In this vlog, Victor Justin Rhodes documents his farm’s recovery after Hurricane Helene. He walks through the extensive damage to pastures, trees, a water‑catchment system, and a pole barn, describing the practical steps taken to clear debris, assess water lines, and restore grazing land. He explains his animal‑management philosophy, especially regarding sheep that may have consumed contaminated forage, and outlines the preparation for an upcoming pig harvest, emphasizing humane treatment. Interwoven are personal moments: a conversation about his mother’s recent passing, family members helping with chores, meals being prepared, and the emotional strain of juggling grief with the demanding recovery work. The narrative blends technical problem‑solving with candid reflections on resilience, family support, and the day‑to‑day realities of farm life after a natural disaster.
Chapters
the graveyard. Been a chaotic morning, so before presuming, we're not in there today, but we could be. I'm too blessed to stress. They absolutely destroyed this. Had I known, I would have gotten a video so you guys could see before and after. I figured they were just going to be— it was just going to be poisonous to them. Is that poisonous to them? They're still alive. Okay, if they start dropping dead in a little bit, we know why. My philosophy and approach on our animal management, in this case sheep management: if they're dumb enough to eat that and that kills them, we don't want them. We're creating a hardy breeding stock that is smart and survives on this land so that These children and their children have a mighty strong flock. Yeah, somebody just knocked them over. Oh, I think they're gone, man. I think they ate the crap out of them. I don't even see the berries. If we starved them and they had to eat them, then that's bad. No, they had food. Hey, they ate all that hay though. Look at this, Billy, can you start making potatoes again? Seems like we have potatoes 2 times a day during the power outage and maybe people got burnt out. You look nice. Thanks. Is there like a black cloud over you right now? With your mom passing? Yes, and no. Like, it's weird. Like, sometimes I'm okay and I'm not okay today. How are you not okay today? Well, I'm just— I'm just thinking about it more. I think it's just hard. It's just— like comes out of nowhere sometimes. Yeah. Which everyone tells me is completely normal, but it's just still weird cuz it's like, yeah, it's like just so, so strange. Not here. You needed that, didn't you? Oh God. It's just weird. It's just really, really weird. Yeah. What are they doing out there? Just chipping away at the pasture. Why can't this be just one massive pile? It is. Why are you making it taller? Why can't it just be wide like it is? Easier to pile. All right, this looks fantastic. We lost our lower pasture to Hurricane Helene. It's where we were grazing Harriet, our heifer cow we don't want to get bred yet. We're restoring it, and I think it'll be better than ever eventually. Eventually. Another perspective— there's the blown out pasture. So here's Harriet. Problem is we need this grass for our main herd. So we have this 2 acres that we cleared the winter before last. And it's pretty well stockpiled. It's ready to be grazed. Already a blockade. We've got one tree, we've got one tree, I think three trees on this path. We need this path to get to the— is the water working? I mean, maybe the water's not— is working, and maybe we don't have to. That'd be a fat chance. It's disconnected here and there's no water coming down. I reckon the first thing to do is assess the damage and see if it's worth it, because pretty soon water is going to be freezing this waterline, and so is it worth it to get them over here? Oh my gosh, a huge tree down in the path! 3 gigantic trees down. Oh my gosh, I don't want to see through here. We could get Jonah with the machine and I get my chainsaw. Wow. Maybe I can get through on this side. Okay, gosh though, this is worse than our trail up the other side, which was much longer. Okay, little respite here. Still, these trees have to be cleared. I'm kind of afraid to go see what might have happened to our water catchment. Hey, the tank is in place. There's the water catchment. It's still here. It's gotten ripped out of the rock. These screws were screwed into this rock. Pretty amazing, those go through the rock. Got a rock back on it, got some water on it. It's coming in. Little weir is filling up. It comes down through this pipe. Happy day! Look at that, coming down through the line right there, and you can hear it filling up the tank. As it fills up, the overflow will come out right here and where it belongs on the spring. This water line is intact. We may not have to clear our trail up to here before we move the animals. Line goes through and underneath this. Is there any way it's not damaged or even has to be replaced? Open that nozzle and see if we have a Festivus miracle. Oh my. That just built up. All right, turn it off. Honestly, this all just too— feel— just feels too overwhelming. I also only have about an hour and we're killing pigs tomorrow. And also on my list is clean up around the pole barn, which is where they are. And that would make sense since we're gonna harvest them tomorrow. It'd be a little less stressful. It's not as sexy, but It's the right thing to do. It gets even worse with Hurricane Helene. Massive wind damage on this side. Not so much water damage, but massive wind damage. I was looking the other day when we first got this pole barn, it looked so nice. Let's make that happen again. I'm gonna give you my knife, you cut all the zip ties off of this. Good job. I'm gonna have to load this another day. The remnants of our high tunnel. Are you done? Yeah. They'll even try to eat metal, won't they? Helene also took away our wood chips. We've got a pile of nastiness. That's nasty. Harvesting these guys tomorrow. It's okay to like them. It's okay to have affection for them. Make sure you be kind to them while they're alive. If you like them, you'll care for them. You'll be on— you'll be sad on harvest day. Big whoop. It's the least you can do for them, right? Somebody left the water running. This is just nasty. It really damaged this pole barn, but I am glad it's still standing here. Just on time. It's not what the pole barn once was. I mean, it was brand new, but it's something. Beef for tonight, burgers, cooking tortillas. I can't eat like I did in my 30s or like they eat without gaining weight. No carb pork rinds. Hey, I love you in that sweater. Who gave you that sweater? And we got the pork rinds in with melted cheese on top. Rebecca, we should make hot tea. Let's make this next part a little more— less miserable, won't it? We weren't finished moving in when the hurricane hit, so we've got to go through these boxes. Don't be alarmed, Beck, these are empty boxes. We've been moving. You're over it. Well, we gotta finish today. Can we make an impossible goal? Finish this in 30 minutes? Come on, throw it all away. Okay, I'm down. Loads of laundry. Whether we give it away or other kids can use it, it's got to be washed. Kids are calling me down. Lily and Henry have built a fort. Hey, look at this! You got a pallet, Al. We're gonna have to call it for a day. Rebecca's tired. She needs to take care of herself given all this she's gone through. That's totally understandable. I'm gonna do what I can and organize what's left so that maybe we can make room for the stuff we need to get out of the cabin to come over here so we can keep this project going. Not bad. A little bit of corner left, but I think we have room to keep on moving on and getting moved in. Who is that? Is there an elephant in here? I like it. How'd you stick that to your face? I did it. With what? Glue. Super glue. How's supper coming? It's coming. We're getting it done. Burger toppings. The oven wasn't on for the buns. Hopefully it won't cool off our burgers. Yeah, they're still good. Billy, you knocked it out of the park with those buns. Even Joe saw us. Are you awful relaxed? He said no. La la la la la, let me be free.
