This chit-chat spring time episode with my brother David is timely as gardens are getting planted. In this episode, we talk about companion cropping and trap plants. Planting certain plants next to each can be beneficial for one or even both plants. Companion cropping can reduce insect pressure and improve the overall plant and soil health in your garden. 

Resources:

Companion Planting Guide: What to Grow Together in Your Garden

Companion Planting Chart by Vegetable

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Every family seems to have that person, whether a family relative or friend, that is more involved than most. For the Mettler family growing up, that person was our Aunt Kathy. She had a special talent in making and frosting cakes and cookies that were always a special treat we enjoyed. In this episode, Kathy shares a bit more about how she embarked on the journey and reflects on some of the baked goodies of the past.  

The King Cake Tradition 

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Fruits. Garlic. Jerky. Joe shares his experience with dehydrating foods. He shares all the details: 1) food preparation and how thick the fruit slices should be 2) what temperature to dry at 3) how long to dry for.  It's a bit specific to the dehydrator used, but useful tips and tricks for any food preservation enthusiast. 

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email at [email protected] 

Resources 

Magic Mill MFD 1098 

Bench Food Dehydrators 

Dried Citrus Circles - an explanation of what they represent 

NESCO Jerky Seasoning 

LEM Jerky Seasoning 

MEAT! 1.5lb Jerky Gun 

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In this interview style episode, we welcome back Joe's grandma who was previously featured on the "Good Ol' Days" and "Food Preservation of the Past" episodes. She is 100 years old and shares words of wisdom and insights to what was a simpler life style through questions stemming from general categories such as historical perspectives, family relationships, and life lessons and reflections. 

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This is a welcome back episode and an introduction to Season 2. The slowing of episode production and content output can be explained by the business of life, the changes in life, and the addition of life. This episode gets into that and much more. The long list of projects began with the purchase of a country house. Also in this episode I share my daughter's first hand experience with death and country stars. 

Contact me:

@homegrownfam on the Instragram

[email protected]

Support the podcast by clicking the "buymeacoffee" link below:

buymeacoffee.com/ahomegrownfam

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In this episode, my friend Ryan Yurong shares some of his homesteading experience in Colorado while we reminisce about the past. I met Ryan when I lived in Yakima, WA and worked as an Agronomist for an Independent Crop Consultant Company. Ryan shares some helpful tips and some of his “absolutely do nots” when it comes to getting started. Homesteading is often a doing it and then learning it kind of experience, as Ryan discovered.

Resources:

How to Build 5-gal Bucket Nests 

Chicken Tractors

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Instagram: @ahomegrownfam

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Returning guest, Vince, and I believe that raising your own food and being self-sustainable is a large part of what it means to live on a homestead. Chickens are often thought of as the gateway animal to get started, but should they be? Let’s think more about milk cows and all the benefits and products that can be made from raw milk. And of course, the cow itself can make all the difference. Does the cow produce the more digestive A2 beta-casein protein? Do you have a breed that will produce heavy amounts of cream that will lead to the creamiest butter and cheeses? Vince and I chat about milk cows and more in this episode, including the living enzyme benefit of milling your own ancient grains.

Resources:

A1 vs. A2 Milk

Grains you can Mill and How to use the Flour

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Ever thought “there has to be a better, more flavorful way of cooking up a deer roast or a pheasant breast rather than just tossing it into the crock-pot”? Well, you’re in luck! In this episode, Jeff Benda, a cook and recipe developer of “Wild Game and Fish” shares his passion for cooking and how he fell in love with hunting and the State of North Dakota as a whole. As a result, North Dakota’s wild game and fish are the primary subjects of his recipes. Other topics like field dressing pronghorn, canning meat, salmon fishing and elk hunting in North Dakota, and the presence of rattle snakes in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park are also discussed in this episode. 

Jeff Benda’s website: https://wildgameandfish.com/

Recipes:

Venison Spaghetti

Salmon Chowder

Deer Chili

Books:

My Side of the Mountain

Island of the Blue Dolphins

Sign of the Beaver

Salt: 

Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt

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Instagram: ahomegrownfam

A Homegrown Family on YouTube

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In a coffee break kind of chat, join three generations of Mettlers talking about “maple syruping”. Grandpa didn’t have trees to tap in South Dakota, but after migrating up to Minnesota, he found a new way to keep his sweet tooth satisfied.  Grandpa started the same way my Dad and now my brother Sam do by simply reducing the sap on the kitchen stove, but his with his ingenuity and desire for a larger quantity of product, he transformed an old wood stove into a maple sap reducer. Tapping trees and making maple syrup is now something my Dad enjoys and his great grandkids now delight in. It doesn’t cost much to get started, approximately $50 + heat (energy) costs and you’ll have a pint of your very own homegrown maple syrup.

Resources:

Tapping Kit

Metal Maple Bucket Starter Kit

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Instagram: ahomegrownfam

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Ever thought about getting a dehydrator to start preserving and drying food? Well, in this episode, Joe talks about his decision process and how he determined what dehydrator to get. He goes through his “Dehydrator Checklist” and relates it to a “Dating/Relationship Checklist”, just to keep it interesting. He walks through his personal “must-haves” and non-negotiables when it comes to the selecting his dehydrator and eventual spouse. 

Top 3 dehydrators on the list:

1)      Magic Mill 1098

2)      Bench Foods Premium Domestic

3)      LEM BigBite 10 Tray

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Instagram: ahomegrownfam

A Homegrown Family on YouTube

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