic to wash and store. No plastic to degrade in the sun and finally head to a recycling center or perhaps sadly--a landfill. Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com

A homesteading kitchen is a bit different from an ordinary kitchen. It can be overwhelming to decided which blender, food processor, canner, roasting pan, and so forth. There are so many choices but learn about a few things that are workhorses in a homesteading kitchen. Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com  

It's the toughest question! What do you do when the chickens stop laying? We have a flock management plan that includes having eggs on all of the days. See, I didn't say "it." Whether you consider your chickens pets or dinner--do have a flock management plan before you get chickens. Or ducks. Or geese. Or goats. Or any livestock!  Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com

Routine: jump in car, head to a store that "has it all", buy products, return home, and use or consume products. There are other ways that include meeting and connecting with people in your community, saving money, saving time, and saving gas. Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com

Bagged feeds are easy and quick. But, do bagged feeds yield the best results? Once upon a time we didn't rely on bagged feeds. Learn why we don't buy bagged chicken feed. Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com

Access to tons of information at our fingertips can be a lovely thing. But, there are some ideas that take off that are best avoided.  Learn a few tips to set your garden up for success. Show Notes:PermacultureVelocity.com  

Live better is always a relative thing. What about saving time, money, resources, and having a great homestead along the way? Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com

There are big solutions that can cost big bucks. And there are small, simple solutions that can have an impact right now.  Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com

Urban lots can be small and bonus points are always awarded for creativity.  Learn about why and how we designed a 3-level hen house for our happy, healthy flock. Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com

Here's the deal--making often potable water dirty with poo and pee makes no sense. Then we spend a ton of money making it clean again.  A dry toilet doesn't use any water. Dry toilets are bonus during an emergency or when a water main breaks! Listen to learn how and why we have a dry toilet as well as a flusher. Show Notes: PermacultureVelocity.com