Old Ways New Days

What if weeds aren't weeds at all? What if they're the land's own diagnostic report — telling you exactly what your soil needs and how to heal it? In this episode of Old Ways, New Days, we go deep: ✨ What every common weed is actually telling you about your soil✨ Natural amendments to address each soil condition (no chemicals needed)✨ The sacred history of dandelion, plantain, lamb's quarters, nettle, and clover✨ The Anglo-Saxon Nine Herbs Charm and the magic of liminal plants✨ A soil reading practice drawn from ancestral land wisdom✨ A guided meditation from the weed's eye view✨ A simple outdoor ritual for learning the language of the land This isn't about aesthetic gardens. This is about learning to read the earth. The weed you pulled last Saturday? It was trying to tell you something.Send us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit

When was the last time you asked the land permission? This week on Old Ways, New Days, we step into one of the most important — and most overlooked — conversations in the foraging world: The Ethics of the Harvest. ✨ The ancient principles of sacred harvest that predate every civilization we can name✨ Why 'only take what you need' is more radical than it sounds✨ Land acknowledgment as a living spiritual practice — not just a statement✨ The real ecological crisis behind social media foraging culture✨ Robin Wall Kimmerer, the Seventh Generation Principle, and the Wood Wide Web✨ A rooted meditation on becoming the kind of being the land can trust✨ A practical forager's code you can actually use This isn't foraging as aesthetic. This is foraging as covenant. The wild is not a store. It is a relationship. Come remember how to tend it.Send us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit

Earth Day didn’t start as a hashtag.It started as a protest.In this episode, we explore:🌍 The true history of Earth Day 🌱 Sacred activism & earth care as spiritual practice 🌾 Permaculture ethics 🖤 Climate grief & how to move through it 🌿 Simple ways to care for the earth every dayBecause caring for the planet isn’t just political…It’s personal.To find out where you can celebrate Earth Day or Mother Earth Day go to:https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2026/Send us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit

Think you need land to homestead?Think again.In this episode, we explore urban homesteading without land ownership — from container gardening and balcony permaculture to community gardens and guerrilla growing.Because self-sufficiency doesn’t start with acres…It starts with a single plant.Send us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit

What if nothing in your life was truly wasted?          Not your grief.Not your past.Not even the parts you wish you could throw away.In this episode, we explore the spiritual practice of soil building — from compost as a form of quiet ritual to what the earth can teach us about patience, loss, and transformation.Because sometimes…the most powerful growth happens in the dark.Send us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit

Before we plant… we plan.In this week’s episode of Old Ways New Days, we’re mapping the garden like our ancestors:🌱 Seed placement with intention 🌿 Companion planting wisdom 🌎 Spiritual land design 🗓 When to sow outdoors 🪴 Where your January & February seedlings should be right nowGardening isn’t just rows in soil.It’s relationship.Listen now wherever you gather your podcasts — and let’s write the land with care. 🌾Send us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit

Everyone wears green on March 17th… but do you know what the “snakes” really represented?This episode dives into the true history of St. Patrick’s Day — from Christian conversion to cultural erasure — and how modern witches can reclaim the day by honoring those lost to persecution.Why some witches wear red and black instead of green. How the holiday became a global drinking event. And what remembrance can look like in modern practice.Snakes. Saints. Shadows.Listen now on Old Ways, New Days.Send us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit

What if your garden didn’t just grow food…What if it grew fences that live, beds that feed themselves, and soil built from yesterday’s scraps? In this week’s episode of Old Ways New Days, we’re breaking down easy at-home garden builds — from willow living fences to hugelkultur mounds and keyhole gardens. No fancy budget.No perfection.Just practical magic and hands in the dirt. Listen now and start building your living garden. 🌿Send us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit

The chemicals used to fertilize modern fields were once used to make bombs.After WWII, excess war factories turned their production toward agriculture — and the soil has been paying the price ever since.What does that mean for our bodies? For chronic disease? For the way we farm animals? For the way we eat?In this episode of Old Ways, New Days, we explore the deep connection between soil health and human health — from bomb factories to CAFOs to Victory Gardens — and what stewardship could look like now.Because everything is related.Send us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit

This Black History Month, we honor the Black herbalists who healed under enslavement, carried medicine in memory, and kept communities alive when care was denied.Part Two of Old Ways New Days is a reverent reflection on plant medicine, lineage, and survival.🌿Send us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit

“Before sustainable living had a name, it had roots. 🌱 This Black History Month, Old Ways New Days honors the Black innovators, ancestral farmers, and land stewards who shaped homesteading, regenerative agriculture, and food sovereignty — blending history, spirituality, and soil wisdom into one powerful story.”Resources:Oneearth.orgTsfrcbo.org Blackinplantscience.orgCsuchico.eduSend us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit

Before spices were trendy, they were powerful. 🌿 From garden herbs to world-changing seeds, this episode of Old Ways New Days explores how to grow, dry, store, and honor the seasonings that once shaped empires—and can still shape your pantry today.Send us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit

Food preservation isn’t pretty — it’s powerful.This episode of Old Ways New Days dives deep into real‑world food preservation: pressure canning, water bath canning, drying, salt preservation, and the mistakes that teach us how to do it right.Because resilience is built one jar at a time.Send us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit

February is not an empty month.It’s a time of milk returning to the pail, candles lit against the cold, homes cleansed for what comes next, and new years beginning under a different moon.In this episode of Old Ways New Days, we explore February’s holidays and holy days—from Imbolc’s dairy and fire, to folk traditions of purification, to fertility rites, and the Lunar New Year’s ancestral renewal.Different cultures. Shared survival. The same human instinct to prepare for spring.If you’ve felt February tugging at you—quietly asking you to tend, to clean, to hope—this episode is for you.Send us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit

Book: "Pilgrim's Wilderness: A True Story of Faith and Madness on the Alaska Frontier" by Tom Kizzia (Crown Publishers, 2013)National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline: 1-800-422-4453RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network): 1-800-656-4673Send us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit

The Homestead Act of 1862 promised land, opportunity, and independence — but its story didn’t end in the 1800s.In this episode of Old Ways New Days, we explore where the Homestead Act began, how it shaped American land ownership, and how homesteading laws and land policies have continued to evolve — including key changes and interpretations that emerged and bring us into the modern era.Because homesteading isn’t frozen in history. It adapts. Just like the land itself.SHOW NOTES & RESOURCES Historical Resources:National Parks Service - Homestead National Historical Park"The Homestead Act of 1862" - BritannicaLibrary of Congress - American Memory Collection Modern Homesteading Legal Resources:Vermont Law School's Center for Agriculture and Food SystemsUSDA National Agricultural Library - Urban Agriculture ResourcesSustainable Economies Law CenterLocal Harvest - Find farmers' markets and CSAs www.localharvest.orgMunicode Library - Search local ordinances Urban Agriculture Organizations:American Community Gardening AssociationUrban Farming InstituteNational Urban Agriculture Coalition Books Mentioned:"The Urban Homestead" by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen"Paradise Lot" by Eric Toensmeier"The Backyard Homestead" by Carleen Madigan Contact Your Local Officials:City Planning DepartmentZoning BoardCounty Extension OfficeLocal Food Policy Council Legal Consultation:For complex situations, consult a land-use attorneyMany offer free initial consultationsSome work with sustainable agriculture nonprofits Send us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit

January isn’t too early — it’s intentional.While the land rests under frost, this is when the real work begins: choosing seeds, reading light, warming soil, and planning growth before spring ever arrives. In this episode of Old Ways New Days, we explore why January seed starting matters, what actually thrives when started early, and how quiet winter prep leads to stronger, more resilient gardens.Because before anything grows above ground… it begins in the dark.🌱🎧 Listen now.Send us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit

What does self-reliance really look like when the internet goes quiet and the grid feels fragile?In this episode of Old Ways New Days, we take a thoughtful look at Backwoods Home Magazine — its roots, its philosophy, and its place in modern homesteading culture. From practical skills and off-grid living to the deeper mindset of preparedness and independence, we explore what this long-running publication gets right, where it shows its age, and whether it still holds value for today’s sustainable, earth-connected households.Is it just nostalgia — or a quiet manual for resilience?Listener Resource:Backwoods Home Magazine Website:https://www.backwoodshome.com/Send us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit

In this FREE bonus episode we announce our winner and get to speak with them on the phone; followed by a compilation of bloopers that were edited out from our December episodes. Enjoy!!Send us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit

Winter may slow the world outside, but a homestead never truly sleeps. In this week’s episode, we’re diving into midwinter maintenance—the quiet, essential work that keeps the hearth warm, the tools ready, and the home resilient. From practical tips to old seasonal traditions, join us as we tend the heart of the homestead during the coldest days of the year. Send us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit

When December's darkness falls and the year breathes its last cold breath, ancient fires are kindled. Long before modern winter holidays, our ancestors gathered to celebrate the returning light, honor the gods of winter, and feast in defiance of the dark. In this episode, we journey through the sacred December traditions of our pagan past — from Yule fires and Saturnalia feasts to the Wild Hunt and the rebirth of the sun. Discover the rituals, the deities, the foods, and the magic that made midwinter a time of both reverence and revelry. Send us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit

Before the first shoot breaks the soil, before the garden hums with bees and sun-warm leaves, there is a quieter kind of magic—the moment we place a tiny seed into waiting earth and trust it to become more. In this episode, we step into that early, hopeful space and explore the rituals, techniques, and old traditions of seed starting. If you’re ready to coax life from the stillness of winter and awaken the first green sparks of spring, this one’s for you.Send us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit

This week we’re pulling back the curtain on the cottagecore fantasy and diving into the raw, sacred, often messy reality of land-based pagan living. From ancient multipurpose homes to modern anti-consumer magic, we explore what it truly means to live with the Earth—not just pose beside it. Authentic. Grounded. Magical. Listen now on your favorite platform. Send us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit

As the days grow shorter and the nights stretch longer, many of us feel the weight of winter settling into our bones. It's more than just the cold — it's a heaviness in the heart, a fog in the mind, a longing for light. In this episode, we're talking about Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) — what it is, why it happens, and how to find your way back to balance when the darkness feels overwhelming. Whether through light therapy, herbal allies, or simple daily rituals, there are ways to honor this season without letting it consume you. Listener Resources Crisis Support:- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: **988** (call or text)- Crisis Text Line: Text **HOME** to **741741**- International Association for Suicide Prevention: [www.iasp.info](https://www.iasp.info) ****SAD & Mental Health Information:- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH): [www.nimh.nih.gov](https://www.nimh.nih.gov)- Seasonal Affective Disorder Association: [www.sada.org.uk](https://www.sada.org.uk) Send us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit

Before we tend our first garden bed or harvest our first herbs, we must ask: whose land are we standing on? This Indigenous Peoples Day, we explore how pagan homesteaders can honor the original caretakers of these lands — not through appropriation, but through reciprocity, respect, and action. Discover how to homestead with awareness, give back to indigenous communities, and walk humbly on land that has been tended for tens of thousands of years.Resources for Listeners ****Books:- *Braiding Sweetgrass* by Robin Wall Kimmerer- *An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States* by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz- *Red Nation Rising* by Nick Estes- *The Seed Keeper* by Diane Wilson ****Organizations to Support:- NDN Collective- Indigenous Environmental Network- Native American Rights Fund- Seeding Sovereignty- Honor the Earth ****Tools:- Native-Land.ca (find out whose land you're on)- Indigenous-led seed companies and farms in your region****This episode is offered with humility and the understanding that the work of decolonization is ongoing. We encourage all listeners to continue learning from indigenous voices and to take meaningful action in support of indigenous sovereignty and justice.Send us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit

When frost settles on the windows and the land lies dreaming, the heart of the homestead still beats—softly, greenly—beneath the glow of indoor light. In this episode, we gather around the hearth of herbal wisdom, tracing the roots of medicine and magic through time. From Hippocrates’ humours to the alchemy of Chinese Qi and the balance of Ayurvedic doshas, we rediscover the language of the living Earth spoken through rosemary sprigs and chamomile blooms.Here, every leaf is a teacher, every seed a spell. Together we’ll explore how to grow and use herbs indoors—keeping the flame of self-reliance alive through winter’s stillness. Guided by Scott Cunningham’s correspondences and the dance of planets above, we’ll blend history, healing, and enchantment into a living practice that nourishes body and soul.When you brew your next cup of tea, may it be a ritual of remembrance—that even in the dark, life continues to bloom.Show links:Humour | Humorism, Hippocrates, Galen | BritannicaHumoral medicine: A constitutional approach in Western herbalism | History | Herbal RealityGreek Medicine: GREEK MEDICINE AND CHINESE MEDICINECunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs - Scott Cunningham - Google BooksA Delicate Balance: Understanding the Four Humors. - The Devil's TaleThe Four Humours of Ancient Greek Medicine | Herbal AcademySend us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit

Winter is coming, and a well-stocked pantry can make all the difference. In this episode, we’ll break down how to plan, store, and organize your food supply for the cold months ahead. From choosing the right staples and rotating stock to managing limited space and preventing waste, you’ll learn how to build a pantry that’s efficient, affordable, and ready for anything the season throws your way. Send us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit

When the Moon disappears and the nights stretch longest, the world turns inward. From Samhain to Imbolc, we walk through the dark — not to be lost, but to be remade. In this episode, we journey through the Dark of the Moon and the Dark of the Year — exploring shadow work, ritual, destruction, and the quiet magic of rebirth.This is where endings become beginnings…and silence becomes power.Join us — in the dark.Send us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit

The city never really sleeps. Even in the quiet hours, it hums — glowing white and blue against the sky. Beneath that light, the night still breathes. This week on Old Ways New Days, we explore the power of red light —how a simple shift in color can protect nocturnal animals, restore your sleep, and reconnect city living to ancient rhythms of darkness and rest. It’s science — and it’s spirit.Sustainability — and magic.Send us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit

As the autumnal season comes to an end it is time to celebrate Samhain and the final harvest. Join us as we provide a brief overview of this ancient holiday and how you can bring it all together by living seasonally with the land.Music "Friendly Ghost" provided by Danijel Zambo, from uppbeat.ioSend us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit

Introduction to your podcast hosts, Kaila and Nelle, a little bit about who we are and why we wanted to share our knowledge about homesteading, sustainable living, and living in harmony with nature. Send us Fan MailSupport the showFind us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581390940178Send us an email at [email protected] sponsor: Medicinal Garden Kithttps://www.digistore24.com/redir/379812/OWNDpc/MedicinalGardenKit