I was (once) lonely + inept

If it happened to me, it can happen to you. I feel like the beautiful one and I had sort of been tricked into homesteading. Like everyone who began homesteading, we wanted to save money, we wanted to be with our family, we wanted to know where our food came from. And the good news is all those expectations were fulfilled. We've got Kale, onions, squashes galore, squash and pumpkins and cucumbers. No trickery there.

It's like it came out of the grocery store. It's so beautiful.

But there was this one other expectation that failed to materialize. Look at these rascals on the roof. What are y'all doing up on the roof? We thought this lifestyle would be romantic. Oh boy, we got them in, but they want to come back out. Kind of like when you see the good guys in the food documentaries like Joel Salatin and Food Inc. when he's going out there and he's moving the cows onto the lush grass.

Don't go away! Come on, gal! Come on, gal! Come on! Come on, gal!

Didn't take much. Now don't get me wrong, there are beautiful moments, there are romantic moments. A calf is born, chicks are born, you have a wonderful harvest. Give me a high five breakfast, high five lunch, high five dinner.

Woo!

Nice! But, and that's a big old but, much of the time it can be terribly, terribly Boring. Hey sweetie, how you doing? You see, milking the cow, just the milking part, just this part, not the setting up and breaking down, takes about 20 minutes. That's every day. Letting the chickens out in the morning, in the evening. Over a year, that's over 700 times. Basically, it's the same old thing every day. The beautiful one and I pushed through this for 10 years but developed a couple of serious problems that really threatened what we were doing, our lifestyle on the farm. Coincidentally, I'm realizing that many, many others, if not most others, are suffering from these same two problems, but it seems like nobody's talking about it in textbooks. The farming textbooks. I know because it seems like I've read them all.

Good boy, good boy.

Your mama's ready. Give him a little pat there, Jim. There you go. Major problem number 1: we felt significantly inept. We read all the right books. Bill Mollison, Joel Salatin, Elliot Coleman, Harvey Usery. But we still had questions. We thought if we could visit some other farms, we'd gain major clarity. Things just might be better. Jim, Renda, y'all ready to go get this cow?

Let's go!

She's ready. Jim and Renda visiting from Hardiness Approach. You ready? This sounds like you're ready. You bellowing? You bellowing? Come on, we'll get you to your baby. Come on, no more delay. Watch her take off running. Come on, let's go, honey. Virtually none of our friends were growing food, and we felt like we were crazy. No, no, we felt like we were a lot of crazy. We'd always had this recurring dream to do something crazy, chuck it all, and travel all of America. Remember all those talks we'd have at night? Talking about doing something crazy and just traveling all of America. We talked about that possibility, get so excited, stay up late, then wake up the next morning grumpy to milk the cow. Worst yet, we talk ourselves out of that adventure shortly after sunrise. Hey, what finally took us over the edge?

I asked myself, what would I do if I wasn't afraid?

The answer was clear. Very long story short, we Sold or gave away our farm animals. We found some house sitters.

Bye-bye!

We converted a school bus into a fabulous home on wheels.

Welcome to our bus home.

And we traveled all 50 states looking for the greatest American farm.

Let me repeat.

50 states of America. Yeah, pick up the phone, call the Inquirer, y'all. It was crazy. You're going right up, buddy. Take it easy, man. Take it easy. Immediately our little world was opened to the grandness of the Smallstead Farm. Everywhere we went, we found like-minded people making the world a better place by just growing some of their own food. Yeah, we've got everything from— so you see carambola hanging up there on that dwarf Hawaiian, which is not really a dwarf at that 15-foot range. Nice. And sometimes a lot of their food to market or to give away.

Hey, we're trying to feed 60 families in need. We're working with the JJC. We're working with minors and kids. We're trying to help kids that are— have a troubled past to find healing, and we do that through the land and gardening. And we want our community to get involved and be a part of that and want them to support us.

We found community in the farms we'd visit, but also the amazing meetups along the way. Here we are, Oklahoma!

Oh yeah, he's giving the woods call.

We are in the backwoods right here. Woodsy as it's gotten. Sometimes even hundreds of our fans would show up. Dallas, Texas, oh my word! But you know what, they came to see us, but then they— the best part was they walked away with friends. These are a partying people, these are a food-growing people. Let's hear it, Arizona!

Show them how proud you are!

You know what the funny thing is? Well, maybe it's not so funny. We discovered something interesting. From Alaska to Florida, other food-growing people were lonely too.

In October of 2010, we got the cows in March of '10. In October of '10, he was killed in a hunting accident.

Just like us, folks needed a sense of community. Now, because of the meetups, because of us showcasing these farms, thousands upon thousands of people were finding like-minded people and getting the encouragement they needed to feel a little bit less crazy. Take our YouTube comments, for example, of the Great American Farm Tour. Folks were commenting saying, "Thank you for showing ordinary people doing extraordinary things." It turns out The videos from the Great American Farm Tour, over 20 million views, y'all. That's 20 million sets of eyeballs. Well, that's not counting if like people are watching it together. Those— that's 20 million people or plus getting encouragement. The viewers, even if they weren't able to make it to a meetup or anything like that, they were finding great encouragement to plant.

I'm Natalie. I'm I'm from Watertown, Wisconsin, and I'm growing a tomato plant.

You're growing a tomato plant? Yep. Did you guys hear that? This is the one I've been talking about. I haven't had a name to this person yet. This is Natalie. She's growing one tomato plant. If you've heard me say it once, you've heard me say it a million times. Just plant. Even if it's one tomato plant in a pot. Ultimately, we realized there's a gigantic community that's open to anybody and welcome to everybody. Big crowd in Idaho. I think we broke a record here, Dan. I think we broke a record. Over 100 people. Y'all excited about growing food?

Yeah!

What's the result of our discovery? We don't feel so crazy anymore, and neither do our viewers. Now upwards and onwards to problem number 2: the feeling of being a nit. But in a surprising way, I absolutely learned a ton, and so did our viewers. All right, Missy, you ready to go? You ready to go, Bear? Come here, let me get you done. Let me get you undone. Go ahead, guys, eat some grass. We've learned things like how and why to move cows and sheep every day.

By rotationally grazing the cows the way we do, we mow this down and then we don't come back for 3 to 5 weeks. It grows tall, we mow it down, it grows up, we mow it down. That's pulsing the grasses. Whenever you mow on top, the root die-off underground is similar to what you mow off on top. And through doing this right here, we have taken our organic matter and we now have 5 times the organic matter in our soil as we did when we came here.

We learned more about how to use wood chips in the garden to absolutely jam it.

But because when we came here we didn't have water, we drilled a well at 213 feet, I couldn't grow trees. And so I asked the Creator how to grow trees without water. He says, come out to the woods and I'll show you. And that day changed my life. I saw how amazing the covering worked for holding moisture and maintaining a really porous, amazing soil.

Our eyes were open to all the various places you could keep bees. You just walked right in there. You just walked right in there. Should be confident. Okay, they're, they're more afraid of you than they— than you are of them. I am surrounded by bees right now. So many different rabbit systems blew my mind.

Yeah, so a general principle with any livestock is you can't have them on the same ground all the time because they eat everything up and it's all done. So I fence off little, little paddocks for them, and you can see here where I've got like clover and rye and oats growing, and it's fenced off from them. And when this gets up to, you know, 6 or 8 inches, I'll let the rabbits in there for a while to graze it, and then I'll kick them out.

We learned this from experience— how to plant in a pot. You know our motto: just plant, even if you're in a bus. I didn't know this. Did you know this? There are different types of blueberry bushes, some that grow high And some that grow low.

And down here is where all the blueberries are going to be. So there's a difference between high bush and low bush. High bush, the blueberry plants are way up here. Low bush, all of our fruit is down here.

And what about the idea behind a rocket mass heater? How it can be 10 times as efficient as even a wood stove.

For those that are not familiar with a rocket mass heater, the idea is to burn your fire not in a metal box, which throws off the heat right away, but to burn it in a very insulated box so the fire gets crazy hot. That burns all the creosote and the smoke.

And you know what, I could certainly go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on. Jim, I'm happy Rhonda took the milk up and strained it. Let's give Jonah a break, do his chores. He must be tired because he's not even here. Is this it? Is this his fermenting feed? I think it is.

It is.

Got a little rain in it. Whoops, don't do that, Jim. Let's pour this out on this grass before it's gonna scratch. All right, Jim, you want the honors of letting out the dinos? You guys ready? Watch out, Jim, get out of the way quick! Watch out! Put this over here, just keep that door from shutting. There we go.

I was wondering how that was going to work.

Good.

You think Lily got eggs? No, she didn't.

No, she didn't come get anything.

Before we go in, let's stack the compost a little bit.

It's good. What happened?

What?

I was coming out to do my chores.

Well, we gave you a break, buddy.

Thanks.

You're welcome.

Papa gave me a break.

Hey, Randa.

Yeah?

Be honest, it can get old, can it?

Um, it could get old.

Wow, how many eggs you got?

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.

We need that for our breakfast. But you know what the biggest takeaway for my confidence was? Everyone we visited made mistakes and didn't know everything. Even Joel Salatin had weeds in his pasture. Paul Gautschi from the famed Back to Eden miracle mulch garden had plants that were dying and were unproductive. Mind blown! I saw the good, bad, and ugly, and it helped me realize I could use some improvement. In some areas, just like everybody else. But there are also some things, a lot of things, I was doing right. Thankfully, we were able to document the journey and produce nearly 300 YouTube videos of our adventure. And honestly, we had no idea just how strongly people would react. Folks would say things like, we're getting to live vicariously through you. We would never be able to travel the country, and we get to live through you. Thank you. We get to see America through your eyes. And you're sharing it with us. We got countless amount of people thanking us for that. They also thanked us for introducing us to ordinary people like them doing extraordinary things just because they were doing something. You're not going to see mass-marketed animals rotationally grazing on big wide pastures or thousands and thousands of trees, but you're going to take somebody who has taken control of their own food system How many?

Here they come.

Oh, here they are, the stars of the show. So how much food did you grow here last year?

We grew over 2,000 pounds of produce, um, harvested probably 20 rabbits, and I don't know how many eggs.

It let everyone know that everyone's ordinary and you can be extraordinary if you just get up and just plant. Now you could watch all our YouTube videos of the farm tour, but it would take you like a week nonstop, no rest. So I decided to make a feature-length film of the entire adventure. What if in one evening you could watch it all in like 2 hours? Well folks, after hundreds of hours of editing, it is finished. Now people can buy the documentary bundle, gather some friends and family, and Discover the greatest American farms in just one city. Let's do one more thing, guys, before breakfast. Let's water the greenhouse plants. I'm looking for the fog nozzle that attaches to this. Y'all know the fog? Yep, we do. Should be right here. You should— is a strong word. Yeah. Oh, you did? You used it yesterday?

Because he sprayed that one.

Okay, let's Let's see if somebody else left it in the greenhouse. Sometimes it gets left in here. The one that looks like that? Oh, it's on the end. It's on the end where it's supposed to be. It's on the end. I was looking at the other end where you connect it to that.

That's okay.

You ever do that, Rhonda?

Yeah.

Please tell me yes.

Yes.

Okay. As you can imagine, it was a beast of a job to break down this into just one film. And you imagined right. Actually, the first time I finally broke it down into one cohesive story, it was 3 hours and 45 minutes. How am I gonna cut that? I asked myself. Well, you're not. Make a super extended version. We can get it down further than this. I went through it again, cut it again. 3 hours. What am I gonna cut? I'm not. Let's make an extended version. But now I need a 2-hour version. That's a normal length for a feature film. We can do it. Let's get down to 2 hours. Finally, after like 4 or 5 times going through it, I got it to 2 hours. That's the feature film. On top of that, I also created while we were traveling 6 inspiring micro-documentaries.

I submitted a 3-week notice of resignation at the police department, and on my last day, it was a terrible feeling. I had a lot of uncertainty, a lot of doubt. I had to go to the storage room where there was a technician who checks in and out all equipment, and I had to tender my badge, my identification, my my firearm, my sidearm, that had been on me every day of my life for the last 10 years.

It was—

that badge and what it represented was a large part of who I was, whether I wanted to admit that or not. But it was my identity for a long time, and surrendering that and signing the paperwork that had my employment status as terminated was kind of an eerie feeling. After a tremendous amount of research and some traveling and checking out different areas, my wife and I came to the conclusion that settling in North Idaho was the best situation for us, and it's where we wanted to raise a family.

I also created two micro-documentaries when we got home about getting re-established. You ready, Mama, with your salad? I'm ready. You feeling good? We're gonna meet our chickens in about No. What, 30 minutes? We traveled and then we got there and we met everybody and we got all the chickens into the bins and cardboard boxes. Okay guys, we're here. We made it on time. 12:40. So I need to remember how all these are stacked. I'm including those throughout the various packages below. I'm also including 3 instructionals throughout the packages below. One on just how to plant into a pot. There's where the magic went down, folks. If you can plant and grow in a school bus, you can plant and grow anywhere. There are no excuses. In this video, I'm going to show you how to plant a basil plant, although this will apply to other things like lettuce, spinach, things like that. And it would even apply if you want to do bigger things like tomatoes, but you just have to upgrade your pot. But in this case, I'm gonna do— hey, look, it's got Velcro on it. So if you are in a bus, get some Velcro, attach it to your dash, attach it to the bottom, and it'll stay put. How to Grow a Back to Eden Garden like Paul Gautschi. And then lastly, How to Do a Permaculture Orchard with Stefan from Permaculture Orchard. The micro-documentaries are highly motivational and instructional from Dan Omen. Quitting his job to start a farm, to Curtis Stone making lots of money farming other people's yards.

My name is Curtis Stone. I'm an urban farmer. I run an operation called Green City Acres in Kelowna, BC, Canada. I've taught thousands of people all around the world how to grow food in their backyards and make a living at doing it. My primary audience, or people that I teach, are people who are kind of sick of their jobs, sick of what they're doing, and they want to do something that aligns with their values, you know, and that those values are usually growing food and living off the land in some way. A lot of people that I've taught have been even people like lawyers and professionals, working professionals who are kind of just tired of the grind and want to do something a bit more holistic. So the first thing that's really important if you want to start making a living—

I just wanted folks to have them, the download version, put them on your computer, watch them with friends online or not online. After a year and a half, this project is coming to an end, and I ended up with quite the bundle. It's more than just a movie, way more than just a movie. Inspiring documentaries, helpful instructional, and other bonuses. It's great to have you guys helping today. Thank you so much.

Hey, we appreciate the chance to get back in the sun.

Yeah, helping me milk, hold the camera, hold my notes. Back to the problems that every food grower faces: loneliness and feelings of inadequacy. With the feelings of inadequacy comes lack of motivation and inspiration. I'm happy to say that by the end, I solved those problems by traveling America, experiencing community, and seeing other farms. The other night I just needed a moment and I said, Rebecca, can you take the kids in for a moment? I just need to think. I didn't know what about, I just needed to think, have some silence. I came back to our bed and just laid down, and actually what I began to think about is how thankful I am for this trip. Sure, it's been exhausting, we're tired, we're at the end, but I'm so thankful for all the people I've met, all the experiences we've had. It's just been an absolutely crazy adventure! What is your role? Director of Corporate Development. Hello Colorado! Mountains everywhere! Is this not beautiful? Just how big is What's the world, Lily?

Major black walnut tree.

Bye-bye, chicken. Night-night, chicken.

There's tens of thousands of bees around us right now.

We just should have camped here. What are you, the Pied Piper?

These chickens are following you.

I think it's you.

You're permaculture chicken.

Did it bring back any special memories?

I don't know, it was fun because, um, it was the last— it was the last family reunion that we had.

What do you think, Mr. Brown?

Is that something else?

Where'd the man come from?

This is our steampunk rocket mass heater of science.

Hey, it's not every day I get to film a fellow YouTuber. The reason I planted so many strawberries and I like— I grow strawberries is because I like them. The good news is I've already done the hard work. I've already traveled, I've already showcased it. You can experience that without that just through the documentary series bundle. Finally, after a year and a half in the making, I present to you the Great American Farm Tour documentary bundle. Whether you're a complete newbie or Joel Salatin himself, I think you'll cherish this.

Banana! Banana!

Banana! Not only will you learn—

I encourage them to stay roughly 3 days behind the cattle. We don't use any electric net fencing or anything, so they really go wherever the heck they want. But we go to 3 days behind the cattle and And we actually spread their grain out in the cowpats. This is hot. And let them have at it. To encourage the spreading of the manure and break pest cycles.

You'll laugh.

When the weather is bad, I do not like milking the cow.

I can say that. How is bad weather? What is bad weather?

Bad weather is probably when it's it's like pouring down rain and it's—

or it's cold. What's cold for you?

Um, 50.

You'll cry. You'll see the greatness of America and you'll find the coolest, most sustainable farms. And most importantly, you'll be inspired to just grow more. Now you don't have to take my word for it. Here's what one Kind customer said, each and every person who hosted you educated us and shared hope that one family can make a difference, and normal people, not just multi-generation farmers, can provide their own food to their families. Even though we watched every stop as it happened, seeing pieces in this format is inspiring all over again, and the big picture begins to come together. Not only can one family make a difference, but all of us together can make a huge impact on the food system. Thank you both for doing what you did and not being afraid. I know it was not without a cost. May God bless this and multiply the eyes who see it and do something truly amazing as a result. That's Donna K. I'm so confident that you're gonna like this. I'm so confident that you're gonna love this. If you don't, 100% of your money back, no questions asked. Now all you got to do is choose your edition. I've got a 3 different ones varying in prices. Something for everyone. Right now we have some specials going on. We got some bonuses. That's going on until April 22nd, 10 PM Eastern. If you're seeing this afterwards, just check it out. Check out the description for any updates. I can easily change that. It's hard for me to change this video. So updates down there on how you can get this film. Thank you guys.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Like I said, This is bigger than us, and it would not be possible without each and every one of you. I feel like we're just one big huge family on a mission together to make the world a better place by planting one thing at a time.