In this vlog, the family homestead team discusses the challenges of a severe drought that has left their pasture grass short and reduced their hay supply to only three to three‑and‑a‑half months, prompting calculations of livestock feed needs and the possibility of buying additional hay. They then shift focus to urgent infrastructure work, repairing a severed water line in the lower pasture. The central project is the design and construction of a portable pig shelter, dubbed the "pig port," intended for deep‑bedding composting that integrates directly with their garden: pigs will generate compost for the garden, and garden produce will feed the pigs, creating a closed‑loop permaculture system. The video walks through the shelter’s framing, post spacing, metal skids, and a removable lean‑to for wood‑chip storage, emphasizing modularity so the structure can be moved with a mower or side‑by‑side. Throughout, family members—parents, children, cousins, and grandparents—participate in building tasks, troubleshoot mishaps, and share light‑hearted moments. The vlog culminates in a birthday celebration for “Big Daddy,” featuring a coconut cake, candles, and family greetings, while also hinting at future homestead upgrades such as a new deck, sunroom, and kitchen layout.
Chapters
Good job. We're feeling the effect of the drought, which they have controlled the fire, the forest fire, by the way. Look, look how short that grass is. Mature, but it's so short.
Look at that.
Sure, we only have about 3, 3 and a half months of hay. That means we don't really want to put the animals in until like mid-January. We might not make it that far because of this grass. We're not gonna have enough for them to eat. We may be having to buy more hay. We'll see.
Isn't 1,000 bales enough?
I'm calculating that we're gonna have like 10 cow equivalents over the winter. Yeah, we do have the round bales. Forgot about those.
If we have to—
so we have it. We have— if it's 10 cow equivalents, they eat a bale a day. We only have— well, those bales are not going to make it. Some of them are—
look at those little guys. They won't eat a whole cow.
No, that's why I say 10 cow equivalent. He's maybe a third, three-quarter of a cow. That one's maybe a quarter. So, but together they're one cow. Hey John, welcome back. Literally spent 5 years waiting on some nice privacy bushes here. Stud Muffin has a vendetta. If we ever do this again, plant junipers and we got to move Stud Buffet by it, somebody's gonna have to spot the junipers. I want to work on the pig port. I want to ask you guys if you want to work on the pig port with me or make sure we get water in this lower pasture line. We had to sever it up there at the road. Did it get severed down here? So in about— in a few days, we're not gonna have water. So we need that water line. Give them a hard decision. They can work on their own independently, but kind of on an annoying job— water line— or they can come work with me on the pig port.
We'll just go fix it.
Winter is coming. You guys can't stay in here all winter. No, the sheep have to come in here. We are growing our own food, eating what we grow. That's our journey. This is all we've gotten done in one week towards our pig port. It was one week ago today that I was able to put together the start of that skid for our pig port. We want to put the pigs next to the garden so they can work together. Pigs making compost for the garden. The garden feeding the pigs. That excitement dance definitely works better when you can see the whole thing. When the permaculture figures out how to make two things work together, you do the permaculture homestead dance. This is how it goes.
You get a sign like this.
Did you see me? Could you get the whole— was I entire frame here? Pay attention, you aspiring permaculture homestead farmer. Here we go. The connection dance. Let it go, roll it. Oh, let me try. Wait, wait, there it goes. Oh, in lieu of not having a pencil, we have a screw. I'm just finally getting to work on this. I don't want to go get a pencil. Kaden, what happened? I don't know. Kendry, come here. No, no, no, come here. Come here. I wish you'd get comfort from me. Hey, come here, come here, come here. No, no, no, no, no, no. Mom's working up there. Look, I got a measuring tape. Hey, how tall are you? Hey, how tall are you? Whoa, there's a Nerf gun over here. Look, look, is it broken? Does it need to go to the shop? Hey, Gideon, we gotta take this truck to the shop. See how this is broken? Mister? Yeah, you think you can fix it?
Yeah.
Crisis averted. Wow. Oh, you got a whole trap. Okay, let's see it. Go ahead.
I don't know if it—
whoa!
Oh, you know, despite the interruption there, it's a lot easier for me to take the kids on farm. Like, there's always something for kids to do on the farm than for Rebecca, who's having to do paperwork and phone calls and stuff like that. You're a good big brother to him. He's a lot of fun, isn't he, Henry? He scared you. He wants something behind it. You get in, he'll get it. Crisis diverted. The cat stopped it. You're a wild man climbing the alfalfa. Having a good time now. These are my skids. Pig Port, because it's portable. We're gonna put the material in there, have the pigs on deep bedding. It gets deeper and deeper and deeper, and then you open it up somehow. We're gonna still figure that out. And we slide this over, and the deep bedding is there to be able to be turned. It'll be remaining right here The port is gone. We turn it and then look, it's lined up for our garden. We have breeder pigs and need them separated sometimes, so we'll actually build two of these. But I'm gonna rate one of these for a 1,200 square foot garden plot. Pigs should be able to generate enough compost easy for that. Maybe, maybe for two of those, 2,400 square feet. Won't that be dreamy to make compost in place with pigs. Have somewhere to throw all those weeds, all that extra produce.
You want to hold hands?
I need these, so I need all this out of the way.
So Josiah's going to fix the water line. Dude, you got to put the other end on and I'm just going to go turn it off.
Why'd I do that?
Water line is not working. There is no water coming out of this, so it looks like we're going to have to go and, uh, find the problem. We're having to run all the dark water out, so we fixed the water line, so we're done.
How's it going for you all? We fixed it. What? Fixed it up where the milk sled is, and then down here. Yeah. Wow, thank you. You got in your will to make it yet? No. Yeah, Billy, let's just do one at a time. Cut them, bring them back. At this rate, I'm hopeful we'll get the walls framed today Both sides, big achievement. Let's quit when we get both walls done, or 12, whichever one comes sooner. What happened? Your build failed?
Well, everything's coming apart. This knot hole in this board, ridiculous.
I'm gonna put a post every 3 feet. Well, post starts 1 foot in and then every 3 feet, so. Is that the flattest side down? Now we need to build it on the ground though, because I can't think of a better way to put the roof on it, or the, the top board, the cross board. And then Randolph is still— he's gonna bring it this afternoon. The metal skids, they go on the bottom here and come over, and that way we can hook it up. Very happy about this. We got some solid work time. We got the walls framed. Well, we're missing two pieces, so— but look, we got one wall and three-quarters framed. Look at this. This is gonna go by very fast, but the whole thing will be a deep bedding. We're gonna have a lean-to off the side. You can put it on either side. Yes, you're holding it. You're holding it good. And then the lean-to is to protect the wood chips. The wood chips. Will pile all up in there, and they'll build up over time as we add a little bit every day on top of their manure. We need a shed for wood chips, so the lean-to will probably come off of this. It'll be removable. People could put the lean-to on either side, any corner. The reason I did that is because if I would have had to add another 10 feet to somewhere, this would get really heavy and not as agile. Keeping it 10 by 12 People are going to be able to pull this with a big mower or a side-by-side. It's just going to be more versatile. I'm excited about this. All right, we're calling it a day. Remember all that liver I froze yesterday in a tray? These are a bit big.
It's gonna be frozen for eternity.
Not too big. Say goodbye to those $50 a month supplements. Oh, that's smart, Papa. I got $50 worth of supplements right here. Ellie, making Big Daddy a birthday cake. Birthday party tonight. What kind of cake you making?
Um, I am making frosting for it, but the cake I did make—
What kind of cake did you make?
It's coconut pie.
Ooh! Also, cousin JD from Florida is here to visit Big Daddy and Grandma and us. House tour.
Welcome to our home.
Yeah.
Wow. We're about to come over here and just camp.
I'm having second thoughts about putting the fireplace there.
Okay. I'm thinking maybe we should put it there.
The only reason I say that is because It's gonna be weird. The couch is gonna go like this. Yeah, but then the TV's gonna go there. The only way you can watch the TV is from here. Everyone, if you're sitting here, you're gonna have to go like this to watch the TV.
No, that's weird. It's trippy, huh? It is. And this was a covered porch and now it's sunroom. This is the old roof height. That's how low it was.
Been envisioning this deck for years and now it's happening.
I'm so excited. Oh yeah, awesome. Bonus view out there.
There'll be a kitchen down here. It's another cool wall. This is my garden kitchen. This will be like, we're harvesting stuff and we're bringing it in.
That's where we deal with all the milk.
The range, and then, and then just stainless steel tables and a stainless steel table in the middle.
Big Daddy's birthday today. He's gonna love it. The original Florida man. Either a coconut cake for him or a key lime pie. You got that cake?
Yum!
So good to see you. Thanks for having us. Did you tell him happy birthday?
I did. I told him happy birthday today. It's not the first time I've seen him.
How you gonna fit 78 candles on there?
Well, I don't have 78.
That nice chocolate cake looks delicious.
It does, doesn't it?
You boys in a hurry or something?
Uh, well, we're just dripping wax everywhere. Happy birthday!
Thank you!
Come on, hurry people! Happy birthday to you, Grandpa.
Happy birthday to you.
You know it.
No, wait, Victor Justin Justin.
Hey, ready? You better hurry up before Henry does. There we go.
Coconut cake.
Yeah, we love coconut cake.
You're saying everything. Can you say happy birthday, Grandpa?
Happy All right, how big of a piece, big daddy?
Just a normal.
It's not, uh, vanilla.
All right, Dad, here you go.
Because I made it.
He's gonna make it.
Happy birthday.
He likes it. He's eating the icing. He'll eat the cake.
