Our BIGGEST Homestead MISTAKES
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- Опубліковано 26 лип 2024
- If you're getting ready to start a homestead or even just continuing on with your current homesteading journey, come learn from our biggest homestead mistakes! We've been homesteading for 10 years and have made every homesteading mistake in the book... ;)
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One of my biggest (most public) mistakes was poisoning my garden! Watch the story on that here: ua-cam.com/video/EPvgTAHOfC4/v-deo.html
My wife & I homeschooled from 1978 to 1990? I am a clinical psychologist & my wife had 2 Masters degrees i early childhood development & special education! Even our own parents didn’t think we were qualified ! So we started the Arkansas Christian Homeschool Association, to start the grassroots movement of homeschooling here. In 1985 we got a law legalizing homeschooling here in Arkansas. We left the public eye in 1995. We had always lived in town but I had my little hobby farm, but I now spent more time farming! My wife died in 2002 ( breast cancer) so with kids grown and gone I poured my life into the farm. I am now 68 and manage 4100 acres full time, hay & cattle mostly.
That is amazing. You should write a book. Would love to read it.
Holy moly, man! Did you say 4100 acres??? Lordy, lordy! I'm 61 with 89 acres.
Oh! I didn't mean to sound like this was a rural dating ap! Ha! But I did homeschool my kids....I did but just mentioning it. I'd love it if you made videos because I'd like to see how you manage all of that.
sorry for your loss. Amazing story, really inspiring.
Thank you for all you and your wife did for homeschooling.
My favorite saying from Salvador Dali - have no fear of perfection you'll never reach it. And I absolutely love your UA-cam channel ❤
Wonderful tips for beginners like me! Thanks! Comparison has been my biggest challenge. I used to own a 1/4 acre upon which I built my home and was very content, until I started comparing myself with others who had bigger parcels. Soon I had bought a 5 acre piece that I'm currently building infrastructure on for my retirement homestead. Man, when I closed on it, I thought I had achieved my biggest dream ever! It was so huge, I could not wrap my head around it. Just walking from one end to another took a very long time! I was extremely happy. A few months later, I realized that my next door neighbor at my 5 acre farm has 50 fenced acres ! Suddenly my 5 acres seems like nothing! Comparing is not good!
You’re crushing it in this space!
Well, I feel more bumbling than crushing, but just gonna keep on trucking and see what happens! ;)
People ask us this all the time and they are so surprised when we tell them it is NOT cheap. That is so true, you can buy food more cheaply but you cannot buy the quality. We have been homesteaders for 30 plus years, been raising chickens and heritage turkeys for our table. We milked cows, made hay, etc. none of it money makers. Would not trade the experiences nor would our kids. My husband tells people we do it because we are lifestyle people- Quality of life as you say- our three kids have the experience of working together, raising food, etc. very good video.
My husband and I learned about the downfalls of cheap fencing as well. We figured chicken wire would be fine for our chicken run....sure our chickens couldn't get through it, but our dog could....we lost 10 out of 40 chickens. We also had a great horned owl break through the chicken wire screen door on the coop just last week. Our dog no longer goes after the chickens, but the owl was a different story. It killed 2 chickens and then stayed in the coop perched on the roost until my husband managed to get it out.
You’re enjoyable to watch. I loved watching your kids problem solve themselves with the poop ramp. Thank you for being transparent with mistakes, not cleaning before the videos, and showing good animal husbandry. Thank you for your hard lessons.
Growing up my parents tried homesteading and we probably made every mistake in this video, plus some 😊
Today, I am breaking even with my own layers, but I love knowing what I'm eating is healthier and the joy I find in caring for them
I have 8 hens. I feed them on about 10 bucks a month. We used to eat and share twice that much in organic fresh eggs. We built a coop using all free materials. Everything we do has to be free, donated, reused, or recycled because of limited income. Also farm a 2000 sq ft raised garden too. It saves us $300 a month in groceries, feeds my friends and neighbors and chickens and costs me only $40 a year in new seeds when I am not able to save my own. Done the right, homesteading can absolutely save money compared to conventional living. 💚🌻
I have made some mistakes in my day. One mistake that comes to mind happened about this time of year. I had a wood stove set up out in the barn. I figured I used the big south-facing window in the nice warm barm to start some seeds for the year's garden. The paddock where the beef cows spent the winter had some good manure ladened soil. I figured I sift this and use the fine dirt/soil for starting my seeds. Bad Idea. Those seed beds sprouted weeds, far more weeds than the single seeds we had placed in each seed block. I was trying to save money by not buying potting soil. This was a failure. Fortunately, the mistake became obvious quickly and we were able to get some store-bought potting soil and that year I had a great garden.
You are sooooo articulute and have a great sense of humor! This was really helpful!
I think you missed 2 very important things when talking about costs. A lot of that is going to depend on your location and managment practices. If you live way up north, youll be feeding hay much longer than someone in the south. Also being too far south, your pastures will go dormant in summer. Im in tn and i dont pay for feed from march throughout the end of November because our pastures keep growing the whole season. By november, all of the animals we intend to eat have already been slaughtered, so now im only feeding my small amount of breeding stock. Also because of the crazy long growing season, hay is really cheap, like $3 a bale cheap. Then when my husband has a few coworkers who grow hay on the side, now we're talking $2 a bale because friend discount. We also grow our own oats for the animals, so that cuts way down on costs. My feed bill for the whole year is $200. My mom on the other hand is living in california where she was paying $17 a bale. Big difference. Her friend who breeds goats out there, is paying almost $1000 a month on hay because its so dry, they cant keep aninals on pasture.
The longer, and wetter, growing seasons we get in Tennessee also keeps our food costs down because our garden is productive from march into mid december. I can start earlier and we dont get summer die back because it doesnt get too hot and we get plenty of summer rain where we are. Ive had over 1000 seedlings started since the beginning of February that will be leaving the greenhouse very soon. This feeds us and we sell extras, what we dont sell is donated at the end of each day to the local church food bank. We make money, and help families in our community eat healthy food. Thats another thing, what are your state laws about sales? In my state, its legal to sell at roadside stands, so no paying farmers market fees. You cant do that in california where im origanally from. I can also sell eggs unregulated, honey up to a certain amount without regulation, and now my state has just passed a law where i can sell cottage foods. Thats tons of money from homemade jams that i make from our berry harvest. We can even sell our goat milk as long as we label it for pet use only. If my customer wants to drink the milk they bought for their dog, thats none of my business. All i know is a lot of dogs in my town are drinking goats milk lol. Dont worry, i low temp pasturize and would never sell anything i wouldnt drink myself. As far as meat, i can sell it as long as its processed by a licenced butcher.
Another thing is management practices. Where does all of your poo go? Thats not something most peaople think about. Are you cleaning stalls and putting it into the compost for the garden? Are you taking the tractor out after a cut and dragging your pastures to spread the manure? These are simple chores that will save you hundreds, maybe even thousands when you arent paying for chemicals. Its good for us, because we do organic gardening, but organic ferts are very expensive at big box stores, so why not just use what we have, and what we have is massive amounts of poo. We also sell our rabbit and horse manure, so the poop pays for the feed that made it. Sell that cow manure and have that go towards the hay costs.
Another thing is how diverse are your plants and animals? Im an ecologist, and our farm started as an experiment in biodiverse farming. We have many species of animals that all have a specific job. If it doesnt do a job, i dont own it. Even the lazy cat earns his keep. The horse eats the grass, the goats eat the scrub, pig tills the fields while the chickens follow the pig and eat all of the dug up grubs, the ducks get free rein in the veggie patch and eat all the bugs, while rabbits get turned loose into our wildlife garden, then put up at night (if you plan on doing this, make sure your rabbits are very tame and will come when called). Our wildlife garden has many species of native plants that were hand selected to attract native bees and birds. We also have bat houses, and we will be putting in a small pond for the native frogs. Because we work with nature, we dont have pest problems, we dont have disease problems, and the soil is fertile. This saves us tons in money and labor. All of the livestock does its job to keep pastures healthy and productive. I dont have to do very much work because the animals did it for me. Taking this aproach has turned our 4.6 acres of what used to be weeds and bad soil, into a cheap, sustainable farm thats very productive, and it only took 3 years to get it that way. Im sorry this is so long, but there are a lot of smalll details that can really make or break your farm. I would suggest anyone wanting to try this, should do their research (im a scientist, and i still have to do lots of research on a regular basis), and maybe consider moving to another part of the country if your current climate is going to hinder your success. Theres nothing worse than buying livestock, then drowning in feed costs because a pasture just cant keep up with the animals. Or your vegetables never producing well because the growing season is just too short. For anyone who is inrerested in growing more food and becoming more sustainable, charles dowding has an excellent youtube channel with tons of information on no dig organic gardening. Also, John Seymour who created the 1 acre homestead, wrote a lot of great books during his lifetime. I would suggest the self sufficient life and how to live it as a good first read before starting. His knowledge is extensive and he is one of the few authors i truely trust. I hope this helps. Remember, your dreams dont have to cost you as long as you do it right, and they can even make you money.
Thank you for taking the time to share all your tips! Many of people's comments are so valuable.
Do you ever do consultations on beginner homesteaders? To help with ecological planning? You sound so knowledgeable that I feel I need to become an ecologist or permaculture specialist myself to figure it all out?
Thank you for the book recommendations too!
Totally loved your last tip...paralysis by analysis....my tiny home awaits my putting one step in front of the other like my grandma always said
It's so easy to fall into that sort of paralysis! And yes-- one step in front of the other-- that's always the cure. :)
Best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. Don't worry about the size of the challenge!
Thx for sharing, starting out on raw 35 acres at age 50, is a crazy idea we got about 2 yrs ago, along with 30 chickens, 2 horses, 2 beefers, ducks dogs cats and hogs. yep, all in at once the first year - lots of fencing built and a barn. But at our age and with the experience of this being our 3 homestead, we are ready for it all. We know what we want after many previous mistakes - along with learning each day from our new mistakes. Number 1 mistake: getting animals before being ready, but our hearts often lead us to our choices so in the end, it can't really be a mistake, if you follow your heart.
You are so right about the procrastination!!!! I have dreamed all my life about having chickens. Since I was a child I dreamed of living g ona farm.
I wanted chickens, lots and lots of chickens, for meat and eggs. I wanted a garden and to can and freeze and have good quality food. I did accomplish the garden and food preservation but never got my chickens because I always let things get into the way. Still working on having those chickens...lol. Thank you for the encouragement 🙏
#1 mistake has been waiting too long to have our own homestead.
My wife and I have been living frugally for about eight years now.
We have been reading every book and magazine dealing with every
aspect of Homesteading while we wait...
My first exposure to Homesteading was at the age of 13.
My family got into primitive camping in a Tee-Pee, Black powder shooting,
being self-reliant, and everything that goes with it.
I think that I was the only one among my friends who had a subscription to
Mother Earth News and my own set of FoxFire books...lol
My wife was raised in a household that contained two matron Aunts and
her Grandparents who were raised Amish...
She cooks up a feast, cans, vacuum packs dry goods, bakes awesome bread,
and everything else...
I’m certain people will ask, because we hear it all of the time, why haven’t we
found our property and started living our dream of being off-grid...?
There’s only one reason, my Mom...
My Mom became very sick with several health issues about eight years ago.
We were asked to move in and help take care of her and my Stepdad who was
a disabled Veteran...
He was killed four years ago so it’s been just my Mom since.
She won’t leave her home, we asked if we found a place would she move in with
us and the answer was no...
I’m the oldest son and I have a half-Brother and a half-Sister who refuse to help...!
The only time they speak to her is when they want money from her...!
I won’t put her in a nursing home as long as we are able to care for her...!
It would kill me to do so...
So, for the last eight years we’ve put our dreams on hold and will continue to do so
until my Mom passes...
Even if she were in a nursing home we would still stay here because no one else would
go to visit her and I couldn’t leave her all alone like that...
I just turned 56 and my wife is 54, we know that we’ve slowed down as we get older and
I’m unable to do the things a younger me could’ve...
I’m a disabled Veteran also.
We realize that with every year we wait it’s going to just keep getting harder...
We often sit together talking and this subject comes up and we wonder now if we will
ever get to live our dream...
Thanks for sharing this information with us.
Have a great day and be blessed.
you did the right thing. you followed your heart.
Dreams or no dreams, one thing is for SURE-you will NOT regret the time spent with your mom!! Mine just passed almost 2 months ago and like you I had dreams too, still do but spending the time I did with my mom is something I will never regret in all my life; no matter where life takes me! So enjoy this time with her. I know it's not easy, my mom had her issues too. And I am not saying this to lecture you, I'm saying it to say I understand where you're coming from. And kudos to you for following your heart!
GREAT VIDEO! I grew up on farm and we grew our food and heated with wood. I got burned out on helping with the garden and our hogs. Now that I am older I still farm but the only live stock I have are cattle that make me a profit most off the time. I sometimes put a beef in the freezer. I heated with wood for my first 20 years and then built a new house all electric. Over last ten years or so I have seen people buy a small piece of land and try to do this homesteading thing and go BROKE! I have seen half built houses left abandon. I have watched people heat with wood, grow a garden, have chickens, pigs, goats, and a cow or 2 in the first 2 years of moving hear. And then go broke and sometimes divorce. You are so right pick one thing master that then move to something else. Growing and raising your on food is not always cheaper.
“Paralysis by analysis.” I love it!!
Our mistake? Definitely trying to do too many things at the same time. Wanting to move quickly to a state of “finishedness” This mistake results in throwing good money after bad as several different projects at once stretch common sense a little thin.
I relate to analysis paralysis, and being overwhelmed by all of the projects we have to do - so much so, that I forget to appreciate what we have, and I also tend to have 7 different pots burning simultaneously, and none of them are getting full attention or care. Trying to learn to focus on one project, so it correctly, with as quality of products as we can afford, then finish completely before moving on.
Amen. It's a HARD lesson sometimes! I still struggle with it!
Love these Jill! We are getting ready to move to some acreage and I know we will make plenty of mistakes. I grew up on a farm but I’ve been in town for 10 years. I will make sure to get the more expensive barbed wire! I already ran the numbers on the chickens and dairy cow, but I’m going to do it anyway! 😆
I think my biggest hurdle was trusting myself enough to move forward. We have a therapy farm and I often thought in the early years that so many others were more competent than myself that I’d mistakenly hand over the reins to others who weren’t always the best. I’ve learned to fully trust God and His ability to guide us. We now have the very best help and we are celebrating 15 years. Thank you for sharing your life with us! 😊
I came to your channel from your easy bread video, I’m by no means anywhere close to being a homesteader full time lol… but I liked this video because as you reminded us… “baby steps” and starting small. My fear was just starting, because I didn’t want to fail. But today I started with a loaf of homemade bread (results pending 😅) and maybe 2-3 years from now… it will be homesteading full time ❤
I have just come over to this Channel from Lumnah Acres. I have been a homesteader for 10 years but doing it in a rural setting for 2. I find myself saying yes and nodding to every point you made. Can’t wait to go through your the rest of your posts.
#4 Yaasss! I'm struggling with this now. Great to know that i'm not alone in this and the anxiety of all the prodjects. Thank yuo!
Yup-- you're definitely not alone!
We have had this little homestead in Fl for four years and have made every mistake in the book. Getting too many animals too fast, not preparing enough for vet bills, not doing homework on breeds etc and then getting overwhelmed. We have lost a few animals to rare disease and birth problems but have learned alot and had some really good things happen too. I still love it though.
It's definitely tough keep the animal acquisition slow-- I think a lot of folks struggle with that one. ;)
Thanks so much. I’m just trying to better this house on a property less than a tenth the size of yours and I get overwhelmed all the time. Needed to hear this- take stock in what I have and just do pieces at a time. Made me stop getting stressed over the house that needs to be done and celebrate we finished the fencing all the way around by ourselves at least. Baby steps, progressing the work. Got it! Thank you-camping on your station while I declutter this room 🙌🙌
I have been a subscriber for quite a while, but never watched all your videos, so, here I am, startingvfrom turns beginning and this one hit home and is definitely a God-incidence because you said so much of what I (we) need to hear! Thank you!
Love this, especially tip number 5! Guilty of that one!
Love your videos u have a very calming voice thank you
New to your channel. I am just starting out,thanks for sharing your mistakes.
I rent where I live right now. I live out in the county. I have been here for almost 4 yrs as of last season. I started doing some homesteading early last year. In Feb, I planted strawberries, bought chickens (I've had them before), quail, rabbits, ducks and already had 6 dogs. So, spring comes and I plant my garden. (SC has lots of red clay dirt, so I used an old box spring for a raised garden bed.) Further in to spring.... garden is doing great, chickens and ducks are getting big (just waiting for those eggs, ughh), rabbit has her litter, quail are laying great. Middle of growing season..... cucumbers everyday, 5 ft tall sunflowers, all birds are laying, selling baby bunnies, bought a small peach tree, two varieties of grapes, a couple blueberry plants. Closer to end of season.... stray dogs kill some of my chickens, a snake gets the last female quail and leaves me with 3 males. I was getting ready to actually put the peaches, blueberries , and grapes in the ground in the next few days. Then the property manager comes to me and lets me know that the owner of the property has had an offer and that I will have to move in about 6 months. After a couple more days, he said it would be more like a year. I told him that it didn't matter how long it would take for the sale, for me to have the money to move my trailer and cover moving costs, that I was still gonna have to move when the taxes came in. So after all that, my mistake was trying to homestead on rented property. I know it can be done, but in my situation, it was just bad timing. I hope the peaches, grapes and blueberries can survive still being in their store bought containers until I find a place.
All those pointers were great. Because we have experience in Real Estate it is a bit longer for us to make that dive. There are things I am looking for and we are still bringing in the last bit of money to make a sizeable down payment and have money saved up to make any changes, etc. The one thing we run into, are buyers that have put off purchasing a home for so long, they get the "willies" when they are getting into the crux of it all. That is why we give them a buyer's workshop and put it all out on the table and explain to them step by step, what they will encounter and they are so much more informed and happy about their purchase and with the help of a great loan officer they can realize that dream is now their reality. It is pure preparation and I believe the happiness you get from going forward and seeing that dream come true. Everyone makes mistakes but by learning from others yours may not be as bad as they would have been without that bit of knowledge that you needed. Thank you for sharing and really telling it how it is. Big smile on my face. Anna Banana Have a wonderful day!
Trying to keep too many laying hens. I started with 40 (😳). Have since discovered 6 is more like it.
I started with 12. Lol. A dozen eggs per day! What was I thinking?
Having watched a bunch of these homesteading mistake videos it seems that the number one mistake beginning homesteaders make is not finding someone who has been down the road and could have saved them countless headaches and dollars.
Great advice! Thanks
New subscriber. Came here after seeing Justin Rhodes promote your new cooking class. I'm registered and looking forward to it!
Just came across your channel. New subscriber right here!! Thanks for the tips!
Welcome! Glad to have you following along!
Hm lol Hubby and myself watched this and if im honest i think this was made for us. We have done almost everything you mentioned. Great vlog xx
I rhink about it all the rime, watch all homesteading videos i loveit , been doing this since 2011.
My husband and I have lived on our Homestead for 20 years. One mistake we made was to get the animal then figure out their housing. Homesteading has been a great experience for my daughter now my granddaughter. Keep making your videos they are very informative.
Great video, thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching Michelle!
Great thoughts and ideas, thanks.
I thought your last tip (about perfectionism and procrastination) was especially good. I know homesteaders with acreage who've been there for ten or even twenty years and they have yet to plant a fruit or nut tree. They're still waiting for the "perfect place and time" to present itself
I wish I had focused less on livestock when I started homesteading, and more on building garden soil and planting trees. The financial return is definitely higher on plants here
Thanks so much for the tips my wife and I just bought our first home in the country we don't have much land but we do intend on gardening having chickens and trying to reduce some of our costs
Thanks Jill. Good advice for beginner homesteaders.
13 years on a tropical island, jungle homestead, my biggest mistake was not hurricane-proof building. I've rebuilt completely after a catagory 5 leveled everything. Homesteading is a lifestyle...I just keep doing it everyday.
Oh my goodness- that is some seriously resilience! Hurricanes are one thing I've never had to deal with, so I can't imagine!
We bought a derelict house. I thought I'd fix it up in 3 months - 6 years later we're half way done;) Still good though, so happy to be out of the city, that is (was) Auckland city in New Zealand.
Great content!! Thanks!
Number one mistake my family and I made... Not starting sooner. We're very new at it, but getting the hang of it... you can follow along our journey on our channel. Thanks for your content and input. Very useful information!
I'll check out your channel!
Im looking for your channel. "Lone Pine"? I'm not finding you.
Adapt and overcome! Plans will inevitably change, priorities will be rearranged. If you are not malleable, you’ll go nuts.
Chicken math! That got me. I was up to 80+ hens one time. More eggs than I was selling. I fed eggs to any farm animal that would eat them. My family revolted against eggs for a short while. So I stepped back, pared down and now I know what is a manageable size flock for me and sales. 💚🐔
Right on point with these mistakes. One mistake I know we've done is starting something when you're not prepared. Husband goes to buy a couple of cows that were for sale and comes back with not only cows but sheep and goats because it was a good deal at the time. As you can see, we were not prepared for the extra animals. This was many years ago so we know not to do that again.
This was great! My biggest mistake so far is not listening to my gut... when I feel something is off with the animals.
Yes!!
Non-planning is the worse! Building a coop where we could see it, on the hill, but not building an access was the worse! We built before we made an easy access stairway, still not done, then the chickens got killed in their coop where they had been for two years so the coop hasn't even been used due to a health issue that came up. Hopefully chickens will be there next Spring!!
Ooh, that's a tough one for sure! Hopefully your next batch of chickens will go much smoother!
I dont live on a farm,but I do grow my own food,I also get eggs from my sister,she has 4 chickens, my mistake was trying to grow a lot in a very small space,it didn't turn out very well. This time around in going to grow what we eat,and not plant so by the way I received your cookbook and I can't wait to get started. Your neighbor nickie (Colorado) .
Starting with "exciting" vegetables instead of easy to grow vegetables. No vegetables for me this year.
Ooooh, that's a good one-- totally done that!
Our craziest mistake was not doing the plot testing for our garden to test the greatest constant sun exposure. In 1 day we tilled THREE plots for a garden!!! Each one we tilled we’d go back outside about 1 1/2 hrs later and discover that our huge maple tree was shading the area (trying to grow tomatoes!).
homesteading is absolutely easier -- and cheaper! -- if you're a vegetarian. simply put, animals require lots of expensive food supplements, appropriate shelters & expensive safety devices like that barbed wire fence you mentioned, plus lots of time in terms of care. i encourage you to read Helen & Scott Nearing's "Living the Good Life" books as a starter -- heroes of the mid-20th century back-to-the-land movement philosophy, all of which is useful, if only to help you determine your own personal short- and long-term visions. best of luck!
We farm and raise grass fed beef. We found that its cheaper to buy milk, veggies and eggs from our neighbors, for $ 1.50 ea. for gallon of milk and a doz.eggs. Their vegetables. are extremely inexpensive, too... We do still have a small garden, though..
I started a homestead built all on my own, let some people discourage me, sold the place, now I'm sorry because I had been happy there.
I'm sorry to hear that Suzanne!
~~~ That was a very good video my friend..If I should call it a mistake it would be that I should of started many years ago.....
Thank you for this interesting video and sharing with us your experience. We can certainly learn from it. If I could suggest some improvements in the video making, I have found the music running in the background for big part of this video quite annoying and even it was hard to hear what you were actually saying since there was also some echo in the room. Anyway, you are doing a great work with your homesteading and all the blogging. I admire your courage and strength. Keep up with what you are doing and thank you.
Thanks for the feedback. I have less than 20 YT videos under my belt, so still working out the kinks. My 8 year old was running the camera/audio for this video, so I think it was decent, considering!
After checking in with my husband for our biggest mistake, (we’re in our late fifties, bought our property 2 1/2 years ago) he laughed and said building our barn without planning. Haha! 20x50x14 ft steel bldg. we literally built it from a supplier provided plans and materials. Now we’re finishing it with water and electricity. 😂😂😂 I love what we’re doing, but the power and water would have been way easier if we hadn’t jumped in without planning.
Oh man...where to begin! Lol. Looking back over the last year or so, I can relate to your points. Jumping in on everything at once, making "frugal" yet costly purchases, and especially thinking it would all save money in the short term (ahem, chickens are not frugal). I have a craigslisting livestock impulse buyer of a husband (whom I adore like crazy and respect madly) and that leads to a lot of hurry up and make do. However. I truly feel that this crash course of unpreparedness and supposed mistakes has taught us soooo very much in a shorter period than I thought possible. Every mistake had a lesson, every "make do" showed us that what we couldn't anticipate before we spent a ton of effort and substantially more money. Now we have a better idea of what to expect, and in building our more permanent systems, we can be wiser with the money we will have to spend. We have done this on peanuts compared (oh, I said that, whoops!) to what I see out there in internet land. We laughingly call ourselves "those people", that have piles of foraged items for a future purpose and slap things together to make it to tomorrow. But in spending so little and learning so much, I feel we have not lost, but gained immensely. I think you are spot on, especially with analysis paralysis. Sometimes you just have to DO. ~Booger_weeds from Instagram
Oh hey! Now I know who you are from IG!
Craiglist is a dangerous place for those of us who have issues in impulse- buying issues with animals, ha! I love this---> "I feel we have not lost, but gained immensely"
The Prairie Homestead - Thanks! I think at times I get confusing when I'll start a thought on IG with my handle on there, but then end up finishing it on UA-cam under my Google name. I really ought to make them the same, but haven't gotten around to it.
Great video
HMMM just one? Getting the wrong kind of sheep (wool sheep when we wanted it for meat), letting it live with the chickens in the pasture. Not getting it castrated in time. Then the ram would charge after the chickens when we fed them out in the pasture, eat all the grain. Finally he met the freezer but not after consuming much too much grain thus making his meat way to fatty to eat. The name Big Boy will go down in history. For now I think we are sticking with cats lol oh and the chickens. In the kitchen before my hubby taught me how to cook (since I didn't know how when we got married) I turned a turkey into 4 chickens :) Kidding... the turkey never defrosted for our guests and we roasted 4 chickens instead. hmmm.... I've done the kombucha thing too but caught it mid-explosion and hauled it outside.
Those frozen turkeys will get you every time!! ;)
My husband and I are looking into homesteading. I am glad I came across your channel, and these tips! Thank you for that! Also... on one of your other videos you said you buy everything used. I assume your couch is used as well. Do you happen to know the name/brand of it? I love it!
Am living like a cave man with a generator. On a small lake. But it 'so better than living in Toronto haha love love it
True experiences Thanks
Our biggest and most recent mistake...over-feeding our Freedom Rangers and them starting to die around week five. Only then did I do the extra research and figure out the proper feeding routine. By that time we lost almost half of the chicks. Made it to processing day with 15 of the 25 that we started with. Always learning something new!
Oh no! THat's a hard lesson for sure!
#1 Didn't know the difference between straight-run or pullets & meat birds vs layers 😕😅! Best thing we did to remedy that, after a horrfying maul from the boys on a hen, we were mentored and then practiced sending the excess of our flock to freezer camp. The mistake from THAT endeavor was learning how to properly cook chickens that were over 50+ days old. They are NOTHING like srore bought. Im glad i made a back-up thanksgiving dinner bc Big Boy roasted was a tough stringy disaster. I learned to use a pressure cooker so the rest wouldn't go to waste after all that work. He really didnt go to waste but not fit for human consumption. I boiled the chicken for 2 days to create an amazing stock but the meat REFUSED to pull away from the bone. Cats n surviving chickens werent so picky. Our fencing mishap came from thinking our property line was up to pasture fence which was another property. Uh nope wrong! 3 ft onto what we thought was our yard was actually there's. We had to take down ours and just left it down.
You are absolutely right you need good planning from the start with future vision. Also I wait to buy good quality...it applies to everything. Cheap and nasty never pays. You end up buying 3 cheap where you could have bought one decent item from the beginning. Its worth the money to get products that you know have not been packed with insecticides or all the other nasties they are so fond of adding to our food these days.
This video was so helpful!!;)) Thank you!;) You are Such a Beautiful Person!;)) #Inspiring
Thinking that one has to have acres of land to homestead. Right now, I live in an apartment and I am taking things a little bit at a time.
Our mistake has been trying to make the garden too big and going too cheap. Also needing to build a bigger chicken coop.
This isn't really related to your video but could you do a home tour of your house and farm? Or maybe like a DIY home decor or home decor ideas?
Great idea-- I'd love to do that! I don't consider myself a decorator, but would love to show ya'll around anyway. ;)
~~~ y--thank you and I will go over and check that out.. I really enjoy your videos my friends.
Tough to match or be cheaper than subsidized commercial milk.
I have waited 40 years for my homestead dreams to come true! I do have chickens and rabbits ( that I cannot bear to eat and my garden space is lost to shade trees from Neighboring homes🙄
Our biggest mistake was too high student loans. Now we're having a lot of trouble trying to qualify for a mortgage, despite excellent credit and that being our only debt besides the house. Given the high cost of a well and financing only available for it via a land/home construction package, it is making it difficult for us to get on acreage now :( And I'm pretty darn certain my neighbors here in town (1/4 acre lot) will not appreciate me trying to keep a milk cow in my backyard ;(
Good tips for the for the folks. Id have to disagree on that youd be spending more on raising and growing food rather than buying all the time from the store. I live In NY and if youve ever lived here youd know steaks are pricey For someone who like to eat red meat often and event if they go to the Cheapest Spot Your looking at a large bill by the end of the week or so. Fruit and vegis can be plentiful on a homestead where as youd need to buy often for cooking and eating else where. The biggest thing i see people complaining or dealing with is the MILK. They just dont know how to utilize it . Heavy cream, sour cream, Butter milks, butter, riccotta, , cottage, fetta ectect ect... The two biggest pieces of advice i can give is plan how much you can afford to spend on a water bill, and food for animals. Manage how long its going to take before you can eat your rewards as well... Also Getting land with grass will make alll the difference in how much your spending on feed.
One of my mistakes was I had someone come in and take the top layer of grass off for my garden at our new home. I knew nothing about the soil and it turns out its mostly clay and I kept watering it 🤦. I did not prep it or anything and just started planting. I was just way too excited. Some things did well most did not. 😂
Great video! What color are your walls?
Wow so great of you to put all that out there! I find myself doing some of these even though I don’t have a time of land. I just keep telling myself we are not other people!
Off topic. What ever came of that chick that had a hurt leg? Did it recover. It wa the one the Momma hatch on a straw bale.
Unfortunately it didn't make it-- we went out a day or two later and it was dead. Super sad day. :(
Very Sad, but it happens. We tried hatching a dozen chick and something kept taking eggs at night. Any way 1 took 23 hour to hatch and momma hen rejected it and it died. Out of 6 4 were roosters 2 hens. 4 years later we still have one and she is our best layer still to date! I wish we could get her babies!
I feel your pain for sure! We've had a rough year with chickens, between our puppy and raccoons....
The number one mistake was leaving my dog in my chicken yard and losing 30 chickens. In my defense, no one on youtube tells anyone how they get their dogs to not eat their chickens. My second mistake was thinking I could breed my cornish cross chickens and get more cornish cross chickens. Now I have a rooster that is huge and aggressive and one poor big hen that is too fat to run away from him. I'm normally intelligent. LOL
I bought ducks without consulting my wife....and really having a plan for them....
Farm animal impulse-buying... it's a thing, man. ;)
I've had a place in the country for ten years now. Now I'm 61 and I kinda wished I'd had thought a little SMALLER now that I'm aging. This is the age that people are LEAVING their places in the country. We don't have any animals and we have a LOT of acreage to mow.
Country Frau we bought after our empty nest and only went with 1 acre. Prefect for us. Chickens then garden on just quarter of it. Just perfect for me at 60.
It's funny to be jealous of less, but I am. You can do a lot with an acre! You are a smart lady! @@judyhowell7075
Maybe you could contact Nancy Werts and offer her a spot to park her trailer and the the two of you could help each other. : )
You know, I'm thinking that such an arrangement is the way to go in the future. @@nellcovington4001
@@countryfrau8328 If you go that route, I hope it works well for you. Best for the future.
So far, our biggest mistake was getting chickens before the infrastructure was complete or even started.
Not having proper goat fencing! ☺
Goats + fence = NOT EASY! ;)
ew sub from texas
Any reason why you instagram page is not working?
Getting baby animals and struggling to get their infrastructure in place.
homesteading is where you work the land to own the land not buy the land and wing it.
I think our biggest (most costly) mistake was getting goats instead of just going for the cow. We knew we wanted a cow, but everyone said “oh just get goats! They’re smaller, less expensive, etc”. Well, once you add up all the costs to just keeping them ALIVE I don’t think they’re really cheaper. Lol!!
So, now we have a cow. And what did we do? Got the cheapest fencing option (poly wire) for cows who were used to wooden horse fencing. You guessed it - they ran right through it. So now we are putting up a woven wire fence this weekend. It would have been a whole lot easier BEFORE the cows got here. *sigh* I’m learning, I’m learning
Oh man-- we've had more than our fair share of fencing faux pas! I feel your pain!
You are incredibly beautiful
mistake #1, not having a lapel mic.
No joke, you really need to fix that. If you don't have a lapel mic, just do voice-over, the quality will be a LOT better and much more enjoyable to the viewers. Keep it up!
I actually did have a lapel mic in this video (you can even see it). Unfortunately, it was hooked up wrong in this one recording session. This has since been fixed and the sound on my videos since has been much better. I am also a believer in "done is better than perfect" and I'm a fan of getting the content out there, even if it's not 100% perfect. Perfection paralyzes most folks from ever even starting the channel/homestead/project/goal, etc.
you need to fix your sound
Yes-- working out kinks. I was using my iPhone to record videos, but now using my DSLR and still figuring out the mic. My 8 year old daughter ran the camera for this video, so I figure it was pretty good considering.
It was fine! Some people love to criticize
if you're deaf, it sounds fine
It's fine. The message is the most important thing. Don't be so picky.
camera was fine.if you run across a dressing screen with fabric and set it up behind mic it will reduce echo. or any kind of fabric. an old quilt hanging behind mic on a hanger rack would probably work also. hanging wall fabric on your walls will solve your echoing. in all honesty if i remember right i think justin had some echoing when he recorded there also when taping in the long axis of your living space.
The quixotic advice densply arrest because cricket namely kick for a alike dragon. shivering, uninterested arrow
$2000 cow! HAHAHAHHA you are still doing it wrong
That's how much a decent, bred milk cow costs in our area.
some tips
1. turn the background music waaaaay down.
2. sit in a room that has less echo , with a better mic
3. try to keep it short. noone cares about your storys that you yourself like. other people who was not there does not care.
You do realize this video was about her homesteading mistakes, right? Of course they're going to be her stories- how else would she have credible inspiration for other people?
@@tamidavis3730 Thanks Tami. ;)
Bork, opinions come in all shapes and sizes, many are really just "judging the other person...stick to your kitchen or soften your attitude. If you don't like something, just continuing feeling superior and move on!! Nobody enjoys the opinion of a "Snark".