For those of us who didn’t grow up on a farm or in a homesteading family, there can be a whole lot to learn. Learning as you go is what I did—I jumped in with both feet—but as always, it is best to learn from the experiences and trials of others.
One of the very best ways to do that is with podcasts. Podcasts are fun to listen to, and you can partake of the priceless wisdom gleaned by homesteaders just like you. In this article, I’ll be telling you about top 10 of the very best homesteading podcasts to subscribe to. I promise you’ll find a new favorite on this list.
Pioneering Today
A gateway podcast for many aspiring homesteaders, Pioneering Today is hosted by Melissa K. Norris, a woman who is a fifth-generation homesteader! Accordingly, she is a true wealth of real-deal generational knowledge covering gardening, home food preservation, farming skills, DIY, and a whole lot more.
This is one of the oldest podcasts on this list and still one of the very best, as it’s been running for more than 300 episodes. Host Melissa also brings on a variety of guests from time to time, each with a unique perspective and lots to teach listeners. It’s a great podcast—don’t miss it.
Listen to it here.
Old Fashioned On Purpose
Part of The Prairie Homestead family of homesteading resources, host Jill Winger has pretty much done it all when it comes to this lifestyle. She’s done so well, in fact, that she runs a side hustle mentoring beginning homesteaders, so you know she has the chops to be teaching others.
What I like most about this podcast is the wide variety of nuanced info, as Jill covers a lot of topics that many other folks in this space simply don’t—or don’t think to…
Managing your parental responsibilities while building a homestead, getting older children involved in the lifestyle and contributing, and even keeping up with things as you start getting older and slowing down.
Listen to it here.
Living Free in Tennessee
A catchy name for a great podcast! It sounds fun, light, and breezy, but don’t be fooled: the host, Nicole Sauce, pulls no punches when it comes to what homesteading is really about. It isn’t all Instagram-worthy pictures of boutique chicken coops and bespoke beehives!
Homesteading is oftentimes a slog, sometimes a real struggle, and occasionally, it can break your spirit.
The show handles all of this with candor and refreshing honesty—there’s no glazing over the bad times and the stuff that makes you want to quit. Her experience is priceless, and her testimony is a real gut check for some people.
Listen to it here.
The Urban Farm Podcast
When most folks imagine homesteading, they think of sprawling properties way out in the country. That is indeed the model for most of us, but you should remember that it’s possible to homestead anywhere, including in the city.
Take it from host Greg Peterson, an urban farmer who has accumulated a true treasure trove of practical knowledge, wisdom, and wit concerning making your own sustainable patch in the middle of a built-up and densely populated urban area.
Growing crops, raising animals, and maintaining that DIY spirit—it’s rarely easy, but it’s definitely possible in the city!
Listen to it here.
The Permaculture Podcast
Permaculture is the practice of trying to live in harmony with the environment and ecosystem on your property. Proper implementation of permaculture practices can reduce your workload, beautify your land, and dramatically increase yields, whatever it is you’re growing or making on your homestead.
Hands down, the very best podcast of its kind on this topic is The Permaculture Podcast by Scott Mann. He’s a noted master of the subject and a person with a boatload of hands-on experience that you’d be wise to learn from.
Listen to it here.
The Homestead Journey
A truly cozy podcast, and another oldie but goodie we’ll look at today, The Homestead Journey lives up to the name.
Brian and Bonnie, the showrunners, both come from their own homesteading families and have documented the highs, lows, joys, and frustrations that are attendant with the lifestyle—especially when you’re struggling to raise kids through the whole thing!
The couple practices what they preach, and they’ve spent the best part of their lives focusing on self-reliance and minimizing their own footprint on the land.
Sadly, no new episodes have been uploaded since the end of 2023, but there is an enormous archive for you to enjoy. Another great show you can’t miss!
Listen to it here.
The Survival Podcast
In my opinion, homesteaders need to remember that choosing to live on a homestead, especially one far away from the nucleus of society, entails certain risks. The cavalry won’t be riding to the rescue right away when things go horribly, terribly wrong.
This means you’ve got to be ready—really ready—for all eventualities. The Survival Podcast will tell you how and do so without any “howl at the moon” insanity that plagues some similar shows.
A secondary emphasis on sustainability, personal power generation, and thriving off-grid makes it all relevant info for homesteaders.
Listen to the podcast here.
Farm Small Farm Smart Daily
You’d be shocked what you can do with just a little bit of land. Would you believe it’s possible to feed your entire family and make a great living raising crops on just a single acre? It’s possible, and the Farm Small Farm Smart Daily podcast will show you how.
The hosts will walk you through cutting-edge techniques for maximizing efficiency, minimizing inputs, and overcoming the most common farming snags and other challenges, including issues on the business side of things.
Listen to it here.
Mountain Woman Radio
There are very few people in this sector that you could call genuine living legends, and Tammy Trayer is one of them.
Proprietor of Mountain Woman Radio, and perhaps better known for faithledliving.com and Faithledlearning.com, Tammy is an incredibly savvy homesteader who practices real pioneer living. She’s also an accomplished huntress and survivalist.
Plus, believe it or not, she’s a web designer and coder by trade, a remote skill set that helped her on her own homesteading journey. If you want to learn from somebody who walks the walk, this is the podcast to beat.
Listen to it here.
Beyond the Barn
For so many homesteaders, livestock are central to our plans. Whether it’s just a few chickens or a big herd of cows, you’ve got to know how to take care of them, keep them happy, and maximize your gains.
Beyond the Barn is hosted by Dr. Tanya Cubitt and Katy Starr, two experts who can tell you everything you need to know about livestock nutrition and care, breeding, and a whole lot more.
With two episodes released a month, you’ve got a lot of content to look forward to on that reliable schedule and a substantial archive of shows that is a veritable masterclass on this subject.
Listen to it here.
Tim is a farm boy with vast experience on homesteads, and with survival and prepping. He lives a self-reliant lifestyle along with his aging mother in a quiet and very conservative little town in Ohio. He teaches folks about security, prepping and self-sufficiency not just through his witty writing, but also in person.
Find out more about Tim and the rest of the crew here.