The video follows Jesse and his crew through a bustling day on their homestead, beginning with early‑morning chores such as milking cows, releasing birds, turning compost, and watering greenhouse seedlings. Throughout the day they set up product giveaways, film promotional footage, and interview Diane Ott‑Wailey of Seed Savers Exchange about heirloom seed preservation. The narrative shifts to a deep dive into alternative protein sources, highlighting four rabbit‑raising systems showcased on the Great American Farm Tour, with expert commentary from Daniel Salton, Andy of Hanhun Farm, Marjorie Wildcraft, and a Louisiana farmer. Jesse also addresses ongoing chicken‑management challenges, including fence issues and wing‑clipping decisions, while involving community members like Arun for new jobs. The latter part of the video reflects on the emotional weight of creating a multi‑hour documentary, expressing gratitude for the people met, the learning experiences, and the sense of accomplishment. The vlog concludes with plans to travel to Texas, Jesse’s birth state, and a light‑hearted discussion about water taste, tying together the themes of sustainable homesteading, community collaboration, and personal fulfillment.
Chapters
Good morning! It's gonna be a great day, gonna be a busy day. Up and at 'em super early. Already milked the cow, milked the cow to the light of the moon. Let's go, let's go! How you doing this morning, Bear? Feeling pretty spry. Incidentally, the cows have been in this lane from here to there, way down there, 100 feet. There's no fence. I reckon this is bushy and steep enough that Muffin ain't gonna go down in there. The only time he's broken out of the fence or done something cray-cray weird is when Violet's out. So just got to be real careful when we've got Violet. The boys aren't up yet, but I'll go ahead and let them birds out. Good morning, ladies. Don't everybody rush at once. Big day today. Today we have to turn that compost pile. We have to water the seeds in the greenhouse. Of course, we have to do the regular chores. Cleaning of the cow. Cloths. Bring them on over here, Lily. We've also got to set up our giveaways for a nice little picture. I think this barn floor would be a great backdrop. We're going to have to stack them tight, Lily. Keep them coming, keep them coming quick. Remember here behind, bunch of orchard. Now that's a bunch of goodies. Finally, about 20 minutes later, I I got those photos. One where the— What do you need? Your gloves? Anyway, there's the pictures. One where all the products are on the left and then one where all the products are on the right. We'll go find your gloves. Will you help me put this in?
Yeah.
Okay. Dust it off a little bit. Hey Gideon, while we're over here, let's feature a few of those products.
Because I wanted to do my job.
Because— hey, where's your, uh, where's your— you got two left feet? Looks like he's got two left feet on. Hey, will you grab me a couple of those products? Get it! Where are you going? They're right there. Oh, this is a good one, and he sent a lot. Thanks. One of more of the valuable contributions. John Suskovich, we went and visited in Connecticut. Goes in the chicken tractor, one person holds the door open, I'll put the crate down and open it up, and And then you could take the birds out and put them in. He is the meat chicken guy. Got his own plans, got it in a book. You get not just this book, but you get this Pastured Poultry Packet Kit. This is a workbook, 1 and 2. 2's coming out soon. You'll get that too. Seed Savers Exchange out in Iowa.
My name is Diane Ott-Wailey. I'm co-founder of Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa. And basically what we do here is we save Heirloom seeds.
Hey, can you say heirloom seeds? Good job! This is where we got our basil that we planted in the bus. Absolutely amazing stuff. The cool thing about it is you can save all these seeds and regrow, plant them, let grow them up, eat some of them, let some of them mature, and save the seed. Let's feature one more today. Curtis Stone. You know you're at Curtis Stone's house when there's a skyscraper in the background. How many stories is that, Curtis? 15. 15-story skyscraper, and there's a garden going right here. Bees a-buzzing. If you want to make a great living on a small garden, like in your backyard and your neighbor's yards, this is the book. Curtis Stone, Great Place. We did cross the border and go see him in Canada. For more info on the giveaway, it's down below. Also links to the folks I'm featuring throughout this week. Man, this looks like a great place for my next bit. Good backdrop. I like the tire. What are you guys seeing in there? Oh really?
Look at all the things.
We're raising tadpoles in a tire on a barn. I guess we should have drilled a drain hole in the bottom of that tire next time. Anyway, gonna film. It's like content creation day today, guys. Gonna create a member video area on the rabbit systems from the Great American Farm Tour. I'm no expert in rabbits. I'm no expert. I'm no expert in rabbit. I'm no expert in rabbits, but super efficient, high-efficient protein. So I'm going to bring in the experts. Daniel Salton, that's 3,000 pounds of meat protein per year. Do you get any more expert than that? Andy from Hanhun Farm. Original reason I put that board back there is because they usually do this and they'll just sit on that board when I move. But that's a good idea. But if they're off of it, they— you see that board back there, guys? They're catching a ride while he moves it. Marjorie Wildcraft from the Grow Network: like, you can raise half of the protein requirements for your family of 4 in less than 10 minutes a day. And Michael in Louisiana: and look at that. And now that can go directly to your garden, directly, or your soldier fly bin. And you feed your soldier flies to the chickens? Yes. 4 different rabbit systems. So much to learn from them. What? Oh, we couldn't find his gloves. We'll keep looking, okay? All right. I thought the Film shoot went good there. We had some really amazing rabbit folks on the tour. That's one thing that really stood out to me is there were some really amazing rabbit systems, and I think they're a great option for the homestead because, as I was saying in the video, they can live a lot off of your land. You don't have to bring in as much, you don't have to import as much. They can eat a lot of the grass. The amount of protein you can get off of those guys and say a 2-year period versus chicken, because the, the speed in which they grow and the speed at which they reproduce far outperforms even a chicken. Don't tell anybody I said that. What? You got that chicken painting? What's the matter, Josiah? This guy keeps getting out.
Yeah.
Incidentally, we found somebody for our walk. Our walkway. You guys know him, Arun. I didn't think he would be interested in that, but he said, hey, you know, I could do that. And so he gets a job. My friend gets a job. It's amazing. And it gets done pretty soon. Tuesday he starts. No, it doesn't hurt. It's like cutting your fingernails. Okay, now you have to set her in. Okay, you only have to do one. You have to set her in because she's not going to fly as good. Let's address the root cause too, that is sagging to about 2 feet. Clip the wings and fix the root cause. Low fence. See if that'll hold them in just that. They think I have food for them. We'll go get them a little something. Did you— did they have a lot of food scraps this morning? I gave them some milk. Okay, good.
Here you go, got one.
Thanks. Is this another scoundrel?
Yeah.
All right, let's not clip any of them unless they get out. Okay, watch out. Let's not clip anymore until they get out.
That one got out today and I caught her.
Okay, we'll bring them to me.
All of them have, have been getting out. Okay, I've seen that one out, that one out.
Well, now that— oh look, Josiah found our problem. I don't know about you, Josiah, but I think we solved our problem.
Papa?
Yes?
Um, I think, I think, I think we've moved the chicken truck too. It's too close to the fence.
All right, let's move it.
I've seen, I've seen him fly over.
Oh, they jump off the coop?
What?
Okay, let's move it. I got the crew helping today. I don't have to carry a single post between Mr. Brown and Lily and Josiah. We got this. Look who's coming to greet y'all. You coming to greet them? He lets them pet him, not me.
He's scared of sticks.
Come on, come on, come on, turn around, turn around, let's go. Come on, come on, we're gonna get you more grass. If you want to try to tame Studmuffin, now's the time. He's hungry for fresh grass. See, see, stud. He's not so sure. Watch, do they like lilies? Look, look, watch, watch.
Wow, ate them up.
Okay, try stud. Is she going to snake him? She says thank you very much. Okay, keep doing that every day before we move, and then before you know it, you'll be feeding stud muffins. What about bears? Do you like any? Let's give them what they want. You know, this really is a miracle. This is virtually unedible grass for us. They eat this grass, turn it into milk, butter, yogurt, steak, ribs, hamburger. You guys are miracle workers. Boom! Oh look, they went right to those lilies. Who knew? Mr. Brown, you playing in the sand? Oh my, we gotta get this out of here. Our yard is going to be a sand pit. I like to seep down and like, yeah, my mountain's only 4 times. You crying?
I've teared up.
Oh, come on. Just like that, it's winter. Endless summer's over. Lily, what do you want to do when we get home?
Make money.
Make money is what she said. Okay, when we roll up into the holler house, what do you want to do? The first thing, get a puppy. Get a puppy. Okay, today when you step out, first impression watching the entire thing, it's really long. That's the super extended version. Come on now, is that the best review you got for me? No, it is It is almost 4 hours long.
It is almost overwhelming at how much we experienced in 10 months.
Mm-hmm. Like—
it's just crazy.
What pops out in your head?
Well, every time I would just— almost like something would well up inside of me. And like I would tear up thinking about everything that we experienced. Like we've, it's like such a blessing. It's so, it's such an overwhelming blessing. Like I don't know, like it's just such gratefulness. It's like, it's us being proud that we accomplished something so intense. Like there's so much there. I was thinking when I watch the feature film, it's gonna be like, I'm probably gonna cry. The entire time, just thinking about all that went into it. And I've been there, like, I've seen this. These are, these are now my friends, these people that we spent time with. I want them to come visit me now. I've been to their homes, I've sat at their tables, I've been welcomed into their lives. Like, I don't know, it's just It's so amazing and then just, yeah, it's amazing. And you did a very good job, Jesse.
Oh, thank you. Well, watching that and you saying that, that's like what, it's like a legitimate movie.
I know it is.
That's something you can see on Netflix one day and we know all the characters in that film. I know.
It's like, it's so—
They're not strangers. The characters are not strangers.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's crazy. It's amazing. It's thankfulness. It's gratefulness. It's happiness. It's humbleness. It's so many things.
You glad we put in the work and made a documentary out of it? Hundreds of more hours? Yes, I am. Okay, okay. I was yawning. These outtakes are— Oh boy. You're making a change. You're doing something. Even if it's just growing 6 dozen eggs. You're making a change. You're— I got glitter on my nose now. So we're gonna need a way—
I was yawning.
Oh boy, chainsaws. And now it's time.
Hold on, I was yawning. Okay.
And it was finally time to leave.
I think it's funny how a bunch of hand talkers—
And then you're gonna say, "I know what I'm gonna do." So let's talk about—
As good as the break was, it was time to get back on the road.
Good. Say it again. I wouldn't say it again. You had a little— you had a moment. Just say it again. What did I say?
You were perfect. As good as it was to be home again, it was time to get back on the road.
Perfect.
Now it's time to depart our home for the long stretch.
Say, now it was time.
Now it was time to depart our— now it was time to depart Why don't you say leave?
I don't think you say your part.
No.
The part I had in the airport.
No, it was—
Hold on. Yeah.
Now it was time to leave and go on this really long stretch in which we would see most of America, in fact. And it was there that Justin realized that it was all about contentment and that Randy could be content in -60 Oh, stop.
Just kidding.
But you want to know what surprised me?
Yeah, what surprised you?
That the water did not taste so good. Pool water. I thought it'd be like pool water.
Ah, but it was salty, wasn't it? That probably goes before this, but you can talk about it. Now it's time to head into my birthday State. Could be excited or something, you know. Texas. Now it's time to go to Texas, my birth state. So many yawns.
