In this vlog‑style homestead video, Victor Justin Rhodes and family members walk through a busy day on the property. They begin by discovering a stash of about 55 farm‑fresh eggs hidden in hay, perform a float test to gauge freshness, and decide to refrigerate the viable ones while discarding the old. The crew then shifts to outdoor projects: Jonah gathers rocks for a new rock‑retaining wall that will support a small horse turnout in front of the house for Lily’s horse, Peaches, allowing the horse to spend time off the stall. They discuss gate placement, stanchion removal, and future stall possibilities. Next, Victor clears a compost pile, separates topsoil and weeds, and salvages a 4‑inch layer of nutrient‑rich soil and comfrey as a living mulch for upcoming raised‑bed planting, noting the importance of temperature for compost breakdown. The family also receives a sauna delivery for the homestead remodel, deciding to temporarily store it in the people’s barn. Interspersed throughout are light‑hearted moments, including a playful dental check‑up where each family member’s teeth are examined for cavities, prompting jokes about brushing and flossing. The video blends practical DIY construction, sustainable gardening, and family interaction, showcasing the challenges and humor of homestead life.
Chapters
What is this? 57 eggs? Yeah, found in the hay. Where were they? In the hay? Yeah, yeah, we took out— let's bust an old one. You missed the tree, John. That was not old. There he goes. It looks fine. We're low on eggs, so we're gonna save these. Uh, yeah, fresh out of farm fresh eggs. Yeah, the apricot and permaculture chicken ninja master has had to resort to store-bought eggs during this winter slump. So to find this amount of eggs This is exciting and worth the trouble to figure out if they're good or not. I'm gonna do the old float test. If anybody floats, it's definitely bad. So far so good. Not one egg has floated. That's a lot of eggs. We'll still need to crack them one at a time just to make sure. The floating test is not foolproof, but I'm venturing to guess most of them are good. 4 dozen and 7. 55? 55. And those could be 2, 3 months old. So we are gonna refrigerate them, especially because we washed them, washed off what you call God's goop off of them. So they're not going to have that shelf life anymore. Put them in the fridge. Jonah is up yonder with the maniac. He's gathering rocks to build a retainer wall. It's not even here. Putting in a retainer wall. We got to get rid of all this good soil we built up, guys. We've built up topsoil over the years with chicken gardening. Well, there's another egg. Mucho eggs. What's going on? These are definitely probably rotten. Wow. Yeah, no telling how old those are. Ellie, how's Peaches?
Good.
You out in the field now?
Yeah.
We're gonna get these little, I don't know, man-made little deep dock retaining wall out of the way. Little area out in front of the house, out in front of Peaches' stall, is going to be a little turnout for him. What's the idea of a turnout right here?
Well, for— he'll have somewhere where he can just not be in his stall all all day. Yeah, okay, so he'll be less jumpy.
Okay, right now he's turned out with the cows. Cows won't always be in the pasture all winter. Horse doesn't need the topsoil. Yeah, that's great.
I'm gonna have this kid here. I'm gonna get something. Okay, I need another gate right here that can swing into this side. Then we'll have a gate here, and we could also use this for a stall if we ever get a second horse.
Okay.
All right, which we will in a while.
We'll have to move this stanchion out of the way. We don't use it anymore. The idea is to get just the top weeds off because we don't need that for our soil. Let's keep it separate. This stuff with a lot of grass sod in it and weeds, put it in the compost pile because a lot of it is not broken down. Ah, shoot, a lot of it is broken down. See if covering it up helps. It is cold out here though. It's probably freezing out here. Yeah, I didn't move the needle up much. A little bit though. I mean, it's breaking down at 100. Be better if it's 120. Maybe this mass will help. It'd be a bit of an insulation. We're getting rid of this old compost pile from last year. Look how well it composted. We need some soil for a raised bed we're about to build. This is going to be perfect for it. Now you're going to get maybe the 6 inches here. Let's see how deep it is. See this bottom soil? It's only about 4 inches or so. Now the fun part. There's about 4 inches of soil here we're going to harvest and save. What have we got here? Comfrey is one of those plants that wants to grow. We just salvaged a living mulch and nitrogen fixer for our fruit trees. Yeah, boy, that's love, isn't it? You gave up your strawberry asparagus patch for a horse. Nothing I can do about it. Well, you're gonna give me over there because you love me. Uh-huh. Don't you? Mm-hmm. Doesn't seem very convincing, Justin. Did your fox— Yeah, it's all scratched and ruined. Oh no! Yeah, we're all scratched up. It's probably a $300 mistake. Uh, sorry for the scratch. We'll have to fix that later when I go to the house. For now, uh, I don't— would you guys rather see me dig out the greenhouse, which I don't even think you can see now that that sun's up, or watch Jonah build this shelf where we're gonna put the rock retaining wall? Yeah, I thought so. They're at a stopping point today. They've— it's, it's too wet up there and they can't get the track loader up any further in the mud to get any more rocks down. But we uncovered some more eggs. Those are definitely very old. Do it to the gravel. Yeah, that'll be each year. Oh, happy day! Our sauna's here for the homestead house remodel. Where are we gonna put it? In the people barn. Okay. I swore I wouldn't store nothing in this people barn anymore, but there you go. Where else are we gonna put our sauna until we're ready to put it in? Look at this plate. Oh, is that your dentist outfit? Is that your outfit for the dentist? Is that your outfit for the dentist? You like some pickles on that burger, babe? Everybody raise their hand if they're excited for the dentist. Nobody's excited? The dentist. 5 out of 7 of us have got to go to the dentist. Nobody have any cavities? Anybody here have cavities?
Gideon has one.
I don't have one.
Uh-oh.
You have one? I don't know. Let's hope not. Gideon first. You keep forgetting to brush. Uh-oh, you got some plaque buildup. You want me to hold you? I'll hold you. See if you'll open your mouth with me holding. Any cavities? Um, nothing, just this, but it's just a filling. Yeah, it's a— I don't think it's— into the tooth. Straighten it up. Start brushing those teeth. Yeah, it's important before it's too late. Camera like Dad, and you got a little slinky too. Okay, Henry, where are you? He ain't letting it go, buddy. Let's see. Ready? 1, 2, 3, go! Ah, are we there? Good job! Oh, look at all those teeth there. Say ah. Wow, eating some chicken nuggets. Yeah, I can tell. That's a chicken nugget eating tooth over there. Say ah one more time. He looks good. The only suspicious tooth is bottom right, but it could just be a stain. Okay, too early to decide if it's anything. Can you just see if the cowgirl has cavities? No cavities, just a few enamel defects. Fillings required, but not from neglect. No cavities. Really? For anybody?
