Day 6 Surviving off the land

Get in. You're getting up. Get in. Come on. 7:30. Going biking today. We're going into the woods. Happy day 6 of living off the land. We're paying homage to my forefathers who, if they didn't grow it, they didn't eat. I'm realizing in this challenge where if I didn't grow it, I'm not eating it, we're pretty much there. I think our normal diet It's like 75% off the land. I wanted to just have fun and take it to the extreme for 10 days. Step in the footsteps of my relatives. If I had any supplements like spices and salt, well, I walked to the old general store to get it like they would have. One thing I'm noticing is it's healthier. I mean, we already eat pretty healthy, but for example, last night my family ate rice and I opted out. That would have been harder to come by for my heritage family, and, um, it's better for me. I mean, less carbs is better for me. I don't need many carbs. I remembered to unhook our hose. Good thing I did because it's quite cold and frosty. We need to do a few more things, including filling up this diesel tank to be ready for the extreme cold. Cold and wet. This is a good morning to test our chicken and pig water to see that their— the heaters are working. That's not a good sign. Got power to the drop cord. I think this has gotten— yep, that was off. That'll do it. Why does this get turned off? Hopefully I remember to come check that in a bit. That means this one's gonna be frozen too. Everything's hooked up. Happy day, pigs! You know what we're talking about today? Reason for growing food. We've all heard that eating locally is good. What about— so does that mean eating seasonally is good? I think so. Offers a bigger variety in our diets. We're eating off the land, say we just ran out of potatoes. What happened? It's probably from a cow getting out. And will last forever because it's plastic unless the cows step on it. What was I saying? We ran out of potatoes, so I'm only gonna eat potato. We would only eat potatoes from July to now, so 5, 6 months. Family's heat source. Hey, you polar bear! You getting the sun and the cold exposure?

Yeah, I'm not so much trying get the cold exposure. It just comes with the territory.

Hey, we used to do that more. I know. We used to go get in the creek. Hey, I gotta ask you, why is it important to eat seasonally?

It's important to eat seasonally because of the light. There's only so much light right now.

Yeah.

And so it has to actually— if there is, there is some research that shows eating a certain way with the light It really is beneficial for your health.

Rebecca, always a wealth of information. Where I left— where I left off yesterday, forgot to put this one back in. At least they didn't knock it over. Thank you for that, He-Man. And looky here, the one I had going and hooked up is working, of course. Oh, thank you. This is good. So much warmer even though there's no heat down here. I put the batteries in here. From yesterday. Remember I was trying to fix that Energizer yesterday? We need to get them charged. I think we can even do better than in here. I know the drone, which is our aerial camera, won't take off if it's been left— if it's been outside all night, or, uh, the batteries have— like, I've left my camera bag in, in a Sally or Salma. All right, so let's go get the charger. So if you were homesteading because you wanted to eat more seasonally, some things you might think about in your design is you certainly wouldn't push things. Like, for example, you wouldn't put light on your chickens at night to, to push them to lay, lay more eggs in the winter. You would just settle with the egg season and just accept that there's less eggs in the winter. It would also mean if you're eating seasonal you're eating locally, so you're only gonna grow things that really grow well in your area. I'm not having chocolate during this challenge. That would have been a real treat for my forefathers, maybe once a year, and it's my kryptonite. I mean, hey, if I've learned anything from this challenge, I'm okay without rice. There are some other things, you know, that I might see the family eating that I'm like, eh, I'd be okay. It's probably not good for me anyway, but two things I'm bringing on after this challenge: chocolate and peanut butter. But I've learned that I could— that can be pretty much it besides sauces and spices and salt, minerals. Of course I'll do that thing. Oh, Bubbies pickles and, and sauerkraut. You could actually grow pickles and sauerkraut, ironically enough, but it ain't Bubbies. Maybe I should work really hard to mimic that better and well. One of y'all said, hey, you know, you felt for me, you sent me some link about how you could grow chocolate, you know, cocoa beans, and it included, you know, a heated greenhouse and whatnot. If you were growing for kicks and giggles, then absolutely that's something I would do. But if you're growing to eat locally and seasonally, you wouldn't, you wouldn't opt for that. So it helps you make these kinds of decisions. Listen, you might want to do that. That's part of the problem. We want to do all these things, but there's not enough time, money, and energy. We have this huge desire list, but part of design is taking that list that we want to do, weighing it against our actual goal, and making hard cuts. Yes, it would be fun to grow chocolate, but you're better off, especially if you want to eat seasonally and locally, to focus on those things that thrive here. Apples, peaches, pears for fruits, and avoiding figs. You know, we're kind of on the line there. Just don't grow figs. You might love figs, but just don't push it if you're growing for the local and the seasonal aspect, you know, primarily. You're going to have many reasons why, so you're going to want to, you know, give your more passionate reasons more clout and weight as you consider what to grow on the homestead. Got a battery charger. It's very important to have your desires, but then nail down your goal so that you can really start to know what to prioritize. That's the key, knowing what to prioritize, because you can't do it all. What does that mean? I think it's supposed to stay solid red. Okay, it is. No, it's blinking. Why is that blinking? Let's see the battery status. Well, they're dead, remember? They're dead. That battery was a zero. Hopefully remember to test it at the end of the day, see if it's charging. I teach that concept and more in my homestead design booklet. I'm giving that away for free. It's a belated Christmas gift, y'all. Abundantpermaculture.com/booklet. Design. I'll teach you how to design your best homestead 2025. Okay, for all of you who want to get homesteading now and can't quite because you don't have the land or you're renting or whatever, you can get started now by eating what you could have grown. That's kind of like this concept of local and, uh, seasonal. Start eating now what you could have grown. So it's the winter. You could have had winter squash stored in your root cellar. You'll— you could certainly have had meat in your freezer. Uh, maybe go easier on the eggs this time of year, greens and stuff like that. Don't eat tomatoes, don't eat cucumbers right now. You're not— have— wouldn't have grown that and been eating that in December unless of course it was processed. So, you know, if you want some Yep, tomato sauce, uh, salsa. These are things we have now because we grew them, preserved them, and are now eating them. I think that's good. I should post that on X. Okay, I posted it. If you dream of growing your own food but can't yet, you can start now by eating what you could have grown. And then I list meat, dairy, roots, tubers, greens. These are things someone on the East Coast above Florida might eat this time of year. Speaking of a post on X, I saw somebody post today 5 indicators of wealth that have nothing to do with money. How often you could say no— this is by Dickie Bush— never using productivity apps, a calendar without recurring meetings, and never waking up to shrieking alarm clock. I like that one. I've been waking up naturally, I don't know, between 6 and 7. It's interesting how it's later during the winter. I should respect that. And not feel guilty. Don't be a sluggard and just stay up, you know, late into the night and think you're gonna get up. Come on, let's go to bed. Secret to getting up in the morning is going to bed at night. I need to clip their hooves. That and pouring some diesel. I think I'd be happy with that little bit of stuff, and then we'll go ride. True wealth might also mean, because I struggle with this, you know, I'm going on a bike ride with my boys on a Friday. Shouldn't I be doing office hours? No, my kids are going to be grown. I'll be fine with less money. Let's to spend less money. They're going to be grown. Let's go have experiences with them while they're here and around and not, you know, centered around their own families. Man, if this tastes as good as it smells to them— hold on. They have the longest digestive system of all the livestock animals. Means they're gonna eat— be able to eat the most fibrous of stuff. We have the most shortest One of the most shortest. We're like up there with dogs. Humans, that's why it's good for us to eat lots of meat and animal products, because it's easier to digest. The plan is to catch somebody, hoof them, and then put them out of the gate to the minerals. You get them off their hooves, they're fine. Gosh, they need it. I don't know if you noticed, but all of them left at once. Well, doing this by myself, I was leaving this gate open. Well, they got on and they pushed it open and got out of here. I don't think it was that one. It's that one. It's one of these Seminoles. I call them Seminoles because they're from Florida. Excellent feet. Didn't have to do one thing to their feet. That's to take note, you know. They got— they had some siblings, they died, they didn't make it, they got sick. These two are strong ones. These two, they're, they're having their hooves. They've given us babies every year. They are smaller, but I think I would prioritize hardiness over size. And they're not going to give us as big as the babies. All these guys, all these guys are survivors. No dewormers, none, none. Just minerals, rotational grazing, or deep bedding. But we're breeding the strong so that our grandchildren will have an amazing flock that does well on our farm and on our management. Let's let He-Man out into this. But you know what, he's a punk. He pushes right through that fence, so watch him, okay? Okay, as soon as He-Man starts trying to come over, not getting his minerals— I want him to get his minerals. He's done. He knows this is not off. They're not idiots. Okay, the sheep, that was a bit of a pain because I still have to catch them all. Figure out who I've done and haven't done. So basically I almost have to catch them all again. I know some of them. That's gonna have to wait until first day of the week. Let's go. Bad habit. He just pooped up the water. We need to get a 100-gallon trough so he can't do it. And he said we're gonna have to empty that out and get them water this morning. These lines are frozen because it's morning and that's normal, and it would have been just fine. It would have thawed out this afternoon. But how do you want to drink that now, big guy? Like, we might have to call We'll see what happens with the big trough, but I don't like the big trough because then if we ever have to have sheep in there or whatnot, or little calves, they can't eat it. We're done. Your hair looks good. Where are our jars? No jars. I think we have a bunch full of milk. No, so many more jars. Are the jars in here? Oh, there they are in there, in there, in there. Okay, here's another thing about living off the land. Yeah, I gotta come to grips to it for my health journey. I'm not gonna eat chocolate peanut butter. My dessert has been yogurt and preserved blueberries. I don't even need sugar in those blueberries for it to be good. So I've been eating a lot of yogurt. We need to make some. Everybody was excited about the yogurt yesterday. I made it especially good last time, so we're gonna try to repeat that. Even Mom ate some yogurt with some blueberry preserves. Take your favorite boughten yogurt. Ours is this 100% grass-fed A2. Problem with store-bought yogurt is it's had to have been heated up too much. It's not raw. So it's lost its enzymes, it's lost vitamins, it's lost its nutrients. Why don't I just use our own yogurt to do a starter? I could. In a pinch, I certainly would. But it's like making a copy of a copy. So if you want your yogurt to be consistent and taste the same and have the same texture, start with the, uh, Start with the same yogurt every time. I label it date and a Y with a circle around it. Not to dehydrate it, but just to keep it warm. 105 degrees. We'll need this hose. Thankfully I put that in here last night. My Excalibur dehydrator, I'm gonna leave the link to that in the description. I'm gonna leave you all kinds of goodies. Link to this, link to my ex, a link to the free Homestead design PDF. Okay, 105. If I go 7 hours, it'll be 4 o'clock. We can maybe get it out and get it cold for dessert. Posted on X if CE and seasonal was important and why. My buddy Graham said he mentioned the scripture where it says every herb in the season thereof and every fruit in the season thereof, these, these shall be used with prudence and thanksgiving. Hey, hey, hey! You folks have been with us for a year, remember this storage container outside the cabin? This used to be our pantry when we lived in the cabin while we were remodeling. They say there's some light bulbs or some hangers in here. This is all stuff that is supposed to be just thrown out at once when we're finished remodeling. Oh shoot, the boys are gonna run off and have fun in the woods. We gotta make sure everything's well taken care of before we go. And Mama wants to— Mom wants the hangers. She's on a roll putting our house in order. Yeah, did you do the waters, Jonah? Oh really, it just went?

I'm gonna roll in that cart. I'm gonna hang the coats and stuff. Stuff on the garage door, and I'm going to start that ozone machine down there.

All right, we got some Tide odor in our clothes from when we had the grease fire. All right, we got to get this dry hose. Hook this dry hose up, please. Hook that hose up. You want to turn it on? We forgot to turn it on. That's quick connect, right? Yeah, but it's frozen. Just let it fill up. We're going to have to watch it. Go, you two, go and get ready. I'm ready. Go get ready, Papa. You want to start the truck? He told us to go get ready. He's gonna top it off. Solid red means it's charging. Thanks for letting us go. We are vlogging every single day of this 10-day challenge, including our rest day. But after that, we're taking a break. We're going on vacation. We're gonna film some stuff on vacation. Uh, we're going to a regenerative orange our citrus farm in Georgia, and then, uh, we filmed the fun of the vacation. Hey, you back to driving? Yeah, you gotta go up. I will. He's vlogging. Yeah, you gotta hunt for the vlog. Hey, you vlogging? Hey, you vlogging? You're vlogging. Am I in the vlog? Vlogception. Put me in the vlog, you get one extra like. Oh yeah, hold on, let me make sure your face is in there. Problem with riding in the winter, you start out cold and hope that you are wearing enough. Should I put on my sweater? Austin's got shorts on. You got a sweater? No, I got a thermal on. Okay, I got a thermal and a shirt. Hopefully that's going to be enough. Starting out with a double track uphill, that's ideal. You want double track uphill, single track downhill. Now we're going downhill without thinking about it. The boys have pulled away from me. I wasn't even paying attention, daydreaming. That's what I love about these easy uphills— great tanking, great tanking. This outfit, by the way, Perfect, if not too hot. I'm sweating. What's wrong, y'all can't ride that? Let's see if we can do it. One Creek. Two creeks. The trail is gone from the creek washing it out. Oh, I bet it was over there. Now it's right through here. Okay. Hey, you stay dry. Come on, ride it, big guy. You let the old man attempt it. Yeah, I knew that. If you're gonna get your shoes wet anyway, just try it. There you go, there you go. Oh! Yeah, right there. Hey! Oh, what? Something can make sense. Well, he's filling it in. I don't know what this is. Yeah, wow, they're having to build it up. Okay, 1 to 10, how was it? 8. Johnny gives it an 8. I'd be close to a 10. That's probably good. I'd give it a 9. You kept up, bro. Okay, I'm gonna give it a 10. Good job. Give it a 10. Really? A 3. He gave it a 10. This is favorite so far then. I'll give it a 7, but it was a good one. Sick footprints. Classic meat eater snack. Oh, orange ice cream, all done. You think you can eat that whole thing? Maybe. Doesn't matter that it's cold. You gotta cut it in half. You don't bring a thing. Yeah, to be completely even, you got to cut it in half. Better stop looking at that, it's making my mouth water. Look at this. Oh, you're making us marshmallows?

No, I do a half, half a batch in the marshmallows, and then half of— I use half of it for fluff.

Half of it's just liquid fluff. I'm gonna do some leftover ham. Potato, mashed potatoes, that's good. I've after a ride. Carve up this hot chocolate though.

It's a protein one.

She got this protein hot chocolate. Much, much, much later. Was the last scene lunch? Well, it's been an uneventful afternoon. Nice stuff. Burgers from the land, because tonight is Fishy Friday. I do miss that. I do kind of wish I could have some fish, but I'm eating off the land. I could eat the green beans. I'm gonna do some Brussels sprouts. Santa found some sweet tea. Happy day 6. Tomorrow marks 1 week living off the land. You know what I'm finding out? We live mostly off the land. Yeah, we do. Wasn't too big of a challenge to jump up to 95. This has helped me because I take it for granted. Yeah, I just didn't realize it's just become so normal for us. People keep saying we can make pickles, we could make sauerkraut, but we cannot make Bubbly's pickles. It's Sour crop. So we'll just buy those and we'll use that time, money, and energy we would have done growing something else.

Let me be free.