Gotta say Simeon, it sure doesn't take you long to learn; no one would think you're new at this UA-cam thing. The quality of your videos has just grown at an amazing pace. But it takes more than just good camera work and a fancy outro, you need content as well, and that you have in spades! I've a feeling that I'll still be watching your videos in ten years time when you're a big time celebrity!
Animals should indeed be a part of a cycle. Not just the product. You should use them for everything they make, like you do. Not just for their meat or milk.
Good video Simeon. It's a nice change a pace to see someone who is taking into consideration the whole aspect of homesteading/farming and not just the bottom line. Nature can and will provide when you work with it and not against it. Thank you.
I am a 65 year old a widowed lady in a small suburban flat/unit. I would have loved to have a homesteading life, but now am content to jams, cakes, jellies and some gardening. Watching your channel gives me great pleasure. Thank you
I continue to be impressed with your focus and thoughts about how a homestead is complete...each level depending on and growing from the next one. I'm really going to enjoy following this series! thank you
Good to see these animal-assisted land preparation/ management techniques right from the beginning. Animal workers are great because to them it's just a day in the (cow, pig or chicken) life. Your enthusiasm is contagious. Danke vielmals
That's a really good point about cow manure, about knowing what goes into it; there's been a really big problem here in the UK for gardeners using horse manure or even shop bought compost contaminated with herbicides, such that plants don't grow in it.
My understanding is that it was a particular herbicide 'Forefront' which is used in grassland. The hay made from the treated grassland was then fed to horses whose dung was used in allotments and a residual affected vegetable growth.
Not heard of forefront, but more broadly there are two chemicals; aminopyralids which are often used to weed-kill hay for horses, and clopyralid which are generally used in people's backyard lawns. People spray their lawns with weedkillers, put the grass clippings in the green bins for councils to take away, this is then composted and the resulting municipal "green waste compost" is then sold by the council to commercial compost sellers. Many youtubers (e.g. allotment diary) and organic growers like charles dowding have had serious problems in sourcing seed compost that doesn't contain this green waste compost, as there is no control over provenance. They are obviously bomb-proof chemicals, surviving going through the gut of a horse and the heat of a commercial composter!
Thank you ! As an X city guy I moved to a wooded rural one acre recreational Lake Lot, first camped in an $800. camper as I built a cabin, I cut trees I am milling into posts and boards and hope to sell my place this summer taking the profit and buying more land suitable for a small homestead operation with vegetable and chicken production. Another non Dollar profit I am factoring in is having lived free (no payments) in 3 years. If I was living in Los Angeles, CA. to rent even a horrible studio apartment plus storage for the last 36 months would have easily been $54,000. in rent money gone. Also my time and energy to earn that 54,000. to give to a landlord would have occupied much of my energy. I am looking forward to seeing this new series. Thank you.
I really enjoy your videos. I would like to see you address the use of chickens to improve yield in a city garden. Because of my age I cannot homestead on your scale but certainly would like to improve my garden area to yield more to feed more people out of a small space. The egg and meat production is certainly something that city dwellers could do on a small scale with chickens. Thank you for allowing us into your home to share your life.
I was reading a farm book from 1905 and it said to put your pigs out in the apple orchard in the spring after the soil has thawed and dried, so that they can cultivate , aerate and fertilize the soil. Just like what you are doing here, basically. I enjoy your channel immensely.
Excellent Simeon. Taking a holistic approach to life will increase ones chance of success over focusing on one or two aspects while ignoring the rest. Look forward to the upcoming series.
Nice work Simeon. I like your quote that the larger the animal the longer the return on your investment. Like the fact that you pointed out that pigs can generate their own heat to resist cold winters if offered a modest shelter. Like the fact you use minimal fencing contrary to what is done here locally. Looking forward the your more precise numbers on costs and income generated by the farm. Like your distinction about homesteading vs farming. Like the fact that you shelter your poultry in a greenhouse. Like that you use the animals to accomplish certain tasks.
From the US, but grand parents from Sweden Hedstrom. Love the videos and the beauty of your farm. Keep up the great work. Lots of farms here in Pennsylvania
Great idea for a series! I always wondered how to proceed if you only have a few animals and want to butcher one, doesn't your breed stock get pretty thin? Do you need to buy another to replenish the gene pool? Same with chicken, how many do you keep for just eggs and how many for meat? How much land size (acres) do you need for each type? Great work Simeon and family, keep living the life! So many people wish they could follow your example!
got same kind of place here pond river and every thing you mite know this but tip for you with pigs two weeks before you slauter them feed them apples and butter milk you will find the best meat best in the world very tender and great taste butter milk makes all differents in the world great show I live same life stle Canada is were im at same climate
Simeon ,thanks for your informative videos . I am learning a lot from you and relearning a few things as well. I am in the very early stages of setting up an operation similar to yours in a cold climate with short growing seasons in Northern Minnesota USA .I am curious to know your thoughts if sheep could fit into an operation like yours if raising beef were not part of the equation. Regards , Peter
Thanks for sharing with all of us. My family and I hope to have similar operation someday soon. Your videos will be an invaluable resource for us. Maybe you have talked about it in a previous video but I was curious about how much land you are on?
Hej Simeon! This will be an interesting video series. You briefly mentioned hourly payment in your video. I think that you can't speak of any hourly payment when having a homestead, a small farm or in some cases a small company. It's a way of life instead of a job. You put in a huge amouth of time and energy and you get out little money but lots of food, freedom and energy for your soul = livskvalitet. If you start calculating hourly payment you will soon find out that you'll be better of with a normal job. Keep on filming! Mvh, Johannes
Hi Simeon, I don't see you having enough time to take care & do everything needed to run a homestead/farm & then you want to add more....cattle, sheep more forestry work and on & on, oh of course doing the UA-cam stuff and family too! I can't see you (just one person) doing so much and then adding more without getting burnt out. I know your Dad & brothers help some but don't they also have full time work too. Besides the financial end, time management must be huge. I feel that asking you this & to respond is taking time away from all your work, so if you have time : - )......thanks.
Hey Rick. Thanks for the message and your concern. The reason why things have been neglected is that nobody worked on the farm full time. This will be my first season full time so that will be very different. But you are right... I am not planning on doing this by myself. As the work grows more helpers will be employed if it goes well.
Well you are young & strong (smart too, after all you married a pretty lady from Oregon) but don't forget time for yourself & family. Everything will benefit from that.
I have really enjoyed your channel, keep up the good work and maintain the format since it is working well for you. It would be good as you go through to give a little background on how you chose your breeds, I have seen the one on the Bresse which I really like and plan to raise them here in the US. I have heard that the Highlanders can be milked, have you tried or intend to do so?
Hi there. Haha, I am sorry. I will say it again in a video. Right now we are debating wether or not we have to cut back to 5 videos / week to be able to do it...
Swedish Homestead I understand you have a life and a family outside of UA-cam. I love your videos and look forward to them everyday. I probably knew that you didn't release one on Sundays. I must have just forgotten which day of the week it was. We all have lives. Enjoy your family time...btw, I thought it was very nice of you to share that intimate part of your life with your wife at the lake when you married. if was beautiful.
i admire your professionalism as a farmer makes me stay on the channel although i will never be a homesteader nor farmer. $$$ serious question. i get impression most channels have difficulty growing towards sufficient payment for their effort to create youtube content. what about lost farmworkhours due to your youtube activities? do you consider youtube a hobby or do you think a honest non-clickbait channel will in the end have some revenues?
If you have a small area of forest you want to turn into a pasture would you send in your brother first to cut down the trees, the cows next to eat the brush and start fertilizing, the pigs next to start tilling the soil then the chickens to get rid of the bugs? Would that work?
Awesome video! Been looking at Highland cattle in the spring, how big of a area do your cows have? I already got 5 acres fenced in, looking at getting 2 heifers and 1 bull. Any little tips you got for this breed? thank you!
Hi Simeon, I can understand the pigs being in a small pen, But is it bad for the cows, to be eating their waste that falls into the straw. You can see this on the clip that you show.Andy
I did not see your Patreon link in the description you should have that in every video so people can find it if they want to support your channel/homestead. Edit: I did see the Facebook link but you should also put in the Patreon link if you intend to keep it going. :)
Horned cattle come with problems. Horns are hard on fencing, horns are hard on big and little people and the other cows.Cows with horns are more expensive to raise.
Simeon, you should look up Fat Pig Farm, they are on Facebook, Also Matt, has a done a series on The Gourmet Farmer on SBS. It is a journey of how Matthew went from a city food critic in Australia, into becoming a farmer in Tasmania. He and his wife Sadie, are major pig farmers. They even have a cookery school. Go check them out and see what they done. Pretty awesome!
Tjohoo! Åker årligen till Stora Trehörningen. Hur hemliga är ni? Skulle det vara roligt eller lite jobbigt om prenumeranter kikar förbi i försommarsolen?
Is there an ideal ratio of so many pigs and so many cows for so many chickens? If the chickens are your main productive resource for the farm operation does that take 5 cows for 500 chickens in order to feed them or is it more like 20 cows to improve the pasture for that many chickens? I am just trying to get a feel for it since I have about 2 hectares I could devote to livestock on a homestead basis and if the needs for chickens can be met on such a small scale maybe it would be worthwhile to actually start using the animals. Right now I am not farming but am retired from regular in-town work so I am exploring what to do in my retirement. In my present situation I could go on living without homesteading, but being mostly self sufficient on food appeals to me. I am already in a position to be self sufficient on heat since I have a total of about 25 hectares that is mostly in forest. Dead and dying trees will be more than enough to heat my home, especially since emerald ash borer invaded this part of the world. With all of the ash trees dying off I have well over 2000 medium/small ash trees that I will need to deal with in the next 5 to 10 years. Any I do not cut up and burn will end up rotting on the forest floor.
That is what I saw. The set up that he is mimicking form Joel Salatin had a little different set up but what was most important is that the hay was given in to the cattle in racks through holes on the barn side.
Yes, there is some wastage but it is less than you think. I put a bunch of loose hay on the bedding that falls off the bales when I throw them down from the loft. The hay is not highest quality and there are some thick peaces in there which they don't like eating and it is mainly that which you see in the bedding. The Salatins put bedding hay on every 4th layer of bedding material. It is good and helps the composting. The pigs love it. I will have hay racks in our permanent cow shelter and we will also have polled cows eventually so racks are easier then!
My only concern is with the selection of breed of cattle especially if you plan on keeping them in a small confined area for a period of time. With the size of their horns, there is a strong possibility of injury when these animals push and shove each other when feeding in order to gain a better position to feed. These animals would be OK in a pasture only environment but I feel that a polled breed would be better in your situation.
I am going for a polled breed eventually. I have observed these cows in this confined area and yes they push but they know what they are doing exactly. The food is put at three different spots which makes eating very calm.
I think this will be a good series. Do you use computer software to run the homestead and/or farm to track costs and/or any other aspects of the process? If yes, is it something you designed or is there commercial software available?
In farming school I learned how to use a professional software that helps to run a huge farm. I have just been using Excel / Numbers sheets to calculate those things for us.
can you tell what kind of heritage breed pigs you keeping? Is there a reason off this specific breed? Do you plan on keeping them on a rotating pasture system - like the cattle? If so, how fast a rotation/ how may sq meter per pig? i'm on limited land and calculated 50 m2/pig/padoc with them comming back to a padoc once or twice a year. getting two pigs in a 7 by 15m padoc and moving them when the finished 20 kg/pig/move - all numbers i calculated back from John suscovischs' video's - any idea's? also, how old are your pig's when you take them to the slaghterhouse?
Simeon, how will the pigs fare in the woods against predators? You mentioned in a vid you have the occasional bear, what about wolves? If they are allowed to roam free what keeps them from dissapearing over the horizon? In the opening scene what does that sign behind you say? The quality of your channel continues to improve. Another thumbs up from Canada.
It is not easy making money on youtube but it is a nice pocket money when it works. We put 4 hours / day into youtube 6 days out of the week. So I guess if it produces some income that is nice.
This is completely off topic, but my 17 yo son really likes the pants you wear. What brand are they where could he get some? Thanks a lot and I think this video topic will be very helpful to all of us. Thanks again.
I don't know how you can pet that pig then turn around and eat it! LOL I know that's what they are for but I'd have to be emotionally detached from them!
Gotta say Simeon, it sure doesn't take you long to learn; no one would think you're new at this UA-cam thing. The quality of your videos has just grown at an amazing pace. But it takes more than just good camera work and a fancy outro, you need content as well, and that you have in spades! I've a feeling that I'll still be watching your videos in ten years time when you're a big time celebrity!
Thank you. That's good to hear. Not sure if I want to become a celebrity though... ;)
Animals should indeed be a part of a cycle. Not just the product. You should use them for everything they make, like you do. Not just for their meat or milk.
Finally someone is speaking openly for the importent stuff.
Another great video. keep them coming!
Good video Simeon. It's a nice change a pace to see someone who is taking into consideration the whole aspect of homesteading/farming and not just the bottom line. Nature can and will provide when you work with it and not against it. Thank you.
I am a 65 year old a widowed lady in a small suburban flat/unit. I would have loved to have a homesteading life, but now am content to jams, cakes, jellies and some gardening. Watching your channel gives me great pleasure. Thank you
Your approach is so smart. My applause for your series on efficiency to come.
I continue to be impressed with your focus and thoughts about how a homestead is complete...each level depending on and growing from the next one. I'm really going to enjoy following this series! thank you
Good to see these animal-assisted land preparation/ management techniques right from the beginning. Animal workers are great because to them it's just a day in the (cow, pig or chicken) life. Your enthusiasm is contagious. Danke vielmals
Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. I adore your homestead, you are blessed.
Thank you. Glad you find it helpful.
I like how you are making your farm 'work' for you...that is ideal.
Well done ...and Its really nice to get "real world info"... many thanks
I am really excited about this series you have chosen for all of us to grow and learn plus Share with others as well👍👍👍U R # 1
That's a really good point about cow manure, about knowing what goes into it; there's been a really big problem here in the UK for gardeners using horse manure or even shop bought compost contaminated with herbicides, such that plants don't grow in it.
Wow.... That is crazy but not surprising. Thos herbicides just get more toxic all the time!
My understanding is that it was a particular herbicide 'Forefront' which is used in grassland. The hay made from the treated grassland was then fed to horses whose dung was used in allotments and a residual affected vegetable growth.
Not heard of forefront, but more broadly there are two chemicals; aminopyralids which are often used to weed-kill hay for horses, and clopyralid which are generally used in people's backyard lawns. People spray their lawns with weedkillers, put the grass clippings in the green bins for councils to take away, this is then composted and the resulting municipal "green waste compost" is then sold by the council to commercial compost sellers. Many youtubers (e.g. allotment diary) and organic growers like charles dowding have had serious problems in sourcing seed compost that doesn't contain this green waste compost, as there is no control over provenance. They are obviously bomb-proof chemicals, surviving going through the gut of a horse and the heat of a commercial composter!
Thank you ! As an X city guy I moved to a wooded rural one acre recreational Lake Lot, first camped in an $800. camper as I built a cabin, I cut trees I am milling into posts and boards and hope to sell my place this summer taking the profit and buying more land suitable for a small homestead operation with vegetable and chicken production.
Another non Dollar profit I am factoring in is having lived free (no payments) in 3 years. If I was living in Los Angeles, CA. to rent even a horrible studio apartment plus storage for the last 36 months would have easily been $54,000. in rent money gone. Also my time and energy to earn that 54,000. to give to a landlord would have occupied much of my energy.
I am looking forward to seeing this new series.
Thank you.
great job. this is going to be a great series !
Great channel! Thanks for giving us a new perspective
I really enjoy your videos. I would like to see you address the use of chickens to improve yield in a city garden. Because of my age I cannot homestead on your scale but certainly would like to improve my garden area to yield more to feed more people out of a small space. The egg and meat production is certainly something that city dwellers could do on a small scale with chickens. Thank you for allowing us into your home to share your life.
This is fantastic, Simeon! I want what I do to be more than an expensive hobby. According to your excellent definition, my goal is to be a farmer.
Good information, helping me to get my plan together.
Very good. I am looking forward to more very interesting videos
Sounds like a great series, I'll be watching like usual :)
Nearly 29k what next. 30 k!!! You have something here don't change your format. I love your videos.
I was reading a farm book from 1905 and it said to put your pigs out in the apple orchard in the spring after the soil has thawed and dried, so that they can cultivate , aerate and fertilize the soil. Just like what you are doing here, basically. I enjoy your channel immensely.
Excellent Simeon. Taking a holistic approach to life will increase ones chance of success over focusing on one or two aspects while ignoring the rest.
Look forward to the upcoming series.
An amazing amount of thought has gone into this, I admire your dedication, you fully deserve every success. May God bless You.
Proverbs 3:6
Awesome decision on this series. -VERY applicable to everyone who isn't independently wealthy.
Nice work Simeon. I like your quote that the larger the animal the longer the return on your investment. Like the fact that you pointed out that pigs can generate their own heat to resist cold winters if offered a modest shelter. Like the fact you use minimal fencing contrary to what is done here locally. Looking forward the your more precise numbers on costs and income generated by the farm. Like your distinction about homesteading vs farming. Like the fact that you shelter your poultry in a greenhouse. Like that you use the animals to accomplish certain tasks.
We love your baby cow😍 he's just so cute!
A wonderful example of an Organic farm. Well done Simeon :)
Love your videos Simeon, and your homestead is fantastic.
From the US, but grand parents from Sweden Hedstrom. Love the videos and the beauty of your farm. Keep up the great work. Lots of farms here in Pennsylvania
Great job man love your videos. Money aspect is very important and only thing I hate about some videos and none talks about cost
Great idea for a series! I always wondered how to proceed if you only have a few animals and want to butcher one, doesn't your breed stock get pretty thin? Do you need to buy another to replenish the gene pool? Same with chicken, how many do you keep for just eggs and how many for meat? How much land size (acres) do you need for each type? Great work Simeon and family, keep living the life! So many people wish they could follow your example!
Those are good questions. I hope to talk about those more. Thank you.
I really love this idea, been reading about it a lot, I hope to try this with a few ducks and chickens though, lol. nice video.
super excite to learn more from you guys! love the approach
very interesting informations. thank you!
Great video, good information, interesting.
Glad to see you're holding up in the wake of what happened the other day. ;) Stay strong
He is very calm, considering the danger from terrorist attack :D
got same kind of place here pond river and every thing you mite know this but tip for you with pigs two weeks before you slauter them feed them apples and butter milk you will find the best meat best in the world very tender and great taste butter milk makes all differents in the world great show I live same life stle Canada is were im at same climate
Mr. S. Good series!!!
Simeon ,thanks for your informative videos . I am learning a lot from you and relearning a few things as well. I am in the very early stages of setting up an operation similar to yours in a cold climate with short growing seasons in Northern Minnesota USA .I am curious to know your thoughts if sheep could fit into an operation like yours if raising beef were not part of the equation. Regards , Peter
very good video and educational. what kind of pigs are those? Linderöd? keep up the good work!
Will you talk about cost of your animals, cost of land, and land taxes please. Thank you.
Ty
We have to improve our infrastructure this year.
Thanks for sharing with all of us. My family and I hope to have similar operation someday soon. Your videos will be an invaluable resource for us.
Maybe you have talked about it in a previous video but I was curious about how much land you are on?
The farm is about 60 acres. 40 acres are forest.
Hej Simeon! This will be an interesting video series. You briefly mentioned hourly payment in your video. I think that you can't speak of any hourly payment when having a homestead, a small farm or in some cases a small company. It's a way of life instead of a job. You put in a huge amouth of time and energy and you get out little money but lots of food, freedom and energy for your soul = livskvalitet. If you start calculating hourly payment you will soon find out that you'll be better of with a normal job. Keep on filming! Mvh, Johannes
Any plans to add meat rabbits to the farm - especially for manure production to enhance garden soil. Your thoughts, JR
Hi Simeon, I don't see you having enough time to take care & do everything needed to run a homestead/farm & then you want to add more....cattle, sheep more forestry work and on & on, oh of course doing the UA-cam stuff and family too! I can't see you (just one person) doing so much and then adding more without getting burnt out. I know your Dad & brothers help some but don't they also have full time work too. Besides the financial end, time management must be huge. I feel that asking you this & to respond is taking time away from all your work, so if you have time : - )......thanks.
Hey Rick. Thanks for the message and your concern. The reason why things have been neglected is that nobody worked on the farm full time. This will be my first season full time so that will be very different. But you are right... I am not planning on doing this by myself. As the work grows more helpers will be employed if it goes well.
Well you are young & strong (smart too, after all you married a pretty lady from Oregon) but don't forget time for yourself & family. Everything will benefit from that.
Lol Loved seeing that other pig come running over to you to get some petting too!
I have really enjoyed your channel, keep up the good work and maintain the format since it is working well for you. It would be good as you go through to give a little background on how you chose your breeds, I have seen the one on the Bresse which I really like and plan to raise them here in the US. I have heard that the Highlanders can be milked, have you tried or intend to do so?
Missed having a video from you yesterday. I waited patiently and in anticipation but it never came. 😥
Simeon doesn't post videos on Sundays. Everyone needs a little rest and relaxation. 6 videos every week is still a lot.
charcar78
Sorry, I wasn't aware of that.
It's been a while since he mentioned it. Lots of new subscribers since then who might also wonder :)
Hi there. Haha, I am sorry. I will say it again in a video. Right now we are debating wether or not we have to cut back to 5 videos / week to be able to do it...
Swedish Homestead
I understand you have a life and a family outside of UA-cam. I love your videos and look forward to them everyday. I probably knew that you didn't release one on Sundays. I must have just forgotten which day of the week it was. We all have lives. Enjoy your family time...btw, I thought it was very nice of you to share that intimate part of your life with your wife at the lake when you married. if was beautiful.
at what weight do you process your hogs? an do you breed. sorry if i missed it.
i admire your professionalism as a farmer makes me stay on the channel although i will never be a homesteader nor farmer. $$$ serious question. i get impression most channels have difficulty growing towards sufficient payment for their effort to create youtube content. what about lost farmworkhours due to your youtube activities? do you consider youtube a hobby or do you think a honest non-clickbait channel will in the end have some revenues?
If you have a small area of forest you want to turn into a pasture would you send in your brother first to cut down the trees, the cows next to eat the brush and start fertilizing, the pigs next to start tilling the soil then the chickens to get rid of the bugs? Would that work?
Awesome video! Been looking at Highland cattle in the spring, how big of a area do your cows have? I already got 5 acres fenced in, looking at getting 2 heifers and 1 bull. Any little tips you got for this breed? thank you!
I am quite new with the breed as well but hope to share some more experience in future videos.
One acre per cow is a good rule of thumb.
asking can you get school left over food scraps for the pigs
Hi Simeon, I can understand the pigs being in a small pen, But is it bad for the cows, to be eating their waste that falls into the straw. You can see this on the clip that you show.Andy
I did not see your Patreon link in the description you should have that in every video so people can find it if they want to support your channel/homestead.
Edit: I did see the Facebook link but you should also put in the Patreon link if you intend to keep it going. :)
Thank you. I thought I had put that in. Will take care of that!
Horned cattle come with problems. Horns are hard on fencing, horns are hard on big and little people and the other cows.Cows with horns are more expensive to raise.
I will try to address this in a future video.
What do you do when you have hens that get broody?
I put them in our old bunny stable for a couple days. Just did that with 2.
Simeon, you should look up Fat Pig Farm, they are on Facebook, Also Matt, has a done a series on The Gourmet Farmer on SBS. It is a journey of how Matthew went from a city food critic in Australia, into becoming a farmer in Tasmania. He and his wife Sadie, are major pig farmers. They even have a cookery school. Go check them out and see what they done. Pretty awesome!
Simeon, what is the name of the Lake? I might have an idea which might help you reduce costs.
Unden
Will message you the findings when I finish.
Tjohoo! Åker årligen till Stora Trehörningen. Hur hemliga är ni? Skulle det vara roligt eller lite jobbigt om prenumeranter kikar förbi i försommarsolen?
Let us know if you are planning on growing mushrooms. I don't know if you grow trees that go well with that crop.
How many acres would you say are the minimum amount to have a functioning homestead?
10:34 good timing
Simeon, were economics a reason for moving to Sweden? Are these sort of operations unviable in Germany?
No. My dad had a successful business in Germany. Land and farms are much more affordable in Sweden though. Germany is so highly populated!
Is there an ideal ratio of so many pigs and so many cows for so many chickens? If the chickens are your main productive resource for the farm operation does that take 5 cows for 500 chickens in order to feed them or is it more like 20 cows to improve the pasture for that many chickens? I am just trying to get a feel for it since I have about 2 hectares I could devote to livestock on a homestead basis and if the needs for chickens can be met on such a small scale maybe it would be worthwhile to actually start using the animals.
Right now I am not farming but am retired from regular in-town work so I am exploring what to do in my retirement. In my present situation I could go on living without homesteading, but being mostly self sufficient on food appeals to me. I am already in a position to be self sufficient on heat since I have a total of about 25 hectares that is mostly in forest. Dead and dying trees will be more than enough to heat my home, especially since emerald ash borer invaded this part of the world. With all of the ash trees dying off I have well over 2000 medium/small ash trees that I will need to deal with in the next 5 to 10 years. Any I do not cut up and burn will end up rotting on the forest floor.
Gordon Reed and creating a huge fire threat if not culled out. Look at Canada and the US at our fires - those not human started
Would it be worthwhile to install a hey rack to stop wastage
That is what I saw. The set up that he is mimicking form Joel Salatin had a little different set up but what was most important is that the hay was given in to the cattle in racks through holes on the barn side.
Yes, there is some wastage but it is less than you think. I put a bunch of loose hay on the bedding that falls off the bales when I throw them down from the loft. The hay is not highest quality and there are some thick peaces in there which they don't like eating and it is mainly that which you see in the bedding. The Salatins put bedding hay on every 4th layer of bedding material. It is good and helps the composting. The pigs love it.
I will have hay racks in our permanent cow shelter and we will also have polled cows eventually so racks are easier then!
My only concern is with the selection of breed of cattle especially if you plan on keeping them in a small confined area for a period of time. With the size of their horns, there is a strong possibility of injury when these animals push and shove each other when feeding in order to gain a better position to feed. These animals would be OK in a pasture only environment but I feel that a polled breed would be better in your situation.
I am going for a polled breed eventually. I have observed these cows in this confined area and yes they push but they know what they are doing exactly. The food is put at three different spots which makes eating very calm.
I think this will be a good series. Do you use computer software to run the homestead and/or farm to track costs and/or any other aspects of the process? If yes, is it something you designed or is there commercial software available?
In farming school I learned how to use a professional software that helps to run a huge farm. I have just been using Excel / Numbers sheets to calculate those things for us.
can you tell what kind of heritage breed pigs you keeping?
Is there a reason off this specific breed?
Do you plan on keeping them on a rotating pasture system - like the cattle?
If so, how fast a rotation/ how may sq meter per pig? i'm on limited land and calculated 50 m2/pig/padoc with them comming back to a padoc once or twice a year. getting two pigs in a 7 by 15m padoc and moving them when the finished 20 kg/pig/move - all numbers i calculated back from John suscovischs' video's - any idea's?
also, how old are your pig's when you take them to the slaghterhouse?
Are you guys on the grid system or if not how do you get electricity for your homestead?
We are on the grid system.
Missed what kind of pigs you have and your reason for buying?
Do you have to deworm pigs?
how do you deal with regulations .... we seem to have layer after layer of regulations which evolve and change as officials evolve over time ??
Great subject. Hope to cover that.
Simeon, how will the pigs fare in the woods against predators? You mentioned in a vid you have the occasional bear, what about wolves? If they are allowed to roam free what keeps them from dissapearing over the horizon? In the opening scene what does that sign behind you say?
The quality of your channel continues to improve. Another thumbs up from Canada.
I think it reads "Egg Land" not sure...
Thank you Dora, that would make sense since they sell eggs.
It seems at obe time you had sheep. Given your region, why did you not continue with the sheep?
He has already kept sheep and will probably do again in the future.
Mika Lee Thanks.
I hope to get sheep soon.
I have noticed a lot of homesteaders have used UA-cam channel for a source of income
It is not easy making money on youtube but it is a nice pocket money when it works. We put 4 hours / day into youtube 6 days out of the week. So I guess if it produces some income that is nice.
I have noticed you put a lot of effort to your videos and I appreciate it.
This is completely off topic, but my 17 yo son really likes the pants you wear. What brand are they where could he get some? Thanks a lot and I think this video topic will be very helpful to all of us. Thanks again.
Sheelah Kayser Check out "What I wear video, and links in description of many newer video."
Thank you Tracey
how many cows do you have?
One cow, 3 heifers and one calf.
I don't know how you can pet that pig then turn around and eat it! LOL I know that's what they are for but I'd have to be emotionally detached from them!
Think return on investment, Your videos are fine but there is very little continuity and very few conclusions .
like
Get this aired on Fox and you can rest assured Trump will pick it up at his next public speaking. ^_^ "Look what's happening in Sweden of all places!"
Are you guys on the grid system or if not how do you get electricity for your homestead?