My first ever book launches today https://link.amazon/B01op6i8E

A lot of the skills our grandparents considered normal are becoming uncommon. The School of Traditional Skills Summit, October 12–16, is bringing many of them back together in one place, including gardening, living soil, sourdough, food preservation, herbs, livestock, and perennial food systems. What I like about it is that you do not have to become a full-time homesteader. Learn one skill, practice it at home, and you become a little less dependent and a little more capable. Might be worth checking out. https://schooloftraditionalskills.com/summit-2026-info/?_ef_transaction_id=12aec7c1ceb047b4b5f6ddb5494b16ed

The Science of Food and Wellness https://summit.foodrevolution.org/?utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=sms-pro&utm_campaign=frs-26-&utm_content=relaunch-psms3-start-tmrw

Willard Kitchener MacDonald spent much of his life living alone in the woods of Nova Scotia. He hunted, fished, trapped, and lived with very little. When he needed something he could not provide for himself, he went into town. At first glance, his story looks like complete self-reliance. But he was never completely alone. People from the surrounding community visited him, brought food, books, clothing, and supplies, tried to help as he grew older, and respected his choice to live differently. When he disappeared, more than 100 people eventually took part in searching for him. That is the part of his story that interests me. We can teach our families to grow food, preserve it, repair things, manage water, and handle more of life's ordinary problems ourselves. Those skills give a family options. But resilience is not about separating ourselves from everyone else. A strong family should be able to take care of more of its own needs while also being connected to people who notice when something changes, offer a hand when needed, and know they can call on us in return. MacDonald lived about as independently as a person could, yet even he benefited from community. Maybe family preparedness is not just about what we store or what we know how to do. It is also about the caring relationships we build around us. What is one skill your family could strengthen, and one relationship outside your household worth strengthening along with it? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2eMqaNrqEQ&pp=ygUYVGhlIEhlcm1pdCBvZiBHdWxseSBMYWtl

A Garden Drawn for Healing Around 825, someone drew an unusually detailed monastery across several pieces of parchment. The plan showed more than a church. It included places for sleeping, eating, teaching, receiving travelers, caring for the sick, keeping animals, making useful goods, growing food, and tending gardens. Among them was a garden associated with medicinal plants and the care of the sick. Today we call this document the Plan of St Gall. It was a proposed design, not a record of one completed monastery. No monastery was built exactly as shown. This distinction matters because a plan cannot prove that every plant was grown, every remedy worked, or daily life followed the drawing exactly. It does reveal relationships people considered important. Care for the sick was connected with land, food, water, work, learning, storage, and useful plants. The gardens were given a deliberate place within the wider life of the community. Early medieval herbal knowledge grew from inherited texts, local traditions, cultivation, observation, and repeated experience. Some of it remained useful. Some claims were mistaken, and some plants carried real effects along with real risks. The old plan offers a useful principle. Before adding something, consider where it belongs, who will care for it, how it connects with daily life, and what relationships are needed to use it responsibly. Ways to explore - View the Plan of St Gall and locate the gardens, infirmary, kitchens, workshops, and paths - Sketch a household herb garden around access, water, identification, harvest, storage, and safety - Invite children to draw a garden where every plant has a known place and purpose - Research a documented historic garden from your region or family tradition What does the placement of a garden reveal about what a household or community values?