How A Homeless Man Ignited my Homestead Lifestyle

Oh!

Now look! Oh, a Christmas tree! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way!

It's snowing!

And he's barefoot.

He didn't get in here.

And he's wearing like pajamas.

No necesito cold plunges right now.

No!

Alright, get back in here. I don't want to do cold plunges. You think it will amount to anything?

No.

Polar plunging tomorrow?

Uh, maybe.

It's cream separating day. Kids are excited. It's chore time in the snow. Guess how many gallons of milk we got?

Not a guess, like 18.

Oh, 14. 14. So you got to pull some aside for drinking, but yeah, we're also going to milk today and probably get 3 gallons, maybe more, because didn't Flossie give like a gallon and 3/4 yesterday? Uh, 2.

Uh, yeah, and then Phyllis gave 2, so we almost got 4.

Oh, okay. Yeah, where are y'all going? Well, wait, we gotta put the stuff up. There's 2. Can we find one more water bucket for the skim milk? I found another one. Okay, now you found one too. We got 4. I gotta take 3 of these up. The word is Mom's trying to start a fire.

Hi!

She's gonna need some kindling.

That's fun, isn't it?

I actually am gonna pull that slide.

You didn't think we'd skip it? You didn't think we were fair weather polar plungers? No, the cold— the colder the better.

Yeah, but I got up this morning, I forgot to put on my bathing suit.

That's fine, you can go in your underwear. Yes, but you don't have to go, or you could change into your bathing suit.

No, I'll just go.

Can you help me push this back?

Sure.

Pull, pull where the camera is. Go pull where the camera is. Ready? 1, 2, 3. Lily, you know where she is? Oh, Mom needed—

okay.

All right, let's go. Look at that, they kept that tracked warm. No snow where their pen is.

Papa, if it ices—

put the gate right there.

All right, Jonah's got the fire going and I have gotten the kitchen cleaned up enough where we can start.

Oh snap, Moose is up there with the mom!

I do see the sheep.

They didn't get out. Wait, did we not put Moose up? Hey, did we not put Moose with the sheep? We put Moose in with the sheep so Mom can build up milk overnight. Looks like he's busted right now. Look, this, this is totally down. Fence is on. We didn't forget to turn the fence off. Those sheep are amazing. Look what's holding them in here. What's holding them in here? Do you guys see that? Then here, look, totally on, totally knocked over. We got the solar panel. Some sign today. Look at you, rascal. Well, that means there'll be no milk in that udder. All right, that's okay. It's a little cold, right? I mean, it gives us one less cow to milk this morning on this cold, blistery morning. All right, but you got— you should still have milk. This little calf can't keep up with all the milk yet that Flossy gives, so the calf's with her 24/7. Until the calf can keep up. The wind might have pushed that fence over. You can hear the wind, it's crazy. Or, and/or the fence didn't have a good charge. Let's test it after milking. Come on. Well, they got the idea to go back up the hill. I kind of need two people. Come on, Josiah. Somebody heard the calf. Somebody heard Her mama. Mama won't go anywhere without the calf. All our other cows you could lead the cow, but she won't let us lead her without her calf.

Come on, come on.

Oh boy, come on, Josiah, come on. Are you really gonna make Stud muffin go? Come on, let's go. Let's herd Phyllis too. Phyllis will go and then maybe Flossie will follow. Come on. There's too much for just those two to leave the herd. Okay, this is, this is gonna work. We just gotta think like the animal we're working with. They don't want to leave the herd, so let's bring the herd. All right, here we are. Well, the reason I didn't want to bring everybody— it's, you know, we're gonna have to situate everybody. No, no, no, no, snap! That's slippery. Hey Josiah, get me some shavings on this. Come on, herd Phyllis, herd Phyllis through here please.

Come on, Phyllis.

Good, good boy, good boy. Put, put some shavings on the, the stanchion. Phyllis slipped on it. Let's cover the entire stanchion.

All right, I've got the milk poured in here. Skim is coming out here. Cream is coming out here. I've got my extra jars over here and my skim buckets here.

Wait a minute. Do you see what's happening here? I'm like milking my cow downstairs. This is a dream come true. Y'all, I'm like milking downstairs. Upstairs is up there. Like, I'm harvesting food for our family. I want to tell you the odd but true story about how I first got motivated to grow our own food. How's he doing, Lily? Good. How's, uh, Hamburger doing?

Handsome Hamburger.

Handsome Hamburger. How's he doing? It was when Rebecca and I were working at the group home as house parents, and Along with our associate house parents, they also happen to be our best friends. We took the kids on a vacation to Atlanta.

Trevor, who are these best friends?

Jody and Krista.

Oh.

You guys remember Jody and Krista, right? Hey, Jody. Look at this guy.

This guy.

Love this guy.

Love this guy. I'm so glad.

I'm gonna cry.

You guys don't know this story?

No.

Oh, you need to know this story. Let's, uh, dry her. Oh, she's pooping. Jonah, will you get that for me? All right, so one night when we were in Atlanta, we had ordered some pizza and we had some leftover. So Jodi and I, just being excited young men, just were like, hey, let's go give some to a homeless person. We had seen a lot of homeless people, uh, that day, and we're like, all right, let's do something with this pizza. Let's not just throw it away. Thank you, bro. I'm ready when that gets out of here. So Jody and I went out in the street and it didn't take us long. We found a homeless guy and we're like, hey, you want some food? And yeah, you wanted some food. So we started talking to him, we had a good conversation, and I don't know if he was prophesying, like telling the future, or drunk. Probably the latter. But anyway, he told me and my friend Jody, he said, you guys are gonna live off the land. For whatever reason, we took that serious. At first it was like, let's just eat more natural, let's just eat more off the land type of food. I can remember all the kids went to Chick-fil-A and Jody and I, we snacked on our granola bars. And from there on at least with a— at first, a strong zeal. We ate more natural, more organic. That was okay with Rebecca because she had already been pushing us this way, and this was me kind of finding my own story. You have your foot getting on the wagon, falling off the wagon story, and eventually we get more and more down this journey. But I really do think that was part of what got me started, at least. And we all have our moments. We all have our moments where we were first motivated to do this. We all have our moments where you first saw our show. We all have that germination period where the seed just starts to grow in us. We'll have that moment. Your moment might be now. You guys are seeing now 15 years down that dream of growing our own food, living off the land. You guys are seeing that now in us, but it first started with a dream. A desire. You gotta have the desire, or else why are you gonna go out and milk when it feels like 19 degrees outside? The very near second step is to get a plan, and that's where you can call me Uncle Justin. Uncle Justin comes in. I can help you with the plan. You need a plan, but you also need a little bit of education. I mean, not too much. You don't want to get analysis paralysis. She just snowballed me. She just snowballed me. That's why 2 years ago I saw this need from you guys, and I said, let's start the Do It Yourself Abundance member area, where it's instructional videos, an online community where people don't feel so crazy. Because when you start doing this, your friends and family probably aren't, and you feel a little crazy. So So let's solve that. Let's have an online community. Let's give you guys direct text access to me like an uncle. Like when I was on this food growing journey, I just had books and the internet. I didn't have anybody I could just text. So I'm being— what is it? Be the— I'm being the change. I'm being the solution I didn't have. And so making myself available to you guys in twice-monthly live shows, discounts to companies I use like Premier One and Johnny Seeds, like 10% off and stuff. So a lot of people have just paid for their membership just with the discounts. Hopefully he won't knock it.

You done?

Uh, I think I am. So registration closes Wednesday midnight, 11:59 PM technically, Eastern time. So get in there, check it out. I would love to see you on that. Let me uncle you. And if you don't like it, cancel. Cancel at any time. No obligation. Go on, let's get everybody out of your way, Jonah. Don't rush her though in the snow. I'm not, I don't want to.

How do I get her off?

She never did get any alfalfa.

I'll let her eat some.

Here, let's give her some. All right, I'm gonna take the milk up, guys.

15 gallons of skim.

That goes a long way to fattening these pigs.

Now we're going to put yogurt in the cream, put it in the dehydrator, but in the dehydrator is These are soaked cashews. So we eat our nuts soaked, and so you soak them and then you dehydrate them again and it makes them crispy. It's less than a price. It helps break down the anti-nutrients. And so in order for me to eat nuts, that is the best way to do it because they're more digestible that way. And even if you don't have— even if you don't have gut issues, you— it's a good idea to do that to your nuts. And honestly, I think they taste better. I personally, I didn't like nuts before we started soaking and dehydrating them, but now I like them. Now I'm going to go get dressed and layered up because it's cold outside. It's real cold. Got a little taste of it right there.

All right, Jonah's going to get Mom. Hey, let's do our family workout! Hopefully more than just me will come.

I'm ready now. We've got lots of layers on. And I am ready to work out. So we literally just drove away and forgot you guys, so I came back to get you. Justin's getting his towel. For the polar plunge. It is cold, very cold. I don't know if any of the kids are gonna do this with him.

You didn't think I was gonna plunge today, Beck?

Well, I knew you were gonna plunge. Josiah is doing it. He is, uh, gonna polar plunge. He's brave.

How cold is it? Iceberg! Hey, Papa!

How is it, Justin?

Feels great. So refreshing.

I mean, it's hard jumping in, but once you're in, you feel like a million bucks today.

Oh yeah.

How is it?

It's horrible. So cold.

Do you feel better after you do it though?

Yeah, it feels warmer out here.

Lest you think I'm crazy for those polar plunges, yet some more wisdom from a book, Running with Sherman by Christopher McDonald. The health aspect of it, they think, is basically the breathing. What happens when you jump in a body of cold water, Rebecca? You have this funny way of breathing. It's actually super oxygenating your blood. It It not only warms you up but calms you down, and because a clear head helps you survive in dire straits, your brain quickly releases soothing hormones to help you chill out. So I'm all about those soothing— soothing hormones.

I'm like, maybe I need to do this more than I said. Yeah.

What was the part that got you?

Well, like, just the whole fact that like we are— we're used to comfort. We seek coziness and heat and like comfort and how that is —like our ancestors were cold a lot of the time. Yes. And how we've lost that and maybe, you know, like we've—I've always wondered— why are we so sick now? Like, what is the problem? I mean, there's lots of— lots of ideas out there as to why we're sicker now than we've ever been. A lot of it has to do with the food system and things like that, but— He made the point that like, we go, we're in our homes. They're nice. They're thermostat controlled. We go to our cars. We have heated seats. Like, we can escape discomfort as much as we want to really. And so— maybe, maybe that's a missing piece to the puzzle. You know, I want to be healthy and if— plunging in cold water is gonna help that, then maybe—

maybe I need that. Notice we're dressed up. Our exciting plan for today was to clean out the loft since it was snowy and cold. But Aunt Rachel had different plans. She so kindly bought us a certificate— a gift certificate to Pisana. And we're like, you wanna do something crazy? You wanna just— sporadic? It's not like us, right? No, it's not. We're gonna go on a hot date. I'm going on a hot date with this beautiful woman.

Well, so my thought was, oh well, let's plan for it for next weekend. But on Friday he's having oral surgery and we don't generally— I prefer, I like the Pisana brunch menu better than I do their dinner menu.

So. You happy we did this? Yeah. We've had a moment to think about it.

No, I think it's good.

We need spontaneousness in our lives and— Time alone. How about that? You want me to drive this time?

Yes, I'll let you drive. I'll drive here, you drive home.

Where's your next—

What's going on here? You holding it down, Rachel? Holding down the fort. I think it's cleaner than when we left. Oh good, you're doing good.

We're watching Polar Express.

Okay, so you cleaned the house, you had some time for a movie. We're gonna finish. Yeah, you can. I think Mom brought some stuff for you guys this afternoon. I guess we're starting with getting firewood, staffs, and a pickaxe off our roof.

Guess who threw that on? Who?

Grab me close enough and I'll get it.

Boy, I got a big crew today. I don't know if they're gonna throw more snowballs or help. We'll see. Oh, already started throwing. You always kind of got to think 2 days ahead. The sheep are way over there, they're going to be in here. We got to go long. Let's go long, get them as close as we can to there because that's tomorrow's move, the orchard. Oh, she nailed me! She's better than you guys are.

Oh!

You staying warm, Matt Phyllis? Good. Remove the sheep from right there to right— I can't catch a break. How's it been, Rachel? It's been good. Did you get everybody on hand?

Not one.

Touch everybody? No, there was, there was one I never got to touch. That's okay, that one— they all have different levels of— two of them are super friendly.

Yeah, the one with the beautiful black markings.

Yeah, he let me touch him a few times.

That's Bandy. Sheep, sheep, sheep.

Yep, yep, keep going. Good, perfect.

Sheep, sheep, sheep, sheep, sheep!

They're following you. Look at that. There you go. Beautiful sight. We got our sheep in and moose. Now how are we going to keep them in? Well, let's hope there's not crazy winds, but let's also hope this energizer is actually working. Oh yeah, it's working good. 13K, 4.6, 5.2. It's running on one battery instead of two, so I've been turning it off during the day so that the solar charge it. This time of year, the solar is not very strong, so it's a lot to ask one battery to run four fences. Got some old cord from the ends. This could be it. You think this could be it? This is for tying the ends. Does this line conduct electricity? Let's see if those few tweaks helped us. Yeah, 7.0. All right, Moose, dare you to put your nose on that, buddy. China, where are all our wooden spoons? Well, there's one. You guys want to see a couple of pigs lose their minds? Skimming grain. Little apple cider vinegar for health maintenance. You're always waiting for me over here now, aren't you? Y'all are no dummies, are you? Okay, sausage, let me get in there. All right, here we go, here we go, guys. Give me a second. Can't see they lose their minds. They don't mind me even petting them as long as they got that grain and skim milk, huh? Hmm, that'll fatten you guys right up. All right, ready? Push at an angle. Ready? 1, 2, 3. Rebecca, you here? Hey, hey honey, I got 30 minutes to go bury this raccoon. Yeah, all right, I'll go do that. Maybe I'll dig the hole for the Christmas tree while I'm at it. All right, sounds good. Should we put them in the same hole? Raccoon, then tree? I'll take it by that face that maybe not. I know you're trying to just dig one hole. Two holes. Two holes. All right.

I don't know. And keep the— that— get it— don't let it get in your water sources and stuff.

Yeah, I'll go up the mountain. Yesterday I came out and I saw the weirdest thing— a raccoon walking down our stairs. Well, good morning. What do we have here? I don't think he's well. He just stumbled up the stairs and he's not afraid of us.

He's hungry.

Probably he's hungry.

Yeah, see that? Broad daylight, unafraid. He's throwing some old meat. I need to take a picture.

He is over there.

Because it was not freaked out or scared, we figured it was rabid. We called the animal control. They said it probably wasn't rabid, but it was what you call dysentery. I think that's what you call it. So it's a good thing we often— and now I have to bury 2 feet down, they said. All right, there he is in there with the dirt that he bled on when we killed him. Okay, he's 2 feet down. Let's cover him back up. Well, that's going a lot easier than digging it. Well, that looks like a dandy place for a Christmas tree. I think our Christmas tree is going to make it. Beauty thinks so, so I'll dig the hole for her. Well, that's what I do for love— dig a hole to plant a ditch.

Well, we're hoping it's not dead. It's clay, so this could like not so good.

The tree though is gonna have to wait till another day. It's supper time.