Small Scale Life

After a long hiatus this Spring, Host Tom resturns to Restart Our Small Scale Life. This is a 10 minute episode that covers the following topics: Host Tom introduces himself to the audience Where the Small Scale Life Podcast has been over the past 6 years and where it is going in the future Driftless Oaks Farm's projects and opportunities For links and show notes, head over to smallscalelife.com (https://smallscalelife.com)!

In this 203rd Episode of the Small Scale Life Podcast, I have a Chicken Chat with my good friend Amy Dingmann. Julie and I are chicken newbs, so we wanted to learn from someone who has done all things chicken! Amy Dingmann is from A Farmish Kind of Life (https://afarmishkindoflife.com/) where she talks about her life on a little 5-acre farm in Central Minnesota. Amy is a writer, podcaster, blogger, YouTuber, and also has a snail mail paper newsletter (called The Farmish Papers). During this episode, we discuss what is happening on our farms, all things chicken the chicken chat), gardening and her platform and plans at A Farmish Kind of Life. You can find more links and information at smallscalelife.com (https://smallscalelife.com). Chicken stock photo by freeimages.com/cholin. Free Image used according to use agrement.

On this 202nd Episode of the Small Scale Life Podcast, Julie and Maria the Intuitive Energy Healer are back on the Small Scale Life Podcast to talk about How to Start a Small Business. Both Maria and Julie have owned their own businesses: Maria owns and operates a dog grooming business and her intuitive energy healing business in Lake City, Minnesota. Julie operated her own wedding floral design business in Minnesota and Illinois. We discuss a number of topics including the following: How to prepare to start the small business and side hustle Where do you start? What should you focus on? Mindset and narratives that hold you back Teamwork makes the dreams work Small business ideas (Hell Yeah's vs. Hell No's) What do you wish you had during the busiest times of your life? Hear more of our interviews with Maria and get show notes at smallscalelife.com (https://smallscalelife.com)!

In this episode of the Small Scale Life Podcast, Julie and I talk with Maria the Intuitive Energy Healer about the Full Moon Energies, the importance of community, and our 2022 Guiding Words. Who is Maria the Intuitive Energy Healer? Maria the Intuitive Energy Healer has been practicing over 6 years and helps people heal naturally and coaches people to achieve their goals and live their best life. Julie and I have been meeting with Maria since the Fall of 2020, and she has helped us work through decisions and issues. In a way, Maria helped us see beyond Eagles Ridge and what was possible. Opening our eyes lead us to Driftless Oaks Farm...and we have been truly blessed for that decision. For all of the links described in the show and show notes, please go to smallscalelife.com. (https://smallscalelife.com)

For our 200th Episode of the Small Scale Life Podcast, Julie and I talk about the Top 10 Surprises Moving to the Country from the City/Suburbs. For links to the recent appearances and to learn more about Driftless Oaks Farm, head over to smallscalelife.com (https://smallscalelife.com). As a reminder, you can now buy high quality grass fed meat (raised using Regenerative Agriculture protocols and principles) at the following site: https://www.amodernfrontier.com/ (https://www.amodernfrontier.com/) Use code SMALL (in all caps) and you will get $25 off and beef, pork or chicken box. That’s right, use code SMALL (in all caps) and get $25 off! You can chat with Adam on the site if you have any questions, or you can email him at amodernfrontier@gmail.com. For full disclosure: this is not an affiliate for me or Small Scale Life. I want to help a friend get this business going. I receive no payments or percentages from any sales; I am just helping a friend out.

In this 199th Episode of the Small Scale Life Podcast, Adam Rick and I are talking about Creating Heritage Meals and Deep Roots in Central Wisconsin. I like to call this episode “All Roads Lead to Oxford, Wisconsin.” For links and show notes, head on over to smallscalelife.com As I mentioned in this Small Scale Life Podcast, you can now buy quality grass fed meat at the following site: https://www.amodernfrontier.com/ Use code SMALL (in all caps) and you will get $25 off and beef, pork or chicken box. That’s right, use code SMALL (in all caps) and get $25 off! Please note: I get no payments or affiliate income from any purchases or clicks; I am just helping my friend start his business.

I talk with Adam Rick about his Grass Fed Farm Business in Wisconsin. Adam is a partner in and salesman for an Amish co-op. This co-op is beyond a grass fed farm: they are focusing on using principles and protocols of Regenerative Agriculture to raise chickens, pork and cows. Adam and his Amish partners are building soil on tired, played out farm fields one animal at a time, and this Small Scale Life Podcast episode is all about meeting your farmer! You can now buy quality grass fed meat (raised using Regenerative Agriculture protocols and principles) at the following site: https://www.amodernfrontier.com/ Use code SMALL (in all caps) and you will get $25 off and beef, pork or chicken box. That’s right, use code SMALL (in all caps) and get $25 off! You can chat with Adam on the site if you have any questions, or you can email him at amodernfrontier@gmail.com. For full disclosure: this is not an affiliate for me or Small Scale Life. I want to help a friend get this business going. I receive no payments

My guest on the Small Scale Life Podcast this week is Brian Aleksivich from the LOTS Project and our Fireside Freedom Podcast! We are talking about monetizing your homestead (making some money because….hey, we like money)! Brian started a lot of different business ventures since starting his Happy Hills Homestead 7 years ago, and I wanted to find out what worked, what didn’t and what other lessons he learned along the way. Check out the Episode 197 of the Small Scale Life Podcast! Available at smallscalelife.com or on streaming apps everywhere!

In our first Small Scale Life Podcast of 2022, Julie and I discuss our journey to Driftless Oaks Farm. We discuss Eagles Ridge, why we started looking for property again and finding Driftless Oaks Farm. Of course, it is also a special birthday episode for the Small Scale Life Podcast (7 years) and your humble host Tom! For more information and links, please head over to smallscalelife.com!

Last week on the Small Scale Life Podcast, I discussed my Daily Gratitude Practice and gave four tips to establishing your own daily gratitude practice. As a recap, the four tips were the following: Take some time and think about what you are truly grateful about. Make a list of people and things and challenges you are grateful for. Keep those lists in a journal (brief bullet points only; don’t write a book – it isn’t sustainable). Let someone on that list know you are grateful. This week, I am revisiting gratitude and putting it into action. I completed Number 4 on that list. I let two people on my list know that I was very grateful for them: Theresa and Dale. I also had a chance to talk to a member of the Small Scale Life Community that is in a tough place and is finding it hard to find gratitude for that member's situation. To join the Small Scale Life Community, please go to smallscalelife.com and joint the conversation on the Small Scale Life Newsletter. Sign up today!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!  Tis the season for having a Daily Gratitude Practice and giving thanks.  After all, how many of us had this conversation during Thanksgiving dinner last week: What are you thankful for? “What are you thankful for” is the usual question that people have and expect a response after grace.  How often were we caught of-guard by such a simple question when the piping hot feast is right in front of us?  We typically mumble something about “family and friends,” stop paying attention to other answers once we are done mumbling and dive into the turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and stuffing!  Am I right? But did we really think about that question?  Did you pause for a minute and really think about your answer?  Seriously. In this episode of the Small Scale Life Podcast, I am going to talk about starting my gratitude practice a year after writing Practicing Gratitude for the Good, the Bad and the Ugly in October 2020.  I’ll finish this episode by discussing How I am going adjust (improve) m

In this episode, I break my silence and restart the Small Scale Life Podcast! I talk about our new farm in Western Wisconsin and starting to live at our farm. I talk about the following topics: Gratitude Practice - Shout Outs and Thank Yous Driftless Oaks Farm a. Outbuildings b. Fruit Trees, Berries, Grapes and Perenials c. Pens/Paddocks d. The Blue Barn e. The Chicken Coop Small Scale Life Podcast "Harvest" by Osi and the Jupiter Final Remarks - Happy Halloween! For more information and to subscribe to the Small Scale Life Newsletter, go to smallscalelife.com! Special thanks to Sean at Osi and the Jupiter for writing and recording the song at the end of the podcast episode. You can fiund Osi and the Jupiter on YouTube, Facebook and Bandcamp. I really enjoy his Appalachian/Norse/Folk style.

In this episode of the Small Scale Life Podcast, Tom talks about "going with the flow" and how he is developing a 10 step plan to navigate the rapids, waterfalls and log jams in life. We can spend a lifetime chasing dollars and cents, yet we don’t have the sense to take care of the Small Scale Life Basic 10 Core Principles. We have become addicted to consumerism, screens, and Modern Western Culture that pumps out garbage at an incredible rate. That is where we get into trouble: too much debt, not enough savings, few prospects, no connection to Nature or people, and living life on the hamster wheel fulfilling someone else’s dreams. Are you sick and tired of all that yet? I can see how we need to ramp up and execute them as Julie and I start our new homestead in a rural place where we don’t know many people. It is going to be challenge for us, but I think all of the work we have done is going to pay off. We are starting to see results already, and we have just barely gotten started. Just wait! Change is com

In this Episode of the Small Scale Life Podcast, I provide an Eagles Ridge Update: Community, House Project and Stair Project Failure. I talk about 5 Lessons Learned from Our Stair Project that can be applied to our lives: relationships, jobs, money, tasks, DIY projects and even social media. April has come and gone, and we had a lot going on gearing up for constructing our Eagles Ridge Barndominium. The machine is MOSTLY in place, and the weather had cooperated; however, we hit a delay. We are in a holding pattering until some things get sorted out, and that gives us time to do other things. One of those other things was the stairs from the middle of Eagles Ridge to the Apple River. The Ridge is about 60 feet above the river, and we have been working on a stair project from about half way up the ridge to the river. Things were going well last Fall, but we ran into some serious issues in the past two weeks. We decided to make some drastic changes with the stairs, and I walk you through the project and

On this 189th Episode of the Small Scale Life Podcast, I am talking homestead hunting, Roberts Rules, grounding and gardening with Letti Loo from the Liberty All Day Blog, Podcast and Vlog. Letti is a busy person! She is married and has a busy little boy, and along with her own platform, she is a co-host on the 80’s Mom Podcast and has her own virtual assistant company called Parli Pro Consulting as well. Like Julie and I, Letti and her family are escaping Chicago and returning to the land. They want to get back to a place and a life that makes sense. They want the liberty and freedom to become who they want to be, grow their own food, have some animals, build a community and do something simply magnificent in a beautiful place. They are on the path that so many urbanites and suburbanites are on right now: escaping the large cities, the rules and the chaos. The land rush is on, and prices are climbing and property is scarce. Homestead hunting has been really tough and intense because potential places ar

Have you ever felt overwhelmed as you think about how to start gardening or kicking off a new garden season? There are so many questions, options and methods; it can feel like you are lost in a lush jungle of options and questions: • Do I start seeds or buy them from a store or a greenhouse? • Should I till up your yard and plant in native soil or build raised beds? • Should I use Square Foot Gardens, Rain Gutter Grow Systems, Wicking Beds or Root Pouches? • How should I orient my beds (north-south vs. east-west)? • Can I put a garden in a shaded spot? • What soil mix should I use for my raised beds? • Am I going to have an organic garden by using compost or use fertilizers or both? • How far do I space my garden beds from each other? • How close should I put the plants in my garden beds? • What are these pests (bugs, birds or four-legged animals) and how do I stop them eating my plants? • How can I reduce weeding and the work involved in gardening? • Why bother? I never remember to water my plants and kil

In the Frozen Tundra of America's northland, we seem to have turned a corner on the weather last week. Something is in the air. The birds are showing us that something is up: from the pairs of eagles flying over Eagles Ridge and near the Third Floor Castle in the Sky to the cardinals popping up everywhere. We are entering a Season of Change! On this 187th Episode of the Small Scale Life Podcast, I discuss about how Our Time is Finite as we enter a Season of Change here at Small Scale Life. Spring 2021 is coming, and there will be a lot happening on Eagles Ridge, Small Scale Gardening, Small Scale Life and in our lives. Time is finite. There is only so much time in a day, and it really comes down to how we use that one essential limiting resource: time. It is time of new beginnings, and we can still be the lighthouse even though things look differently. If you remember, these are my Guiding Words for 2021. Things may change, but not all change is a bad thing. After all, gardeners and homesteaders kno

This episode of the Small Scale Life Podcast is all about How to Raise You Vibes with Maria the Energy Healer. As with many interviews, we had a plan and scripted questions for Maria, but we swerved into some really important topics that will serve as way stones for what Small Scale Life is becoming. For all of our knowledge and understanding, there are things in this world that humans don’t know or have forgotten during our evolution. The fact of the matter is that there are energies and vibrations at work all around us. In our crazy Western Civilization, modern men and woman are on the go and don’t often stop to contemplate WHY things happen or WHAT they can do to change how they feel, think and act. Instead, they chalk it up to bad luck or blame someone else for their misfortune. Feelings, thoughts and actions are all tied together. When we have stinking thinking, it is usually the result of problems with our internal energies, our chakras, conditioning and mindset. We have been programmed from a you

Happy Valentine’s Day, Lifers. I hope you have a good holiday with your significant other. How is it going? How are you feeling? Are you making it through these tough times and cold weather? It can be hard this time of year. It feels like Spring is never going to get here, and we have a long stretch of sea before us before we get to a warmer seas and safe ports. On our course, there a rocks, reefs and sandbars that can snag our sailing ship. We can get stuck and hung up there, and that can be dangerous in foggy or stormy seas. You didn’t know you tuned in to a sailing podcast, did you? This is all a metaphor for life right now. Many of us are struggling with issues and problems, and sometimes we get stuck. We stop moving and get bashed and battered, much like a ship stuck on a rock, reef, or sandbar. Captains use charts, buoys and Lighthouses to safely navigate rivers, seas and oceans. We need the same in our lives as we deal with problems, issues and hang-ups. On this 185th Episode of the S

Julie and I had a great conversation about wellness, homesteading and grounding with Hannah from The Wisconsin Homestead Podcast. Topics include clean eating (Keto and Whole30), grounding, spirituality (energy and the Drum Wash) and of course The Wisconsin Homestead Podcast. What is Grounding? For those who may not know what “grounding” is, grounding is a practice where you walk barefoot, sit, or work outside to contact with the Earth's surface. By grounding, you are actually connecting your body to the earth’s energy, and at the same time, you are transferring the earth’s energy from the ground into your body. It really helps you to feel connected to the earth and more at peace. If you don’t believe it, you should give grounding a try! Why am I talking about this? Well, you’ll see really soon in this podcast episode, and this is part of our Wellness practice on Small Scale Life where we are healing and strengthening our bodies, minds and spirit. We will be talking more about this in future episodes