If you want to buy something from a company or vendor, time IS running out, friends! If you have been following Small Scale Life, you know I recently posted an article titled Holiday Gift Ideas from the Small Scale Life Community. This was an opportunity to provide links to folks who we have met through Small Scale Life, and it felt good to give folks from our community the exposure.

So what happens if you miss the shipping cutoff (which is around December 18th or so)? Well, wait no longer! It is time to pull out one or more of these 11 DIY Christmas Gifts for family and friends on your list! We also included 4 Bonus DIY Christmas Gifts that would be excellent, but they take some more time, planning and materials that might not be available with 8 days before the big day.

For the show notes, please go to the article titled "11 DIY Christmas Gifts" at Small Scale Life. Please click the text to go to the show notes.

This week I have been fielding some questions in various Facebook Groups about Starting Seeds Indoors, and some folks are having some trouble with leggy seedlings and wondering how to fix the problem. In this post, video and podcast, I will discuss how I set up grow lights for indoor plants and starting seeds indoors. The stand that supports my grow lights is simple, very stable and costs under $15.
What are Leggy Seedlings?

The picture above was from a failed experiment that I conducted in 2016. I germinated this group of tomato seedlings by putting a black tray on top of the tray with the soil, and after four days added light. While I had good initial germination, you can see how "leggy" these seedlings were on Day 4.
Is is a problem because long, spindly ("leggy") seedlings are more fragile than their stocky counterparts. The do not hold up in windy conditions, and if you let them grow too tall, they will flop over under the weight of their own leaves.

Leggy seedlings are created by a lack of light. The plants accelerate growth in order to reach the light, any light, in their growing area. This can occur when a gardener plants seedlings and sets the container near a window or if the container is too crowded, and the seedlings are competing for light.
This is a common problem for gardeners who are trying to start seeds indoors. You can correct this problem by adding an oscillating fan (tricking the plant by simulating wind) or adding grow lights for indoors plants.

Grow Lights for Indoor Plants

I recommend gardeners use grow lights for indoor plants unless you have a greenhouse that gets fantastic sun for 14-16 hours a day (which is one of my goals)!

As I mentioned in other articles, I use inexpensive grow lights from Menards. In Menards-speak, they call these T12's "aquarium lights," but technically they are Sylvania 40-watt T12 Gro-Lux Fluorescent Light Bulbs, and you can find them in the Electrical Department.

The lights cost around $10 per bulb, and I put them in inexpensive shop lights (the lowest cost ones I can find). All in all, two bulbs and one shop light will cost you around $30, and that will be more than enough for two plug trays (or 188 plants if you use the plug trays I am using this year).

Grow Light Stand

In the past I used the brackets of the shelving units to hang the grow lights for indoor plants. Moving to the wider workbench eliminated that possibility. While I have used PVC pipes and fittings to build grow light stands in the past, I found that unless you cemented them together, they fell apart. It is not ideal when your grow lights crash down on your tender seedlings!

I decided to use lessons learned from gardening in St. Louis Park when I hung the grow lights from the shelves. I fabricated brackets that plugged into the pre-drilled holes in the shelving units, and then used PVC pipes with eye hooks to hang the lights over the seedlings with chains. That simple system allowed me to adjust the height of the lights as the plants grew taller.

I knew I had some wood in the garage, so I went foraging. I found the 1" PVC pipes with the eye hook holes from St. Louis Park (yay for not throwing these away)! That was a win. I also found a 4' long 2x4 and a 2' long 1x3. I decided to make the base out of these boards.

Using these pieces of wood, I made the following parts using a skill saw and my trusty drill:

• 2 - 12" base boards made out of 1x3's
• 2 - 18" vertical boards made out of 2x4's
• 2 - 14" horizontal boards made out of 2x4's

Using screws I had on had, I put the two "sideways goalposts" together. I added a "L" bracket to the 12" base to give the stand more stability. As you can see in the video, the grow light stand is very stable.
I added the two PVC pipes to the stand by using metal strapping typically used in plumbing projects. I cut 4 6" pieces and screwed them to the top of the stand. Sliding the PVC pipes in, the whole stand got that much more stable.

The beauty of this system is that it is easy to construct, is inexpensive and can easily be moved if we have a project that requires using the workbench.

Putting It All Together - Grow Lights for Indoor Plants

The final stand - March 2018Gardeners get excited to start planting seeds in the Spring, especially after a long winter. Sometimes we get ahead of ourselves and plant the seeds before we are ready. This can result in seeds popping through the soil and growing before we have adequate light for them. The result are leggy seedlings that could collapse under their own weight!

To avoid leggy seedlings, you must do the following:

1. Add an oscillating fan to simulate wind and trigger the plants to thinken their stems
2. Add grow lights for indoor plants to provide direct, long and low light to your tender seedlings.

I have successfully used inexpensive Sylvania 40-watt T12 Gro-Lux Fluorescent Light Bulbs from Menards and have had excellent results. I will have to try LED Grow Lights some day when I have some extra dollars in the budget, but this is working for me now.

To support the grow lights and shop light housing I constructed a simple stand consisting of PVC pipes, scrap wood, straps, some screws, eye hooks and two L brackets. The grow light stand is stable, inexpensive and mobile.

If you are looking for a solution for your leggy seedlings, forage in your garage and head on over to a nearby big box store.

You can get very creative and provide ample light for indoors plants! If you want to see a video of this stand and the seedlings, go to the smallscalelife.com for pictures or see the video at the Small Scale Life YouTube Channel for more information.

Let me know what you design and build. I am really curious what designs you develop for your plants!

Thank You
That’s about all for this post and podcast. I hope you found that reviewing top seed sources was useful and helpful. If you have comments or questions, please leave them as a comment to this post on Small Scale Life, use the Contact Us page, or send me an e-mail at realsmallscalelife at gmail dot com.
Thank you again for listening to the Small Scale Life Podcast and visiting smallscalelife.com. We appreciate you and your time. Our wish for you is that you remove some of that stress in your life and live simply this week. This is Tom from Small Scale Life, and we’ll see you next time! Take care, everyone!

Have you planted seeds yet?  I did on St. Patrick’s Day, and I have some great news to share with you about that!

Introduction – How to Start Seeds Indoors for Spring Gardens

If you have been following along over the past few weeks, we have been going through the general process for preparing for the 2018 Gardening Season.  We have done the following steps so far:

• Developed a garden plan – Developed a list of plants we want to grow)
• Ordered your seeds – Selected a reputable seed vendor and purchased seeds for our garden.

While there are many seed vendors out there, I focused on four big vendors that members of the Small Scale Life Facebook Group and MN-WI Regenerative Agriculture Group use most often.
Finally!  It is the moment of truth!  It is time to stop thinking and start doing!  I grabbed my seeds and some soil and got ready to get down to business….

Not so fast!

Before I could start planting seeds, I had to some additional planning and prep work.

Setting up the Indoor Growing Area

Part of my planning and preparation work was to select an area in the house to grow seedlings.  In our previous house in St. Louis Park, I grew seedlings on two shelves in a cold and dark basement.  I discussed how I started seeds and some lessons learned after have some failures over the past few years in the following articles (on smallscalelife.com):

• How to Garden Indoores
• 8 Steps to Starting Plants Indoors
• Lessons Learned from Growing Indoors
• Four Lessons Learned from Starting Seeds

For the 2018 Gardening Season, I had to find a new space to plant seeds and grow seedlings.  While I knew I would be regulated to the basement, it was a much different situation in this house in Minneapolis.  The basement is not as warm as the upper level, but it isn’t as brutally cold and dark as the St. Louis Park house.  I attribute that to the fact that half of the basement is insulated and finished, and that does help retain the heat!  Having more heat retained in the basement should help with germination, and I am hoping that having a warmer basement reduces the potential for damping off disease!

I had to select my indoor growing area, and it really came down to three choices: the built-in near the television, the bar area or the workbench near the furnace.  I would not be able to use a shelf in this house simply because we have gear and things on all of our shelves.  We just do not have the extra shelf space!

The biggest concern I had as I was evaluating each location was the availability of power (for grow lights, heating pads and a timer) and the impact on other basement users (like my son and wife Julie).  Each spot had power, so really it came down to finding a spot that would be out of the way and not bother anyone.

The best spot was the workbench near the furnace.  While losing the workbench for potential projects is not ideal, it is important to remember that I would only need part of the workbench until mid-May.  What could possibly go wrong?  Besides, if we needed to use the workbench, everything can be moved quickly. Of course, that might mean that the trays go on top of the freezer, but I would only use it temporarily (I promise, Jules).

The workbench is 27 inches wide, and that easily beats the narrow 18-1/2 inches on the St. Louis Park shelves.  In case you are wondering: yes, in this case, size does matter!  The extra width easily accommodates both seed trays in a side-by-side configuration on the workbench. On the shelves, I had to use scrap pieces of plywood to get over the lip of the shelf to get the trays to sit side-by-side.  This is much, much better!

Equipment Needed

Part of getting your equipment might include buying soil and seeds - March 2018
With seeds in my hand and a growing area selected, it was time to get my “equipment” out of storage in order to start seeds indoors.  My equipment consistec of the following:

• Seed trays
• 9x9 plug flats (or cells, as I like to call them)
• 5 gallon bucket or kitty litter bin (to hold the soil)
• Pro-Mix soil
• Heating pads
• Grow lights
• Timer
• Surge Protector
• Jumbo popsicle sticks or other labels for your seeds

Most of these materials had been in storage for the winter.  I had to rummage around the garage to find what I needed, and then I realized that I had thrown away my 9x9 plug flats last season!  I had used these plug flats for a three seasons, and they were showing some age, wear and literal tears.  I wanted to get new plug flats, so I got rid of them.

I went to the big box store and found that they did not have the 9x9 plug flats anymore.  I decided to pick up two McKenzie Pro-Hex Plug Flats instead.  They were relatively inexpensive: $5 per kit included a plug flat (72 plugs, tray and acrylic dome).  I would later throw away both of the domes (I feel they encourage damping off disease).

On the same trip, I also picked up the Pro-Mix soil.  While I did pick up a package of Coir for the 2018 Soil Challenge, I wanted to have a more controlled experiment using smaller plug flats.  I also wanted the 2018 Soil Challenge to focus on the best soil for growing greens.  More on my thoughts and how I am going to conduct the 2018 Soil Challenge in a separate post!

Armed with all of this gear and the seeds, NOW it was time to plant!

Start Seeds Indoors: Time to Plant!

Plug trays are loaded! St. Patrick's Day 2018
As I discussed in my Garden Plan, I want to plant at four distinct times this year.  I called these times “Stages.”  The first stage is early spring, right when the soil is starting to warm up.  There are plants that do well in those conditions, and I want to have a crop ready to put in the beds to take advantage of the season.  Plants that do well in the Early Spring Stage (when there are some cold nights) are: lettuce, spinach, Swiss Chard and green onions.  I added one more to my Early Season Stage: broccoli.  Most of these plants are quick-growing, and I decided to hold off from planting them on St. Patrick’s Day because I wanted to get the Late Spring Stage plants started.

The Late Spring Stage plants are the vegetables and herbs that will be in the ground in mid-May and grow until late August.  These are the tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, green beans, zucchini, squash and herbs that are listed on my plan.  Because some of these plants take 80 days or more to for fruit to be ready, I wanted to get them started as soon as possible.  For other plants such as zucchini, squash, potatoes, green beans and cucumbers on the list, I will sow them directly into the beds or planters in May.  The real critical ones are the tomatoes, peppers and herbs, so that is where I wanted to begin.

On a beautiful St. Patrick’s Day, I poured a drink, put on some music and started planting seeds in my new plug flats.  I had so much fun getting my hands in the dirt and planting over 144 vegetables and herbs on my potting table outside!  It was fantastic!  All in all, I planted the following:

• Cherry Tomatoes (2 rows) – planted with seed I saved
• San Marzano Tomatoes (3 rows)
• Opalka Roma Tomatoes (2 rows)
• Jalapenos (2 rows) – planted with seed I saved
• Red Bell Pepper (2 rows) – planted with seed I saved
• Pepperoncini (1 row)
• Banana Peppers (2 rows)
• Sweet Bell Peppers (1 row)
• Yellow Bell Peppers (2 rows) – planted with seed I saved
• Orange Bell Peppers (2 rows) – planted with seed I saved
• Dill (1 row) – seed I saved
• Basil (1 row)
• Oregano (1 row)
• Rosemary (1 row)
• Broccoli (1 row)

I made sure to label the rows with jumbo popsicle sticks.  With three different varieties of tomatoes and seven different varieties of peppers planted, I did not want to make a mistake this year!

Finally, I brought the trays inside, put them on the heating pads and added water to the trays.  I figured I had 7 days before I had to hook up the grow lights, so I started working on a system to support the lights when needed. Again, it does not need to be expensive, sophisticated or fancy; it just needs to work! I have something almost ready for prime time, but I figured I wouldn’t need the lights for a few more days, right?

Putting It All Together

It is time to get planting those seeds for your 2018 garden!  You don’t have to have the most sophisticated equipment or a greenhouse start seeds indoors.  If you are overwhelmed with this whole process, you can buy plants from the big box store, from a greenhouse, or from a friend, but it isn’t that hard if you break it down into the following steps:

1. Developed a garden plan
2. Purchase Seeds from a Reputable Vendor
3. Purchase Some Equipment (i.e., soil, grow lights, timer, heating pads and trays)
4. Put the soil in the tray and put the seeds in the soil
5. Label everything
6. Add water to the tray
7. Put the trays under the grow lights and on the heating pads
8. Wait!

Now, you see Number 8 above?  Tom Petty was correct when he sang, “The waiting is the hardest part.”  However, if you do all of these steps right, you DO NOT have to wait long….

I went downstairs after dinner and looked at the seedlings. I was shocked:

After 4 days, I have seedlings! 

Tomatoes, basil and broccoli have punched through the soil. I guess there is something to this starting seeds indoor thing!

This is great!  Of course, I need to finish the light system as soon as possible (which is now complete and operational), but I am very excited for this season.  It should be a great year!

This is the second part of my interview with Doneil.  If you want to catch the first, listen to Episode 30 of the Small Scale Life Podcast.  In this episode, we discuss Doneil’s wicking beds and the Regenerative Dad’s podcast.  I am pretty excited about this podcast because it is launching a new series at Small Scale Life about wicking beds and how awesome they are! 

Topics - Wicking Beds and Regenerative Dads

Doneil and I discussed the following topics in Part 2 of our two part interview:

• Wicking Beds in Arid Environments
• - list text hereSecond-hand watering troughs
• - list text hereLiners - Pond liner and 6mm liner
• - list text hereCompost
• - Mulch
• - list text hereCharging the system
• Regenerative Dads Podcast
• - What is the subject?
• - Why is this important?
• - Where is it going?
• Putting It All Together 
• - Wicking Bed Nation
• - Upcoming shows
• - Thank you!

He is not only a mountain of muscle, but he also owns and operates Half Acre Farm.  Inspired by some of my heroes including Gary Vee, Curtis Stone and JM Fortier, Michael is carving out his organic footprint in a quiet spot six miles from down Downtown Dallas.  It is pretty cool talking with Michael, and I learned a lot from him.  Whether it is starting your own small business (not necessarily urban farming) or getting fit, I think there is something for everyone in these next two podcasts!

Topics

In this podcast, Michael Bell and I discussed the following:

Introductions

Who is Michael Bell?
What was your first gardening experience?

Urban Farming

Why urban farming?
Influences and inspiration
Property
Crops
Business model and clients
Challenges and solutions
Future projects

In Part 2 of this interview, we discuss body building and the journey to develop a healthy lifestyle.

Links for Michael Bell
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZpYPKuBQLq/?taken-by=dallashalfacrefarms
You can find Michael Bell with the following links:
Michael Bell on Instagram
Dallas Half Acre Farm on Instagram
Michael Bell on Facebook
Small Scale Life Facebook Group - Yes, folks, I added him....shhhhhh!
 
*Friends of Small Scale Life
*
Introducing Aussie Flame Weeders, a new friend of Small Scale Life!
Aussie Flame Weeders makes stainless steel flame weeder manifolds.  They are making manifold set available this month, and they expect to start shipping them all by the start of November.  The manifold set up will contain:

Custom manifold to suit 30-inch bed
Five stainless steel German made burners that can removed to be cleaned, changed or replaced
LPG equipment to suit a standard propane bottle
Flint lighter

To help promote this deal, Aussie Flame Weeders are offering all customers who purchase a custom manifold the chance to win Coolbot!  These are perfect tools for your urban farm!
To be in the competition all you have to do is:

Order a manifold before the October 31, 2017
Like the Aussie Flame Weeders Facebook page or share the page with fellow urban farming friends.
Help by providing feedback in a short survey they will email to you if you agree to participating

To find out more:
Check Aussie Flame Weeder out using the following links:
Aussie Flame Weeder website is www.aussieflameweeders.com
Aussie Flame Weeder on Facebook is https://www.facebook.com/aussieflameweeders/?ref=bookmarks

Yes, dear friends, National Talk like a Pirate Day was this week, and in case you missed it (for some reason), you are getting a little dose of fun here on Small Scale Life. I am posting a Fall Garden Update Podcast in addition to a couple of videos showing how the garden is doing this late in the season.

Keep in mind that the first day of Fall is Friday, September 22, and at this point, we are watching the forecast for the first frost. I will have more Fall Garden Updates before the end of the season since there is plenty of gardening left before the snow flies!

Fall Crops

A few weeks ago, I pulled out and dusted off the seedling trays that had been shoved into a lonely corner of the North Minneapolis garage. Considering I am in Zone 4B and that our first frost could be as early as October 10th, I was planting a couple weeks late. There is a good chance that I would not get much from these plants, especially if we get an early frost.

Regardless, I wanted to get some fall plants growing. I purposely selected quick-growing crops that could handle colder temperatures. I focused on lettuce, spinach, sugar snap peas and green beans.

Using my existing seed trays and cells, I added dirt and then planted the seeds. In all, I loaded 144 cells with ProMix Potting Soil (a winner from the Potting Soil Challenge) and seeds. As an experiment, I also planted some sugar snap peas directly into Garden Bed West. I wanted to see how the seed trays germinated vs. direct sowing.

After two weeks of growing, here is how the seeds germinated:

• Lettuce - One of the three cells germinated well. The other two trays had little germination and will be reseeded if needed (late crop of lettuce). I am planning to put these plants in the wicking bed.
• Spinach - Excellent germination in the one cell planted. I am planning to put these plants in the wicking bed.
• Green Bush Beans - Excellent germination in the four cells planted. These will be planted in Garden Bed East.
• Sugar Snap Peas (Tray) - Excellent germination in the 72 cell-tray. These will be planted in Garden Bed West and the wicking bed. Trellis systems need to be installed for these plants in both garden bed systems.
• Sugar Snap Peas (Direct) - Mediocre germination; about have the seeds did not germinate. These plants are in Garden Bed West, and I need to trellis them.

These plants need to be planted this week! The next Fall Garden Update will show how these plants are doing and what I used for a trellis system

Square Foot Garden Bed West

In Garden Bed West, I planted the following plants:

• Burpee Hybrid Slicer Tomatoes
• Burpee Early Treat Tomatoes
• Red Bell Peppers
• Chives

I have already harvested tomatoes from both plants, and I thought I might not get much from either plant for the rest of the season. Lo and behold, I was wrong! We have had some tremendous bee activity in this bed due to the flowering chive plants, and the bees also hit both tomato plants. I have a bunch of new tomatoes growing! That makes me really happy!

At one point this season, Julie told me that she felt sad that I wouldn't get any peppers this year. I actually chuckled at her and showed her the small peppers that were growing. In addition to those initial peppers, the Red Bell Pepper plants also benefitted from the bees working on the chive plants. I have a bunch of peppers coming, and I am waiting for them to get to the right size and turn red. One has to be patient with these pepper plants, but fortunately, I am a patient man.
The chive plant is done flowering, but it is loaded with seeds. I will harvest those seeds and store them for future use. No need spreading chive plants all over these small gardens! If you are looking for chive seeds, send me a message through our Contact Us page, and we'll figure something out.

Square Foot Garden Bed East

Garden Bed East has more of a variety of plants (by design and by accident). I have the following plants growing in this bed:

• Cherry Tomatoes
• Green Bell Peppers
• Compost "Cucumbers"
• Compost Tomato Plants
• Basil Plants

The tomato plants are growing well. The cherry tomato plants are loaded with tomatoes, and the one Hybrid Slicer has a good sized tomato on it. The compost tomatoes are growing, but they will run out of season before they get too tall. I am not worried: they have buds on the plants. Given the bee activity in the garden, my fingers are crossed that we'll see some new tomatoes soon!
The green peppers are bearing fruit, even though they are smaller than the red pepper plants in Garden Bed West. That could be due to the soil conditions in this bed. I simply did not treat this bed like Garden Bed West before I planted in June. Regardless, I am pleased to see some peppers coming, and these plants benefitted from the bee activity as well.

The compost "cucumbers" turned out to be the surprise of the garden this year. I salvaged these plants from the compost pile, and I found out recently that these "cucumbers" were actually melons! I guess Julie's dad threw some melons into the pile and they sprouted. I have two melons growing now, and I can't wait to see if more fruit develops and how big they get. Compost plants are like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're gonna get!

The basil plants are doing VERY well. I harvested basil a couple weeks ago, and the new branches have sprouted where I made the cuts. Again, it is a little counter-intuitive, but if you want more basil, harvest some from your plants! The basil plants will sprout more branches and leaves.

Next Steps

I will be harvesting the ripe cherry tomatoes and planting the fall crops this week. It is time to get everything in the ground! There simply is not much time left before the first frost (less than a month), and if this cool weather is any indication, we'll have frost before you know it.

With this many seedlings, I am going to need more space for plants. This means I need to build a planter! I have teased you long enough; I am going to build a wicking bed planter for the fall crops this weekend. More on that in the near future, but I want to use this wicking bed planter as a template for my future gardens. I am pretty excited about it, so stay tuned for the next Fall Garden Update!

In addition, I need to develop a better trellis system for sugar snap peas. I have tried the single wire line system (like I used for tomatoes, cucumbers, melons and peppers), but it doesn't work quite as well for sugar snap peas. I have some ideas, and you will see how that plays out in the next Fall Garden Update.

Your Turn

How is your fall garden doing? I would love to hear a Fall Garden Update from you! Feel free to post a comment here or on the videos!

Better yet, you can join the Small Scale Life Facebook Group and share your Fall Garden Update with us there. I would love to see how your garden and fall crops are doing!

If you want to be on the Small Scale Life Podcast, send me a message on the new Contact Us form on smallscalelife.com, or send me an e-mail at realsmallscalelife@ gmail.com.

Thank you for tuning in to the Small Scale Life Podcast. This is Tom signing off. Remember to learn, do and grow as you develop an intentional, sustainable Small Scale Life.

Now, me hearties, bring me that horizon! Yo Ho!

Welcome to August! Today in Season 2 Episode 17 of Small Scale Life, we are going to be talking about small victories, and I am truly grateful to have them. This is the first time since the end of June that I am posting up a new podcast. It was a CRAZY July, and we got a ton of work done. Between Danny’s birthday on the 4th and Julie’s birthday on the 24th, we packed up our house, moved out of the St. Louis Park house and moved in to the Minneapolis house. Since that chaos wasn’t enough, I then moved the podcast to a new hosting site and made big changes to the Small Scale Life Facebook Group. With all that stuff going on, it is time to take a minute, take a breath, take a look back at what happened last month and express my gratitude for the small victories that are indications that we are moving in the right direction!
 
Podcast Show Notes
[caption id="attachment_2080" align="aligncenter" width="960"] I didn't think the badly damaged cucumber plant would make it. Now I have to come up with Plan B so they can both grow! 8/2017[/caption]
In this podcast, I discuss small victories in the following places:

Rebranding Small Scale Life 
Garden - Peppers
Adjustments to the Small Scale Life Facebook Group
Changes to the Small Scale Life Podcast
Going Forward
 
Friends of Small Scale Life

Small Scale Life Facebook Group  – This group will get you a backstage pass and access to other members of the Small Scale Life Community.  We will discuss gardening, healthy lifestyle, frugal living and having adventures along the way! This is also your chance to see what is coming up on Small Scale Life, see some content not shared on the blog, and ask questions of future guests.  Join the Small Scale Life Facebook Group today and become an Insider.
 
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To leave a review, simply follow these simple steps:

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I have been looking forward to this interview.  Greg, his wife and his family have boldly gone where Julie and I want to go: to a homestead in a rural location.  Through trial and error, they are learning the Old Ways of how to rear great kids, raise animals, grow food, and develop a sustainable homestead.  Greg is practical and straightforward, and I really appreciate his honest insight.  He has been there and done that!

I am also honored to announce that this podcast is also tied to the launching of  the Brand New Nature's Image Farm Webpage - CHECK IT OUT!  When you place orders using the code "SSL," you will receive a 10% OFF all nursery stock plus FREE shipping.  It is time to plant, so why not order something from Nature's Image Farm?  Even if you do not buy anything, this is a going to be a great resource for new homesteaders like me.  Check out the Homestead How-To Page for more hillbilly homesteading information!
Podcast Topics for my Interview with Greg Burns

In this podcast, Greg and I discuss the following topics:

Introduction - Who is Greg Burns?
Why homesteading?
Gardening
Hunting on 5 acres
Homesteading
Livestock (moo, oink and cluck)
Trees and Tree Farms
Plans and Dreams for Future Homesteads
Building Small Community and Tribe
The Gift of Time
The Old Ways
Hogtoberfest
Living in Small Spaces with Big Hearts and with a Purpose
Working with Spouses as a Team
Making and Enjoying Homemade Mead and Wines
Butchering and Preserving Hogs using the Old Ways
Prosciutto
Head Cheese - Terrine vs. Sylta (Yes, Domres' family, I went there)
Hog Testicles
Tribes/Small Communities
Get Stuff Done Crew
Lumbersquatches
Family
Tips for Buying Rural Land

[caption id="attachment_1578" align="aligncenter" width="960"] Lumbersquatches Greg Burns and Drew Sample - Real Food, Good Men and Good Friends![/caption]
 
 
 
 
Links
[caption id="attachment_1182" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Hogtoberfest 2016 at Nature's Image Farm[/caption]
 
Greg and I discussed the following links on this podcast:

Brand New Nature's Image Farm Webpage - CHECK IT OUT!  Remember, any orders using the code "SSL" will receive a 10% OFF all nursery stock plus FREE shipping.  It is time to plant, so why not order something from Nature's Image Farm?

Nature's Image Farm on Social Media
Facebook
Instagram
YouTube
Sample Hour Podcast with Drew Sample and Greg Burns
114 - Nature's Image Farm
124 - The Hilbilliness of Hillbillies
125 - Hogtoberfest 2016 - This is a great episode!  I really enjoyed this one.
Kevin Geary Rebooted Body Podcast - RB099: Epic Food to Nourish Your Body with Taylor Collins

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If you provide a review for the podcast, consider giving a few stars (not going to lie: I want five stars) for the Podcast.  I really appreciate you as a listener and your feedback.

To leave a review, simply follow these simple steps:
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You can also write a quick review or some words of encouragement (optional, but appreciated)
You can also write a longer review, though it’s not necessary.  Again, thank you for listening and your review!

Jay is looking to move from urban environments to the country, so we have a good conversation about how we will get there (along with timelines).  We also talk about working out and dealing with injuries.  In my case, it is "Inflammation of Motivation" that must be dealt with in the next week or so.  I need to get back into the gym and pool!

We also talk about Jay making Cranberry-Jalapeno Jelly, modifying the recipe and providing it to others who had parties to attend and gifts to give.  Finally, we go back to Small Scale Life Podcast Season 1  Episode 3 where Jay and I talk about "Slingshot Week."  Sometimes the more things change; the more they stay the same!

Podcast Topics for 2017 Goals and Plans
[caption id="attachment_1465" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Trees Under Glass - Rural Minnesota in 2017[/caption]
In this podcast, Jay and I discuss the following topics:
2016 Wrap-Up
Condo to Compound Update
Changes at Small Scale Life
Slingshot Week
Definition
What do I want to keep doing?
What will I stop doing?
What will I continue?
Links
[caption id="attachment_1464" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Homestead Goals - 2017[/caption]
 
During this episode of the Small Scale Life Podcast, I mention the following links:
Jay's Condo to Compound Blog
How to Make Cranberry-Jalapeno Jelly
Aaron Clarey Captain Capitalism Blog and Podcast
Healthy Lifestyle Podcast Episode 7: Interview with Kevin Geary
Small Scale Life Podcast Season 1, Episode 3: Three Questions for 2016
Small Scale Gardening Facebook Group
MN-WI Regenerative Agriculture Facebook Group
 
Rate on iTunes

Since we are now on iTunes, please rate and review the Small Scale Life Podcast.  Ratings and reviews help us grow the podcast and the blog, and I appreciate your reviews.

You can leave a review by following these simple steps:
Click on this link or the image above.
Go to ratings and reviews.
Click on the number stars.
Subscribe to the podcast (optional, but appreciated)!
You can also write a quick review or some words of encouragement (optional, but GREATLY appreciated)!
You can also write a longer review, though it’s not necessary.  Again, thank you for listening and your review!

As an aside, we welcome new listeners to our weekly podcast from our new Stitcher channel!  If you are new to the Small Scale Life Podcast, this is a weekly show dedicated to developing a sustainable small scale life through healthy living, gardening, frugal living and having adventures along the way!  Our motto is learn, do and grow.

If you would like to listen to the Small Scale Life Podcast on Stitcher, listen using the following link: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/smallscalelife/small-scale-life

Podcast Topics
https://www.instagram.com/p/BN7Sgt3Akn2/?taken-by=smallscalelife
In this podcast, I discuss the following topics:
Introduction to the Small Scale Life Podcast and Small Scale Gardening Blog
Is Small Scale Life a Wellness Program?
Conditions and Driving in Snow
Winter Tips for Working in the Cold, Winterizing Your Equipment and Winterizing your House
Winter Tips for Managing Ice Dams

Links
[caption id="attachment_1371" align="aligncenter" width="762"] Our quiet street after the snowstorm - December 2016[/caption]

During the Small Scale Life Podcast, I discuss the following links:
Small Scale Life Podcast Season 1 Episode 19: Happy Birthday, Small Scale Life!
About.com - How to Prevent and Remove Ice Dams
University of Minnesota Extension - Ice Dams
Sample Hour with Drew Sample
Small Scale Gardening Facebook Group
MN-WI Regenerative Agriculture Facebook Group
 
Rate on iTunes

Since we are now on iTunes, please rate and review the Small Scale Life Podcast.  Ratings and reviews help us grow the podcast and the blog, and I appreciate your reviews.

You can leave a review by following these simple steps:

Click on this link or the image above.
Go to ratings and reviews.
Click on the number stars.
Subscribe to the podcast (optional, but appreciated)!

You can also write a quick review or some words of encouragement (optional, but GREATLY appreciated)!
You can also write a longer review, though it’s not necessary.  Again, thank you for listening and your review!

Podcast Topics

https://www.instagram.com/p/BMqHLeogzXQ/?taken-by=smallscalelife

In this podcast, I discuss the following topics:
One Year Anniversary of the Small Scale Life
Origins of Blogging - Small Scale Gardening Blog
Core Principles of Small Scale Life
Future of Small Scale Life

Links

https://www.instagram.com/p/BM0WTFMgLFC/?taken-by=smallscalelife
During the Small Scale Life Podcast, I discuss the following links:
Small Scale Gardening Blog
HELP Podcast Episode 7: Rebooted Body with Kevin Geary
Rebooted Body Blog and Podcast
Sample Hour with Drew Sample
Small Scale Gardening Facebook Group
MN-WI Regenerative Agriculture Facebook Group
 
Rate on iTunes

Since we are now on iTunes, please rate and review the Small Scale Life Podcast.  Ratings and reviews help us grow the podcast and the blog, and I appreciate your reviews.

You can leave a review by following these simple steps:
Click on this link or the image above.
Go to ratings and reviews.
Click on the number stars.
Subscribe to the podcast (optional, but appreciated)!

You can also write a quick review or some words of encouragement (optional, but GREATLY appreciated)!
You can also write a longer review, though it’s not necessary.  Again, thank you for listening and your review!

What in God's name is Hogtoberfest? Well, ladies and gentlemen, it is a the gathering of people at Nature's Image Farm in Ohio for learning the old ways of slaughtering and processing hogs.  As you will find out in this episode of the Healthy Lifestlye Podcast, it was much more than just processing pork.  Hogtoberfest was about learning the old ways and rituals and adopting them.  It was about sharing the experience, learning skills and breaking bread (and drinking meads, ciders and beers).  Most importantly, it was about forging new relationships and building a small community, a tribe, of homesteaders, urban farmers, beekeepers and their families.  In a world of "plastic fantastic", smart phones, technology and isolation, gatherings like these are necessary.  The lone wolf depicted in Hollywood and today's culture is a lie.  Instead, a group of like-minded individuals, the tribe, is necessary to get stuff done, share resources and lean on each other when "times get tough, or even when they don't."
[caption id="attachment_1182" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Hogtoberfest 2016 at Natures Image Farm[/caption]

Topics
[caption id="attachment_1213" align="aligncenter" width="859"] The Hogtoberest Podcast elevated The Sample Hour to the 2nd best podcast in the world![/caption]
Drew and I discussed the following topics in this episode:
Diet and fitness over the past week and plans for the next week
The Real #2 Podcast
Hogtoberfest Recap
Tribe and Small Communities: why are they important in the modern world?

Links
https://www.instagram.com/p/BLbC-xzgrNq/?taken-by=smallscalelife
Drew, Scott and I discussed a few different sites, podcasts and video blogs during this episode.  The following is a list of those links:

The Sample Hour 125 Hogtoberfest 2016 - The Lumbersquatches at Natures Image Farm discuss Hogtoberfest and what it meant to them. This is a GREAT podcast, and it reminds me of our hunting camps in the spring: telling stories, having a laugh, remembering the old ways, and cracking a beer at 10 AM in the morning.
The Sample Hour 124 The Hilbilliness of Hillbillies - Drew Sample and Greg Burns discuss life and business through the prism of a hillbilly homesteader, or in other words, common sense.
The Sample Hour 123 The Mental Game of Getting Started Part 1 - Javan Bernakevitch and Drew Sample discuss getting started on a career path.
Natures Image Farm - Greg Burns and his family's homestead in Ohio.
Kevin Geary's Rebooted Life - Drew and I interview Kevin Geary in Episode 7 of the HELP Podcast. Check out his site!
The Contrary Farmer - Gene Logsdon. Check out the website here: The Contrary Farmer
Rest Faster - Blog post on Robb Wolf's site about rest protocols and routines to improve your rest and recovery
Five Minute Journal – Drew is using the Five Minute Journal to work through issues and develop his mindset
Headspace - Drew and Scott are using the Headspace application for daily meditation
Audible Application - Make the most of your mundane tasks and drive time!

Rate on iTunes
I checked iTunes, and we only have three reviews.  Thank you for providing a review (you know who you are; I really appreciate it).

We really need some more ratings from listeners, so please rate and review the Podcast.  Ratings and reviews help us grow the podcast and the blog.  As you know, people look at reviews before they listen.  No reviews or poor reviews mean that no one cares to listen or rate the podcast.  You don't need to write a book or write anything.  Just give a few stars (not going to lie: I want five stars) for the Podcast.

You can leave a review by following these simple steps:

Click on this link or the image above.
Go to ratings and reviews.
Click on the number stars (five would be awesome)
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You can also write a quick review or some words of encouragement (optional, but appreciated)
You can also write a longer review, though it’s not necessary.  Again, thank you for listening and your review!

Julie and I are not alone in this quest for rural real estate to develop a more simple, small scale life.  We have talked to others who are part of the Small Scale Gardening and MN-WI Regenerative Agriculture Groups on Facebook who are wanna-be homesteaders stuck in the urban grind.  Like us, they are all charting a path and a course of action that will lead to their eventual escape.  You can escape, ladies and gentlemen, but that escape will take proper planning and focused execution.

Speaking of planning and focused execution, our friend Jay Dolan from the Condo to Compound Blog is back to update us on his progress towards purchasing rural real estate.  Jay and I talked about his dream of buying a homestead back in Episode 7 of the Small Scale Life Podcast.  Since that podcast, Jay developed the Condo to Compound Blog and has been focused on paying down his debt.....for the most part anyway.

Podcast Topics

Jay and I discuss the following:
Jay's Condo to Compound Blog
How he is paying off debt
Hidden costs when buying a house (i.e., debt, maintenance, taxes, etc.)
"Home Buying Fever" that he and his girlfriend worked through recently
Unfortunately, the podcast ended early due to Jay getting called to the "principal's office."  Never fear!  We recorded Part 2 already, and I will be posting it soon.

Links

https://www.instagram.com/p/BLcrRuvAG8U/?taken-by=smallscalelife
During the Small Scale Life Podcast, Jay and I discuss the following links:
Jay's Condo to Compound Blog
Dave Ramsey - How to Battle Temptation in the Search for Your Starter Home
Jack Spirko's Survival Podcast - Episode 1628 Five Financial Landmines to Avoid when Buying Land
Jack Spirko's Survival Podcast - Episode 1778 Finding a Remote Property
Jack Spirko's Survival Podcast - Episode 1788 Finding the Right Property to Turn into a Homestead
Average Price of Homes in the Twin Cities
 
Friends of the Small Scale Life Podcast

[caption id="attachment_1202" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Finding the right land is exciting, but make sure you can afford it![/caption]

In this Episode, I talk about the following friends of the Small Scale Life Podcast:

Condo to Compound Blog – Jay Dolan’s journey from an urban/suburban life to a rural life.
Failing Forward Profitable Urban Farming – Drew Sample and Scott Hebert’s weekly podcast about success, failures and life as an urban farmer.
Reconnaissance Man – Aaron Clarey’s latest book for today’s youth where he recommends that the Reconnaissance Man (or Woman) takes the time to explore this country, not just to see what this country has to offer, but to find out who they are, where they belong, and what they really want out of life.

Rate on iTunes

Since we are now on iTunes, please rate and review the Small Scale Life Podcast.  Ratings and reviews help us grow the podcast and the blog, and I appreciate your reviews.

You can leave a review by following these simple steps:
Click on this link or the image above.
Go to ratings and reviews.
Click on the number stars.
Subscribe to the podcast (optional, but appreciated)!

You can also write a quick review or some words of encouragement (optional, but GREATLY appreciated)!
You can also write a longer review, though it’s not necessary.  Again, thank you for listening and your review!

October is winding down, and it feels like there is A TON to do.  I have not posted much this week because I have been processing vegetables and herbs like crazy!  I decided to clear the garden beds, and that triggered a mad dash to get preserve the vegetables and herbs before everything rotted.  In the past two weeks, I have made salsa and tomato sauce, frozen rhubarb, and drying parsley, dill, and oregano.  I am thrilled to be exercising some of my equipment and skills this season, but in the back of my mind, I knew I had content like this podcast about tribe, ritual and debt to post.

If you listened to Season 1, Episode 17, our friend Jay Dolan from the Condo to Compound Blog was called to the "principal's office" at the firehouse to handle an assignment.  We had a chance to get together and discuss a number of topics again.  I was trying to get Jay on HELP Episode 6 about Hogtoberfest, but things didn't quite work out.  Jay and I ended up furthering our discussion about tribe and small communities, as well as a number of other topics.  As a head's up to you, Jay does make an announcement about his blog towards the end of the show, so if you have been to his site, you will understand what he is talking about.

Podcast Topics

https://www.instagram.com/p/BLkQVHMAg07/?taken-by=smallscalelife
Jay and I discuss the following:
One Year Anniversary of the Small Scale Life Blog
Tribes and Rituals
Debt and Debt Reduction
Budgeting Concepts
Vision of the Rural Life
Learning Skills and Taking Time
Condo to Compound Blog Updates
 
Links

https://youtu.be/O4Go_UmX-ZM
During the Small Scale Life Podcast, Jay and I discuss the following links:
Jay’s Condo to Compound Blog
John Mosby - Forging the Hero: Who Does More is Worth More
Drew Sample and The Sample Hour - TSH - 125 - Hogtoberfest 2016
HELP Episode 6 – Hogtoberfest and Tribe
USA Today - Nearly 7 in 10 Americans have less than $1,000 in savings
Dave Ramsey – How to Start to Get Out of Debt 
Jack Spirko’s Survival Podcast – Episode 1628 Five Financial Landmines to Avoid when Buying Land
Jack Spirko’s Survival Podcast – Episode 1778 Finding a Remote Property
Jack Spirko’s Survival Podcast – Episode 1788 Finding the Right Property to Turn into a Homestead

Jay and I talked about the commercial using Aerosmith's "Dream On" song.  I was wrong; it was Walmart.  I linked it above.

Friends of the Small Scale Life Podcast
 
In this Episode, I talk about the following friends of the Small Scale Life Podcast:
Condo to Compound Blog – Jay Dolan’s journey from an urban/suburban life to a rural life.
Failing Forward Profitable Urban Farming – Drew Sample and Scott Hebert’s weekly podcast about success, failures and life as an urban farmer.
Reconnaissance Man – Aaron Clarey’s latest book for today’s youth where he recommends that the Reconnaissance Man (or Woman) takes the time to explore this country, not just to see what this country has to offer, but to find out who they are, where they belong, and what they really want out of life.

Rate on iTunes

Since we are now on iTunes, please rate and review the Small Scale Life Podcast.  Ratings and reviews help us grow the podcast and the blog, and I appreciate your reviews.

You can leave a review by following these simple steps:
Click on this link or the image above.
Go to ratings and reviews.
Click on the number stars.

Subscribe to the podcast (optional, but appreciated)!
You can also write a quick review or some words of encouragement (optional, but GREATLY appreciated)!
You can also write a longer review, though it’s not necessary.  Again, thank you for listening and your review!

This is Part 2 of my epic interview with The Plant Charmer.  If you are wondering who The Plant Charmer is, his name is Khaled Majouji, and he is an urban farmer in Canada.  Khaled grows an incredible amount of vegetables in vertical garden systems, and he inspired me to build my vertical garden systems this year.  To learn more about The Plant Charmer's background and beginnings, please check out Season 1, Episode 15 of the Small Scale Life Podcast.

In this episode of the Small Scale Life Podcast, Khaled and I discussed the following topics:
His current property - size and layout
His vertical gardening system with a focus on the strawberry fence
Soil and amendments
Selling products
Expansion and vision for a larger operation
Instagram tips - how to grow your followers
https://www.instagram.com/p/BK58Js-j9PE/?taken-by=theplantcharmer
 
Thank You and Call to Action

https://www.instagram.com/p/BKdcnpRDdjL/?taken-by=theplantcharmer

It was great having Khaled on the show, and I appreciate the time he spent talking to me. A couple weeks ago, Khaled found a 10-acre plot to expand In.Genius Farms and finalized the deal for the property.  The battle is not over, however!  Khaled needs funds to set up this operation, so go to his Go Fund Me and donate today to help him realize his dream!

I would also like to thank Austin from Beatsby_Roi for providing permission for using the song “Steady Wzdm” from The Lemon Water Chronicles, Volume 1, on the podcast.  I would also like to thank Dillon from The Soapbox Collective Podcast for helping to connect with Austin.
https://youtu.be/kaG2xjntczs

Khaled and I discussed the following links on the podcast:
The Plant Charmer on Instagram
The Plant Charmer's Go Fund Me Campaign
In.Genius Farms School of Urban Agriculture
The Plant Charmer on YouTube
The Plant Charmer on Facebook
Vertical Gardening 101
Vertical Gardening 102

Check out the In.Genius Farms School of Urban Agriculture.  Khaled has launched a vertical strawberry growing course in his school, and it is FREE!  Get in there and sign up because it looks like a good course on setting up a vertical garden and starting a very good strawberry system.
 
 
Friends of Small Scale Life Podcast

In this Episode, I talk about the following friends of the Small Scale Life Podcast:
Small Scale Gardening Facebook Group - I set up this Facebook so you can share your gardening stories, ask questions and discuss food preservation. Join the group and continue to learn, do and grow with us!
Failing Forward Profitable Urban Farming – Drew Sample and Scott Hebert’s weekly podcast about success, failures and life as an urban farmer.
Condo to Compound Blog – Jay Dolan’s journey from an urban/suburban life to a rural life.

Rate on iTunes

Since we are now on iTunes, please rate and review the Small Scale Life Podcast.  Ratings and reviews help us grow the podcast and the blog, and I appreciate your reviews.

You can leave a review by following these simple steps:
Click on this link or the image above.
Go to ratings and reviews.
Click on the number stars.
Subscribe to the podcast (optional, but appreciated)!

You can also write a quick review or some words of encouragement (optional, but GREATLY appreciated)!
You can also write a longer review, though it’s not necessary.  Again, thank you for listening and your review!

In this episode of the Small Scale Life Podcast, I interviewed The Plant Charmer.  You might be wondering: who is The Plant Charmer?  This is a gentleman named Khaled Majouji, an urban farmer from the Montreal area in Canada who grows an incredible amount of vegetables in vertical gardens!  Khaled inspired me to build my two gutter vertical garden system this year.

The Plant Charmer and I discussed the following topics during the show:
Background and beginnings
Why he started urban farming
How he developed vertical gardening using shoe organizers and rain gutters
Selling produce
Philosophy
Thoughts on Big Agriculture
Since we had such a great conversation that stretched for almost three hours, I broke this interview into a series. Part 2 of this podcast will be posted next week!

Thank You and Call to Action
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJduqJrDnML/?taken-by=theplantcharmer

It was great having Khaled on the show, and I appreciate the time he spent talking to me.  We had a long and awesome conversation, and because of that, we will have a Part 2 of this show.  Khaled is working hard to get funds for a larger piece of land to expand his farming operation on a one acre homestead.  In addition, he would like to set up a greenhouse and purchase a vehicle to deliver produce to a CSA.  Khaled needs funds to set up this operation, so go to his Go Fund Me and donate today!

I would also like to thank Austin from Beatsby_Roi for providing permission for using the song “Steady Wzdm” from The Lemon Water Chronicles, Volume 1, on the podcast.  I would also like to thank Dillon from The Soapbox Collective Podcast for helping to connect with Austin.

Links
[caption id="attachment_1025" align="aligncenter" width="590"] The Plant Charmer has revolutionized growing food vertically! Source: The Plant Charmer's Instagram site[/caption]
 
Khaled and I discussed the following links on the podcast:

The Plant Charmer on Instagram
The Plant Charmer's Go Fund Me Campaign
The Plant Charmer on YouTube
The Plant Charmer on Facebook
Vertical Gardening 101
Vertical Gardening 102
In.Genius Farms School of Urban Agriculture
Check out the In.Genius Farms School of Urban Agriculture.  Khaled has launched a vertical strawberry growing course in his school.  The cost is $50, and it looks like it is a great value!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJtYjloDSqV/?taken-by=theplantcharmer
 
Friend of Small Scale Life Podcast

In this Episode, I talk about the following friends of the Small Scale Life Podcast:

Condo to Compound Blog – Jay Dolan’s journey from an urban/suburban life to a rural life.
Failing Forward Profitable Urban Farming – Drew Sample and Scott Hebert’s weekly podcast about success, failures and life as an urban farmer.

Reconnaissance Man – Aaron Clarey’s latest book for today’s youth where he recommends that the Reconnaissance Man (or Woman) takes the time to explore this country, not just to see what this country has to offer, but to find out who they are, where they belong, and what they really want out of life.

Rate on iTunes
Since we are now on iTunes, please rate and review the Small Scale Life Podcast.  Ratings and reviews help us grow the podcast and the blog, and I appreciate your reviews.

You can leave a review by following these simple steps:
Click on this link or the image above.
Go to ratings and reviews.
Click on the number stars.
Subscribe to the podcast (optional, but appreciated)!

You can also write a quick review or some words of encouragement (optional, but GREATLY appreciated)!
You can also write a longer review, though it’s not necessary.  Again, thank you for listening and your review!

As I discussed in my most recent Workout Plan Update, I am changing how I am rolling out posts and podcasts for Small Scale Life.  I am going to post Workout Plan Updates at the end of the week (looking forward to the next week) and Garden posts at the front end of the week.  I will post podcasts in the middle of the week.  Other posts will pop up as I write them.  Since I haven't posted an update in a month, I am posting a Garden Update Podcast, post and videos.  It is time to talk about success, failures, pests and blight.  It has been a learning year in 2016!
I outline what is happening in each garden bed below, so if you want to hear the podcast, skip ahead to the very end of the article!

Garden Bed 1
[caption id="attachment_930" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Garden Bed 1 continues to be the flagship raised bed in the main garden - 8/14/16[/caption]
Garden Bed 1 has four varieties of tomatoes, red onions, basil and cucumbers in it.  This is my longest bed, and it has traditionally been my tomato planter.  Below is an assessment of the plants in this raised bed.
 Plant
Assessment 
Opalka Roma Tomatoes
3 of the 4 plants are doing VERY well with a lot of fruit
I removed the 4th plant since it was not showing any fruit
I added a volunteer that was hiding in the parsley in Bed 4 to replace the unproductive plant
Amish Paste Tomatoes
These plants are growing tall and strong
Two are over 8 feet tall and have several tomatoes on them
San Marzano Roma Tomatoes
Plants are growing taller and showing several tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Showing several tomatoes and growing taller
Good production for being in the shade
Basil
Removed all plants on 8/14/16 due to Downy Mildew
Cucumbers
These plants are growing and starting to bear cucumbers
Not as productive as the cucumbers in the wicking bed
Red Onions
Critters have devastated my red onion crop.
I have learned to install fencing on my beds for the future

Garden Bed 2
[caption id="attachment_931" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Garden Bed 2 is an exercise in chaos thanks to some pole beans that were mixed with the bush bean seeds - 8/14/16[/caption]
Garden Bed 2 is a mish-mash of climbing plants.  It wasn't supposed to be that way.  This bed was supposed to be sugar snap peas and bush beans. Unfortunately, some pole bean seeds were mixed in with the bush beans, and the pole beans are going crazy. I also added two extra tomato plants to the bed as well.  Below is a summary of this garden bed.
 Plant
Assessment 
Bush Beans
The bush beans have been productive
They are being choked out by the pole bean plants
Harvest tomorrow
Pole Beans
These plants arte starting to fade in the late summer heat
They have been productive due to screening and shade from the pole beans
Harvest tomorrow
Cherry Tomato
Plant is growing taller
Starting to show fruit
San Marzano Roma Tomatoes
Planted late in the season
Starting to show fruit

Garden Bed 3
[caption id="attachment_932" align="aligncenter" width="514"] Garden Bed 3 should be brimming with onions and garlic this year. Note: should be....8/14/16[/caption]

Garden Bed 3 is my 3'x8' bed.  I grew potatoes in this bed last year, and this year it was going to be my garlic and onion box.  It started out splendidly, but as of mid-August, it has not performed as I anticipated.  Here is a summary of the plants and performance of this garden bed.  The bottom line is that this bed needs a fence!
Plant  
Assessment 
 Garlic
Garlic was transplanted into this bed early in the season
Garlic grew in the spring and early summer
Most garlic was harvested; small heads
Two garlic plants remain in the bed
Yellow Onions
Critters have been digging in this bed this season
Yellow onions have been dug up as the animals dig
Remaining yellow onions do look good
Peppers
Transplanted late after the garlic was harvested
Rabbits have eaten most of the leaves on these plants

Garden Bed 4 and 5 and Vertical Garden
[caption id="attachment_935" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Garden Bed 4 and 5 with the Vertical Garden in happier and healthier times - 7/21/16[/caption]

Between the vertical garden and Garden Bed 4, I had about 150 basil plants in my garden.  I harvested about 9 gallons of basil and created a ton of pesto and pasta/soup starts.
Unfortunately, I did not notice early warning signs of downy mildew as I harvested the basil.  We had some big rain storms, and when I looked at the garden last week, I noticed that many of the plants were suffering from the mildew.  I removed the plants on 8/14/16 and salvaged what I could.  The crop was almost a complete loss.
Meanwhile, the parsley is healthy and simply awesome!
Plant  
Assessment 
 Parsley
Plants are extemely productive and healthy
Basil
 
Basil has been infected by Downy Mildew
All basil has been removed from the garden

Guerrilla Garden
[caption id="attachment_933" align="aligncenter" width="600"] I added compost around the zucchini plant stems in hopes of root formation - 8/15/16[/caption]

I have three zucchini plants in the guerrilla garden.  The plants looked pretty healthy this season, and I have been taking pictures of the flowers all season.  Unfortunately, I needed to keep my eye on the stalks. I noticed on 8/14/16 that the stalks were ripped apart.  Further exploration revealed that my plants had been attacked by squash borers.  I will be writing an article about this in the near future.  Here is a summary of the three zucchini plants in the guerrilla garden.
Plants 
Assessment 
Zucchini
Three plants planted in this space
Squash borers detected and removed on 8/14/16
Added compost around the stalks on 8/15/16 in an effort to assist the zucchini to grow new roots

Wicking Beds and Hybrid Rain Gutter Grow Systems
[caption id="attachment_936" align="aligncenter" width="600"] This is an older photo; the cucumbers are almost to the top of the trellis - 8/2/16[/caption]

The wicking bed and Hybrid Rain Gutter Grow System (HRGGS) are both showing their value and abilities.  I have a great crop of peppers, cucumbers and jalapenos coming from these two systems.  The plants in the wicking bed are VERY healthy and producing a bumper crop of green peppers and cucumbers!
Posts will be coming in the near future with my thoughts on each system and how to build these systems.
A summary of each system is provided below.
 System
Plant
Assessment
HRGGS
 Jalapenos
The surviving jalapenos are really productive
Many blossoms and fruit already
HRGGS
Green Peppers
Green peppers have struggled in the HRGGS due to soil conditions
Plants are growing and are starting to bear fruit
Not as healthy or productive as the wicking bed
HRGGS
Dill
Rabbit ate the seedlings down
Dill has rebounded nicely and is growing rapidly
Wicking Bed
Cucumbers
Cucumbers are simply loving the wicking bed
Plants are growing rapidly and almost as tall as the trellis
Each plant has blossoms
Harvested two 6" cucumbers already
Wicking Bed
Green Peppers
Green peppers are growing rapidly (almost 4' tall)
Several plants have multiple peppers on them
Growing the largest pepper I have ever grown with this system

Watch
If a picture is worth a 1000 words, then a video showing the gardens are worth millions. I have posted two videos on the Small Scale Life YouTube Channel (which you should subscribe to and share with your friends), but you can watch them right here.

Garden Update
https://youtu.be/3mFledD3efc
 
 
Wicking Bed/Hybrid Rain Gutter Grow System Update
https://youtu.be/2lMrk8Z-ngM
Listen
You can listen to the Garden Update Podcast by clicking on the player below.  You can also use the following link to listen to the Garden Update Podcast on iTunes.

If you are using iTunes, please rate and review the Small Scale Life Podcast.  Ratings and reviews help us grow the podcast and the blog, and I appreciate your reviews.  You can leave a review by following these simple steps:

Click on this link.
Go to ratings and reviews.
Click on 5 stars.
Subscribe to the podcast!

You can also write a longer review, though it’s not necessary.  Again, thank you for listening and your review!

In this episode of the Small Scale Life Podcast, I had the opportunity to interview Charles Hugh Smith.  He is an entrepreneur, author, blogger, podcaster and gardener.  Charles started the Of Two Minds blog in 2005, and his "side project of self-expression" has mushroomed into a 3,500 page website that has generated 20 million page views!  According to Charles, "the blog is #7 in CNBC's top alternative financial sites, and is republished on numerous popular sites such as Zero Hedge, Financial Sense, and David Stockman’s Contra Corner. I am frequently interviewed by alternative media personalities such as Max Keiser, and am a contributing writer on peakprosperity.com."

Fortunately for me, Charles is on a podcast with our good friend Drew Sample.  Drew mentioned Small Scale Life, and Charles agreed to come on the podcast.  I was really excited to have Charles on the show.  I had read some of his posts on Zero Hedge over the years and found him to be a very good writer and deep thinker.  In addition, Charles has a garden and some fruit trees, so naturally he had to come on the Small Scale Life Podcast!

Charles and I discussed the following topics during the show:
Gardening
Tribes
Networks
Jobs in the New Economy
Mincome (Minimum Income)
Healthy Lifestyle
Sustainable Lifestyle
What is Small Scale Life really all about?
And much, much more!

As you listen to the podcast, you might find that I did a fair share of talking.  Charles has a way of interviewing the interviewer!  I thought that was a pretty interesting turn of the events.  Regardless, I hope you enjoy this podcast and learn more about Charles and me!

Thank You
[caption id="attachment_907" align="aligncenter" width="675"] Charles and his wife make pies from his peach trees in his yard. It looks awesome![/caption]

It was great that Charles Hugh Smith spent some time with us at the Small Scale Life Podcast.  He is a deep thinking guy with a lot of ideas, and his analysis is really interesting.  I will be reading some of his books to learn more about meaningful work in the new emerging economy,  why things are falling apart and what we can do about it , and about survival when times get turbulent and tough.  Again, thank you, Charles, for your time and patience waiting for this podcast to be published.  You can come back on the  Small Scale Life Podcast at any time!

Thank you, Drew Sample, for mentioning Small Scale Life to Charles.  I appreciate it, my friend, and I hope to return the favor!

I would also like to thank Austin from Beatsby_Roi for providing permission for using the song “Steady Wzdm” from The Lemon Water Chronicles, Volume 1, on the podcast.  I would also like to thank Dillon from The Soapbox Collective Podcast for helping to connect with Austin.

Links

[caption id="attachment_908" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Charles Hugh Smith's latest book available on Amazon.com in print and Kindle[/caption]
Charles Hugh Smith and I talked about the following links during the podcast:
Charles Hugh Smith from Of Two Minds
Charles Hugh Smith's Books For Sale on Amazon.com
Drew Sample from The Sample Hour
US Army's Basic Training Physical Fitness Test
Scott Hebert from Flavourful Farms
Sabastian Junger's Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging
Jack Spriko's The Survival Podcast
Bring Danny Home Blog - Story of Finding My Son in 2015
Friend of Small Scale Life Podcast
In this Episode, I talk about the following friends of the Small Scale Life Podcast:
Condo to Compound Blog - Jay Dolan's journey from an urban/suburban life to a rural life.
Failing Forward Profitable Urban Farming - Drew Sample and Scott Hebert's weekly podcast about success, failures and life as an urban farmer.
Reconnaissance Man - Aaron Clarey's latest book for today's youth where he recommends that the Reconnaissance Man (or Woman) takes the time to explore this country, not just to see what this country has to offer, but to find out who they are, where they belong, and what they really want out of life.

Listen

Use the following link to listen to the podcast.  Since we are now on iTunes, please rate and review the Small Scale Life Podcast.  Ratings and reviews help us grow the podcast and the blog, and I appreciate your reviews.  You can leave a review by following these simple steps:

Click on this link.
Go to ratings and reviews.
Click on 5 stars.
Subscribe to the podcast!

You can also write a longer review, though it’s not necessary.  Again, thank you for listening and your review!

When I started Small Scale Gardening in 2014, I wandered into the world of Twitter to see what it was all about.  On some Monday night, I found my way onto GardenChat session and discovered a tribe of really fantastic gardeners.  The leader of this tribe was a very interesting woman named Bren Haas.  Over the past year, we have had a lot of fun getting to know each other and sharing information, and I have had the opportunity to be a guest writer on her blog and host a session of #Gardenchat!

Bren is a gardener, blogger, podcaster, "people collector" and all around great person.  On her rural property in Ohio, Bren and her husband have a variety of gardens, a pond, a greenhouse and a Bio Dome!  At the same time, her blog and social media empire keeps her very busy online, but she has a great blog full of interesting gardening articles and fantastic recipes.   Her recipes have even been recognized and published by Better Homes and Gardens!

I asked Bren to be a guest on the Small Scale Life Podcast, and in late June we had an opportunity to sit down and chat.  In this podcast, we talked about the following topics:

Rural Living
Finding Rural Property
Ponds and Fish
Internet Availability
Pests (Deer, Rabbits and Gophers - oh my!)
Gardening
Introduction to Growing (and Killing) Plants
Her Gardens
Hatred of Weeding
Her Greenhouse
Her Bio Dome
Future Projects
Blogging and Podcasting
Interviews and People Collecting
Recipes
What She's Learned
Check out latest on the Bio Dome here!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BHtGG_wDXEC/?taken-by=bggarden&hl=en

Thank You

We appreciate the time Bren Haas spent with us on the Small Scale Life Podcast. I apologize that it took a month to post this podcast! Thank you for your patience. Bren was a fantastic guest: really fun to talk with and totally on the same wavelength.  I really appreciated her insights about rural living and the tips she provided to me (and now all of you).  I wish her the best of luck in the garden, in her Bio Dome, and on her social media empire, and I hope she will be back on the show someday in the future.  After all, we need to see how that Bio Dome is working out!

I would also like to thank Austin from Beatsby_Roi for providing permission for using the song "Steady Wzdm" from The Lemon Water Chronicles, Volume 1, on the podcast.  I would also like to thank Dillon from The Soapbox Collective Podcast for helping to connect with Austin.

Links
https://www.instagram.com/p/BGQEsV6B394/?taken-by=bggarden&hl=en
Bren Haas and I talked about the following links during the podcast (and there were a lot of them):
Creative Living & Growing with Bren - Bren's blog and links to her podcast
Gardenchat Twitter Page - Gardenchat happens on 9 PM Eastern on Mondays
Creative Living & Growing with Bren Twitter Page
Creative Living & Growing Podcast - Bren's Podcast
Creative Living & Growing YouTube Channel
Creative Living & Growing with Bren Facebook Page
Creative Living & Growing with Bren Instagram Page
Garden Blogger's Fling
Scot Poirier from Gotta Grow It!
Niki Jabbour from Savvy Gardening
Pam Tallon and Growing North
Drew Sample from The Sample Hour
Scott Hebert from Flavourful Farms
Charles Hugh Smith from Of Two Minds

Listen

Use the following link to listen to the podcast.  Since we are now on iTunes, please rate and review the Small Scale Life Podcast.  Ratings and reviews help us grow the podcast and the blog, and I appreciate your reviews.  

You can leave a review by following these simple steps:

Click on this link.
Go to ratings and reviews.
Click on 5 stars.
Subscribe to the podcast!

You can also write a longer review, though it’s not necessary.  Again, thank you for listening and your review!

For the past month, I have been in a rut.  From the outside, people would not really know it since I keep smiling and trying to move forward.  Some things converged together and hit me like a tidal wave.  It came to a head on the week of Memorial Day, and I have been getting out of my rut since.  In this podcast, I talk about what I am doing and what I have learned along the way, and maybe this will help you get out of your rut and moving forward.

This is a difficult podcast for me to post, and I struggled with putting it out there for a couple reasons:

I had some technical issues with my laptop that delayed my posting of this podcast
This is a very personal podcast, and I hesitated posting it

Believe it or not, I don't like talking about what goes on in my head. I keep things pretty close.  My friend Drew Sample told me that I needed to share it because there lessons to be learned from this experience.  I agreed and decided that it was important to me to share this with you.  Take from it what you will, and hopefully you will get out of your rut too.

Let's get the funk out! Life is too short and too beautiful to be down in the dumps!

[caption id="attachment_803" align="aligncenter" width="2592"] Sunset in Colorado Springs, Colorado - June 2015[/caption]

Thank You

Thank you, listeners, family, friends and followers, for hanging in there during this month.  Stay tuned because more great stuff is coming!

Thank you, special people in my life, for lending a helping hand with encouragement and kind words.  Really, you guys are the best, and I appreciate you.  For those of you in a rut and struggling, find a good, kind person and lean on them.  It really does help to look at your problems and issues through a different prism and perspective. You might find a new path forward or a new solution to your problem.

I would like to thank Austin from Beatsby_Roi for providing permission for using the song “Steady Wzdm” from The Lemon Water Chronicles, Volume 1, on the podcast.  I would also like to thank Dillon from The Soapbox Collective Podcast for his assistance.

Links

I have two links for you today, and these are for friends of the Small Scale Life Podcast:
Jen Semmler from Young Living Essential Oils - Jen is your representative for all nature essential oils. Please contact her through Facebook to order yours today.  Let Jen know that you heard about her from the Small Scale Life Podcast.
The Sample Hour Podcast - My friends Drew Sample and Scott Hebert continue to fail forward to succeed at life on the Sample Hour Podcast.  Check out their podcast today!  They laugh, they cry, they sing and they take off their shirts just for you.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BGVa7YnHSFA/?taken-by=flavourfulfarms&hl=en
If you would like to advertise your product or service on the Small Scale Life Podcast, please contact me at realsmallscalelife [at] gmail [dot] com.

Listen

Use the following link to listen to the podcast.  Since we are now on iTunes, please rate and review the Small Scale Life Podcast.  Ratings and reviews help us grow the podcast and the blog, and I appreciate your reviews.  You can leave a review by following these simple steps:

Click on this link.
Go to ratings and reviews.
Click on 5 stars.
Subscribe to the podcast!
You can also write a longer review, though it’s not necessary.  Again, thank you for listening and your review!

In this episode of the Small Scale Life Podcast, I interview Drew Sample about urban farming and podcasting. Initially inspired by Joe Rogan's podcast, Drew Sample started his own podcast called The Sample Hour.  Initially, it was mainly focused on comedy and stand-up comedians.  After becoming interested in permaculture and urban farming, Drew shifted the focus of The Sample Hour.  After more than 112 episodes, Drew feels that he is hitting his niche interviewing permaculture and urban farmers (sounds familiar).

Drew and our recent guest Scott Hebert have a weekly podcast where they talk the problems, solutions and progress they are making on their urban farming operations.  In addition, Drew has interviewed some very interesting people on his podcast including Curtis Stone, Jean Martin-Fortier, Charles Hugh Smith, Jack Spirko, Diego Footer, Rob Kaiser, Paul Wheaton, Matt Powers, Grant Schultz, Luke Callahan and others.  That is a lot of brain power right there (and a lot of links), and I highly recommend you listen to those interviews (after you listen to this one).

Drew started his urban farm in 2015 after determining that he "needed to get outside more" and finding that urban gardening was a path forward.  The interesting thing is that his urban farm is on property that he rents in Columbus, Ohio.  His farm is called Capital City Gardens, and he is working in cooperation with Heirloom Produce (owned and operated by a life-long friend Joel).  Drew is learning how to operate his urban farm with help from his friend Joel, Scott Hebert and from Curtis Stone's Profitable Urban Farming course.  This is his first year of " urban farming really intensely."

[caption id="attachment_727" align="aligncenter" width="960"] Drew's urban farm is located in his backyard in Columbus, Ohio; he is a renter just like me![/caption]

Drew stated in this episode that he was going to start publishing videos on his YouTube Channel.  True to form, he did publish a good quality, great sounding video where he talks about permaculture with Steve Harbolt at Sawyer-Ludwig Park in Marion, Ohio.
https://youtu.be/hCiuwpk3rxc

Thank You

We appreciate the time Drew spent with us on the Small Scale Life Podcast.  We wish him the best of luck for his urban farming and podcasting operations this season.  I hope to have Drew back on the podcast in the future to follow-up with him about the urban farm.

I would also like to thank Austin from Beatsby_Roi for providing permission for using the song "Steady Wzdm" from The Lemon Water Chronicles, Volume 1, on the podcast.  I would also like to thank Dillon from The Soapbox Collective Podcast for his assistance.

Links

Drew and I talked about the following links during the podcast (and there were a lot of them):
The Sample Hour - Drew Sample's blog and podcast platform; also home to Drew and Scott Hebert's weekly podcast
The Sample Hour's Facebook Page
The Sample Hour's YouTube Page
The Joe Rogan Experience Podcast
Curtis Stone's "The Urban Farmer" - Book and online course - Keep in mind Drew offers a 10% discount
Curtis Stone's Green City Acres - Urban Farm
Curtis Stone's YouTube Channel - Great tips and videos
Permaculture Voices with Diego Footer - Great podcasts about permaculture and profitable urban farming
Will Allen's Growing Power
Joel Salatin's Polyface Farm and books
Food Inc. - Documentary film
John Martin Fortier's "The Market Farmer" book and blog
Jack Spirko's The Survival Podcast
Ben Hartman's "Lean Farm" book
Back to Eden
Paul Wheaton - The Duke of Permaculture
Ramps - What are they?
Little John in Sheboygan, Wisconsin - Drew's most recent interview with Little John
Grant Schultz from VersaLand.com - Grant's YouTube Channel
Eric Schultz - Farmer to Farmer Podcast
Charles Hugh Smith's Of Two Minds Blog

Listen

Use the following link to listen to the podcast.  Since we are now on iTunes, please rate and review the Small Scale Life Podcast.  Ratings and reviews help us grow the podcast and the blog, and I appreciate your reviews.  You can leave a review by following these simple steps:

Click on this link.
Go to ratings and reviews.
Click on 5 stars.
Subscribe to the podcast!

You can also write a longer review, though it’s not necessary.  Again, thank you for listening and your review!

Scott Hebert starting urban farming in 2015 in Chilliwack, British Columbia.  A year ago, Scott was working at his dad's cabinet shop, and when his dad announced that the shop was closing, Scott knew he had to find a new path forward. After losing 60 pounds on his own weight loss journey, had an interest in growing healthy food.  At that point, he started his urban farm called Flavourful Farms.

Using his previous experience using coaches in Mixed Martial Arts, Scott reached out to an urban farming expert that lived two hours away: Curtis Stone.  Paying a consulting fee, Scott visited Curtis and spent the day with him, looking at this urban farming operation and asking questions.  Of course, Scott had done his homework beforehand, and he asked a lot of questions and walked away with a lot of answers.

During the podcast, Scott and I discuss urban farm, his creativity and his artwork.  Scott has sold some of his art to customers and used it in his kickstarter campaign.  One picture that we discussed was the recent picture he created of a dog (pictured below).  He was able to create this for a customer, and Scott got some satisfaction knowing that his creation would always be part of the dog's owner's life.

[caption id="attachment_666" align="aligncenter" width="750"] Scott drew this picture for a customer - 5/4/16[/caption]

During the podcast, Scott and I discuss his cart made out of spare parts and scraps.  He did some more work on it this week, and he posted this video on his Flavourful Farms Instagram site.  It is a very creative build!  Nice work, Scott.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFDKBbWnSPm/?taken-by=flavourfulfarms
 
Links

Scott and I talked about the following links during the podcast:
Flavourful Farms website - Scott's main website
Flavourful Farms on Instagram - Great photos, and Scott updates it regularly
Flavourful Farms on Facebook - Scott's farming page
The Sample Hour - Drew Sample and Scott Hebert's weekly podcast
Curtis Stone's "The Urban Farmer" - Book and online course
Curtis Stone's Green City Acres - Urban Farm
Curtis Stone's YouTube Channel - Great tips and videos
Permaculture Voices with Diego Footer - Great podcasts about permaculture and profitable urban farming
Scott Hebert's interview on Permaculture Voices - Diego Footer and Curtis Stone interview Scott Hebert about urban farming
Dan Barber Ted Talks - Dan Barber talks about fish raised using a revolutionary farming method in Spain

Listen
Use the following link to listen to the podcast.  Since we are now on iTunes, please rate and review the Small Scale Life Podcast.  Ratings and reviews help us grow the podcast and the blog, and I appreciate your reviews.  

You can leave a review by following these simple steps:
Click on this link.
Go to ratings and reviews.
Click on 5 stars.
Subscribe to the podcast!
You can also write a longer review, though it’s not necessary.  Again, thank you for listening and your review!

My friend Jay is back on the Small Scale Life Podcast!  Jay and I recorded a two-part series called "Cowbells and Kettlebells," and in this episode, we discuss Jay's vision of buying and owning rural property.  Specifically, we discuss the following topics:

Why purchase rural property?
What is your vision for this property?
What are you looking for as you start to look at rural property (i.e., features and characteristics)?
Will you need to commute to your job?  What kind of a commute are you willing to tolerate?
What are you seeing in your market?  Is rural property available?  What does it look like?
What advice/tips do you have for others?

Throughout this episode, we discuss permaculture concepts (i.e., hugelkulture mounds and small scale food forests). I also sprinkle in some of my (and Julie's) thoughts about our future rural property, and I learned a few new things from Jay during the course of this podcast as well.

My take-away from this podcast is that I will be doing some research about farm credits and agriculture-based credits, grants and loans.  That could be very beneficial for our future plans, and I have a feeling some other folks in the MN-WI Regenerative Agriculture Facebook Group would be interested as well!

[caption id="attachment_589" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] I interviewed Jay from the cab of a fire truck (this is a random picture). I have to think that is a first in the podcasting world![/caption]

I would also like to note that the first part of this podcast was recorded from the cab of a fire engine.  I don't think there is another podcast in the world that can make that claim!  We did have to re-record part of this podcast since there was activity in the fire station that interrupted the show.

Links

The following sites and links were discussed during this podcast:
Small Scale Life Season 1, Episode 6 - What is a Sustainable Life?
Small Scale Gardening Blog
Ben Falk's The Resilient Farm and Homestead book
Jack Spirko Member Support Brigade
Jack Spirko Episode 1764 - Small Scale Food Forestry
Homes for Heroes - Hero Rewards®, rebates, and discounts for firefighters, emergency medical professionals, military and veterans, law enforcement, teachers and healthcare workers when buying, selling, or refinancing a home.
A special thanks to Austin from Beatsby_Roi for providing permission for using the song "Steady Wzdm" from The Lemonwater Chronicles, Volume 1, on the podcast.  Austin has a new track called Feels Right that is really great; check it out!

Also a special thanks to Dillon from The Soapbox Collective Podcast for helping set the music up.
 
Listen

Use the following link to listen to the podcast.  Since we are now on iTunes, please rate and review the Small Scale Life Podcast.  You can leave a review by following these simple steps:

Click on this link.
Go to ratings and reviews.
Click on 5 stars.
Subscribe!

After a bit of a break in March, the Small Scale Life Podcast is back!  Before we posted another episode, I needed to get some infrastructure in place that would allow this podcast to be placed on iTunes.  This is the official reboot of the podcast, and we are looking forward to more episodes in Awesome April.  In this episode, I discuss the elements of my vision of a sustainable life including the following topics:

Mission of the Small Scale Life Podcast and Blog
What is a Sustainable Life (in my view)?
The definition of sustainable
The three pillars of sustainability (economics, social development and the environment)
How that definition and the three pillars relate to what we are doing on Small Scale Life
Healthy Living
Economics and Frugal Living
Gardening
Adventures and Having Fun
Restarting and Rebounding after Failure
Awesome April and the 2nd Annual Salsa Contest

All of the elements that I discuss are related to the Core Principles I described on the About Page of the Blog.  You can see those principles here.

Finally, we are really excited that we have a fantastic logo and other key infrastructure in place that will help us upload this podcast to iTunes.  Thank you, Jenny (you know who you are), for all of your hard work and creativity on this effort!

Links

During the podcast, I discuss the following links:
Hybrid Rain Gutter Grow Systems on Small Scale Gardening
Septoria Leaf Spot on Small Scale Life
Organic Gardener Podcast - I will be a guest on the show this week
Gallant Garden in Charlevoix, Michigan (Gallant Gardens' Facebook Page)
Flavourful Farms in Chilliwak, British Columbia (Flavourful Farms' Facebook Page)
MN-WI Regenerative Agriculture Group
Small Scale Gardening Facebook Group
Regenerative Agriculture Group

Check those links out; there are some really fantastic people out there living sustainable lives and getting stuff done!

Your Turn
What is your definition of a sustainable life?  How will you achieve it?  Will you achieve it in the near future?  I would love to hear from you.

Also, if you would like to enter the 2nd Annual Homemade Salsa Fiesta Contest, please send me an e-mail at realsmallscalelife [at] gmail [dot] com.  Remember: the contest will be held on Earth Day Weekend, so contact me soon!
Finally, review this podcast on iTunes.  It will help us grow!

In an effort to maximize our potential harvest and start planning spring planting, I have started some tomatoes, lettuce, kale and lettuce in the basement. I discuss my techniques for how to grow seeds indoors in Season 1, Episode 5 of the Small Scale Life podcast.

Why Start Seeds Now?

Spring is right around the corner, everyone! Depending where you live in the world, it might not feel like it as February comes to close. In our house, we have started thinking forward to the 2016 Gardening Campaign. In addition, I kicked off the Grow What You Eat Challenge by planting the leafy greens (lettuce, spinach and kale). I am excited to see if I can grow enough leafy greens to effectively take that off our grocery list...permanently.

At the same time, Julie reminded me that I always am kicking myself that I waited too long to start seeds. I quietly disagreed, but she showed me the articles I wrote about starting seeds early in 2015 and in 2014 (on the Small Scale Gardening blog). I had to agree with her. She is really on her game this week, but I will reserve that for another post or podcast.

I mention or discuss the following sites and articles in this podcast:

Small Scale Life Blog – www.smallscalelife.com
Small Scale Gardening Blog: Starting Seeds Indoors – http://www.smallscalegardening.com/2015/05/14/start-seeds-indoors/
Small Scale Life Facebook Page – www.facebook.com/SmallScaleLife
Small Scale Gardening Group Page – www.facebook.com/groups/821558261269485

1) Further discussion about transitioning from Small Scale Gardening to Small Scale Life. Facebook has been a bit slow due to rules in place for pages, but that change should occur this weekend. UPDATE: I made the change on Valentines Day 2016.

2) I am kicking off the Growing Green Challenge this weekend. For this challenge, I am going to grow enough greens (lettuce, spinach, kale, etc.) in my basement to effectively knock those items off our grocery list. I am setting up and planting the first round of greens on Valentines Day weekend.

Links:
I mention or discuss the following sites and articles in this podcast:

Small Scale Life Blog - www.smallscalelife.com
Small Scale Gardening Blog - www.smallscalegardening.com
Small Scale Life Facebook Page - www.facebook.com/SmallScaleLife
Small Scale Gardening Group Page - www.facebook.com/groups/821558261269485
Beatsby_Roi Lemon Water Chronicles Volume 1 - Beatsbyroi – Lemon-water-chronicles-vol-i

Links for this podcast:
1) Small Scale Life Blog - www.smallscalelife.com
2) Small Scale Gardening - www.smallscalegardening.com
3) Cranberry-Jalapeno Jelly - http://www.smallscalegardening.com/2016/01/13/how-to-make-roll-tide-cranberry-jalapeno-jelly/
4) Indoor Gardening - http://www.smallscalegardening.com/2014/12/02/indoor-gardening-made-easy/
5) March of the Aphids - http://www.smallscalegardening.com/2015/01/19/2015-failure-march-of-the-aphids/
6) Square Foot Gardening - http://squarefootgardening.org/
7) Beatsby_Roi Lemon Water Chronicles Volume 1 - https://soundcloud.com/beatsbyroi/lemon-water-chronicles-vol-i
8) Jay's A Crash Into Life Blog - https://acrashintolife.wordpress.com/

This is a "reboot" of the introduction podcast for Small Scale Life. In April of 2016, I adjusted the sound quality and cleaned up the podcast.

Small Scale Life is a podcast and blog dedicated to learning, doing, and growing. We hope to inspire you to learn new skills, complete projects and grow mentally, and physically. We are all about getting stuff done, particularly when it comes to fitness, weight loss, finances, gardening, preserving the harvest and adventure.

In this Podcast....

In this podcast, Jay and I introduce ourselves, discuss the vision and goals of the podcast and discuss three questions asked by Jon Acuff about 2016. We will discuss the answers to those questions in Season 1, Episode 3.

In addition, Jay and I discussed the Kwitchyerbellyakin Fitness Challenge. This is a fitness challenge designed for all types of people from beginners to seasoned fitness veterans. It is a points scoring system based on duration of exercise. There will be weekly winners (you can only win one week) and overall winners. Registration closes on January 5, 2016, and see Small Scale Life (smallscalelife.com) for more information.

Thank you!

A special thanks goes to the following people:

Dillon from The Soapbox Collective Podcast (http://thesoapboxcollectivepodcast.com/) and his brother Austin from Beatsby_Roi for providing permission for using The Lemonwater Chronicles, Volume 1, on the podcast (https://soundcloud.com/beatsbyroi/lemon-water-chronicles-vol-i). Check out their work!

Jay for being a great co-host. Check his blog out at A Crash Into Life Blog - https://acrashintolife.wordpress.com/

My wife Julie from Julia's Blooms (http://www.juliasblooms.com/)who has believes in the concept, shares my vision and supports my quest for achieving a Small Scale Life.