Ep 62 - Traveling Farm Work with James Miller
Tending Seeds: Adventures in Gardening, Homesteading, and Herbalism
Release Date: 03/13/2025
Tending Seeds: Adventures in Gardening, Homesteading, and Herbalism
Today Mike and I are talking about some of the big things we've learned over the last few years of vending at various farmers markets, festivals, craft fairs, and other events. We hope you'll find a lot of useful info here that you can use to level up your own market experience!! Some of the areas we dive into include: -things to think about when choosing markets (and when to leave a market behind) -tips and tricks for making your booth stand out to customers -reducing friction for your customers (aka making it easy for them to buy from you) -improving customer interactions We'd love to do...
info_outlineTending Seeds: Adventures in Gardening, Homesteading, and Herbalism
Hey friends! My guest today is Whitney Johnson, also known as the Appalachian Forager. She's here to talk about her beautiful new book, Go Forth and Forage, which is all about mushroom foraging. We dive into some of the common misconceptions about mushrooms, how to go about identifying mushrooms properly, the debate about whether we should cut or pluck when harvesting, and lots of other hot shroomy topics. Whitney also shares some knowledge about how learning tree identification can really help you when out mushroom hunting and we talk a little bit about other foraging adventures and the joys...
info_outlineTending Seeds: Adventures in Gardening, Homesteading, and Herbalism
Hey friends! Hope you’re doing well! Spring is poking its head up here but we’re still getting snow off and on as well, so we’re not able to start planting outdoors yet. We have lots of great stuff happening inside though! We’ve got loads of grow lights and heat mats set up and we have tons of seedlings already taking off! We’re really trying to narrow our focus this year to growing larger quantities of a fewer number of crops. Specifically we’re focused on the things that we need big amounts of in order to produce the things we make for our farm store – mainly our seasonings and...
info_outlineTending Seeds: Adventures in Gardening, Homesteading, and Herbalism
Today I have a really great guest for you! His name is James Miller and I actually met him as a tattoo client. We did a large piece that took several sessions and so as I was tattooing him we had some really amazing conversations that then led to me wanting to bring him on the podcast. James was here in Colorado to work on a local farm as a WWOOFer. Now what is WWOOFing? WWOOFing stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. This is an organization that networks small farms with individuals who are interested in working on farms. This usually isn’t paid work, but instead a pre-set...
info_outlineTending Seeds: Adventures in Gardening, Homesteading, and Herbalism
Hi, friends! We’ve been working hard this month getting back into the swing of things. We spent four days vending at various markets this month and March and April are slated to be busy as well. We also had the official grand opening of our farm store in Hotchkiss and it’s been so amazing to connect with people in person when they come in to browse our teas and other herbal products! We’re getting ready to jump on our next project, which is getting the greenhouse built next month! We’re also getting some seeds going indoors in the meantime, and then they’ll move out to the...
info_outlineTending Seeds: Adventures in Gardening, Homesteading, and Herbalism
Hey friends! Hope you’re doing well as we wrap up January here. We have been SUPER busy with some big projects behind the scenes. One of them is that we now have our farm store open in Hotchkiss! For the last two years, Mike and I have, in addition to homesteading, had a small tattoo studio in Hotchkiss. Our lease was coming to an end and we had really outgrown the space so we started looking for something bigger. One of the things we were hoping to find was a new studio space that would be big enough to actually house both of our business! We lucked out and found a great commercial space...
info_outlineTending Seeds: Adventures in Gardening, Homesteading, and Herbalism
Hi friends! Welcome to our first episode of 2025! We're getting back to releasing two new episodes a month, and we have some awesome interviews already recorded and ready to share with you -- like this one! Today’s guest is Sarah Thrush, who I’ve been following for a few years over on TikTok. You might know her there as and she shares tons of great information with her followers about food preservation. I was also able to snag a copy of her book, , and I have to tell you it’s quickly become one of my favorite books about canning! It covers all of the basics if you’re new to canning...
info_outlineTending Seeds: Adventures in Gardening, Homesteading, and Herbalism
Hi friends! I'm back with an awesome repeat guest today -- Natalie, the Alaska Redhead! Natalie is a fellow off-grid homesteader who lives in Alaska and was on the podcast a little over a year ago. We became friends and have stayed in touch, so decided to have an on-going series that we're calling Homestead Chats with Natalie and Sara. Today we catch up on what's been going on at each of our homesteads, how we made it through winter, our different crafty endeavors, and lots more! Hope you enjoy! ~*~*~*~*~*~ Find Natalie on Instagram: Natalie's Podcast Natalie's crochet ...
info_outlineTending Seeds: Adventures in Gardening, Homesteading, and Herbalism
Hi friends! It's been a minute since our last episode but we have lots of fun progress updates to share! Things are moving along nicely with our shop build and we've been having a great season at different farmers' markets and festivals. Today I’m super excited to have Tenae Stewart on the podcast to talk about her book, Botanical Cocktails. Residing in California, Tenae is a cottage witch and astrologer who has previously published two other books, The Modern Witch’s Guide to Natural Magick and The Modern Witch’s Guide to Magickal Self-Care. In her latest book, she shares delicious...
info_outlineTending Seeds: Adventures in Gardening, Homesteading, and Herbalism
We're back with our second episode in our Homestead Tools series! Make sure to check out Episode 53 - Essential Tools for Your Homestead if you haven't already listened to that one. Today we're moving past the basic tools that we previously covered and talking about some investments that can really help to level up your projects. Mike answers my questions about everything from cutting metal and welding to a variety of options for sawing your own lumber, and so much more! We hope this episode will be super useful for you. is the Miller welding app that Mike mentions. Our third installment in...
info_outlineToday I have a really great guest for you! His name is James Miller and I actually met him as a tattoo client. We did a large piece that took several sessions and so as I was tattooing him we had some really amazing conversations that then led to me wanting to bring him on the podcast. James was here in Colorado to work on a local farm as a WWOOFer. Now what is WWOOFing? WWOOFing stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. This is an organization that networks small farms with individuals who are interested in working on farms. This usually isn’t paid work, but instead a pre-set arrangement of working a certain number of hours per day or week in exchange for meals and housing, plus the knowledge that you will get to pick up along the way. So WWOOFing can be an amazing opportunity for someone who is interested in traveling all over the country, or even the world, and learning some cool skills as they do so. It’s something I was looking into doing when I was younger so when James told me he was a WWOOFer I knew I had to have him on the show!
Today James will share his experiences with us traveling through two different organizations – WWOOFing, as well as another similar site called WorkAway. We recorded this episode in December right before he left Colorado for his next farm destination. His travels have taken him to several different states as well as Spain and Morocco and who knows where he will go next. If you’re interested in learning agricultural skills, WWOOFing can be a really cool option and James will outline some of the things he looks for when considering a new potential work arrangement. I hope this episode will inspire you and give you the travel bug! Enjoy!
Connect with James on Instagram.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Our farm shop is full of goodies for you! We have two new offerings in the shop -- our Hot Italian Seasoning, and our Tummy Mender Tea. Our seasonal Lymph Love vinegar is also back in stock to guide us smoothly out of winter and into early spring over the next few months. Your support helps us to keep growing, literally and figuratively <3
Coming through Hotchkiss, Colorado? Swing by our new in-person farm store at 148 E Bridge St! We'd love to see you and have a chat over a cup of tea!
Use code PODCAST25 at checkout to save 10% on everything in the farm shop!
You can follow us on Instagram and Facebook.
Please share the podcast with a friend so we can reach more fantastic like-minded people!! <3