Melissa K. Norris inspires people's faith and pioneer roots with her books, podcast, and blog. Melissa lives with her husband and two children in their own little house in the big woods in the foothills of the North Cascade Mountains. When she's not wrangling chickens and cattle, you can find her stuffing Mason jars with homegrown food and playing with flour and sugar in the kitchen.
By Melissa Norris | Homestead-Life , Lifestyle , Podcast , Skills
Self sufficient homesteading tips for the long haul, but also a plan for going from homestead dreams or beginning to living out your homestead life in less than 5 years. I’m happy to have Anna from The House and Homestead back on the show. The last time she was on the show, episode 131, we talked […]
Read MoreBy Melissa Norris | Fruit , Gardening , Podcast
Fall is the perfect time of year to get a jump start on next year’s berry harvest. The beauty of berry bushes is they truly require very little care for the reward of buckets of fruit. Now is the time of year to do a quick evaluation on the health of your plants and prepare […]
Read MoreBy Melissa Norris | Gardening , Podcast , Raising Your Own Food
Raised bed gardening tips for vegetable gardening. Raised beds are beloved by many a gardener but aren’t for every garden or situation. Like any type of garden bed, they have their pros and cons and tips to consider if they’re right for your garden. Listen in below to the full podcast, Episode #204 Raised Bed Gardening […]
Read MoreBy Melissa Norris | Gardening , Podcast
5 tips for organic pest control for vegetable gardens because as someone who has been gardening almost my whole life, I can tell you that no matter where you garden you’ll come up against some type of disease or pest. Natural and organic options aren’t as widely known among home gardeners and sometimes people get […]
Read MoreBy Melissa Norris | Herbal Remedies , Natural Medicine Cabinet , Podcast
Herbal home remedies for cold and flu that really work and how to choose the best one for you. When I first started looking at natural and home remedies I confess I was a little bit overwhelmed on how to go about doing it safely and effectively. Using home remedies and herbs isn’t the same […]
Read MoreBy Melissa Norris | Gardening , Podcast , Raising Your Own Food
Organic gardening was the only way our ancestors gardened, it’s only been in the last 80 years that modern agriculture and big farms have moved away from these practices. I’ve been gardening for two decades on my own but was raised with a garden and I like to say we did organic before it was […]
Read MoreBy Melissa Norris | Gardening , Podcast , Raising Your Own Food , Vegetables
I’m so excited to be sharing with you today in our 200th podcast episode about why soil health is important and ways to you improve your soil along with things you need to know about your soil to them improve it. To celebrate reaching 200 episodes and as a thank you to all my listeners […]
Read MoreBy Melissa Norris | Gardening , Herbal Remedies , Natural Medicine Cabinet , Podcast
Plant these herbal flowers from seed now for next spring. I love being able to grow herbs, not only because they make food taste better, but because many are aesthetically pleasing to have in my garden. In addition, so many of these flowers have medicinal qualities that we can use to help build our natural […]
Read MoreBy Melissa Norris | Gardening , Podcast , Raising Your Own Food
For most of us the summer garden is winding down. If you’re like me, you may be reflecting on what went wrong, what went right, and thinking about what could be done differently. We typically go into planning and prepping mode for the garden near the end of summer into fall and then again near […]
Read MoreBy Melissa Norris | Natural Medicine Cabinet , Podcast
Anyone can harvest flowers, but when you’re wanting to use those herbal flowers for medicinal purposes, there are a few things you need to know. I love planting flowers that are not only visually beautiful but that I can use for medicinal purposes and the ones highlighted below are some of my favorites! Listen in […]
Read More