In this vlog, Victor Justin Rhodes and his family demonstrate a hands‑on, low‑tech approach to rebuilding topsoil on a farm devastated by Hurricane Helene. The episode walks through the entire restoration workflow: they first hay‑bomb a stripped field—spreading hay, leaves, and wasted seed to add organic matter—then strategically move livestock (cows, sheep, and especially pigs) onto the area so their grazing and manure further incorporate the organic material and create a fertile seedbed. The vlog shows the practical challenges of limited land, broken water lines, tangled fencing nets, and the need for sturdy bar installations to keep fences in place. The family repairs a water line, untangles and re‑erects nets, and builds a new fence to guide the animals. They manage the pigs’ psychological barrier to a new crossing, using patience and a temporary net to encourage movement. Once the pigs are in place, they rake the area, spread rice seed, and observe rapid grass emergence around the manure‑rich patches. Throughout, the hosts blend instructional commentary with enthusiastic, hopeful narration, emphasizing that even after severe topsoil loss, simple organic inputs and managed livestock can quickly revive a pasture.
Chapters
Before, after. Happy day! In this vlog, we are going to move pigs. You guys ready? You guys ready? Sheep, cows, from this current hay balm to the final hay balm after Hurricane Helene. You see, the hurricane took all this topsoil. Oh my gosh, there is hope! There is some grass sneaking up through. But that's not going to be enough. We've got to give it a boost. You want to show us what you've done? Oops, I'm standing in it. How are you going to restore straight up sand? By feeding hay, the organic matter, the wasted seed in it, and then putting ruminants with their manure on top of it. That's how. We've added leaves, we had them, but that's not enough either. At least we got Mother Nature covered. She's a modest gal, but we can do better, and we can do better today. Problem is we're a growing family, our livestock is growing, but we have a limited amount of land. So we have to take advantage of what we do have, and we need this to start looking like that again as soon as possible. And this And this— and no, those are not Milk Duds, those are sheep. Those things will help us tremendously. It's one of nature's greatest magic tricks. This takes a lot of management, a lot of work. Let's go grab the chidlers and let's do this. Where y'all going? Y'all coming? Would you be up for fixing the water line? There's a break in the water line. And maybe fixing the sheep shawl that doesn't have a handle. I, um, don't have enough net down here. Gotta go get some more. I'm afraid Josiah is gonna be mad at me. I think he wanted those nets to get up quick so he wouldn't have to do it. Been putting this off too long, months too long. I'll grab this net, probably because it's a pain. And look at that one, all tangled. This is going to take a pretty minute. We had to remove 4 poles to get this untangled. All right, whatever time we thought we saved leaving this out here to pick up later was— because I think that was like 30 minutes. By the way, this was a forest And we hay bombed. You can see some of the hay remnants. Look at where grass is coming up. I wish y'all could be here and just feel and look and smell this tender grass. It's amazing. This is what a pasture starts to look like after a hay bomb. And we just hay bombed in the winter, so this is just coming up in the spring. Just wait till next year. Now that we got the bar installed, I'm going to install the mechanism to make sure the bar doesn't move around. You put this like this. Now when you want to take the bar out, you just do that and pull it out. All right, let's put this net up. Boy, I was hoping y'all were gonna be done. Why? Yeah, there is no topsoil here. We're having to drive these posts in with a rubber mallet. What do we got here? Oh, he is done spreading the hay. Look at that. Hey, look at you, buddy. Good job, you hay bombing. They know they want to move. They're so bored without the internet, they're ready to go. Oh, you just use the old handle. All right, way to use it up, wear it out, and make it do or do without. What's this? You should see if the sheep will come in here and you'll scare them half to death. Yeah. Okay, I did not imagine this. I imagine new boards. Hey, hey, but that's, that's the definition of wearing it out, buddy. Oh, look at this. Look how I got it not too Smooth. Let me see. Oh nice, you did a bolt lock. Blaze loves this big paddock. Look! Feels really good to have finished that. What's really neat is now we walk away and those cows just do what they do. We're letting the cow be the cow and the sheep be the sheep. Well, horse too. And they're reading, building pasture in our sleep. Now to move the pigs. The guys have tore it up nicely and incorporated the hay. First, let's build a whole nother net next to it. Let's go in here, Jonah. What are you doing? You getting some water? Oh, we should probably be letting this out. He's right in the tank. You think you can move it? Yes. That was quick. Step 2. Oh, really? Come on, come on. You don't want them stepping on this. This is not as fun as— open this up. Let's open up the old net. It'll take them a minute because this is a psychological barrier. They remember where that net was as opposed to whether the net's there or not anymore. It's gonna be afraid to go over that line. Just give it time. Don't rush it. Hey, hey, munch on that grass. Oh, you can't, you can't push that far. You got your, uh, waters coming out. I don't know if it can be done because of those waters, those outlets. You're a good pig, you came right over. Or a bad pig, which one is it? Almost. All right, now while we wait on the pigs to get over, let's get the other stuff. They're fat looking pigs. If you need a ladder to get up on it, you're probably too small. Let's rake their area. They'll come. Who wants to seed it? I'll rake it. Look at this deposit of all this pig manure. Trying to put their fence up as a back fence. Uh-oh, that one's panicking. There you go, you guys got it! Good job planting seeds. Rice seeds. The pigs have stirred this up, they've incorporated the hay, they've manured it. We're gonna put down rice seeds. And look, this is what I wanted to show you guys. Look at this, look at this. It's going especially good right there next to that pig manure. This is what we're doing. It's happening already, so quick. I just love how it's just taken off around this manure. It's just so amazing. Don't know if I'd rather get excited about dirt bikes or horses. I think they're about neither. How about the guitar, Henry? You want to play the guitar?
