The Sovereign Homestead Podcast

Today's show is about homesteading being one of the best tools we have as sovereign individuals for creating freedom for ourselves and our families outside the Scope, Reach and Will of the state. The State, which I'll refer to as the Matrix here, has 3 aspects to it's control structure: Scope: "laws on the books" This is practically limitless. There have been approximately ~90,000 laws and regulations passed since 1995 at Congressional level alone. However, these claims of control are only impactful if the Reach and Will are there to back it up. Reach: "boots on the ground" Is enforcement physically possible? In the past, this always meant the government had to be able to put an ideologically possessed individual (the State Agent) literally within arms reach of its subjects to control them (or sword, spear, rifle, artillery range etc). We'll talk about a good example of this - Afghanistan - Graveyard of Empires, and how the terrain literally creates a fundamentally unconquerable environment and people. Today, we must also contend with Digital Reach - a.k.a. Technological Enforcement which is built around controlling ACCESS to services, goods, money etc. This is a relatively new aspect of State Reach. Will: "what exists in the heart of the State agent" Who are the enforcers? Are they known or unknown to you? Are they neighbors / community members or out-of-towners? The more personal our relationship with the enforcers, the less likely they are to be their worst around us. EXAMPLE: Sheriffs refusing to enforce unconstitutional laws. Where Scope, Reach and Will overlap is "The Matrix" - there is total control. Anything outside of the center is more free. If you can move from a 3/3 situation to a 2/3 situation, whole new horizons of freedom open up. Let's look at the different 2/3 overlaps. Scope & Reach, but no Will = unenforced laws, speak easies, "look the other way" culture This can be good and/or bad! Reach & Will, but no Scope = cutting edge industry, non-coercive legal activity, something that is too new (the State is slow to understand because it is not the innovator!). Example: Bitcoin Will & Scope, but no Reach = off-shore accounts, jurisdictional & geographic arbitrage Move you (your talents, energy, skills etc) and your assets (8 forms of capital) to a place that respects them! Homesteading is the secret weapon for creating more freedom in our lives. They are all based on who we become while walking the sovereign individual's path. Homesteading is the ultimate human development regimen in my opinion. Let's look at three ways that homesteading helps us create more freedom: Become an excellent ecosystem manager: The basic inputs for creating an abundant living system are Light, Water, CO2 and Soil Minerals - and all of them are outside the Scope, Reach and Will of the State to control! With them you can manage your landscape to produce meat, milk, fiber, fuel, medicine, fodder, materials etc. - all the raw feedstocks for Primary forms of Wealth! By managing Light, Water, Soil and Life you can maximize these free inputs and yield sovereign production! You can also create the "Wall of Green" that the taxman can't see the value in. How the heck do you tax a food forest? It doesn't fit the State Agent paradigm. He does not have "the eyes to see". Invest in learning and improving your SKILLS: Once you have a skill and know how to do a thing, the State cannot take that away. Invest your time and energy in building in-real-life, face-to-face, over-the-fence-post RELATIONSHIPS. Trusted neighbors are priceless in the times we are living into. REMEMBER - What you do matters. The State would have you believe in the inevitability of their control - but they are not inevitable. Practice discernment to take better action, and improve your discernment by dialing in your orientation. This is why all of my design clients must distill their Minimum Holistic Goal before we begin designing anything, and it is what I have to offer you on your sovereign homestead journey. Show Resourcesb The 4 Pillars Of Productive And Profitable Homesteads- Managing Light, Water, Soil And Life To Create More Freedom In Your Life. 8 Forms of Capital ____________________________________________________________________________ WHAT I DO: Design: On-Site Consultation Online Site/Project Consultation Holistic Ecosystem Design Implementation: Water Harvesting Earthworks High-function, Low-Maintenance Access Living Systems Spring Development Courses: Minimum Holistic Goal Media: The Sovereign Homestead Podcast YouTube Instagram Music by Alex Grohl

To build and live a sovereign life in a time when the majority of society is not interested in, and even vehemently opposed to, the ideas of personal responsibility and self-ownership, you will have to get comfortable going first and being weird. In today's show I am joined by Sammy as we discuss the ways in which we as sovereign humans must "go first and be weird" in order to be healthy, to grow true wealth, to locate ourselves in a place that allows us to thrive, to navigate technology's impact on our lives, and to build and maintain strong relationships in a time when isolation and social division are the norm. We share many personal anecdotes and lessons of going first and being weird, as well as some questions to assess the degree of external vs. internal validation that may be driving your current lifestyle choices. Show Resources TSH015 - Lessons From 3 Years Of Tent Life Chris Martenson's Crash Course @ Peak Prosperity ____________________________________________________________________________ WHAT I DO: Design: On-Site Consultation Online Site/Project Consultation Holistic Ecosystem Design Implementation: Water Harvesting Earthworks High-function, Low-Maintenance Access Living Systems Spring Development Courses: Minimum Holistic Goal Media: The Sovereign Homestead Podcast YouTube Instagram Music by Alex Grohl

Today's show is about the second layer of designing resilient homestead properties. Last week we started with the basic principles of holistic whole-site water system design. This week, we build on that with the basic principles that guide holistic access design and implementation across broadacre landscapes. Paradigm Access can be an asset or liability - depends on design and maintenance Every linear foot of access has a maintenance bill attached to it - design with this in mind! Access should ideally improve hydrological function, at the very least be neutra Access Patterning Questions Where do you / your animals / wildlife need to go? Animals move between water, food and shelter. What kinds of activities are/will be performed there and along the way? What modes of transport does the route need to accommodate at which times of the year? How should the access route be patterned and constructed to create the lowest possible maintenance profile while providing the necessary functionality? Access DO's and DON'Ts DO Minimize the use of impermeable hardscapes Drain road surfaces early and often Best Chance, No Chance, First Chance, Last Chance utilize grade changes Cross valleys perpendicular to water flows at right angle to flow in riffles if driving through across dam walls (check dam, earthen embankment) Follow ridge lines where appropriate (least drainage pressure) Crown or slope the road surface appropriate to the context Crowned = center of the road higher than both edges - generally 2-4% - drains to ditches on one or both sides Insloped = drains water from road surface into the uphill cut bank - road is effectively holding water in the ditch Outsloped = road sloped to downhill fill edge, discharges over a broad surface DON'T Install roads following valley bottoms = this is short-sighted! Transfer water from one watershed to another add grade changes w/ appropriate outsloping or cross drains! Let roadways become entrenched! These cannot be drained effectively and will continue degrading - this is basically a creek! Drive on a road when conditions aren't appropriate! Show Resources Vehicle Access Drainage Prescriptions Incised Drainage Rehabilitation Episode 27 - Basics of Whole-Site Water Systems Design ____________________________________________________________________________ WHAT I DO: Design: On-Site Consultation Online Site/Project Consultation Holistic Ecosystem Design Implementation: Water Harvesting Earthworks High-function, Low-Maintenance Access Living Systems Spring Development Courses: Minimum Holistic Goal Media: The Sovereign Homestead Podcast YouTube Instagram Music by Alex Grohl

Today we go over the four basic questions that guide all holistic water patterning design. Whether you're an experienced designer or homesteader, or a complete novice that is just getting introduced to optimizing water patterning on your land, this show is for you. That's because, no matter what level you're at, the process is always the same! Every good whole-site water design follows this same progression: How much water do you have? Quantify and qualify the resource you are working with! Where is the water currently going / how is it currently behaving? Assess the current function of your homestead watershed. Where should the water go / how should it be behaving? For what you want to produce / for your specific homesteading context, where do you need the water to go that it isn't, and how does it need to behave en route and once it is in that location? This step is all about optimizing your hydrological function to have the healthiest soils capable of supporting to greatest amount of living plant life (i.e. your solar panel!) to convert as much sunlight as possible into the greatest about of carbohydrate possible. How will you best get the water where it needs to go while behaving as it should? What are the appropriate drainage, infiltration and storage elements to pattern water passively or actively to optimize the overall function of your homestead ecosystem? Water is blessedly predictable - it always flows straight downhill. Because of this, we can design systems that optimize the productive capacity of every drop of water that our landscapes receive - we just have to take a little bit of time to objectively analyze our landscapes. This is how you do it. Show Resources Water Drainage Elements Water Infiltration Elements Water Storage Elements Pumping Options Bunyip Pump (low-head, variable-flow) Ram Pump (high-head, low-flow) Rife River Pump (low-head, high-flow) Nose Pumps (livestock powered pumping ____________________________________________________________________________ WHAT I DO: Design: On-Site Consultation Online Site/Project Consultation Holistic Ecosystem Design Implementation: Water Harvesting Earthworks High-function, Low-Maintenance Access Living Systems Spring Development Courses: Minimum Holistic Goal Media: The Sovereign Homestead Podcast YouTube Instagram Music by Alex Grohl

We're just two weeks into 2023 but I'm still treating it like the turning of a new year, and this one calls us to take another introspective look at our own personal paradigms regarding our homesteads, businesses, landscapes and lives and really ask ourselves if the foundation of our perception and decision making - our paradigm - is aligned with our highest quality of life? Our paradigm needs to be if we want to stand a chance of living free, healthy and sovereign lives in 2023 and beyond. Does your paradigm see problems as burdens or opportunities? Does your paradigm see Nature as an opponent or an ally? Is order imposed or emergent? The amount of outside energy that must be applied to keep a system functioning a certain way (a landscape, a home, a family unit, a business…etc) is a helpful approximation of imposed vs. emergent order Is your paradigm problem or solution oriented? In every problem lie the seeds of an elegant solution - IF we can see it! Do you invite thinking or shield yourself from it? Intentional Design that addresses Root Causes vs. Symptom-focused Quick Fixes We must be willing to embrace complexity if we hope to design our own lives - off-the-shelf solutions DO NOT WORK for creating a free and sovereign lifestyle. ____________________________________________________________________________ WHAT I DO: Design: On-Site Consultation Online Site/Project Consultation Holistic Ecosystem Design Implementation: Water Harvesting Earthworks High-function, Low-Maintenance Access Living Systems Spring Development Courses: Minimum Holistic Goal Media: The Sovereign Homestead Podcast YouTube Instagram Music by Alex Grohl

If you are a homesteader you know there are LOTS of decisions that you need to make, almost constantly, and without end. How can you be sure that your decisions are maximally aligned with your true values and highest quality of life goals in the Age of Information? Today we are subjected to ever increasing streams of information, accessible at light seed and generally only seconds away, 24/7/365. How do you stay focused on what is worthy of your attention? How do you know what is worth your time and what is not? How can you tell the "shiny" distractions from the authentically helpful? Today's show is all about discernment - what I believe is the most valuable skill for any liberty-loving homesteader working to create a sovereign life in the Dim Age. We are drowning in information. A shortage of information is NOT the problem in deciding what is the most efficacious path forward for you, your family and your land. Discernment is. We'll talk about what discernment is, how to orient yourself so that you can discern accurately, and the work that needs to be done to create an effective orientation (HINT - it has a lot to do with creating your Minimum Holistic Goal - see below!). Show Resources Cyprian's 'Attention Economy' series on YouTube ____________________________________________________________________________ WHAT I DO: Design: On-Site Consultation Online Site/Project Consultation Holistic Ecosystem Design Implementation: Water Harvesting Earthworks High-function, Low-Maintenance Access Living Systems Spring Development Courses: Minimum Holistic Goal Media: The Sovereign Homestead Podcast YouTube Instagram Music by Alex Grohl

Join me this week as we look at the basic types of water storage elements used in designing a functional broadacre water system. Nearly all broadacre water systems include some form of water storage, either as groundwater (aquifer storage), retained soil moisture (accessible by living plant roots), or bulk water (ponds, lakes, tanks, cisterns). Water storage elements function to: cover peaks in demand (production from the water source cannot meet peak demand) smooth out variations in supply (seasonal changes in availability and ease of obtaining water) provide water security in case of supply interruption or disaster (supply buffers) save structures from wild fire meet legal requirements (firefighting, fire suppression sprinklers etc.) improve water quality (clarification, filtration, settling etc.) provide thermal storage and freeze protection (thermal mass of water modifies local microclimate) enable a smaller pipe to serve for a distant source (cost savings on water infrastructure) In this show, we're going to talk about the four main types of water storage elements that you might encounter while optimizing your homestead hydrology! Soil Storage - we always start here - soil storage is the cheapest form of storage, especially if you're trying to grow something. Ponds & Dams Tanks & Cisterns Aquifer Storage ____________________________________________________________________________ WHAT I DO: Design: On-Site Consultation Online Site/Project Consultation Holistic Ecosystem Design Implementation: Water Harvesting Earthworks High-function, Low-Maintenance Access Living Systems Spring Development Courses: Minimum Holistic Goal Media: The Sovereign Homestead Podcast YouTube Instagram Music by Alex Grohl

This show is a broad overview of common water infiltration elements used in holistic ecosystem design to create a water retentive landscape - i.e. a watershed that slows, spreads, sinks and retains water that then grows a ton of biomass! We'll discuss what makes each element what it is, it's primary and secondary design functions, when and when not to employ them, and some basic implementation common sense guidelines. We will cover: Swales Infiltrations Basins Boomerang Berms Terraces Keyline Subsoil Riplines ____________________________________________________________________________ WHAT I DO: Design: On-Site Consultation Online Site/Project Consultation Holistic Ecosystem Design Implementation: Water Harvesting Earthworks High-function, Low-Maintenance Access Living Systems Spring Development Courses: Minimum Holistic Goal Media: The Sovereign Homestead Podcast YouTube Instagram

Any time water encounters anything but a perfectly level surface, it will move. This movement is called drainage. Water will always move at right angle to contour in response to gravity on a non-level surface – i.e it will move straight down slope. Water will continue to move straight down slope until its course is somehow altered by something in its path. In this way water movement is predictable at the macro scale. This is drainage. Anytime water is being drained (moving) from one area to another, you have an opportunity to design those patterns of water movement throughout your landscape to reduce or eliminate any potential for damage while maximizing its productive use and ecological benefit. This is the exact opposite of how drainage is treated in most modern design contexts - as a "problem" to be "solved" with what I call 'hydrophobic design' - that solely focuses on getting the water AWAY as fast as possible, without thought to the opportunity lost and the negative downstream impacts that WILL have upstream consequences in the future. We can do WAY BETTER at designing and patterning water drainage than our current societal norm. By selecting appropriate drainage elements and DESIGNING & MAINTAINING them well you can turn what others might look at as a problem into a massive advantage in your landscape. Think of these drainage elements as tools in your toolkit that you can select from as needed when designing or retrofitting your landscape for improved hydrological function - they all have their right place, time and context for use. This is the first show in what will be a series on broad acre water systems design. As of now, there will be a show and accompanying blog post for the following sub-topics that make up a holistic broadacre water system: Water Drainage Elements (today's show) Water Infiltration Elements Water Storage Elements Erosion Prevention & Repair Water Pumping Elements Each show in the series will be accompanied by a blog post with detailed write-ups on each of the elements we talk about in here. Each element write up will contain a description of the element, followed by a list of functions it performs, a list of context-specific design criteria for determining whether or not it is appropriate in a given situation, general rules of thumb/design criteria to follow when designing and installing it, and additional resources for continued learning. Show Resources Water Drainage Elements - Index Post Rolling Dips Flatland Drains Water Bars Roadside Ditches Armored Drains Grassed Waterways Culverts Armored Fill Crossings Level-Sill Spillways Belt Diversions Trickle Pipes French Drains (coming soon!) ____________________________________________________________________________ WHAT I DO: Design: On-Site Consultation Online Site/Project Consultation Holistic Ecosystem Design Implementation: Water Harvesting Earthworks High-function, Low-Maintenance Access Living Systems Spring Development Courses: Minimum Holistic Goal Media: The Sovereign Homestead Podcast YouTube Instagram Music by Alex Grohl

I'm kind of tired of the term "carbon negative" being used to greenwash products, companies and habits of consumption. Carbon, and I'm really talking about CO2 here, is not the boogeyman it has been made out to be. There is a thing called the carbon cycle on planet Earth. It IS the foundation for all life on this planet. All forms of life on this planet are carbon-based life forms. All forms of aerobic life EMIT carbon as part of being alive. Let's do away with "carbon-negative" - as a sovereign homesteader, I want a carbon-positive homestead - one that cycles more carbon through living systems and builds more soil with every passing year. Don't get me wrong, we humans as a species have done A LOT of damage to the ecosystems that sustain our existence, and we have a lot of good work to do in order to put things right again. But lowering the parts per million of carbon in the atmosphere from 415 to 350 so we don't "boil the oceans" and isn't where our focus should be. Show Resources TSH 005 - The 4 Pillars Of A Productive Homestead - Light, Water, Soil and Life TSH 020 - Rats In A Cage ____________________________________________________________________________ WHAT I DO: Design: On-Site Consultation Online Site/Project Consultation Holistic Ecosystem Design Implementation: Water Harvesting Earthworks High-function, Low-Maintenance Access Living Systems Spring Development Courses: Minimum Holistic Goal Media: The Sovereign Homestead Podcast YouTube Instagram Music by Alex Grohl

We are rats in a cage...if we allow it. Today's episode is about learning to recognize and step back from narratives that pit us against an "other". I will go over how to identify them, what the real purpose of such a narrative is (HINT - it ain't in your best interest!), and, most importantly, how to take right action amidst the engineered conflict that would have you spend your life energy on things that don't better your life. We're going to start by talking about "shock-induced aggression" in rats - and some of the very important findings that shed some light on what we've been living though in recent times, especially in the last three years during the manufactured CoVID scare. We'll cover what Mass Formation is and the conditions required for it to emerge at scale in a population; 1) isolation and poor social bonds, 2) reason and sense-making in short supply, 3) free-floating anxiety (a "fear" climate), and 4) rage (anger directed at an "other"). Then we'll talk about what we should be doing instead of squaring off against the "other", and that is focusing our energy on things we can control and influence (i.e. things that are much closer to home than anything the TV says you should be outraged about) that are generative - meaning they compound in their ability to help us live a high quality of life. Show Resources Rats In A Cage - Peak Prosperity Rat Study 1971 Rat Study 1964 Rat Study Diagram Influence of Supine Posture on Rat Aggression Influence of Isolation on Rat Aggression Mattias Desmet interview w/ Chris Martenson ____________________________________________________________________________ WHAT I DO: Design: On-Site Consultation Online Site/Project Consultation Holistic Ecosystem Design Implementation: Water Harvesting Earthworks High-function, Low-Maintenance Access Living Systems Spring Development Courses: Minimum Holistic Goal Media: The Sovereign Homestead Podcast YouTube Instagram Music by Alex Grohl

In this week's episode I walk through the process we've used to guide our family conversations about finding that "family land" for the long haul. Finding land with family can be a dicey endeavor - it requires honesty, real listening and everyone coming with the goal of understanding one another. If you come to a family land search with the idea of convincing everyone to see things your way, it's going to cause lots of drama and potentially damage some of the most valuable relationships in your life. I'll take you through the three main parts of our family's process: Developing individual Quality of Life Statements - a clear one paragraph description of how each individual wants their life to be based on what they value most. This is step 2 from the Minimum Holistic Goal Creation Course. Setting individual Boundary Conditions for beginning your geographic search - start with the two essential lists of boundary criteria; Must Haves and Deal Breakers. Get clear on what you must have and what you will not accept and, most importantly, WHY. Criteria Categories include Natural Resources, Climate, Legal, Taxes, Community/Cultural Amenities, Sound...and whatever else you need to speak! Share it with your people - THis is where the rubber meets the road - actually communicating your desired Quality of Life and Boundary Conditions. We developed a protocol we call "Stick Conversations" to make sure everyone got to say their piece in a way that helped everyone else understand, while minimizing opportunities for hurt feelings, project, judgement etc. I hope this episode will help you have similar conversations with your family, or any group of people near and dear to you, so that all are better off for having had them. Done right, even when points of conflict are unearthed, sharing this introspective work with your inner circle can bring everyone closer together. ____________________________________________________________________________ WHAT I DO: Design: On-Site Consultation Online Site/Project Consultation Holistic Ecosystem Design Implementation: Water Harvesting Earthworks High-function, Low-Maintenance Access Living Systems Spring Development Courses: Minimum Holistic Goal Media: The Sovereign Homestead Podcast YouTube Instagram Music by Alex Grohl

Join me today for a critical-thinking dive into swales - we cover what they are, the functions they perform and how they perform them, and then go into all of the context-specific factors that inform the decision of "To Swale Or Not To Swale". More than being a referendum on swales, today's show is meant to serve as an example for how to think through selecting, designing and installing elements within your landscape so that they actually perform their intended design function (i.e. rehydrate your landscape so you can grow more food, more animals, more beauty - whatever!). Swales are awesome rehydration elements and can be a boon to a healthy and productive landscape - provided they are a good fit for your context! Do your due diligence when considering swales within your landscapes - they are not a one size fits all solution and should NOT be applied in many cases and contexts. Show Resources Curated YouTube Playlist: Swales Greg Judy talking about his $10K swale mistake Darren Doherty discussing cost per volume of water stored with swales vs. keyline subsoiling. ____________________________________________________________________________ WHAT I DO: Design: On-Site Consultation Online Site/Project Consultation Holistic Ecosystem Design Implementation: Water Harvesting Earthworks High-function, Low-Maintenance Access Living Systems Spring Development Courses: Minimum Holistic Goal Media: The Sovereign Homestead Podcast YouTube Instagram Music by Alex Grohl

Today's episode is all about cycling nutrients on your homestead to build rich, healthy, fertile soils that can't help but be productive. Soil fertility IS the number one asset a sovereign homestead can have. Indeed it's just about impossible to sovereign without it! Join me today for a high level overview of the different methods of cycling nutrients and generating your own fertility inputs to boost the productivity of your landscape and keep money in your pocket! We'll also look at how these different systems can play well together to capture and cycle nearly ALL of the "waste"streams generated by a typical American household into valuable amendments that can help you increase your independence from the grocery store. This episode is all about the permaculture principle of WASTE = FOOD! We will cover: Vermicomposting - Perhaps the easiest and highest value nutrient cycling system with tremendous benefits in nearly all contexts. Thermophilic composting - good 'ol fashioned turn 'n burn compost piles for processing large amounts of bulk materials into quality soil amendment. Johnson-Su Bioreactor composting system - produce incredibly high fungal-content compost that is great for perennial cropping systems. Compost tea brewing - brewing aerobic teas to get the most bang for your buck from your beneficial biological inocolums. This is a HUGE leverage point! Bokashi - a type of anaerobic "pickling" of food wastes - awesome because this can handle everything that worms don't like! Livestock - Chickens, pigs and black soldier fly larvae - all great way to get more value out of "waste" and turn it into food for you or something that grows food for you. Charcoal & Biochar - make a soil amendment that will literally last for thousands of years - the ultimate legacy investment to pass on to your kin. Korean Natural Farming Indigenous Effective Micro-organisms - a simple, effective and damn near free way to make a site-specific biological inoculum for your growing systems that literally comes from where you live! And the best part is - you only have to do it once! Greywater - sink water, laundry water, bathing water - all nutrient rich water that should go into your landscape to grow something! Blackwater - yes, I'm talking about toilet water here. Conventional septic systems inject this pathogen-laden water into the ground (often times into the same water supply that wells for potable water are tapping) when it could be utilized by biological systems at the surface to grow tons of food - with no stink of course! Compost Toilets - dry composting toilets are an excellent way to capture and utilize solid human wastes and turn them into a valuable soil amendment - for free! Biodegradable packaging (cardboard)- don't just recycle it, or throw it out - CYCLE IT and use it to enrich your homestead soil! Show Resources Vermicomposting 7th Generation Design - Nutrient Cycling For Homesteads: Part 1 - Vermicomposting 7th Gen Curated YouTube Playlist - Vermiculture Thermophilic Composting 7th Generation Design - Nutrient Cycling For Homesteads: Part 4 - Thermophilic Composting Johnson-Su BioReactor Composting System 7th Gen Curated YouTube Playlist - Johnson Su BioReactors DIY Build Your Own Johnson Su BioReactor Compost Tea Brewing 7th Generation Design - Nutrient Cycling For Homesteads: Part 3 - Compost Tea 7th Gen Curated YouTube Playlist - Compost Tea Bokashi Composting 7th Generation Design - Nutrient Cycling For Homesteads: Part 2 - Bokashi Compost Systems 7th Gen Curated YouTube Playlist - Bokashi Livestock Geoff Lawton's Chicken Composting System Black Soldier Fly Larvae YouTube Playlist Charcoal & Biochar 7th Generation Design - Nutrient Cycling For Homesteads: Part 6 - Charcoal and Biochar 7th Gen Curated YouTube Playlist - Biochar Korean Natural Farming KNF Hawaii site Fermented Farm - clear breakdown of the IMO creation process Greywater 7th Gen Curated YouTube Playlist - Greywater Systems Water Treatment Systems 7th Gen Curated Youtube Playlist - Wastewater Treatment Systems ____________________________________________________________________________ WHAT I DO: Design: On-Site Consultation Online Site/Project Consultation Holistic Ecosystem Design Implementation: Water Harvesting Earthworks High-function, Low-Maintenance Access Living Systems Spring Development Courses: Minimum Holistic Goal Media: The Sovereign Homestead Podcast YouTube Instagram Music by Alex Grohl

In today's show we discuss the 4 R's of Regenerative Hydrology - Receive, Retain, Recharge, and Release - a simple mental framework for evaluating how your landscape is functioning with regards to the water element, AND how you can make changes in your management and design to optimize it for the benefit of your land, family, business and quality of life. The 4 R's have parallels in managing a bank account. Receive is equivalent to Income - how much water does your landscape receive annually in precipitation? There isn't a lot we can do to change this number, but there are a few. It's important to know what you're working with from the outset. Recharge is equivalent to Deposit - how much of that annual paycheck is your landscape able to deposit into its interest-bearing savings account (i.e. your soil). Retain is equivalent to the interest-bearing savings account. How long is that water that you've managed to deposit into your soils or is being stored in some form or fashion remaining available to the web of life on your landscape? You can only put it to productive use if you retain it! Release is equivalent to Expenditure - we want to make sure that when we "spend" water we do so in a way that further increases our ability to receive, recharge an retain more water in the future! This means having systems of production and managing them so as to create a functional hydrology throughout your landscape! ____________________________________________________________________________ WHAT I DO: Design: On-Site Consultation Online Site/Project Consultation Holistic Ecosystem Design Implementation: Water Harvesting Earthworks High-function, Low-Maintenance Access Living Systems Spring Development Courses: Minimum Holistic Goal Media: The Sovereign Homestead Podcast YouTube Instagram Music by Alex Grohl

Today we are discussing lessons learned from living in a canvas wall tent for 3 years on a permaculture farm. I am joined by my partner in love and life, Samantha Davis, for a trip down memory lane as we share the pros, cons and lessons learned from three years of tent-life and living pretty close to the elements. Today's episode is for anyone considering moving into a tent or yurt as a way to get on land quickly and cheaply - lots of things to consider to make sure it works for you and your partner! Show Resources Colorado Yurt Company ____________________________________________________________________________ WHAT I DO: Design: On-Site Consultation Online Site/Project Consultation Holistic Ecosystem Design Implementation: Water Harvesting Earthworks High-function, Low-Maintenance Access Living Systems Spring Development Courses: Minimum Holistic Goal Media: The Sovereign Homestead Podcast YouTube Instagram Music by Alex Grohl

In today's episode I share with you all my emerging framework for creating a regenerative (i.e. resilient, sovereign, anti-fragile) livelihood. Show Resources ARTICLE: Creating A Regenerative Livelihood - An Emerging Framework - blog post with all of the guiding questions and linked resources in it. ARTICLE: Creating Resilient Wealth - The 8 Forms Of Capital VIDEO: Greg Judy - Generating Cash Flow On Your Farm VIDEO: Sepp Holzer's Krameterhof Farm - a beautiful example of context-specific design and regenerative enterprise ____________________________________________________________________________ WHAT I DO: Design: On-Site Consultation Online Site/Project Consultation Holistic Ecosystem Design Implementation: Water Harvesting Earthworks High-function, Low-Maintenance Access Living Systems Spring Development Courses: Minimum Holistic Goal Media: The Sovereign Homestead Podcast YouTube Instagram Music by Alex Grohl

Today's show is a great primer for those of you new to the concept and practice of making charcoal and biochar. We will cover: What is charcoal vs. what is biochar? The MANY things you can do to increase your homestead productivity with charcoal AND biochar HOW to make your own charcoal - we'll cover the theory, and then a bunch of practical methods and the characteristics, pros and cons of each. 4 Ways to make biochar from charcoal - there are more, but these are a great way to start If you are a grower or a producer, charcoal and biochar deserve a place on your roster of regenerative techniques that take what is typically a waste or nuisance (brush, slash, excess carbonaceous material) and turn it into a multi-generational asset in your soils and throughout your landscape and home. Plus, making char is fun! Show Resources Jon Jadai of Pun Pun Organic Farm in Thailand talks through his low-tech method of making charcoal with a 55 gallon drum TLUD. DIY Instructional Video from Aqueous Solutions on making your own 55 gallon TLUD. Charcoal Trench method Our curated YouTube playlist of a bunch of different charcoal making methods. Biochar ARTICLE: Uses in poultry farming ARTICLE: Biochar in cattle farming PDF Instructional for conducting clean, safe, effective top-lit burn piles in the forest to make char. ARTICLE: 55 Uses For Biochar ____________________________________________________________________________ WHAT I DO: Design: On-Site Consultation Online Site/Project Consultation Holistic Ecosystem Design Implementation: Water Harvesting Earthworks High-function, Low-Maintenance Access Living Systems Spring Development Courses: Minimum Holistic Goal Media: The Sovereign Homestead Podcast YouTube Instagram Music by Alex Grohl

Today's show covers 9 different characteristics of a sovereign homestead. What are the things that make a homestead more sovereign? It all comes down to choice. A sovereign homestead is one that gives you more choice about how you live your life. The more sovereign your homestead is the more free you are from external control. These are helpful qualities to keep in mind, no matter if you're just starting out or if you're making changes to an already existing homestead and landscape. A Sovereign Homestead Produces Something A Sovereign Homestead Is Self-Reliant A Sovereign Homestead is Self-Sufficient A Sovereign Homestead Is Redundant A Sovereign Homestead Is Regenerative A Sovereign Homestead Leverages It's Unique/Unfair Advantage A Sovereign Homestead Is 'Built To Fit' A Sovereign Homestead Is A Networked Node - NOT An Island A Homestead Is Only As Sovereign As The Mind And Heart Of Its People Show Resources Episode 2 - The Prime Directive, 3 Ethics And 12 Principles Of Permaculture As Tools For Sovereign Homestead Design VIDEO: Karl Hammer - Raising Chickens Without Grain Episode 5 - Light, Water, Soil & Life - Universal Leverage Points For Maximizing Production On Your Homestead. VIDEO: Greg Judy Demonstrates His Shiitake Logs Grown On Cull Logs From His Silvopasture Grazing ____________________________________________________________________________ WHAT I DO: Design: On-Site Consultation Online Site/Project Consultation Holistic Ecosystem Design Implementation: Water Harvesting Earthworks High-function, Low-Maintenance Access Living Systems Spring Development Courses: Minimum Holistic Goal Media: The Sovereign Homestead Podcast YouTube Instagram Music by Alex Grohl

This week we take a look at the actual process of designing your homestead. The framework we use to guide our design process is called SADIMEA, and it consists of the following 7 phases: Survey - This phase is all about gathering data - developing intimate knowledge of the environment and context within which your life is lived. Analysis - Sifting, sorting, list making, relationship mapping and number crunching to organize & MAKE MEANING from the data. Design - Many pieces begin to knit together into a cohesive, functional and beautiful whole - where you design a system of systems that is redundantly abundant. Implementation - Planning the work yields to working the plan - shovels in the dirt. Maintenance / Monitoring / Management / Measurement - Attentive and intensive management of newly established systems, and planned maintenance of well-established or mature systems. Collectively, the M-phase of SADIMEA is all about about making sure your system has everything it needs to perform its design function, and learning where it needs improvement and gathering enough feedback that you can make a viable plan for making that improvement. Evaluation - During the Evaluation phase we integrate feedback from the monitoring of systems (new, establishing and climax) and we hold them up against our stated goals & vision & dQoL and ask "How am I doing?" "Is this working?" etc. Adjustment - Iteration of your designed systems, conducting safe-to-fail experiments, and improving by doing. SADIMEA is simple, straightforward, and flexible enough to be applicable in pretty much any design scenario that is dealing with complex systems (such as a homestead). Show Resources Download Google Earth Pro - easy mapping for your homestead Download QGIS - free, open-source GIS mapping application if you need/want more mapping horsepower. Detailed SADIMEA blog post with all the nitty gritty details and lots of links. NRCS Web Soil Survey portal - easy, fast way to high-level information about your soils and their strengths, weaknesses and capabilities. VIDEO: Visual Soil Survey - get out and dig a hole! BOOK: When Weeds Talk - by Jay L. McCaman - excellent resource for inferring what is going on in your soils based on the weeds you observe growing there. SADIMEA Illustrated Poster [PDF] ____________________________________________________________________________ WHAT I DO: Design: On-Site Consultation Online Site/Project Consultation Holistic Ecosystem Design Implementation: Water Harvesting Earthworks High-function, Low-Maintenance Access Living Systems Spring Development Courses: Minimum Holistic Goal Media: The Sovereign Homestead Podcast YouTube Instagram Music by Alex Grohl

Today's show is all about the science and application of air pruning to grow hundreds or thousands of trees with incredibly healthy root structures in a small area. Air pruning is what happens when a tap root or growing root tip gets exposed to air - it essentially dehydrates and goes dormant. This creates a hormonal stimulus that back-propagates up the root towards the stem-root junction of the tree at least 4 inches, and all along that length of root it induces lateral branching. Air pruning is a way to grow non-circling, non-girdling, high-density root systems that increase tree survival and helps them thrive when they are planted out into their final home. We'll discuss different ways to leverage air pruning depending on your application and the number of plants or trees you are wanting to grow. We'll go into the pros and cons of using air pruning pots vs. constructing your own air pruning beds, as well as how to make your own air pruning bed from basic materials, sized according to your needs. Second to planting a seed in the ground and having it grow in place for its entire life, air pruning is a great way to grow healthy, strong trees that will do in one year what it will take a typical pot-grown or bare root tree to do in three. You can grow up to 500 trees in a single 10'x3' air pruning bed. Lots of additional information, including videos and DIY guides, available and linked in the show resources below. Show Resources DIY Article: Air Pruning Beds - Grow Hundreds Of Healthy-Rooted Trees In A Tiny Footprint DIY Air Pruning Beds - Illustrated Build Instructions Off-Grid Irrigation System - helpful for automating irrigation for air pruning beds. Sean Dembrosky from Edible Acres talking about his small, easily-portable air prune beds. Akivah Silver - Air Pruning Beds Video 7th Gen & Honey Badger Nursery - Air Pruning Beds walkthrough video Dr. Carl Whitcomb - Root Pruning Basics Extended Presentation YouTube Playlist: Air Pruning Science, Pots, DIY Beds ____________________________________________________________________________ WHAT I DO: Design: On-Site Consultation Online Site/Project Consultation Holistic Ecosystem Design Implementation: Water Harvesting Earthworks High-function, Low-Maintenance Access Living Systems Spring Development Courses: Minimum Holistic Goal Media: The Sovereign Homestead Podcast YouTube Instagram Music by Alex Grohl

Today I make the case why Green is the new Gray when it comes to surviving and thriving in an era of rising totalitarianism - a.k.a the Dim Age. Living with more connection and interdependence with Nature is the way to live healthy and free when the powers that be and the greater societal mood would you have be dependent, conforming and compliant. Join me in today's episode as we explore... What the Dim Age is The concept of being a Gray Man (and how we can expand upon that for the current circumstances) Why Green Is The New Gray - why we need to be creating systems of support that function partially or completely outside of centralized systems of supply, production, communication, value transmission and indoctrination. Show Resources Ferfal - The Gray Man Concept LFTN - Navigating The Dim Age w/ Vin Armani Activist Post - Navigating The Dim Age w/ Vin Armani Project Hamilton White Paper Episode 5 - Light, Water, Soil & Life ____________________________________________________________________________ WHAT I DO: Design: On-Site Consultation Online Site/Project Consultation Holistic Ecosystem Design Implementation: Water Harvesting Earthworks High-function, Low-Maintenance Access Living Systems Spring Development Courses: Minimum Holistic Goal Media: The Sovereign Homestead Podcast YouTube Instagram Music by Alex Grohl

In today's show we cover some of the amazing gifts and benefits that trees can provide to your homestead and larger landscape, including: Trees are the ultimate alchemists - creating stored sunlight Trees are energy translators - between the surface world and the subsurface world Trees are hydraulic engineers - they bank water for hard times Trees as screens for different sector energies - water, wind, sun Trees are free air conditioners! Trees are rain-bringers Tree provide us with shelter and infinitely renewable fuel Trees provide us with food AND medicine Trees improve pasture health Trees are a TAX-OBSCURED investment ...and more! I hope that today's show will get you thinking about the power of trees in new ways, and why, if we want to create a world worth inheriting, we all need to be planting trees. Trees are the ultimately living legacy we can leave to those that will inherit this earth after us, and they are one of the best ways to say "I love you" to your future descendants whom you will never meet but already love. Show Resources Trees Of Power - by Akiva Silver Forests Create Rain - Biotic Pump Theory YouTube playlist Root Bridges of Meghalaya Tree Hay - A Forgotten Fodder (Full Version) High-Value Livestock Fodder Trees For Temperate Climates Productive Livestock Fodder Trees For Mediterranean and Dryland Climates ____________________________________________________________________________ WHAT I DO: Design: On-Site Consultation Online Site/Project Consultation Holistic Ecosystem Design Implementation: Water Harvesting Earthworks High-function, Low-Maintenance Access Living Systems Spring Development Courses: Minimum Holistic Goal Media: The Sovereign Homestead Podcast YouTube Instagram Music by Alex Grohl

Today we are talking about livestock fodder trees and why, if you're raising livestock and want to continue eating high-quality meat and animal products in a time when livestock are being demonized as the cause of all things bad...you'd be wise to start growing and diversifying your feed inputs for your animals. Fodder trees produce highly palatable and nutritious feed for livestock in the form of leaf vegetation, small twigs and branches, fruit and nuts. Planting livestock fodder trees enable grazing managers to dramatically increase the number of calories produced per acre by stacking yields vertically and temporally without diminishing (and often improving) the growth of grass-based forages underneath the tree canopy. Using trees for fodder – either as direct browse, cut and carry, chop and drop, or in the making of ensilage or tree hay – has a long history in Europe, and is making a resurgence in North America as the adoption of agroforestry practices like silvopasture (the integration of livestock rearing and tree production) increases due to the many advantages provided by such systems. We'll cover the benefits of silvopasture systems and incorporating livestock fodder trees into your existing pastures, how to select appropriate fodder trees for your region and grazing operation, and a few different ways to manage your trees in concert with your animals. Resources TSH - Livestock Fodder Trees For Temperate Climates Feedipedia TSH Fodder Trees YouTube Playlist TSH Silvopasture YouTube Playlist ____________________________________________________________________________ WHAT I DO: Design: On-Site Consultation Online Site/Project Consultation Holistic Ecosystem Design Implementation: Water Harvesting Earthworks High-function, Low-Maintenance Access Living Systems Spring Development Courses: Minimum Holistic Goal Media: The Sovereign Homestead Podcast YouTube Instagram Music by Alex Grohl

This show is a free-form ramble through the history that led to the creation of TSH and the podcast. No outline today, more story instead. From my slow awakening after a zombified college experience, to starting my own fitness training business at the age of 22, paying off the student loan debt and then making the leap into doing permaculture full time and having it literally end in flames and the road to recovery since. Learn where the inspiration from TSH came from, and where we're going with it. Resource Links Will Hooker - PDC (Video 1) Geoff Lawton's Greening The Desert 1.0 - Parts 1 and 2 Jason Leister's Sovereign Business Today's Ending Music: I Wish We All Could Leave California (Beach Boys Parody) - Babylon Bee ____________________________________________________________________________ WHAT I DO: Design: On-Site Consultation Online Site/Project Consultation Holistic Ecosystem Design Implementation: Water Harvesting Earthworks High-function, Low-Maintenance Access Living Systems Spring Development Courses: Minimum Holistic Goal Media: The Sovereign Homestead Podcast YouTube Instagram

Today's show is about optimizing the things that are universal to all homesteads, no matter where you are on this planet. These 4 universal homestead productivity leverage points are Light, Water, Soil and Life. Light = Energy Flow - How Much Sunlight Your Landscape Captures And Turns Into Usable Biomass Water = Water Cycle - The Circulation of Earth's Lifeblood Soil = Mineral Cycle - The Circulation of Life-Sustaining Nutrients Life = Community Dynamics - The Living Organisms That Leverage Your Light, Water And Soil to Produce Value No matter where you are, or what scale you are working at, you can work with these four things to increase the productive capacity of your landscape. We'll talk about how to adjust your thinking and seeing to each of these perspectives, the principles that govern good management within them, and some simple action steps and rules of thumb for taking action to improve your homestead's function. Show Resources Holistic Management The Power Of Rain Drops High Value Fodder Trees For Temperate Climates ____________________________________________________________________________ WHAT I DO: Design: On-Site Consultation Online Site/Project Consultation Holistic Ecosystem Design Implementation: Water Harvesting Earthworks High-function, Low-Maintenance Access Living Systems Spring Development Courses: Minimum Holistic Goal Media: The Sovereign Homestead Podcast YouTube Instagram Music by Alex Grohl

In today's show we cover... What a Minimum Holistic Goal is and WHY its important to create one The three distinct parts of the MHG, their functions and how to create them, HOW to actually USE and LEVERAGE your MHG with the 7 Decision Tests for applying your MHG in real-life and in real-time to make better decisions consistently. Creating your Minimum Holistic Goal at the outset of your homesteading journey is THE ONE THING that will make everything else easier or unnecessary - it will help you guard and focus your energy on the things the move the needle and actually help you create the life you want to live. ____________________________________________________________________________ WHAT I DO: Design: On-Site Consultation Online Site/Project Consultation Holistic Ecosystem Design Implementation: Water Harvesting Earthworks High-function, Low-Maintenance Access Living Systems Spring Development Courses: Minimum Holistic Goal Media: The Sovereign Homestead Podcast YouTube Instagram Music by Alex Grohl

In this week's show we dive into the ugly world of Type 1 Errors - those fundamental errors in design or implementation of a homestead that will cost you time, money and energy for as long as they exist - the things that if done wrong at the outset, make it nigh impossible to get anything right afterwards! Learn how to spot Type 1 Errors - on paper and in real life, how to avoid committing them in the first place, why they often persist for SO LONG and how to fix them. Resources Mentioned FEMA's National Flood Hazard Layer Bill Zeedyk - Zuni Bowls For Stopping Headcuts ____________________________________________________________________________ WHAT I DO: Design: On-Site Consultation Online Site/Project Consultation Holistic Ecosystem Design Implementation: Water Harvesting Earthworks High-function, Low-Maintenance Access Living Systems Spring Development Courses: Minimum Holistic Goal Media: The Sovereign Homestead Podcast YouTube Instagram Music by Alex Grohl

Permaculture is a design system based on natural systems and how they function. The Permaculture Prime Directive - on page 1 in the Designer's Manual, is as follows: "The only ethical decision is to take responsibility for our own existence and that of our children. Make it now." The Prime Directive is often forgotten but is fundamentally important to what permaculture really is. Join us as we explore the Prime Directive, how it protects and preserves the 3 Ethics and informs the 12 Foundational Principles to create a design system that you can use to create maximum freedom on your land in your life! Getting started designing your homestead? Show Resources The Prime Directive, 3 Ethics and 12 Principles of Permaculture ____________________________________________________________________________ WHAT I DO: Design: On-Site Consultation Online Site/Project Consultation Holistic Ecosystem Design Implementation: Water Harvesting Earthworks High-function, Low-Maintenance Access Living Systems Spring Development Courses: Minimum Holistic Goal Media: The Sovereign Homestead Podcast YouTube Instagram

Introduction to me and why this show exists. ____________________________________________________________________________ WHAT I DO: Design: On-Site Consultation Online Site/Project Consultation Holistic Ecosystem Design Implementation: Water Harvesting Earthworks High-function, Low-Maintenance Access Living Systems Spring Development Courses: Minimum Holistic Goal Media: The Sovereign Homestead Podcast YouTube Instagram