Here's your September 2020 Bonus Content! This time, Chris Borkert, director of the Dustim Chamberlain Memorial Foundation, joins us. Chris shares with us about making a fermented pizza dough for wood-fired pizza. The recipe he uses can be found here. https://www.thursdaynightpizza.com/neapolitan-pizza-dough/ Our book recommendation for this month is "Gut it, Cut it, Cook it" by Eric Fromm. For any of you who are interested in getting more involved in where your food is coming from, this will be...
Aug 27, 2020•45 min
The new trees are growing like crazy, Our native shrubs are much larger than we expected them to be. The grasses are thick and tall and are creating a healthy topsoil layer. Our property is still mostly green while the surrounding area is scorched and dry. To top it all off, this is all in the middle of a drought year. Our habitat restoration work is really beginning to pay off. Soon, we should see some natural artesian springs emerging in the lower areas of the property, which will allow us to ...
Aug 23, 2020•1 hr•Ep. 69
Modern humans are soft. Our ancestors lived hard lives, constantly putting their minds and bodies to the test. If you don't intentionally seek out hard things to do, you'll fall into a routine of comfort and convenience. In this episode, we talk about going out and pushing the limits.
Aug 16, 2020•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 68
This is the second half of the discussion on designing our obstacle course. We run through each of the obstacles that we are planning and talk about what the purpose of each obstacle is- confidence, balance, agility, upper body strength, etc. Additionally, we give you some very specific ideas and recommendations if you want to either build or improvise your own obstacle course. Even if you have no space of your own, we'll talk about how to use your neighborhood or local park as an obstacle cours...
Aug 09, 2020•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 67
We are building our own backyard obstacle course! In the first part of this discussion, we cover what an obstacle course actually is, why you would use one as part of your fitness or physical training program, and the basic design considerations when it comes to either building or improvising your own obstacle course.
Aug 02, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 66
In this episode, we cover everything you need to know to host your own crawfish boil. Crawfish can be found throughout most of the world and can usually be trapped fairly easily. This is a great wild-harvest food source that you probably have access to wherever you live.
Jul 26, 2020•45 min•Ep. 65
In this month's bonus episode, we are joined by Andrew Busch. The pro tip for the month is how to oil your paintbrushes. The book of the month is Dune, by Frank Herbert. The challenge for the month is to play a board game.
Jul 23, 2020•28 min
This week, we conclude our discussion with Daniel and Katie Hackett, learning a little bit more about the use of essential oils in the home and outside the home. Additionally, we get to hear about some of their current plans, goals, and dreams.
Jul 19, 2020•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 64
Andrew Busch, artist and math teacher, joins us to discuss rules of composition as they apply to both painting and photography. We get into some of the science behind these rules and give you some easy ways to apply them to your everyday photography.
Jul 12, 2020•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 63
This week, Daniel and Katie Hackett join us to discuss the use of essential oils to improve many aspects of our lives.
Jul 05, 2020•1 hr 37 min•Ep. 62
Here's your July 2020 bonus episode! Pro-tip: Start your day with a win. Book: Sharpe's Rifles Series by Bernard Cornwell Challenge: Create a log/journal of your daily wins.
Jul 02, 2020•8 min
Here's an hour-long crash course all about tents. We cover some more traditional styles, and some more modern styles. If you're an experienced camper, you'll probably learn some fun facts, but this episode is geared toward those individuals who are just testing the waters of camping and are unsure what would make the perfect tent. Fear not, we go over all of the terminology that you need to be familiar with to make an informed decision, different tent styles, what questions to ask yourself, and ...
Jun 28, 2020•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 61
Let's talk some real survival skills. The human body can only go about three days without water, making the ability to find water in any environment a critical survival skill. In this episode, I teach you how to build a "solar still," a device which literally pulls water out of the air even in the hottest, driest environments. I share all of my tips and tricks for maximizing the performance of your solar still. Can we actually collect enough water to survive, or are we just delaying the inevitab...
Jun 21, 2020•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 60
In this episode, I attempt to distill some of my experience on the water down to a few boating safety tips that you can put into practice immediately. Summer is fun, messin around in boats is fun, but let's stay safe out there.
Jun 14, 2020•50 min•Ep. 59
In this bonus episode, we cover our normal three topics: a pro tip, a book recommendation, and a challenge. Our pro tip for the month is how to keep your wooden kitchen implements- cutting boards, knives, spoons, cheese presses, etc. appropriately oiled. The book for the month is "The Omnivore's Dilemma," by Michael Pollan. The challenge for the month is to eat an invasive species; don't worry, I give you some ideas on this one. Invasive species are probably going to be easier to find than you m...
Jun 11, 2020•15 min
We installed our first two rain barrels! The amount of water we've already collected has been surprising. This totally transforms the runoff from the roof from a liability (creating mud and erosion) to an asset (watering our trees and garden). Additionally, we cover some pros and cons of installing rain barrels as well as our plans for the rest of the downspouts on the house.
Jun 07, 2020•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 58
We're back into home cheese-making! We've worked our way through a process, beginning with some very simple cheeses, and gradually progressing to more complex cheeses. Parmesan is still considered an "intermediate" level cheese, but does have some very particular requirements to get it to turn out right.
May 31, 2020•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 57
In this episode, I'm the student. We learn about traditional Thai cooking, essential ingredients, hardware, and methods. Additionally, we talk about what you could be growing in your garden, large or small, to add to your traditional Thai dishes.
May 24, 2020•1 hr 54 min•Ep. 56
Yep, that's right, we bought three rabbits. These will be our initial breeding stock for our rabbit program. In this episode, we talk about our journey toward choosing to raise meat rabbits, deciding what breed to get, setting up housing for the rabbits, and our future plans.
May 17, 2020•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 55
Let's get serious about the garden area for our homestead. We have a large area designated as the garden area, but we're starting with two 4'x12' raised beds. We'll add more each year as we expand our home garden. Why raised beds? What are some of the pros and cons of raised beds? What materials did we choose to use and why? What factors determined the dimensions of our raised beds? What is the ideal height for a raised bed? What do we fill the raised beds with? What kind of plants will we grow ...
May 10, 2020•1 hr 33 min•Ep. 54
Last week, we were doing all of the prep work for planting some trees. This week, we picked up our order of 85 trees and shrubs and actually planted them. In this episode, we cover some of the specifics about how we plant our trees to ensure their success, bigger picture habitat restoration, and some of the transformations that we're already seeing on the property. Additionally, we go for a little walk around the property to check on the condition of various areas and make plans for future habit...
May 03, 2020•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 53
Three things for your monthly edification- a pro tip, a book recommendation, and a monthly challenge. For this month's pro tip, I teach you how to make perfect Scotch eggs. If you really want to impress your brunch guests, this recipe will do it. Our book of the month is "The Demon in the Freezer," by Richard Preston. For everyone who has suddenly become an expert in virology or epidemiology, go read this book first. Finally, the challenge for the month is to learn and practice a new survival sk...
May 02, 2020•20 min
Many people said it was impossible, but we have successfully gotten trees to grow on our homestead on the open prairie of southeastern Wyoming. This is one of the most challenging environments for growing trees, but we've done it! Of course, planting trees and shrubs is really just part of a much larger picture of habitat restoration on our property. In this episode, we discuss general principles of habitat restoration that can be applied in just about any environment, specific challenges we hav...
Apr 26, 2020•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 52
Many of us live in areas that get the occasional winter snowstorm. Any time you're on the road, there's always the possibility of getting stuck somewhere. Extremely cold temperatures can make this much worse. Making poor survival decisions can be deadly. In this episode, we discuss what you should and should not do in this situation. Also, I intentionally get myself stuck outside overnight in over a foot of snow with temperatures falling below zero. All I have with me is a tarp and a blanket. If...
Apr 19, 2020•55 min•Ep. 51
In this episode, we jump into some of the basics of home canning. Do you need a pressure canner or water bath canner? Is home canning even safe? Aside from that, let's talk about some of the benefits of turning that perishable food in your freezer into non-perishable canned food that can sit on the shelf at room temperature.
Apr 12, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 50
Interested in stretching your grocery dollar, stocking up your emergency food supply, or boosting your immune system? If you're not, then you have your head in the sand. Making your own bone broth at home is an easy and cheap/free way to do all of the above.
Apr 05, 2020•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 49
Bonus episode for the month of April 2020. We talk basic shoe-tying skills, Dracula, and meditation.
Mar 31, 2020•10 min
I've been getting a lot of questions lately about general emergency preparedness. Without making this a Q&A episode, I'm going to lay out some general principles and specific action items to answer those questions and help you be more prepared for any type of emergency situation
Mar 29, 2020•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 48
In this fourth and final installment of building the hard-to-kill human, we focus on mental preparation. This includes your knowledge base, interpreting your surroundings, and preparing yourself mentally to respond to a dangerous situation.
Mar 22, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 47
Just what it sounds like! In this episode, I'll walk you through my method for making Creole gumbo. And yes, it does take a full three to four days. Don't worry though, most of that time, it's just doing it's own thing; this is actually pretty easy.
Mar 15, 2020•59 min•Ep. 46
