The Hearthside has been open for a few weeks now.

I've had a few people ask what it actually looks like on the inside. What shows up, how often, what it feels like to be a member. That's a fair question and it deserves a straight answer.

So here's exactly what happens.

The note from the cabin

Once a month, members get a written dispatch. A few hundred words from up here. What's happening on the land, what I'm building, what the season looks like right now. What's on my mind.

It's not a newsletter in the way most people think of newsletters. It's closer to a letter. The kind you used to get from someone you knew who lived somewhere interesting and took the time to write it down.

There's no roundup of links, no productivity tips, no content strategy. I write it when something is worth saying. Sometimes that's something I built. Sometimes it's something I noticed. Sometimes it's just what a particular morning felt like up here, and why that matters to me.

The members-only videos

This is the content that never made it to YouTube.

Not because it isn't good. Because it doesn't fit the platform. Too slow. Too quiet. No project reveal, no thumbnail moment. More Cali, more nature, more simple cabin life.

A fire being laid in the dark. Cali working the tree line in fresh snow. A morning that goes nowhere in particular except forward. The content that shows the emotion of why I do what I do, not just the skill or the outcome.

Members get this every month. It lives in the hub on the My Self Reliance website, alongside everything else.

The podcast

Every month there's a podcast episode recorded by the woodstove. Quiet conversation. No agenda. The kind of talk you used to have before everyone got so busy.

Some episodes are just me. Some involve a guest — someone who's built something real or learned something the hard way. All of them are the kind of thing you put on during a commute and arrive somewhere feeling steadier than when you left.

Cali's at my side, as always.

What arrives in the mail

A few times a year, members get something in the mail from the cabin.

Something small. I'm deliberate about what it is. It should feel like something I pulled off a shelf up here and thought — someone would want this. Something that evokes the feeling I get when I'm here. Not merchandise. Not a promotion. Just something real, from up north, that lands on your doorstep and stays there.

The discounts

Members get a discount on everything in the My Self Reliance store. Chaga, future provisions, anything I make or stock. The discount applies automatically when you're logged in as a member.

What it costs

$15 a month. Limited membership, so I can stay available to the people who are in it.

No contracts. No annual commitment required. Cancel any time.

If you want to see it for yourself

The cabin's open. Link below.

I'll see you inside. Take care.