Our Journey from Passionate Dreamers to Homesteading Educators
For Josh and Carolyn Thomas, co-founders of the School of Traditional Skills, it all began decades ago in a second-floor apartment in Southern California. Along with their growing family, they started a journey rooted in necessity and a desire for healthier, more nutritious food.
What began with a few vegetable plants on the balcony—and plenty of trial and error—eventually blossomed into a full-fledged homesteading lifestyle. Today, the Thomas family lives on 40 acres in North Idaho, where, with many of their 11 children, they raise all their own meat, produce 90% of their dairy, and grow 75% of their fruits and vegetables using regenerative practices.
Through their website and YouTube channel, Josh and Carolyn have inspired thousands to embrace a more resilient, self-sufficient lifestyle.
In 2022, Josh and Carolyn co-founded the School of Traditional Skills to bring together expert Instructors with a shared mission of helping others live healthier, more secure, and abundant lives by learning the essential skills for modern homesteading.
Every Instructor brings decades of experience plus a wealth of wisdom to their class. The result is you get a guide who comes along side you to help you in the kitchen, garden, pasture, and beyond.
Meet a few of Our Expert Homestead Instructors
Joel Salatin
Polyface Farms
Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms proudly wears the label “lunatic farmer,” and the genius that flows from that shows in his regenerative agriculture principles, business endeavors, and the influence he has worldwide.
Shawn & Beth Dougherty
One Cow Revolution
Shawn and Beth Dougherty, authors of The Independent Farmstead, have developed a closed-loop regenerative farm centered on the family dairy cow and are passionate about improving homesteads one cow at a time.
Sally Fallon Morell
Weston A. Price Foundation
Sally Fallon Morell is the original influencer for traditional foods, bone broth, raw milk, and all things real, nourishing food through the Weston A. Price Foundation and her world-famous book, Nourishing Traditions.
Lisa Bass
Farmhouse on Boone
Lisa Bass began fermenting food years ago as a way to improve her family's gut health, which naturally transitioned into helping others strengthen their bodies through natural food preservation methods.
Melissa K. Norris
Pioneering Today
Melissa K. Norris is a fifth generation homesteader, who uses her vast knowledge to pass on practical and successful methods to simplify the homesteading lifestyle.
Paul Gautschi
Back to Eden Gardening
Paul Gautschi began applying the Back to Eden Method to his garden decades ago with marvelous results and has inspired others the world over to do the same.
Dr. Patrick Jones
Homegrown Herbalist
Dr. Patrick Jones has been a licensed veterinarian and clinical herbalist for decades and now passes on his knowledge through an herbalism online school.
Mary Shrader
Mary's Nest
Mary Shrader understands the restorative power of food and friendship and teaches people how to extend those to their friends and neighbors through the art of food preservation through her site Mary’s Nest.
Brandon Sheard
Farmstead Meatsmith
Brandon Sheard of the Farmstead Meatsmith learned how to holistically and traditionally harvest animals and now teaches others how to artfully butcher livestock on the home scale.
Glean from all of these Instructors' wisdom and experience in one membership
Noah Sanders
Redeeming the Dirt
Noah Sanders, founder of Redeeming the Dirt, is passionate about educating others about the benefits of gardening in soil amended with compost created from locally sourced materials.
Brian Lowell
Next Level Gardening
Brian Lowell of Next Level Gardening has had a nearly lifelong passion for gardening, as evidenced by his beautiful organic garden and his passion to help others find freedom in gardening productively.
Darcy Baldwin
The Purposeful Pantry
Darcy Baldwin began her journey into food preservation with a need to stretch a shoestring grocery budget, but over time, it developed into a way to teach others how to do the same through The Purposeful Pantry.
Will Bonsall
Scattered Seed Project
Will Bonsall, the founder of the Scatterseed Project, is one of the leading curators of endangered garden plant species and has brought other gardeners on his journey by teaching them about seed saving.
David the Good
The Survival Gardener
David the Good and his large family have successfully subsistence gardened for years and through his books and YouTube channel, he teaches others how to do the same with the least amount of stress possible.
Kristin Nobles
Generation Acres Farm
Kristin Nobles of Generation Acres Farm discover the incredible transfomative benefits of making bread at home with fresh milled flours and now teaches others how to improve their own health through homemade bread.
Adam Martin
Bee Kept
Adam Martin lost eight of his nine hives by the end of his first winter as a beekeeper, which prompted him to look into apiary methods patterned off of nature. Now he teaches others how to sustainably keep bees in their backyards.
Shannon Hayes
Sap Bush Hollow Farm
Shannon Hayes of Sap Bush Hollow Farm uses her PhD in sustainable agriculture and community development to grow sustainable meats then turn them into delicious dishes that integrate well into busy lifestyles.
Bevin Cohen
Small House Farm
Bevin Cohen is an award-winning author of five books, an herbalist, owner of Small House Farm in central Michigan, and host of the Seeds & Weeds podcast.
Nicholas Burtner
School of Permaculture
Nicholas Burtner quickly learned to love permaculture and the resilience it afforded his lifestyle, which naturally bloomed into a passion to educate and provide consultation for those who needed it.
Justin Rhodes
Abundant Permaculture
Justin Rhodes began raising his own meat chickens to provide nutrient-dense food for his family, which then became a passion of showing others how to do the same.
Harvey Ussery
The Modern Homestead
Harvey Ussery integrates chickens throughout his whole homestead so seamlessly that people clamored to learn his methods, resulting in empowering hundreds of other homesteaders to do the same.
Patrick Roehrman
MT Knives
Patrick Roehrman learned how to effectively sharpen knives as an adult, a hard-earned victory that almost immediately resulted in teaching others so they could enjoy the benefits of the practice.
Maureen Diaz
God's Good Table
Maureen Diaz grew up with the benefits of eating real food, so when she stepped into marriage and motherhood, she wanted to have a healthy family and teach others to do the same.
Anne Briggs
Anne of All Trades
Anne Briggs quickly embraced the homesteading lifestyle after beginning to raise and grow her own food. Eventually, that expanded into a 30-acre homestead and teaching others disappearing lifeskills.
Rick Stone
Stoney Acres Farm
Rick Stone has been growing a majority of his family’s produce for decades to ensure they got the highest quality nutrition possible. He began to teach others how to improve their gardening skills about 12 years ago so they could do the same.
Josh Thomas
Homesteading Family
Josh Thomas began learning and applying permaculture principles to his and his wife Carolyn’s homestead as a way to sustainably feed his family. As they began to master more, they turned what they knew and were learning into helping others reach their homesteading potential.
Carolyn Thomas
Homesteading Family
Carolyn Thomas has dedicated her life to learning and applying traditional skills to her homesteading ventures and gets great joy from passing those abilities on to others.
A membership with the School of Traditional Skills invites ALL of these real-life homesteading experts onto your land and into your home. Gain from their decades of hands-on experience and skip the years of trial and error.