Join me as I continue on in this Homesteading 101 Series (Back to the Basics). Today’s episode is all about the basics of raising livestock, and I’ll heavily focus on cattle. If you’ve ever wanted to raise your own grass-fed, grass-finished bee

EP: 425 Seed Freedom & Resilience Why Open Pollinated Is More Important than Ever Siskiyou Seeds

14 days ago 1h 1m

Join me and my guest, Don Tipping from Siskiyou Seeds as we discuss the history of seeds and seed saving and how it’s changed over the past 100 years. Our conversation takes a deep dive into how seed companies source their seed (this may surpri

EP: 424 Growing Fruit Trees Fast with Susan Poizner

21 days ago 1h 4m

Join me and my guest, Susan Poizner, as we discuss the basics of growing fruit trees. With a few tips under your belt, you’ll know what fruit tree varieties will work best for your climate, when to plant your trees, and the nine tips for gettin

EP: 423 Homesteading 101 Series (Back to the Basics): Gardening

28 days ago 43m 59s

Join me as I continue on in this Homesteading 101 Series (Back to the Basics). Today’s episode is all about the basics of gardening. Which ultimately means understanding the basics of soil. You don’t have to be a soil expert, or a biochemist to

EP: 422 The Medicinal Benefits of Mushrooms with Dr. Christopher Hobbs

Mar 15th, 2024 1h 9m

Join me for this podcast interview with Dr. Christopher Hobbs as we discuss the health benefits of mushrooms. The benefits are vast, and when you consider that you can easily grow mushrooms at home (or forage for them nearly everywhere), it get

EP: 421 Growing Nut Trees on a Homestead Scale (What You Need to Know)

Mar 8th, 2024 51m 57s

One of the crops that’s easily overlooked for growing a sustainable food source on the homestead is the nut tree. As with fruit trees, once a nut tree is established, it can produce food for your family for decades (and even generations) to com

EP: 420 Homesteading 101: Back to the Basics Series

Mar 1st, 2024 28m 30s

Join me for this podcast series on Homesteading 101: Back to the Basics. We know countless people are joining this homesteading movement, and I would like to hold the door open and welcome you in. In this series we’ll be discussing the five pil

EP: 419 GMO Seeds & The Recent Changes You Need to Be Aware Of

Feb 23rd, 2024 32m 29s

For the first time ever, genetically modified seeds have been made available to the common gardener for home use. I’ve been hearing from many home gardeners how excited they are to grow this new variety of tomato in their home garden, which to

EP: 418 What You NEED to Know About Bug Out Bags

Feb 16th, 2024 56m 10s

Are you under the impression that you live in a pretty secure area, free of threats from natural disasters or wide-spread emergencies? I invite you to listen to today’s podcast and you may reconsider just how prepared you and your family are. E

EP: 417 Don't Wait! Planning Your Medicinal Herb Garden

Feb 9th, 2024 31m 36s

Now is the time to be thinking about your medicinal herb gardens. When planning to stock your herbal medicine cabinets, the planning starts well before harvest. Whether you’re growing your own medicinal herbs, just getting started with an herb

EP: 416 Truth About Meat Labels & Regenerative Farming with White Oak Pastures

Feb 2nd, 2024 50m 21s

With meat labeling laws being changed right before our eyes, it's getting harder and harder to trust where our meat is coming from, and how it was raised and processed. Will Harris and his daughter Jenni from White Oak Pastures share the steps

EP: 415 The Gut-Brain Connection w/ Dr. Mayor

Jan 26th, 2024 1h 5m

Let's dive into the gut-brain connection and how to improve our gut for better overall health and wellness. If you've been around here for any length of time, you know we discuss the importance of our gut health. 70-80% of our gut health is loc

EP: 414 Health Update & the Need for Margin in Our Lives

Jan 19th, 2024 49m 59s

This week I’m sharing my health update (post surgery) as well as my battle with a 35 day virus(es). I’m also sharing my need for margin, and some of the health changes I’m making in 2024. If you find yourself nearing burnout, don’t wait until i

EP: 413 What Happens in Winter When You Double Your Cattle Herd

Dec 15th, 2023 26m 35s

This past week we were running our cattle herd through the system for getting tags (which helps track lineage), castration and overall wellbeing. Having a larger operation has meant some changes for these practices. If you’re thinking about rai

EP: 412 The Nourishing Asian Kitchen with Sophia Eng

Dec 8th, 2023 53m 48s

Join me with Sophia Eng, author of The Nourishing Asian Kitchen, as we discuss her journey into homesteading, motherhood, homeschooling, blogging and becoming a cookbook author. No doubt you’ve heard of the Nourishing Traditions cookbook by Sal

EP: 411 My Health Update and Need for Surgery

Nov 17th, 2023 31m 42s

As promised, in today’s episode I’m spilling the beans on the health issues I’ve been having for the past few years. Turns out, what I thought was a damaged muscle turned out to be a tumor. By the time you’re hearing this, I should be happily r

EP: 410 Our Broken Food System

Nov 10th, 2023 23m 16s

I’ve been traveling for the past two weeks. In fact, in about a 14 day period, I was only home a few of those days. What I noticed was the huge lack of healthy food available in many parts of the United States. I’ve become quite accustomed to w

EP 409: How Much $$ Can YOU REALLY Make Homesteading

Oct 27th, 2023 35m 44s

Welcome back to part two of my series on answering your questions. In today’s episode, I’m sharing a bit more of the “behind-the-scenes” of what it takes to run my business. From how much time per day I spend on my job, to how many people I hav

EP: 408 - Answering Your Questions: Homesteading Edition

Oct 19th, 2023 44m 54s

Welcome back to another episode of the Pioneering Today Podcast. In today’s episode, I’ll be answering your questions from social media. All these questions pertain to homesteading, so we’re calling this the “Homesteading Edition” and I’ll be b

EP: 407 - Creating a No-Waste Kitchen w/ Mary's Nest

Oct 13th, 2023 1h 8m

Have you ever wondered how people manage to grocery shop, cook from-scratch meals for their family, and have no waste coming out of their homes? They make it look so easy! Though it might not be easy, it is simple. Join me for today’s podcast w

EP: 406 Can You SAFELY Can Previously Frozen Foods?

Oct 6th, 2023 28m 9s

Have you ever wondered if it’s safe to can previously frozen foods? I’m here to tell you it is, but with a few caveats. There are certain foods I wouldn’t feel comfortable canning after it has been frozen (and I’ll share why in the podcast), bu

EP: 405 Medicinal Herbs & Their Uses with Kaylee Richardson

Sep 15th, 2023 52m 35s

Come hang out with me and Kaylee Richardson (from The Honeystead) as we discuss our favorite medicinal herbs and their uses. For more information and any links mentioned in this episode, visit melissaknorris.com/405.

EP: 404 Herbal Secret - Do this Daily to Reduce Stress & Overwhelm

Sep 8th, 2023 53m 38s

What is an adaptogen and why should you consider incorporating them into your daily routine? Learn about adaptogen herbs and how they can be used to help support your body on a daily basis, including what adaptogens to use, where to buy them, a

EP: 402 Bridging Heritage and Health: Hunting 101

Aug 25th, 2023 1h 1m

Join me for today’s episode of the Pioneering Today Podcast with hunting expert Chris Gilmour. For many, hunting brings up negative connotations or even sadness. My guest can completely understand that as he wasn't raised with hunting as I was.

EP: 401 Preserving Food When it's Too Hot to Can

Aug 18th, 2023 27m 15s

Today’s episode of the Pioneering Today Podcast is all about how to preserve food when it’s too hot to can (even canning outdoors). For many of us, August comes with some extreme heat. This isn’t always great for our garden, especially during t