Pioneering Today With Melissa K. Norris

Siphoning, or liquid loss after canning, is common among canning problems. Learn these 5 easy steps to help prevent it and the guidelines for safety (when is too much liquid loss unsafe). What you need to know about headspace, temps, and more in this canning Q&A episode. Snag resources and full blog post at https://melissaknorris.com/195 and sign up for Melissa's free online canning video series with pressure canning at https://melissaknorris.com/pressurecanning 

Learn how to cure onions for long term winter storage, how to pick the best spot for drying, two methods to use for drying your onions (pro's and con's of each) and how long to cure onions before bringing them inside to store for winter. For video and full blog post show notes go to https://melissaknorris.com/194 Make sure you get registered for the FREE upcoming Organic Gardening Workshop now for extra special early bird perks, click here to get on the list

Learn how to harvest onions at the right time for best long term storage, what to do if onions have bolted (flowered), and best type of onions for winter storage on the pantry shelf. For video and full blog post show notes go to https://melissaknorris.com/193 Make sure you get registered for the FREE upcoming Organic Gardening Workshop now for extra special early bird perks, click here to get on the list  

Your pole bean growing guide, we'll go over when to pick pole beans based on the different stages for eating, shelling and seed saving. Troubleshoot common pole bean problems, like blossoms but no beans, hot weather and frosts, and benefits of pole beans vs. bush beans. For pics and full blog post show notes go to https://melissaknorris.com/192 Make sure you get registered for the FREE upcoming Organic Gardening Workshop now for extra special early bird perks, click here to get on the list

Learn what to plant in August for fall and winter garden crops. Melissa breaks how to tailor planting time for your gardening zone and climate, what should be done from seed, and what plants can be put in as seedlings. This is a great way to get as close to year round gardening as possible and have fresh food in the garden even after the frosts settle in. Grab the full list and video at https://melissaknorris.com/191 and make sure you get registered for the FREE upcoming Organic Gardening Workshop now for extra special early bird perks, click here to get on the list

Canning in electric pressure cookers and other pressure canning questions. What you NEED to know about using electric pressure cookers as a pressure canner (despite what the manual may say), what to do if the pressure falls, using well water in canners, double stacking jars inside a pressure canner, which pressure canner is best for your stove type, is it safe to use an older pressure canner (how old is too old), and how long do you have to wait between runs (multiple batches) when pressure canning? Get Melissa's free pressure canning video series here https://melissaknorris.com/pressurecanning and visit the show notes for more links and resources at https://melissaknorris.com/190 Today's show it sponsored by the Home Canning with Confidence e-Course, everything you need to know to safely can a  year's worth of food for your family, from jam, pie filling, pickles, tomatoes, salsa, vegetables, broth, meat, soups and more!

5 tips on how to avoid overwhelm on the homestead, because let's face it, this old-fashioned way of life, it adds another layer of work and tasks. It's worth it, oh is it worth it, but it's important to make sure we're enjoying the process and not allowing ourselves to get too close to burnout. Melissa and Stacy Lynn Harris share their strategies and tips to avoid being overwhelmed or worse, getting closer to homestead burnout. This episode is brought to you by Melissa's free 4 part pressure canning video training series, designed to take away your fear of pressure canning and to take away the overwhelm of wondering if what you're canning is safe. Go here to learn how to pressure can safely! For resources and links go to https://melissaknorris.com/189 

The best ways to water your vegetable garden to help organically increase your harvest yield and eliminate disease, all in the way you water your vegetables! Melissa shares how often to water your vegetables in summer and best techniques for both the plants, ease of implementing, and cost based on what they do on their homestead garden and have found to work the best. Get links to resources and the full written blog post at https://melissaknorris.com/188 also save the date October 2nd, 2019 for the upcoming FREE Organic Gardening Workshop!

How one makes money homesteading, they went from the suburbs to their homestead and earning their living on their homestead in three years time. Melissa talks to Todd from Sustainable Simple Living Family about their main forms of income from their homestead, mistakes they made, how they made the transition, and what to expect when focusing on earning a living solely from your homestead or small farm. Even if you're not planning on earning a full living from your homestead, you'll get valuable tips on earning some type of money from your homestead skills. Grab all the resources here https:melissaknorris.com/187

Learn how to design a cottage garden or pull elements of one into your own yard. Melissa interviews Carolyn Thomas of Homesteading Family for a close up look of creating a cottage garden with plants that have forgotten medicinal and edible properties. Learn how hollyhock can be used medicinally and some older plants that have wonderful properties to them. List of favorite plants, how to use them, as well as elements you should consider. Grab the lists and full blog post at https://melissaknorris.com/186

Learn how to store you home canned foods safely, what the official sources actually say about storing jars with the canning rings (bands) on or off and what you need to know about jar stacking. Which practices Melissa uses on her canning of 600+ jars a year. What it means if you remove the bands and your lose your seal and more. Get resources and links at https://melissaknorris.com/185 Make sure you're signed up for Melissa's free Home Food Preservation Video series at https://melissaknorris.com/food-preservation-video-series/ The Pioneering Today Academy is your one stop place for step-by-step videos and download guides on how to preserve your food and build up a real food pantry filled with fermented, dehydrated and home canned food https://melissaknorris.com/pioneeringtodayacademy/

Use these pro tips for home food preservation so you know which foods are ready seasonally by the month and the best ways to handle and preserve them so you aren't overwhelmed with all the summer produce coming on, either from your garden or purchased from u-picks or farmer's markets. Armed with this info you won't miss a crop either. Melissa shares her summer preserving plan and how to use the same steps to customize YOUR home food preservation. Sign up for her FREE Home Food Preservation Workshop with step-by-step tutorials on dehydrating, canning and fermenting here https://melissaknorris.com/food-preservation-video-series/ get all the resources and show notes for this episode at https://melissaknorris.com/184

What it's really like to live off grid, tips you can take and use now, even if you're not off grid, and if you're planning to go that way, what you need to know before starting. Melissa interviews Doug & Stacy, a couple of self-proclaimed city slickers, who moved completely off-grid eight years ago. What the transition has been like, what they've learned (and wouldn't do again) and more! Check out the resources for fermenting tutorials/recipe, pressure canning, monthly seasonal garden planting guide and more in the full blog post here https://melissaknorris.com/183 

Learn how to use and grow these 8 medicinal herbs and their uses for an easy herbal tea garden. Harvesting tips, medicinal uses and preparations, cautions to be aware of and best growing tips. Know which do best in containers, location, and growing habits. Melissa shares her favorite herbs for hormonal balance, cooking, anxiety and calming help, digestion, and of course, immune boosting power. Hear part of the herb charts and info from Melissa's book Hand Made . See pictures, video tour of Melissa's herb garden and more at https://melissaknorris.com/182 

Use these 5 tips to maximize your garden yield (aka more vegetables) & beat overwhelm. How to ensure you have a continual harvest of fresh vegetables rather than a huge glut all at once for your non-preserving crops, how to make sure you don't miss crucial planting times, and how to increase the harvest of your existing plants so you don't have to plant as many. Plus, use my garden weeding tip to help you stay on top of it without wanting to pull your hair out. Grab all the links & resources, including my FREE monthly seasonal planting guide at https://melissaknorris.com/181

In this podcast, Melissa shares 10 tomato growing tips from planting, what your leaves are telling you your tomato plants are low on, how to avoid blight and blossom end rot, crop rotation, if indeterminate or determinate tomato varieties are best for you, trellising, and more. Learn these secrets to disease free tomatoes and a large harvest! Grab the FREE Tomato Growing Guide bonus and other resources at https://melissaknorris.com/180

Learn how to start beekeeping with in depth guide on choosing the right place for your hives, types of hives, where to buy bees, how to choose the best bees based on your climate, what supplies you must have to get started (and some frugal options), what to look for when performing hive checks, how much  honey to expect, and how much setting up a backyard hive costs. Get the full blog post and resources for this episode at https://melissaknorris.com/179

In this episode Melissa and guest Shaye Elliot from the Elliot Homestead share their tips for natural weed control at planting time so you can spend less time weeding and more time enjoying your garden, especially with the addition of heirloom flowers. You'll learn how to create a cottage style heirloom garden that provides you with beauty through every season with less work, best flowers, how to plan it, resources and more! This special episode will have you weeding less (and with a weeding plan to take away overwhelm) and putting in heirloom flowers to life long enjoyment. Go to the blog post here for resources and Melissa's Instagram to win a copy of both her book and Shaye's!

In this episode Melissa shares about traditional fire cider™ including it's medicinal benefits, recipe, and the controversy involving trademarks of old time herbal remedies and recipes. Melissa brings on Rosemary Gladstar, one of the founders of the fire cider recipe made popular with home herbalists to share its rich history, how to know if it's right for you, uses, keeping herbal medicine open to everyone, and getting started with growing and making natural medicine in your kitchen. For the recipe, resources, and more go to https://melissaknorris.com/177

Learn how to homestead in small spaces for self-sustainability with both a garden and your own meat practicing urban homesteading. How to evaluate your space for maximum crops, what to raise instead of chickens if they're against the law where you live, how you can homestead and produce a good portion of your own food on less than 1/10th of an acre. Harold shares how he recovered from cancer, started urban homesteading, and does all of this on 1/10th of an acre while still working a full time day job. Read the full post here https://melissaknorris.com/176