Random thoughts on America, controlling your destiny on your Homestead, and the beauty all around us.

Winter update of what's been going on, on the Homestead. 

Replaced windows and sliding glass doors in the house and the shop. 

About 80 percent done replacing the 1980's siding with James Hardee cement fiber board siding, board and bat style. 

New dairy calf on the farm and looking forward to butter, cheese, cream, and raw milk soon. 

22 Bresse chicks arrived in early January. Growing them out now. Loaded up the incubator with 54 eggs this week. Plan on buying another incubator next month to be able to incubate 81 chicks at a time. 

Getting the winter greens going in the greenhouse, and getting ready for spring planting as well. 

Dressing the fruit trees with compost, we'll prune mid-February. 

The water catchment system is working pretty well so far. Hope to add another 5,000 gallons to it this year. 

Land clearing on-going on the leased parcel. Hoping to cut and split 2 years worth of hardwood this spring to begin seasoning.

Have a first aid class that we're hosting in mid-February being put on by a buddy for friends and family.

Eager to see how the beehives come out of winter.

We are back in the saddle again talking about fences- both to keep the animals in and certain animals out along with a brief chat about cows both mini size, medium size, and large as well. We are looking forward to sharing our knowledge with you and to get back into the twice a week habit again.

What is your favorite way to contain your animals?

Russ and I talk about different ways to source food for farm animals. From growing your own to acquiring grains to simply raking leaves for your animals. Food can come from just about anywhere when you have farm animals to take care of- as long as you can think outside the box! Some ways we are doing this is Billy Bond's chicken tractor on steroids and growing more fodder trees to get tree hay. We hope you learn something with this "short" episode. 

In this episode, we are kicking off Season Two: Animals on the Farm by talking about infrastructure for the animals, containing smells (its the neighborly thing to do), setting up butcher dates for your animals to process, medical care, and not passing up on a hot deal. We are so excited and looking forward to this season with y'all as we had a 3 week break! Let us know if you have any comments or questions! Thanks for listening.

1. Cattle acquisition

2. Time lines on getting grass finished versus grain finished market weight

3. Schedule your appointment a year out

4. Freezer space requirements

5. Double wrap your steaks and roast

6. Cut sheet how to's. Watching (or having your customers watch) Hand Crafted on amazon Prime is a great start.

7. Amount of roasts to keep

8. Steak Thickness - 1.5 inches to 1.75 inches

9. Hamburger - 80/20 blend is my standard. The hows and why of this

10. Organ meat 

11. Bones - value for you

12. 21 day hang for tenderness

13. Labeling - Farm Name, Weight of package, Cut of meat in package

14. Picking up from butcher and dropping off with customer

What are your foundational principles?

How do you encourage a flourishing society in your home, your community and your nation?

Thoughts on fatherhood, leadership, Stoicism, community, and being a great husband.

In case our amazing listeners haven't noticed, our ending tag line is : Every day is an opportunity to learn something new.

How do we learn new things on the farm or in our every day lives? Many, many different ways!

First of all, you need to figure out your learning style. Then don't be afraid to fail because you will.

These are just some of the areas or ways that we learn:

-podcasts

-YouTube, Rumble, Odessy

-Facebook Groups

-Books: old, new, and used (Thriftbooks is an awesome opportunity!)

-Finding a mentor whether it be in person or online

-Makerspaces

-Local Community College or your Local FFA instructor

-USDA agent

-Master Gardener Groups

-Conferences (like Back to the Land or Self Reliance)

-Coworkers or Neighbors

-Your Tribe and Extended Family

Here is a small list of our favorite books:

-Temple Grandin's Guide to Working with Farm Animals

-Moving 'Em: A Guide to Low Stress Animal Handling by Burt Smith

-No Risk Ranching: Custom Grazing on Leased Land by Greg Judy

-The Lasater Philosophy of Cattle Rasing by Laurence M. Lasater

-The New Self-Sufficient Gardening by John Seymour

-Forging The Hero

-Farm and Workshop Welding by Andrew Pearce

-The Contrary Farmer by Gene Logsdon

-Polyface Micro by Joel Salatin

Thanks for listening!

In this episode, Russ and Andrea discuss the finer points of the farming and homesteading worlds which also can be found in the day to day routine as a human: not being a jerk! Many old timers are still stuck in their old ways, and we have to realize that this is okay. If they want to sell their livestock at the auction house and miss out on a 17% profit margin, that is their choice. You can ask why someone does something the way that they do, but never tell that it is wrong. The number one lesson that Russ and Andrea have learned: don't be a jerk herding livestock. This stresses the humans and the animals out which benefits no one. Always be generous with your neighbors, share your veg, eggs, meat, and kimchi with them. It is these neighbors that you can count on when you need to herd livestock or just hang out by the campfire! Enjoy.

This past weekend, we three piled into the Prius to Camden, Tenn to meet and listen to some of our favorite content creators in the permaculture/prepper/homesteading worlds. Some of the presenters included: Toolman Tim Cook, Dana McLendon from Tactical Response, Billy Bond from Perma Pastures Farm, Thecia Willis (a fellow Oklahoman) from Ellis Family Farms, Jack Spirko from The Survival Podcast, Joel Ryals and his awesome dogs from Fortress K9, TAG from Life Done Free (check out Freesteading.com for other like minded peeps), Ken Eash, John Bush from Live Free Academy, Michael Whisler from EasyPeasy Garden Solutions, Niti Ball from The Food Church along with Nicole Sauce from Living Free in Tennessee (the outstanding event coordinator) and John and Amanda Willis who graciously hosted this event at their shop: Special Equipment Operations.