Homesteading Chef

There are two types of people moving to homesteads this year. The first runs at it with their face first willing to get knocked down, bloodied, and sucking for air. The other is a person who is stuck in analysis paralysis. Both are destined for failure because they fail to plan. 

Planning your homestead can be scary, putting pen to paper to start those first steps. This is a break down of how we plan our homestead and how this plan can benefit you!

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Our family homestead is going through BIG changes in egg layer chickens, cornish cross meat chickens, and maybe even quail? 2025 is quickly approaching and if we are going to turn this homestead into a homestead business we need to make changes to what we are doing. Let us discuss the changes coming to our homestead together. This is a podcast style conversation discussing the good and bads of 2024 and how we plan on turning it around in 2025.

00:00 Introduction and Overview 
01:04 Reflecting on 2024: Chicken Farming Insights 
02:36 The Value of Raising Your Own Chickens 
05:05 Secondary Uses of Chickens 
08:20 Convenience of Canning and Preservative-Free Living 
0:28 Future Plans: Outdoor Smoker Project 

Chef Jon (Jonathan) Boyd is a national television chef personality with a passion for farm to table cuisine. His passion for "farm fresh" led him to a path to grow the best ingredients. On his homestead in Crystal Springs, MS, Jonathan gives a behind the scenes look into the world of homestead along with cooking videos created to inspire and create a more sustainable lifestyle. Join our email behind the scenes email filled with conversations with other homesteaders, exclusive content about our farm and kitchen, and offers from our business partners at: https://www.homesteadingchef.com/ #farmstead #familyfarm #homesteading #homestead #homesteadmistakes #homesteaddreams #homesteadplanning #food #sustainable #homesteadingchannel #homesteadingforbeginners #podcast #homesteadingpodcast #podcasting #sustainablefarming #sustainableliving https://www.homesteadingchef.com/

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Homesteading is FRUSTRATING sometimes. It seems everything is about growing bigger and bigger on your homestead, meanwhile you are burning like a candle on both ends. It may be time to downsize your homestead! You heard me right, DOWNSIZE YOUR HOMESTEAD! I have learned through experience that less is more and when i downsize my farm and focus i have double if not triple the production from my homestead. We are discussing downsizing our operations to best benefit us and why it might be a great idea for you. Animal Health, Land Regeneration, and Season of Life are just 3 (of many more) why we are down sizing. Take a deep dive with us as we discuss our decision to downsize the homestead to maximize the quality of production from our homestead.

00:00 Introduction to Downsizing the Homestead
00:32 Meet Jonathan Boyd: The Homesteading Chef
01:26 Why Downsizing is Essential for Animal Health
02:17 Improving Genetics for Better Livestock
05:11 Managing Land and Pasture Health
07:18 Balancing Homesteading with Life's Seasons
09:05 The Surprising Success of a Smaller Garden
12:40 Practical Steps to Downsizing
14:12 Explore More: Homestead Tours and Cooking Videos

Chef Jon (Jonathan) Boyd is a national television chef personality with a passion for farm to table cuisine. His passion for "farm fresh" led him to a path to grow the best ingredients. On his homestead in Crystal Springs, MS, Jonathan gives a behind the scenes look into the world of homestead along with cooking videos created to inspire and create a more sustainable lifestyle. Join our email behind the scenes email filled with conversations with other homesteaders, exclusive content about our farm and kitchen, and offers from our business partners at:

https://www.homesteadingchef.com/

#farmstead #familyfarm #homesteading #homestead #homesteadmistakes #homesteaddreams #homesteadplanning #food #sustainable #homesteadingchannel #homesteadingforbeginners #podcast #homesteadingpodcast #podcasting #sustainablefarming #sustainableliving #hellskitchen

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Identifying the perfect Livestock Guardian dog for your family homestead can be very difficult. All puppies are cute and adorable, but how do you pick out the monsters from the future homestead saviors? This episode is to help you identify key features while picking out your future livestock guardian angel.

https://www.homesteadingchef.com/

00:00 Starting Our Homestead Journey 
00:24 Puppies: The Ultimate Solution 
00:40 Breeding and Raising Puppies 
01:30 Selecting the Best Puppies 
05:41 Training and Socializing Puppies 
06:28 Join Our Community 
07:36 Conclusion and Farewell 

Chef Jon (Jonathan) Boyd is a national television chef personality with a passion for farm to table cuisine. His passion for "farm fresh" led him to a path to grow the best ingredients. On his homestead in Crystal Springs, MS, Jonathan gives a behind the scenes look into the world of homestead along with cooking videos created to inspire and create a more sustainable lifestyle. Join our email behind the scenes email filled with conversations with other homesteaders, exclusive content about our farm and kitchen, and offers from our business partners at: https://www.homesteadingchef.com/ #farmstead #familyfarm #homesteading #homestead #homesteadmistakes #homesteaddreams #homesteadplanning #food #sustainable #homesteadingchannel #homesteadingforbeginners #podcast #homesteadingpodcast #podcasting #sustainablefarming #sustainableliving #livestockguardiandog #greatpyrenees #puppies #puppiesofinstagram #homesteadpuppies #lgds #livestockdogs #livestock #greatpyrenees #farming https://www.homesteadingchef.com/

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Pastured Pigs have been a dream of ours for many years as we began our homesteading journey. Our family homestead now hosts 10 pigs. 4 Berkshire, 2 Guinea Hogs, and 6 Kune Kunes. It has been a journey, but I recognize that this might not be for everyone. Listen in as I discuss why pigs might not be for you. This was recorded while doing chores and working on the homestead. So have fun and enjoy the sounds of the homestead.

#homesteading #pasturedpork #pastured Pigs

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https://www.homesteadingchef.com/

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I'm excited to have a special guest/co host on our podcast. She brings a lot of experience and something new to the table. She is my beautiful wife Maryeve. Together we talk about the top 5 things we did wrong when we began homesteading nearly a decade ago (and the mistakes we continue to make)

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In this pocast , I'll share the secrets about pastured pork that I wish I knew earlier. If you're into homesteading or looking to learn more about pastured pork, this video is for you! Raising pastured pigs can be very risky. Homesteaders often have to learn the hard way on on how raise pigs. Listen in and deep dive into what I have learned from having pastured pigs on the homestead. #homesteadingchannel #homesteading #homesteadersofamerica #homesteaders #homesteadersofinstagram #pasturedpork #pasturedpigs #farmtotable #farmtofork #growyourfood #pigs #pigsofyoutube #pigstagram #pastures #chef

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Looking to earn some money while homesteading? Check out my top 5 homestead businesses for success and profits! These ideas are perfect for anyone looking to make money while living a self-sufficient lifestyle.

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Ever wondered what would happen in a worse case scenario in our country? Where would you eat, how would you provide? This episode breaks down the 5 essential skills for surviving through a worst case scenario. 

This is a break from the norm, but fun to put on the tin foil hat and have fun on the homestead after witnessing the AT&T outages. 

Make sure to leave your comments  below on what essential skills you think would be necessary to survive on your homestead in toughest of times. 

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Growing lamb on the homestead can be very difficult if we are not considering a few points on our homesteads. It seems like everything on the planet kills baby lambs. Bobcats, coyotes, stray dogs, ant beds, etc it feels can kill a baby lamb. Essentially in the first 6 months, an infininte amount of probabilities could kill a baby lamb. So how do we deter death, and make lambing a successful, maybe even profitable part of our homestead. 

We need to consider 5 Thoughts when raising lambs to be successful. 

1st is their diet. Their diet drastically changes during the ewe's 150 day gestation period and continuing on until that lamb is weened from its mom.This past summer we experienced a devastating drought that sun burned the fields eliminated much of their year's supply of in-pasture hay. We are relying on expensive hay and grain to maintain their diet. It is not ideal but necessary to keep nutrient rich diets. 

2nd- Be Prepared! Have all of your supplies ready to go for lambing season. Livestock bottles, iodine, sanitized sheers in case you need to cut an umbilical cord, gloves, and colostrum are important to have around. It is not uncommon to have a ewe who either cannot produce the milk required to sustain that baby (normally in my experience a first time mom) or the mom entirely rejects the baby. We our 50+ lambs we have birthed here on our homestead in the last 3 years, we have had 3 rejected baby lambs that needed to be bottle fed for their first 12 weeks. I wish it were less than that, but it has kept us always prepared because it has happened in the past. All three were either part of twins or triplets born where one sibling was accepted and the other not as lucky. We, as dominion managers of the homestead, have to be there to pick up the slack. In all three cases it resulted in a healthy sheep that was either butchered for meat supply, or healthy to be a mothering ewe in the pasture now. 

3rd- Protection and Monitoring. We have to be extra on our toes during lambing season. My ewes, or mother sheep, typically give birth between the 145-150th day, but it is almost always on the beginning of a cold snap. I cannot count how many times I have had to get baby lambs out of an icy, snowy field that the mom left behind. If it were not for my guardian dogs who watch my flocks, I would have been very disappointed. Marla, our main alpha lady our main pasture is the first line of defense versus predators, and even themselves. She managed to lick the newborn lamb clean, and lay with it to keep it warm, when we arrived she went crazy until we went and saw her out in the field. It was an amazing experience and awe struck moment in my homesteading life that my livestock dog was that "on the job." We have to be monitoring listening to their sounds and their bodies. We should be noticing changes in the milk bags and nipples as well as sounds in their voice. It is the first signs of lambing season is upon us.

5th- A lambing area  is crucial if you have multiple ewes or mixed livestock inside of your barn. Our barn has mixed animals in there. I have the livestock dogs, goats, sheep, and the occasional stray cow that finds their way into the barn. If not careful, a baby lamb could easily be trampled during feeding time. Having a safe area where they can mother their child, eat, and have clean water is crucial in the first few weeks. During the day I typically allow the mom and the babies to be in the pasture knowing that Marla, Saki, Tofu, and Sushi have them protected in the pasture. In the barn area though it is important we are protecting them for larger animals. 

#animals, #lambingseason #lambs #ewes #homesteading #homesteaders #homesteadersofamerica #homesteadersofinstagram #farming #farmtotable

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