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The LFTN Spring Workshop is a three-day immersive experience for homesteaders and future homesteaders who want working systems, real health, and a clear path forward. You’ll walk a functioning homestead, eat food grown inside a local network, learn how biology drives health and productivity, and explore what it takes to build a life—and a community—you actually choose.
Speakers Include
- Jack Spirko
- Alan Booker
- Sandor Katz
- Nicole Sauce
- Opelyn Brenger
- Kerry Brown
- John Pugliano
- Jenni Hill
- Michael Leonido
Why We Built the LFTN Spring Workshop the Way We Did
April 23–25 · Lancaster, Tennessee (One hour east of Nashville)
The LFTN Spring Workshop is a three-day, in-person gathering focused on homesteading, regenerative health, and building the life you choose.
This is not a conference or a retreat. It’s a working reset.
Sessions are designed to give you clarity, confidence, and momentum by seeing real systems in action and spending time with people who are actually doing the work.
Registration: $600
Reserve your spot: $200 deposit
Tickets go on sale: Saturday, January 31st at 9:00 AM Central
The Skinny
Dates: April 23–25
Location: Lancaster, TN
Format: Classroom sessions, demonstrations, land walks, tours, shared meals, and open conversations
Physical Demands: Not physically demanding; hands-on activities are optional
Food: Three meals per day included
Lodging: On-site tent camping (With a marvelous outdoor shower) + nearby Airbnbs and campgrounds
Transportation: Car recommended; on-site parking available
The workshop takes place on my working homestead. Most of the food you’ll eat is grown or raised here, or sourced through our local network. Very little comes from the commercial food system.
Why Get Together?
A lot of capable people feel stuck.
They know something is shifting in the economy, in technology, in how much of what we see online is even real, but they’re unsure where to focus next.
After years of podcast conversations about heritage skills and self-reliance, it became clear that people needed more than information. They needed time in person, on real land, seeing real systems: what’s working, what’s not, and how to adjust.
The LFTN Spring Workshop was built for exactly that.
Three Pillars
The weekend is structured around three connected areas. None stand alone.
1. Working Homestead Systems
You’ll see how real systems function in daily life, including:
- Biochar cookstove build — Opalyn Brenger
- Soil microbiology (hands-on with microscopes) — Alan Booker
- Rehabilitating pasture through grazing — Kerry Brown
- Natural fibers: finding them and caring for them — Opelyn Brenger
- Wild edible walk — Kerry Brown
- Bio-reactor compost check-in
- Tours of the food forest, gardens, mushroom systems, humanure setup, and solar system
This is not a fake “showpiece” homestead. You’ll see systems that are working, evolving, and still being figured out.
2. Regenerative Health & Biology
If your health is off, everything else gets harder.
This section connects soil biology, human biology, fermentation, herbalism, and nervous system regulation: focused on understanding systems well enough to make better decisions.
Sessions include:
- Microbiome for regenerative health — Alan Booker
- Wild fermentation & hands-on sauerkraut — Sandor Katz
- Herbal Remedies, Infusions and salves — Sherri Stickler
- Nervous system regulation and abundance — Jenni Hill
The goal isn’t perfection. It’s competence.
3. Build the Life You Choose
This is where abundance and momentum comes from.
We’ll focus on consistency, money, making things that matter, and building community instead of doing everything alone.
Sessions include:
- The 5 O’clock Club: Unstoppable daily progress — Jack Spirko
- Grifter’s guide to the Stock Market — John Pugliano
- Being a maker: connecting creation and improvement — Mike Leonido
- The Holler Hub: From Homestead to Community — Nicole Sauce
Celebrating TEN Years
This spring also marks ten years of the Living Free in Tennessee podcast.
What started as conversations about heritage skills and self-reliance has grown into a real network of people who care about doing things well, taking responsibility, and building something better — together.
It felt right to mark that milestone in person, on the land, with good food and good company.
One day during the workshop we’ll set aside time to celebrate with an epic, slow, shared meal — likely a whole roast lamb or pig — and spend the day cooking, tasting, and learning together. Jack Spirko will guide us through building great appetizers and more “cheffy” experiences along the way.
If you’ve been part of this community for years — or if you’re just stepping into it — this feels like the right moment to gather.
What the Weekend Feels Like
This is not a physically demanding weekend, but it is both inside and outside, so bring layers!
There are classroom sessions, demonstrations, walks, and optional hands-on activities. You can participate at the level that makes sense for you.
Much of the value comes from shared meals, open salons, land walks, and long, practical conversations. People typically leave clearer, calmer, and ready to move forward—not hyped up, but grounded.
Draft Agenda
Thursday
9:00–10:00 AM Breakfast
10:00–11:00 AM
Build an Estufa Finca — Opalyn Brenger
Starting with two five-gallon buckets, Opelyn will build an Estufa Finca designed by Art Donnelly (SeaChar.org).
11:15 AM–12:15 PM
Rehabilitating Pasture Through Grazing — Kerry Brown
12:15–1:15 PM Lunch
1:30–2:30 PM
Your Home Herbal Apothecary — Sherri Stickler
2:45–3:45 PM
Attracting Abundance Through Nervous System Regulation — Jenni Hill
4:00–4:30 PM
What Is the Holler Hub? — Nicole Sauce
4:30–5:30 PM
Practical Session — Patrick Roehrman
5:30–7:00 PM Open Salons & Tours: Wild edible walk, grazing systems, aquaponics, compost, gardens, mushrooms
7:00–8:00 PM Dinner
8:00 PM–Late Fun
Friday
9:00–10:00 AM Breakfast
10:00 AM –12:15 PM
Microbiome for Regenerative Health — Alan Booker
Many people have become aware of the importance of the gut microbiome for human health, but the gut microbiome exists within the much wider context of the environmental microbiome and the EMF/RF environment in which you live. After a brief tour of the nested environmental microbiomes and the landscape of EMF/RF pollution, we will explore a range of practical steps you can take to make your own environment healthier and safer.
12:15–1:15 PM Lunch
1:30–2:30 PM
Wild Fermentation & Hands-On Sauerkraut — Sandor Katz
2:45–3:45 PM
Being a Maker: Connect Creation and Improvement — Mike Leonido
4:00–5:00 PM
Grifter’s Guide to the Stock Market — John Pugliano
5:00–7:00 PM
From Field to Feast: The Art of the Appetizer — Jack Spirko
7:00–8:00 PM Dinner – A celebration of 10 years of LFTN
8:30 PM Barter Blanket
Saturday
9:00–10:00 AM Breakfast
10:00–11:00 AM
The 5 O’Clock Club: Unstoppable Progress — Jack Spirko
Turn intention into action through consistent daily execution without hustle or hype. Learn how one protected block of time, done first, creates momentum for real progress.
11:15 AM–12:15 PM
Soil Biology and Ecological Cultivation (Presentation)— Alan Booker
Let’s pull out the microscopes and take a deep-dive into the world of soil microbiology and how it is the key to growing nutrient-dense real food. We will explore the differences between ecological and chemical cultivation, the importance of the soil microbiome in seed saving, the dynamics of multi-species quorum sensing, and why even anaerobic organisms can sometimes end up being helpful.
12:15–1:15 PM Lunch
1:30–2:30 PM
Soil Biology and Ecological Cultivation (Microscope and hands On) — Alan Booker
2:45–3:45 PM
Natural Fibers — Opalyn Brenger
4:00–5:00 PM
The Holler Hub: From Homestead to Community — Nicole Sauce
5:00–7:00 PM Open Salons & Tours: Bio reactor compost check in
7:00–8:00 PM Dinner
8:00 PM–Late Fun
A Note for Introverts
If you’re worried about group energy, know this: this is a group of doers who respect space.
Engage deeply or step back when you need to. Introverts tend to do very well here.
Why Now
The economy is shifting. AI is blurring what’s real. And we’re primed for a homestead and small-farm revival.
This workshop is for people who feel that shift and want to respond with clarity, skill, and community.