Everyday Homesteading
Desperate to grow, cook, and preserve real food for your family in only 5-10 hours a week, but stuck as a new homesteader looking for practical, tried and true methods that work?
You wanted those pantry shelves filled yesterday, but the more you try, the more it seems a distant pipe dream. Online content is filled with impractical, untried homesteading advice, which wastes your precious time and money.
Everyday Homesteading steps in with practical, tested solutions, cutting through the chaos with clear plans tailored for busy beginners to reclaim your family’s health and independence through gardening, raising livestock, fresh seasonal cooking, herbal medicine and safe food preservation.
Hosted by veteran homesteaders, Josh and Carolyn Thomas, who grow 70% of their family’s food while running two businesses and homeschooling their large family, they have mastered practical homesteading for busy modern families. They have taught hundreds of thousands of new homesteaders to thrive with real-life homesteading through their online platforms Homesteading Family and School of Traditional Skills.
Tune in weekly to learn how to grow, cook, and preserve your family’s food, ditch health-destroying toxins, and save money monthly on groceries, all while building strong relationships and a sustainable legacy for your kids. Hit play now!
Everyday Homesteading
How We Are Upgrading Our Homestead this Year
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
After years of pushing hard on our homestead, we reached a point where we had to ask a tough question: Is everything we’re doing actually sustainable?
Last year, we intentionally slowed down. Not completely, but enough to take a step back and evaluate what was working and what wasn’t.
And what we learned changed how we’re approaching this year in a big way.
In this episode, we’re sharing the real-life changes we’re making on our homestead. The projects we’re moving forward with, the systems we’re simplifying, and a few things we’re choosing to let go of entirely.
Because here’s the truth most people don’t talk about... You don’t have to do everything to build a successful homestead.
🌱 In This Episode
- Why we took a slower year and what it revealed
- The homestead projects we’re focusing on in 2026
- What we’re scaling back and why it matters
- How our homestead is shifting into a multi-generational model
- The systems that were adding too much pressure
- What we’re doing differently this time around
🧭 Topics We Cover
- Simplifying dairy production
- Stepping away from pig breeding
- Turning over the main garden to the next generation
- Expanding the beef program
- Starting a family egg business
- Rebuilding the house exterior
- Resetting the orchard for long-term success
🧭 Mentioned in This Video
- Learn how much to plant for a year’s worth of food: https://homesteadingfamily.com/how-to-grow-a-years-worth-of-food/
- Raising backyard chickens: https://homesteadingfamily.com/raising-backyard-egg-laying-chickens/
- Stocking your pantry the right way: https://homesteadingfamily.com/prepping-your-pantry-for-winter/
- Planting fruit trees: https://homesteadingfamily.com/growing-perennials-on-the-homestead/
- Thanks to Azure Standard for sponsoring this podcast. For first-time customers, use coupon code "HOMESTEADINGFAMILY15" for 15% off your first order of $100 or more: https://homesteadingfamily.com/main-azure-standard-b
⏱️ Timestamps
0:00 - Introduction
1:22 - Azure Standard
5:29 - 2026 Projects
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MORE ABOUT US!
WELCOME! We're so glad you're here! We are Josh and Carolyn Thomas. Together with our eleven children, we are The Homesteading Family where we’re living a self-sustainable life in beautiful North Idaho. Let us welcome you and show you a bit about us here: http://bit.ly/HFWelcomeVideo
Grow, Preserve & Thrive with us!
Visit us on our blog: https://www.homesteadingfamily.com
Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/homesteadingfamily
Instagram: https://instagram.com/homesteadingfamily
Rumble: https://rumble.com/HomesteadingFamily
You know that every month, we send out a physical magazine to over 10,000 subscribers? Each issue has seasonal recipes, fresh inspiration for your kitchen, practical homesteading tips, and traditional wisdom from seasoned homesteaders. This magazine equips you to thrive on your homestead, whether you’re in the city, a suburban neighborhood, or on 40 acres. Subscribe today for just $9 a month.