Victor and his crew build a mobile mineral feeder for cattle using 2x4s and rubber mats, then design it with wheels and a handle that doubles as a lid prop. They also install a gravity-fed water line to pasture and transplant vegetables, showing how to streamline daily farm chores.
Good day. Today, or this time, this season on the farm is one of those times where you've got a lot to do and it needs to get done quickly. So I'm departmentalizing everything. This morning we did chores. I thought maybe I could put everything in this. How do I carry the milking pan the cooler, the alfalfa, the camera, and Bear by myself. I don't know if I can. I think I need help. Can you help me?
With a wagon and two strong boys?
That would help. We've got a little time here for a project before afternoon chores. We're gonna work on our mineral shawl. I think we can get done. We got an hour and a half. We're kind of winning. Let's put our handle on. Let's put it out a little bit.
And then we have We can do just enough to grab it.
We don't want it to be sticking out too much. All right, we've got our mark. Can you cover your ears? Yeah, cover your ears. One here, one here, and then we'll just do it like a fancy cut. Now hold for our railing, which will serve as our handle. The handle will also serve as the prop for the lid when we're putting in minerals. Heads up for our pins. Let's see if it works, Jonah.
This is different than most of ours.
Try it. Take it on the grass. Turn around. You got it. I feel like we could move the wheels back on it a little bit to make it lighter, or move the wheels forward. But I think if we move the wheels forward, won't that make this go even closer to the ground when we move it?
Let's just leave it like that.
And then we're gonna be dragging, so we're just gonna have to gird up our loins. Oh my, it has arrived. All right, can you do it, Jonah, with the mat on there? It's kind of heavy. Okay, we got our mineral set. We have our rubber mat here. The cows just nudge it up, grab what they need, let it back down. This keeps the— keeps it dry. Now you're gonna sock it to it with some screws. What for?
I want to make sure that if this gets flipped over that we don't lose any of the trays.
Okay.
I'm not 100% sure that we would, but—
well, they might step on them. We're not gonna lose them. We're not gonna lose—
I'm more just nervous that it's gonna get shiny plastic obstacle from the field.
Can you stop doing that, Gideon? But the reality is Stud Muffin could go to scratch on this.
Oh yeah, and it's gone.
When are we putting this out? We're gonna put this out tonight. So we're gonna put this out today. This could be flipped within an hour. If that happens, we'll just turn it into a sled, probably. But it could be that he won't. I think it's worth the gamble. Wait, watch yourself there. You got it? You're gonna take it? Yeah, we're gonna bring the minerals to this, but then we're like, wait a minute, this moves easy. A lot easier than my mineral sled, huh? You sweating yet, Beck?
My arms are burning a little bit.
You got your extras marked and nice handy barrels. We're gonna have to put that on shelves one day, like make custom shelves. It's all in here. Beauty has marked it on the 2x4s. We're missing one, but we just need a tray. We're missing 2 trays because we ended up going with 18.
Yeah, because we want to put kelp in there.
And then what was the other one? 16 isn't enough for us. We had to have 18 minerals.
Well, we wanted to have some flexibility because you just never know. And we— it was— might as well add 2. And what happens if it's hard for them to get around the wheels and we switch it up over here?
You want me to make it a little bit easier?
No, no, get off of it. Get my camera. Wild, rugged terrain right here.
Well, what are you saying?
Go get you some. For the afternoon chores, we need to get the cows moved.
We got ripe grapes.
All right, can we eat them? Try them.
Look at this.
Wow, this one, that's a blessing.
No, too green.
Super green. Super red.
Oh wow, what it tastes like?
Mmm, super good.
I don't like them.
I mean, it's sour, but hey, it's free food. Let's get the hose, guys. I'm gonna start walking this up. This is the end that attaches to the spigot. You guys make sure I'm not getting caught. Here we go, boys. I'm going. It's hung on something, guys. We got it now.
I'm gonna start pushing it into the road.
Okay, you push it into the road and I'll start pulling. One thing I want to do this winter is have water line to every pasture. So close. Spigot right there, mid-frame. Are we hung? Yeah, we're hung. Okay, we're trucking again. I got 10 feet and then I'm gonna go grab the end and bring it up.
Okay.
We made it. And what I'd like to do this winter is not tap into the pump, but the spring up on the mountain and gravity feed water like Joel Salatin does. Here's the pressure. This is just gravity, okay? And we're up here, we're up here on a hill. You ought to see it down there in the bottom. Good job, fellas. I couldn't do this good without you. Okay, here we go. Okay, I'm gonna take it up. You guys spot me. I think this will actually go pretty good. We did it! We got it there. We did it. That's where the cows were. Mineral sled. We need to get them over here, have the water here, and then we can shoot them out through here just above where the sheep were. Let's get it going. That was easier with the mower. There is zero water. Let's go see if it hung up somewhere. Just see if it's— no, I don't think there's anything in it right there. No leak right there. Got my problem right here. It's like a knot. That was it, I guarantee you. Nothing coming out yet. There it comes. Okay, stud, we got our fence up. Here we go, come on. Sure bliss when they barely walk through the gate. Then finally, after supper, tired or not, transplanting plants into the kitchen garden. We're gonna start— we got a jamming row right here, but there are some spaces in between that can be planted. I don't know if we're gonna pull up this pumpkin or not. But we can plant right around it. There you go. Big foliage right there. Bok choy. Who likes bok choy?
Me.
Me. Can you say bok choy?
Bok choy.
You guys know what bok choy goes good with or in? What? Everybody look at me.
Pizza?
Oh, stir fry.
Not stir fry.
I don't know why, but they hate stir fry. You just want to plant in among that? Pumpkin, not pull it up?
Yeah, because it's gonna die sooner than later.
Okay.
But you don't think it's dead yet?
I want those— I want the pumpkins to ripen.
Okay.
If I had to start my Homestead all over again, it could only pick one animal… 
