Pioneering Today With Melissa K. Norris

Learn these 5 tips to take your harvest further, how to create your own natural medicine items, and putting all parts of the harvest to work in multiple ways.

Are homesteaders truly self-reliant? Looking at the myth of self-reliance in a modern age and back through history.  In answer to Forbes article on Homesteading and Self-Reliance is a Delusion from a generational homesteader.

Learn the benefits of homemade soap, how to source natural fats, and using natural colorants to create vibrant colors that are nourishing with herbs and spices. 

Pioneering Today is all about getting back to basics, simple living, and self-sufficiency with old-fashioned skills and wisdom in a modern world. With heirloom gardening, canning, preserving the harvest, from scratch cooking, raising your own food, including livestock (backyard chickens, pigs, and cattle), natural medicine, herbs, DIY like soap making along with living a simple self-sufficient life, no matter where you live. Hosted by 5th generation homesteader, Melissa K. Norris, author of The Made-from-Scratch Life. This podcast brings you the conversation from MelissaKNorris.com and The Pioneering Today Academy, with Q&A's, teaching, tutorials, and always giving you practical ways and tips to live the simple and self-sufficient life.

Learn about ancient grains, how they differ from modern wheat, and the health benefits to Einkorn. Plus, tips to altering your recipes and baking with Einkorn to ensure delicious meals for you and your family, without the flops!

In this episode I share why the truth about essential oils and how to stay safe when using them. The story of how I got started with essential oils, why I stopped using them for a time, and how I now use them but with safety factors in place. 

My favorite 7 Natural Remedies I immediately put into practice to help treat coughs and colds. 

Learn how to use insect repelling herbs and essential oils safely to create your own homemade bug block. 

A pioneer kitchen consisted of basic tools to help them provide food for their family. These tools were found in kitchens a 100 years ago or more, but should still be used in every home and kitchen today. These are my favorites as well as the ones we use the most, on a daily or weekly basis. Grab our FREE guide how to cook outdoors with Cast Iron Dutch Ovens here

Learn how to care for your baby chicks to set them up for a successful life span and providing you with fresh healthy food, that doesn't come from the grocery store. Our guide for the first 6 weeks.  We take you out to the coop and brooder box, visit the show notes and the live video at Raising Baby Chicks- Complete Care Guide for the First 6 Weeks Episode #106

Growing herbs for the kitchen is a great way to stock both your spice and natural medicine cabinet without having to buy them from the store. I share our 5 favorite best herbs to grow in pots when creating your kitchen herb garden.  Plus, 2 bonus early spring time wild edibles you can forage for both food and medicinal purposes!

Permaculture Gardening- Beginners Guide with 9 easy tips to implement in your garden today. Learn exactly what permaculture  means, how to begin adding permaculture design to your garden, with both your regular vegetable garden and your perennial and landscape. 

I share what we've been struggling with and the criteria we use to decide what crops are worth it to grow at home and what ones we purchase from the store. And a little bit about why you haven't heard from me lately. 

Learn the best seed starting container choices, reusing items in your home already, and how to choose which is best for which type of plant. Tips for starting your seeds and germination and special invite at the end.

Feel like you have way more to do than hours in a day or week? You're not alone. These are 5 tips to help you find more time in your days and weeks so you can focus on the things that are important to you and getting them done.  These are 5 tips for time management that actually work. 

Look at the real cost of putting in a vegetable garden, from raised beds to in the ground gardening, with case studies from other gardeners, and how much money we save by growing our own vegetables to see if raising your own vegetables really saves money.

Get these 8 tips for cutting out sugar for long term success and health. Why cutting out sugar actually has its feet in the days of the pioneers and a look at our current food system. 

Learn what our ancestors served at Christmas and the history and necessity behind the recipes. Old-fashioned tips and recipes, plus tips to serve up some of these foods for your family in homesteading and pioneer style. Both the stories and their self-sufficiency were the base for many of these traditional Christmas foods. 

Learn how to make these easy DIY 5 frugal and homemade gifts for Christmas or anytime. 

Learn how to make an old-fashioned evergreen wreath and decorations like the pioneers, using items already growing on your homestead and land or in your home. How to repurpose and reuse them for your homemade holiday decor.