Melissa K NorrisLeisure, Education
Melissa K NorrisLeisure, Education
Melissa K NorrisLeisure, Education
Melissa K NorrisLeisure, Education

About

Pioneering Today is all about getting back to basics, simple living, and self-sufficiency with old-fashioned skills and wisdom in a modern world. With heirloom gardening, canning, preserving the harvest, from scratch cooking, raising your own food, including livestock (backyard chickens, pigs, and cattle), natural medicine, herbs, DIY like soap making along with living a simple self-sufficient life, no matter where you live. Hosted by 5th generation homesteader, Melissa K. Norris, author of The Made-from-Scratch Life. This podcast brings you the conversation from MelissaKNorris.com and The Pioneering Today Academy, with Q&A's, teaching, tutorials, and always giving you practical ways and tips to live the simple and self-sufficient life.

  • EP: 424 Growing Fruit Trees Fast with Susan Poizner
    Join me and my guest, Susan Poizner, as we discuss the basics of growing fruit trees. With a few tips under your belt, you’ll know what fruit tree varieties will work best for your climate, when to plant your trees, and the nine tips for getting...
  • EP: 423 Homesteading 101 Series (Back to the Basics): Gardening
    Join me as I continue on in this Homesteading 101 Series (Back to the Basics). Today’s episode is all about the basics of gardening. Which ultimately means understanding the basics of soil. You don’t have to be a soil expert, or a biochemist to...
  • EP: 422 The Medicinal Benefits of Mushrooms with Dr. Christopher Hobbs
    Join me for this podcast interview with Dr. Christopher Hobbs as we discuss the health benefits of mushrooms. The benefits are vast, and when you consider that you can easily grow mushrooms at home (or forage for them nearly everywhere), it gets even...
  • EP: 421 Growing Nut Trees on a Homestead Scale (What You Need to Know)
    One of the crops that’s easily overlooked for growing a sustainable food source on the homestead is the nut tree. As with fruit trees, once a nut tree is established, it can produce food for your family for decades (and even generations) to come....
  • EP: 420 Homesteading 101: Back to the Basics Series
    Join me for this podcast series on Homesteading 101: Back to the Basics. We know countless people are joining this homesteading movement, and I would like to hold the door open and welcome you in. In this series we’ll be discussing the five pillars...
  • EP: 419 GMO Seeds & The Recent Changes You Need to Be Aware Of
    For the first time ever, genetically modified seeds have been made available to the common gardener for home use. I’ve been hearing from many home gardeners how excited they are to grow this new variety of tomato in their home garden, which to be...
  • EP: 418 What You NEED to Know About Bug Out Bags
    Are you under the impression that you live in a pretty secure area, free of threats from natural disasters or wide-spread emergencies? I invite you to listen to today’s podcast and you may reconsider just how prepared you and your family are....
  • EP: 417 Don't Wait! Planning Your Medicinal Herb Garden
    Now is the time to be thinking about your medicinal herb gardens. When planning to stock your herbal medicine cabinets, the planning starts well before harvest. Whether you’re growing your own medicinal herbs, just getting started with an herb...
  • EP: 416 Truth About Meat Labels & Regenerative Farming with White Oak Pastures
    With meat labeling laws being changed right before our eyes, it's getting harder and harder to trust where our meat is coming from, and how it was raised and processed. Will Harris and his daughter Jenni from White Oak Pastures share the steps...
  • EP: 415 The Gut-Brain Connection w/ Dr. Mayer
    Let's dive into the gut-brain connection and how to improve our gut for better overall health and wellness. If you've been around here for any length of time, you know we discuss the importance of our gut health. 70-80% of our gut health is located in...
  • EP: 414 Health Update & the Need for Margin in Our Lives
    This week I’m sharing my health update (post surgery) as well as my battle with a 35 day virus(es). I’m also sharing my need for margin, and some of the health changes I’m making in 2024. If you find yourself nearing burnout, don’t wait until...
  • EP: 413 What Happens in Winter When You Double Your Cattle Herd
    This past week we were running our cattle herd through the system for getting tags (which helps track lineage), castration and overall wellbeing. Having a larger operation has meant some changes for these practices. If you’re thinking about raising...
  • EP: 412 The Nourishing Asian Kitchen with Sophia Eng
    Join me with Sophia Eng, author of The Nourishing Asian Kitchen, as we discuss her journey into homesteading, motherhood, homeschooling, blogging and becoming a cookbook author. No doubt you’ve heard of the Nourishing Traditions cookbook by Sally...
  • EP: 411 My Health Update and Need for Surgery
    As promised, in today’s episode I’m spilling the beans on the health issues I’ve been having for the past few years. Turns out, what I thought was a damaged muscle turned out to be a tumor. By the time you’re hearing this, I should be happily...
  • EP: 410 Our Broken Food System
    I’ve been traveling for the past two weeks. In fact, in about a 14 day period, I was only home a few of those days. What I noticed was the huge lack of healthy food available in many parts of the United States. I’ve become quite accustomed to...
  • EP 409: How Much $$ Can YOU REALLY Make Homesteading
    Welcome back to part two of my series on answering your questions. In today’s episode, I’m sharing a bit more of the “behind-the-scenes” of what it takes to run my business. From how much time per day I spend on my job, to how many people I...
  • EP: 408 - Answering Your Questions: Homesteading Edition
    Welcome back to another episode of the Pioneering Today Podcast. In today’s episode, I’ll be answering your questions from social media. All these questions pertain to homesteading, so we’re calling this the “Homesteading Edition” and I’ll...
  • EP: 407 - Creating a No-Waste Kitchen w/ Mary's Nest
    Have you ever wondered how people manage to grocery shop, cook from-scratch meals for their family, and have no waste coming out of their homes? They make it look so easy! Though it might not be easy, it is simple. Join me for today’s podcast with...
  • EP: 406 Can You SAFELY Can Previously Frozen Foods?
    Have you ever wondered if it’s safe to can previously frozen foods? I’m here to tell you it is, but with a few caveats. There are certain foods I wouldn’t feel comfortable canning after it has been frozen (and I’ll share why in the podcast),...
  • EP: 405 Medicinal Herbs & Their Uses with Kaylee Richardson
    Come hang out with me and Kaylee Richardson (from The Honeystead) as we discuss our favorite medicinal herbs and their uses. For more information and any links mentioned in this episode, visit .