Everyday Homesteading
Everyday Homesteading
Homesteading Family
Desperate to grow, cook, and preserve real food for your family in only 5-10 hours a week, but stuck as a new homesteader looking for practical, tried and true methods that work? You wanted those pantry shelves filled yesterday, but the more you try, the more it seems a distant pipe dream. Online content is filled with impractical, untried homesteading advice, which wastes your precious time and money.Everyday Homesteading steps in with practical, tested solutions, cutting through the chaos with clear plans tailored for busy beginners to reclaim your family’s health and independence through gardening, raising livestock, fresh seasonal cooking, herbal medicine and safe food preservation.Hosted by veteran homesteaders, Josh and Carolyn Thomas, who grow 70% of their family’s food while running two businesses and homeschooling their large family, they have mastered practical homesteading for busy modern families. They have taught hundreds of thousands of new homesteaders to thrive with real-life homesteading through their online platforms Homesteading Family and School of Traditional Skills.Tune in weekly to learn how to grow, cook, and preserve your family’s food, ditch health-destroying toxins, and save money monthly on groceries, all while building strong relationships and a sustainable legacy for your kids. Hit play now!
Your Soil Needs More Than NPK | Soil Health Part 2
Healthy soil requires more than nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. In Part 2 of our soil health series, we're taking a deeper look at the essential minerals plants need to grow strong, resist stress and produce truly nutrient-dense food. In this episode, you’ll learn: 🪨 The difference between macronutrients and micronutrients 🌱 How nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and sulfur support plant growth 🔍 Common signs of mineral deficiencies 🧪 Why soil pH and biology affect nutr...
Aug 29
37 min
6 Old-Fashioned Homemaking Habits That I Use Every Day
Some of the best homemaking advice isn't new at all. Over the years, I've learned a lot from old household manuals, historical books and the way generations before us managed their homes. While I certainly love my modern conveniences, there are some old-fashioned practices that still make our household and homestead run so much more smoothly. In this episode, I'm sharing six that I still use today, including: 🏡 Giving each day of the week a purpose 🥕 Shopping the garden and pantry before th...
Aug 22
32 min
Don't Make THESE Preserving Mistakes
Preserving season can be incredibly rewarding, but when the garden is producing faster than you can keep up, it can also become overwhelming fast! Over the years, we've learned plenty of lessons the hard way about what makes harvest and food preservation season easier... and what makes it much harder than it needs to be. In this episode, we're sharing some of the biggest food preservation mistakes we've made and the practical habits that now help us manage the abundance without burning ours...
Aug 15
29 min
My Values Are Showing: The Quiet Power of a Home Well Lived
Homesteading and homemaking are often treated as two separate pursuits, but what if they were never meant to be? In this episode of Everyday Homesteading, I'm sharing why I believe homemaking is the true foundation of homesteading. From growing food and preserving the harvest to preparing meals and caring for my family, it's all part of the same purpose: creating a home that reflects our values and nurtures the people we love. If you've ever felt like you're trying to "balance" homemaking a...
Aug 8
25 min
The Summer Slump in the Vegetable Garden (How We Survive!)
Have you ever walked into your garden and felt completely overwhelmed? You're not alone! Every gardener reaches a point where the weeds seem to multiply overnight, the harvest starts piling up, and it feels like there's never enough time to keep up. In this episode of Everyday Homesteading, we're sharing the practical routines, mindset shifts, and garden systems that have helped our family grow and preserve most of our food without burning out. From daily garden walks and harvesting routines...
Aug 1
46 min
Stop Poisoning Your Soil: It's Worse Than You Think!
Healthy soil doesn't happen by accident. It starts with protecting the living ecosystem beneath your feet. In this first teaching episode of my Soil Health series, I'm sharing why keeping your soil chemical-free is the foundation for everything else we'll cover. Whether you're growing vegetables, fruit trees, flowers, or pasture, the health of your soil determines the health of your plants. We'll look at how herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, and synthetic fertilizers affect the beneficial...
Jul 25
27 min
The Missing Piece of Modern Homesteading
Have you ever stopped to consider that caring for the land isn't just a homesteading skill, but part of our Christian calling? In this episode of Everyday Homesteading, I'm joined by Brendan McClenahan from Plant With Purpose and the TEND Initiative to explore what the Bible says about stewardship, creation, and why growing food can deepen our faith. For many Christians, conversations about caring for the earth have become complicated. But long before environmental movements existed, God ga...
Jul 18
53 min
8 Reasons Your Canning Jars Didn't Seal
Have you ever finished a canning session only to discover one or more jars didn't seal? It happens to every home canner at some point, and even after more than 20 years of canning and preserving food for my family, I still have an occasional seal failure. In this video, I'm sharing the most common reasons canning jars don't seal, how to troubleshoot failed seals, and what you should do if you find an unsealed jar. We'll also cover simple habits that can help you prevent seal failures in futu...
Jul 11
32 min
How I Preserve a Year's Worth of Food Without Burnout
Are you working yourself to exhaustion trying to preserve every possible food for your pantry? I used to think a successful pantry meant recreating the grocery store at home. But after more than 20 years of homesteading, I've learned that's one of the fastest ways to burn out. In this video, I'm sharing the mindset shift that completely changed the way I preserve food. Instead of asking, "What do I want to eat?" I started asking, "What preserves well?" That one simple change has saved me cou...
Jul 4
24 min
Our Daughter is Running the Garden!
What does it really look like to manage a large homestead garden? In this episode of Everyday Homesteading, I'm joined by my oldest daughter, Rachel, who has taken over management of our main crop garden this year. We sit down for a candid conversation about what's working, what we're learning, and a few garden bloopers that prove even experienced gardeners don't always get it right! Rachel shares what it means to be responsible for a garden without having to do all the labor herself, how we...
Jun 27
35 min
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