Building a Homestead in 100 Days - Day 19

Day 19 of 100 Days Building a Homestead. You're looking at our site. You're looking at future silvo pasture. You're looking at the future road. This place is going to get under control today. We're clearing pasture like Joel Salatin himself, and let me tell you this, it's very affordable, very accessible. You're going to be motivated by this. Don't think too much. 'Cause it's very simple. It's been a while since he fell asleep on me. He's been stirring since like 4:30, woke up at 5:00. Just got up, got going, I put him on my back and he fell asleep. Yeah, he's awake now, he's saying tractor. You know he's awake when he's saying tractor. You wanna see brother? There you go. We're getting up even earlier today. Physical therapy at 10 because Lily's got horses at 11. We want to get that critical 2 hours of clearing in if we can help it. Look how dark it is at 7. There's been talk of a mini excavator, track loader. We got lucky for our PTO tractor needs. Oh, grab one of the funnels.

That one's empty. That one's empty.

That one got some in it. Uh-oh, we're missing two of these Eagle cans, aren't we? A little bit in this one, but Lucky won't lift 2,000 pounds safely. We order feed by the 2,000-pound tote. Uh, we could order 1,000-pound totes and he'll do it, but Uh, they tend to stack them on each other, and it's just— even with 1,000 pounds, it's a little too tricky. And Lucky got his name because it doesn't always start. You know, I think there's a gas down at the garage. Is the fuel light still blinking?

Yeah. Okay.

I asked my mentor Joel Salatin in an email, have you ever cleared significant amounts of land and how? And I, I remembered that I thought they probably did it with chainsaws, but is that true? The greatest farm in America, they would have an insight on how to do that the most cost-effective way. I was kind of thinking I would need both those machines, which would be a significant amount of money. Joel might have just saved me tens of thousands of dollars. Of course the boys are mad at me. They still have to get a track later, so maybe that helps.

But anyway, we're almost to milk.

I'll share with you, as we saw, what I learned from Joel on how to clear a pasture on a budget. So you go turn the fence off. Do you need the headlamp? No, we're just gonna leave Sally right there with the light on at all. Let's see if we can't do the cow chores in about an hour. Sheep, sheep, sheep, sheep, sheep! We're a little backwards today. The cow's milk sled couldn't go with them. Up the hill. It's too hard to make such a sharp turn with it being so heavy, so we just didn't put it in there with them. So we're gonna backtrack the cows to it, and this is not irritating. They're all out of— they're all confused. Wrong way, wrong way. There you go. That's it. Good. It's going pretty smooth so far. Next up, we got to get the calves out of here because if we bring the mamas into this stanchion here, they're going to be all over it. Come on, guys. I know it's different.

I know it's different.

Boy, I'm happy how this is going so far. Now let's see if we can get the mamas over. Is there a joint right there? There he is. Lucky day. We can open it right there, and the mama cows are right there. This is not the routine, and bored animals like routine. Call the Inquirer. It's going smooth. The cows and the sheep do not have internet. So I'm thinking they're acting up a bit just for the kicks and giggles, aren't you? Just something different. The problem is if I set this up in here, she'll probably roll down the hill. And if I don't, I set it right here, she'll probably bust this fence that's not on. I'm gonna risk it. You're gonna roll it down the hill. I could give her some, but she'll eat it before we milk, and then she won't be still while we're milking. Hey, you didn't do too bad. I'll show you some of Joel's techniques for clearing land in a minute. It's accessible to all, pretty much. Actually, it's interesting enough, somebody said if you can only have one tool in homesteading, or the first tool that you should get You know what I said? It would be a chainsaw because you're likely going to be clearing, and it's one of the most efficient uses of fossil fuel ever. Just yesterday we probably— what was that? A little spooky out here at night. Joe, you ever clear a significant amount of acres? He said, well, depends on what a significant amount is, but we do about 2 acres a year. Every winter with chainsaws. I don't know, something about that really resonated. 2 acres once a year, that leaves room for, you know, that's not like all-consuming. That leaves time for other things, for like homesteading, for other activities. And if a market farm like Joel with apprentices and employees. I think that's still quite an ambitious goal for a homesteader, but I think it's quite possible. I don't know, we're gonna find out in this 100 days. Our goal is becoming quite more clear. We've located our spot. We know where this acreage is now that we're gonna set up. We're gonna clear 2 acres worth of pasture during this 100 days. We're gonna get access in. We're gonna establish some access We're going to find water. We've already explored it because after all, a goal without a plan— let's say a specific plan— is just a wish. And we ain't gonna wish around here. My dad used to say, which he died 3 years ago today, poop in one hand, wish in another, see which one gets filled the fastest. What kind of weird saying is that?

Which one filled up?

Oh, I love it, I love it. I don't know, you tell me. Imagine it, Lily. Poop in one hand, wish in the other, and see which one fills up the fastest. Which one do you think will fill up the fastest?

Wishing?

You say, I wish for this, and then it will do it. I'm pretty sure it's saying wishing isn't very practical. Joel's also clearing those 2 acres in the winter, and that makes total sense. There's no meat birds stairs. The animals are on deep bedding, chores are easier, and the leaves are clear, so it's easy to get in there. Just makes total sense. If I've got, uh, 10, 15, 20 acres maybe to clear to max this out, that's just 5 to 10 years. That's very reasonable plan. Our family's growing, we'll be needing To eat more, we'll need more land. I think that's why we're doing this. We already need more land, but 2 acres more a year is 1 more cow a year. Horse. It is just past 8 when we wanted to start sawing to have 2 hours. We did just get— we did get the milk. What's your hurry, honey?

She's crazy.

Whoa, whoa, whoa! You made it to the fence!

I am happy about that. I think it's smooth sailing from here. It's already 8:15. If I'm being real, 9 o'clock is, uh, even a hard target. I'm gonna have mercy on myself because we are missing one of our main workers. Jonah, what'd you do, clean up in here? Looks good. Made a breakfast too. Heck yeah! You know what I could do with you too? I could teach you how to sharpen a chainsaw and you could be queuing us up in the morning. Get in. Really? Yeah, it's time to go. Where are your shoes? You probably need to look at some dirt pile where you would have thrown them off at. Did you find them?

Yeah.

Oh, good deal. Hey, remember, we're supposed to get those ready at night. What? We're starting to do nighttime routines to get ready for the next day. I think if you want a miracle morning, it starts with a miracle evening. Means getting as much chores done as you can. Bad news is we've only got an hour left. The good news is we queued up our saw yesterday and never got time to use it, so we're ready to go. Probably one good round of chainsawing It's official, the new homestead is across the creek.

What are we doing here?

We're working it up, my friend. So far, that's our favorite spot, the house spot up there. That means for our 2 acres of clearing, we're gonna start at the house side, and for the— in this case, it's gonna come along the property line right through there. You can see the tape right there. So from here over all the way to where we came in, but we might as well start where the house is going to be and work our way down. I'm trying to find a tree that we could demo for showing how Joel Salatin clears pasture. They chip everything that they can, so we're going to start stacking these nice in order, not do brush piles, but stack them nice so that when we get a chipper we can throw them in it easier. Okay, when we rent one or hire a crew or whatever, then we'll demo how Joel takes down a bigger tree. This is a tricky area here. It's pretty much a ravine. I don't know if water eventually goes through here. If we can smooth this out, that would be a reason, another reason for a track loader. I've pretty much ruled out I think Joel's helped save me on the mini excavator. There's not running water, but there definitely has been. This is, this is an event of a rain, I imagine. But I'm thinking we could smooth this out. Doesn't have to be so jagged, and then this will be usable. This will be absolutely stunning. With the time we have this morning, let's clear these little trees away. From this, I don't know, foot in diameter tree. We'll fell it like Joe. Let's stack the brush here, trunk down.

Okay, we're gonna clear 2 acres a year.

Yes, for the next 5 to 10 years. I'll be 55 by the time we're done with this. In lieu of a mini excavator, I could get you a bigger chainsaw. All right, let's clear the way for this tree we're gonna fell. It's gonna chew, so let's get all that junk out of the way. All right, let's have everybody help Lily with the brush. My chains fell off. Internet, I think it's because this— these get loose. I really need to check them every— you know, I know that— I know the chain heats up as you get going and you need to tighten this up, but I wonder if you have to redo these too because these get loose. I'm happy with this progress though. So we can fell this tree right there and all this little stuff's out of the way. We'll pick up these branches and it's time for PT and the horse riding, and we'll come back and we'll fell a tree like a pro. Hey, one of the greatest things about a little work project like that, walking away I'm looking and seeing how much better you made the spot. Seeing the work that's been done. Look, take a moment and look at the work, guys. Isn't that beautiful?

Yeah.

And see the future, vision the rest of the work. Okay, let's go. And hopefully, Lord willing, the creek don't rise, we'll be back this afternoon. Johnny, you said you know how to sharpen this?

Yep.

How you feeling? Good. You're getting better every day, my man. Proud of you. Rebecca and I just finished training ourselves. I'm gonna sneak in a bit of office time while Lily's at horse training. We're gonna answer tests. I used to wear these books out. I still do. Look at this, it's like falling apart. Underlined, starred. And as good as these are— look at this page— as, as good as these are I would still have questions every once in a while. As much as I've learned now, I still have questions. Like I'm asking Joel, well, how do you clear pasture? I'm talking to friends about pros and cons of excavator or mini, mini track loader. I mean, track loader or mini excavator. I kind of wish Joel was my uncle and then I could call him with a question and over the last 6 years, I've been able to develop a relationship with Joel, first through business and then now in like a mentor type of relationship, friend. I wanted to provide the answer to the problem I had when I just started out, so I said, I'm gonna give that ability to the people. Good morning. I don't have a question. I just wanted to say that you guys rock. Okay, thank you, thank you. The YouTube videos are great and Abundance Plus is kind of crazy for how much is in it. Yeah, it's kind of crazy. Thank you. I didn't say it, they said it. Now a lot of times when they first text me, they don't say their name, so we're gonna say, hey, what's your name? So I'll say, oh good, welcome to the family. What's your name? Jeremy and Amanda were wondering when to wean their calf. Kip goes on to say very nice things, wishing me happy birthday, and he remembered— he said that my dad was proud of me, which it's 3 years today. I guess I still get emotional about it. Surprises me sometimes because I go a long time. 3 years ago today, he died. And I do think he would be proud. I know he would be proud. He told me all the time. I'm very thankful for that. So guys, fathers, stop what you're doing right now and go and tell the kids you're proud of them. Proud of you.

Papa?

Proud of you.

Thanks.

Proud of you. And your first word, well, your second word was papa. Behind tractor. And now every morning, tractor, tractor, papa. And then soon after, papa, papa.

I think he said mama last night in the middle of the night. He finally said mama.

But that's okay.

Mama.

Because Jonah You're just getting used to it. Yeah, Marie, I used to say, say Papa, and you know what you'd say? Mama. Mama.

We might have to pull that video up.

Say Papa.

Mama.

Gideon! I'll have to tell him later. I'll have to tell Lily later. She's at horse lessons. Definitely proud of those two too. Oh, stay here, stay here. Proud of you, proud of you. This is often what happens. Probably half or more people just want to get a comment too. To me to say thanks or to say happy birthday or to say sorry Jonah got hurt. I'm not kidding, that's what they're using, signing up for premium membership and using. But I love it, it's great. Next, I just helped somebody with their perimeter fence problem. They're just trying to get an estimate or idea of what they should do to get a perimeter fence installed, and in this case they sent a picture I usually ask when people want to do a perimeter, I always say, well, do you need to? But it looks like maybe they do. Because if this is them, they're sort of in a developed area and you are going to need to keep your homestead in and away from neighbors. We don't do a perimeter fence because our nearest neighbor is half a mile down the road and we're on a dead-end road, and so we don't get a lot of traffic right now. And, uh, it's not too big of a deal if our cows get out of the net. They just did, I think, last night, and we just herded them back in. If we had neighbors, that could have been really bad. That was my job for texting today. A lot of premium members in there, but a lot of people wanting to make sure they're respectful of my time and stuff like that. But the service is there, so if any of you are premium members, feel free to text me. If I can't handle it, I end up getting Rebecca to help me And you'll know that she's writing because she'll end up signing her name. So that's how you know. What's been your experience writing back people in the member text?

I like to help people with their problems. Sometimes people ask me health questions.

You love that.

I do. I'm not a doctor, but I do love helping people.

Oh, and she is very important in that. You know, I'm bugging her. I'm bugging her because her talk— she did this amazing talk on 12 tenets of staying healthy. And somebody asked for a book at the end, and I'm, uh, to like sum it all up. You talked about healthy eating, and you probably mentioned this book, Nourishing Traditions. I know you eat— I know you mentioned Danielle Walker, Against All Grains. Carrie Vit, The Grain-Free Table. So there's all these specialists in food, but you talked about polar plunging, which that's a whole— there's whole books on that. One day you're gonna be the—

I'm gonna be the change.

The change. You're doing that series in Abundance Club.

Yes.

That video is gonna drop. Your first class on air quality is dropping very soon.

Oh, well, I have to do my intro first before we—

Not necessarily. Is that what he said?

No, that's what I said.

All right, well, you better get on it.

Well, he didn't come tonight.

Well, he still has videos. He's dropping one every week. He comes and films with us on Fridays. We capture 2 or 3 classes and we drop one of those classes a week, so he doesn't have to come technically every Friday. Right. Anyway, what was I saying? Oh, text. But yeah, I forgot to mention that. Yeah, she said she's got classes coming out in abundance plus university. I'm clearly not bogged down this morning, but I don't want to get to that point, and, and we'll cut it off. And that's why we only have limited registration, so Premium's only open till midnight November 7th, so get in there and text me. You're not bothering me. You can text me at midnight. It's off. I'm not answering at midnight. I look at it once a day, so you'll get an answer in like 24 hours, probably sooner. If somebody texts me right now, they're gonna wait 24 hours because it'll be about this time tomorrow, but for the most part, People are getting answers fast. You guys actually might like this job. I'm actually going to get an updated GIS map, just a map of our entire property, and I want to just now identify where this new homestead is. Over here on this largely undeveloped land, the house is The house site is about right there, but on here we could, we could mark—

this line is wrong actually.

Oh yeah, it's wrong, it's wrong. Yeah, uh, because it doesn't go like across our road. Yeah, you can't go completely off if you're using it for property boundaries.

I was just looking because I'm thinking like, this is—

you can, you can see slopes and we could go mark it, Rebecca, of where we want. We'll mark it somehow. Or yeah, we'll draw a boundary around and hopefully we can get this laminated. Can you get such a big thing laminated? That's what I'm going to ask them.

Somewhere like an office supply store.

I'm going to ask them because then we could mark on it and as we clear it each day, we could show our progress and see if we're on track. So I'm thinking we're going to clear— this is probably, this is, this is probably 2 acres. Clearing right here from the house down to the road. It's 2 acres, so we're going to clear that. Okay, we're going to try to find water up here, and then we're going to have to put in a road to the house site. But there's more. After the 100 days, we still got areas here, we've got areas here, we got areas up here that are possible grazing.

This right through here?

Well, kind of cut them more individual like that. Yeah, don't get much of the stem.

Okay.

Okay. All right, put them right there. Right there. Good boy, you did it! I think your help's leaving you, Papa. Yeah, there goes my help, taking the first train out of here. He sharpened my saw. What a caddy! Found some fuel. I'm liking these Eagle cans. A lot. Look at this beautiful day. I'm hoping in 1 hour these 3 big trees— I'm going to teach you the Joel Salatin method. Step 1, we're going to cut the tree about a foot up off the ground and fell it. Once it's down, we're going to de-limb them and stack them directionally in a pile to later get them up and run them through a chipper and get some wood chips. The rest we cut up for firewood, and then if there's any long poles, like 16-foot pieces straight, we cut those and we'll set those aside for later sawmilling to lumber. There's nothing straight in that, so we've got nothing. We got nothing for lumber. Everything's firewood. One last thing to do now that the weight's off the tree, we can get the stump up. This chainsaw is terribly dull though, so don't judge It's so dull, it's smoking. I'm not gonna finish that log, but you get the point. Oh, you think I'm out of barn chain oil?

Yeah, the barn chain oil is usually what cools that.

Yeah, but we shouldn't be running through it that fast, and it's because the chain's so dull. We've cut it off right there, and then what we would have done is come through with our chainsaw and beveled this. So that if we're mowing in here behind the animals, we're pulling the milk sled or the sheepshaw, we don't get hung up on that stump. That's how you do it without an excavator.

I think a track loader could push that over and then get there.

There's that too. Maybe we leave that stump there in case we can do that. I left that one because the stump's kind of sticking up for that reason. Maybe there's a way to get it up with the track loader. Hey, you look good on that quad. I'm talking to you. Looking at your new front yard. We're a long way off the road, y'all. One of the reasons we're doing this, to get more privacy, and our house would be way up there. I see you turn that train around.

No, he isn't.

Nope.

Oh, there we go. There you go.

What you doing?

I'm just straining out the lemon vinegar that I used for the dishwasher.

Used lemons?

Yeah, so vinegar, then I put it in here, and then we go—

How long did you wait?

Oh, I just do it for a while. I don't have a—

Don't ever write a recipe book, Rebecca. Okay. You might get away with it.

And then I put it in the rinse aid.

I use it as a rinse aid. Okay, I like it. Lamb for dinner. Got Gideon helping grill. They call me the griddle guy. Actually, I call myself that. Nobody's ever called me that.

I just heard that.

But we have griddled twice today. This time lamb. How's Gideon's lamb? So how's everybody feel about clearing, uh, clearing pasture like Joel Salatin? The boys are— was hoping for an excavator and a track loader. A good chainsaw and chainsaw sharpener is a heck of a lot cheaper. Wow, you're not gonna like Joel anymore.

Maybe he's okay. It might save time.

I feel like we have a solid plan, have a location. We're going for this as long as our chain starts staying on. I have to get that fixed. It stayed on last time, but it was super dull. Hope there wasn't something else wrong. It was burning through that metal.