Meet Janelle Anderson, the striking tall iconic farmsteading milkmaid and cattle guru. She’s in lots of homesteading videos in her wide brimmed hat flashing her million dollar smile and sharing a TON of knowledge. She and her husband founded The Haven Farmstead in Tennessee where they live with their children. Janelle examines the critical importance of planning, mentors, support networks and community, touching on the differences between plans and the flow of life circumstances, and how to be both flexible and resilient in the face of unexpected events and setbacks. We also talk about biodiversity in pasture management, nerd out on native grasses. Janelle talks candidly about hard choices and the temptation of adding too much livestock, and touches on having a Plan B in case of adversity – and how she ended up using her own small crisis and turned it into a blessing for others. Her big heart and deep wisdom shines through. It’s no wonder that she’s gracing stages nationwide in homesteading circles. To take advantage of Janelle’s classes, workshops, livestock consulting and mentoring, and to learn about her upcoming book on beef cattle on the farmstead, visit www.TheHavenFarmstead.com   IG: JanelleLynnAnderson

Billy Nelson, custom knifemaker and founder of ELEVEN KNIVES COMPANY – (soon to be XIRO knives).  is a hard-charging craftsman, driven by his ambition, entrepreneurism, and relentless pursuit of quality. He creates knives from special-purpose American industrial steel that is being discarded, wooden waste materials, and a special proprietary process for making visually stunning handles in a regenerative process turning waste to heirlooms. He talks about the timeless resilient beauty of carbon steel heirloom cleavers and his bestselling vegetable workhorse – the timeless Japanese Nakiri. I’ve held his knives. Not only are they perfectly balanced and perfectly fashioned, but they are drop-dead GORGEOUS. Check out his stellar craftsmanship at http://www.elevenknives.com    

Lindy Elston, owner of Lindy’s Designs and a 24-year old entrepreneur, specializing in upcycling items, adding Pendleton Wool patterns, and giving things a new life.  She’s a 4th generation farmer in Pennsylvania sharing knowledge and experience with her own generation, Gen Z / Post Millennials, in today’s uncertain world. From Lindy’s designs upcycled items to Lindy’s Field Notes where she teaches canning, homesteading skills, hunting, gardening,  and and old things new again. See her inspired designs, named after influential women in her life:  www.Lindy-design.com  and on instagram:  _lindydesign_  

From catching a wild swarm to horizontal hives, listen to how to shed the 'factory beekeeping' paradigms and raise super healthy bees, naturally, with minimal physical effort, happier bees, fewer stings, and zero chemical inputs. Adam lays it all out sequentially in this must-listen-to episode. Adam is the founder of http://www.beekept.com and the author of Bee Kept with Wild and Free Honeybees. Adam and his wife Leslie keep bees in Culleoka, Tennessee and build horizontal hives, give classes, run an online mentor-mentee beekeeping club, and much more.   

Iconic cattleman Will Harris spends an hour talking about regenerative ranching and raising 10 species of grassfed meats on his 2000 acre farm in Bluffton Georgia. He leases and grazes an additional 3000 acres and has created nearly 200 jobs in his town, entirely reversing the downward trajectory that his town was in. Will discusses the positive ripple effect and benefit in the surrounding county. Author of "A Bold Return to Giving a Damn; One Farm, Six Generations and the Future of Food" he's the driving force behind www.whiteoakpastures.com  where he and his daughters and a stellar staff of dedicated hardworking people bring education, outreach, and top quality food to the surrounding areas and thousands of families.

Straight talk about what happened, why, what's going on and how people can help. Discussion about general preparedness follows. Specific ways to help:

The Funny Farm: A small business that is leading grassroots efforts to get supplies to those that were cut off from everything by the Nolichucky River. Venmo @FunnyFarmTN (3632) put “floods” in the description.  Follow @FunnyFarmTN on Instagram and Facebook for updates.  Run by Tammy Stanton, one of the speakers that was at The East Tennessee Homestead Alliance Festival 

River of Life / Michael & Deirdre Hefflin: Making meals for those in urgent need; Venmo @riveroflifemiracles CashApp:$riveroflifemiracles  Follow River of Life (River of Life Miracles) on Facebook

Samaritan's Purse - Headquartered in Boone, NC, one of the cities that were hit extremely hard.  Currently helping in 5 sites.   https://www.samaritanspurse.org/

Grindstone Ministries: non-profit organization that provides disaster relief and construction services to those affected by devastating storms.  They will be helping in Tennessee and North Carolina  www.grindstoneministries.com

Local Churches:  Our local churches are playing a HUGE role in recovery efforts.  If your local church is collecting monetary or physical donations to send to a sister church in Appalachia, that would be a great option as our supply chains are currently very stressed.  Needs (NOT CLOTHES):

Living Essentials: non-perishable food, water, tents, flashlights, gas cans, propane tanks (large and small), portable grills (with propane or charcoal), can openers, baby food and formula, diapers

Cleaning and Sanitizing: buckets, bleach, gloves,n-95  masks, paper towels, trash bags

Chad Johnson, protegee of Sepp Holzer, permaculture designer at Kingdom Come Permaculture, is pushing the boundaries of what we consider possible. He ‘unfolds the earth’ to create microclimates and sacred spaces for humans, designing with nature for the delight of humans. He has a special affinity for water and earthworks, creating crown gardens, connecting human hearts to nature and feeding the soul, and connecting through dreams in a process he calls imagineering, planting "raspbarriers", and continuously experimenting. www.kingdomcome.earth  

Water on the mind because there's not enough here.  Worst drought in 35 years. Getting philosophical on water handling and sharing the golden observations of what drought looks like on my farmstead. PS: Rainmaker needed.