I’ve lived in a polar opposite lifestyle from Morgan, but ended up in a similar situation. I spent over 40 years working very dangerous and demanding physical jobs. I traveled across North America from Texas to Alaska, building the industrial infrastructure of modern society. Power plants, mines, factories, refineries and all kinds of other industries were my workplaces. I’m retired now and living on a small farm with my son and his wonderful wife and my incredibly intelligent grandchildren. And my life is great. I have my family just steps from my front porch. I have a rope swing hanging on my porch so my granddaughter and I can discuss talking dogs and magical fairies 🧚♀️. My grandson practices his baseball skills in the batting cage we built in the shop/barn. I feed the pitching machine and he does his swings! Add our chickens, dogs, fruit trees and vegetable garden and life is pretty darn good!
You should look up videos of Bunny the talking dog & the channel Bilispeaks. Both Bunny a dog & Bili a cat have learned to talk by using speech buttons that were originally for the disabled. I've seen Bunny remind her human to give her medicine to Bunny & Bili's favorite word used to be Mad. Bunny also told her human she had a thorn in her paw & needed help. You can actually get button kits now. So it's even easier to start teaching your animals to talk to you. Just watch out adding litterbox or you'll be cleaning the cats toilet a lot. I'd love to see someone teach farm animals how to 'talk' too. I bet a horse or pony would be great at it. Might be a fun project to do together. It just starts with a single button & teaching them to push it. But it will get up to an amazing number eventually.
What they don't tell you - Farmers get no time off, ever. No off-the-clock, always something else to fix or go wrong. Paperwork + 24/7 hard labor, no vacation, no days sick, no days off unless you can arrange (and pay) someone to 'Farm-sit'. Respect for Farmers/Ranchers, especially on smaller holdings.
And then when they retire and need nursing homes or assistance, can’t get it because the land they own makes them too “rich”. Even though renting out the land is the only way they make money, have to sell it to become even more poor, in order to then get assistance. Something in there is broken. Lots of young people now want to start farms but the land/equipment is being sold off. Imagine a world where retiring farmers could find and reach a deal with those who want to begin, the knowledge that could be shared, the young could learn the old ways and the old could smile knowing their hard work LIVES ON! ❤
At least farmers get to move around and take walks around the farm. Most businesses with office work looks boring and stressful. Especially being for hours with coworkers that are not friends.
Love your channel. I have a law degree, blah blah 6 figure white collar job and all that crap. I can’t convince the wife to farm but she has agreed to us living in the comfy suburb but owning a small orchard nearby. I used to be a carpenter and remember what my body and mind was back then. It is completely different. There’s something clean about your work day ending with muscles sore from work rather than stiff from inaction.
I’ve been watching this channel for about a year and a half and find the content to be healing to my soul. I’m gonna pop over and check out your channel as well now. I really appreciated the conversation and information you shared today☺️ 🕊♥️🇨🇦🙏🏻♥️🕊
My grandfather grew up on a farm. After WW2 he went to college and got a white collar job. He claimed that he didn't regret that decision but he turned his whole back yard into a small farm. He canned food for the winter and was pretty self sufficient. I guess he had the best of both worlds.
you can take the farmer out of the farm but you can't take the farm out of the farmer. many southeastern asian refugees i knew were the same. after settling elsewhere, they turned their yards into mini gardens. they were poor but never hungry.
You described my grandma. She became a teacher and they could afford a house "in town" just after WW2. My grandpa had been a tenant farmer in southern Minnesota before that. My grandma had taught in a 1 room school house prior to marriage and family. So she had to go to college. Their backyard had a beautiful flower garden, berries and vegetables patch. Grandma canned, froze and pickled what she grew. She was of German ancestry and grandpa was from Norwegian descent. ❤
You look so much happier and healthier now, than you did back then. I worked as a federal contractor, a little over 20 yrs..working in windowless facilities. It sucks to work strictly for wages…I retired in 2021, and I love it! WVa (I was born here and all my family is here) has a lower cost of living, so social security should be all I need ( if not, I’ll work part time) And I won’t miss the every five year pain in the ass, to maintain the clearance. You certainly deserve your happiness, and you are good at it…raising your animals ethically…they have a good life that ends in just one bad day.
I live in the suburbs, and on the corner of my street lives an old Haitian man. Every spring, he tills his entire backyard by hand, alone, and turns it into one giant field of crops! All of his fences are covered in grape vines and he encourages people to pick the grapes that hang on the outside! It's a free snack every time we walk by!
Farming is challenging because you need expertise in so many areas - business management, mechanics, construction, animal husbandry, agronomy, marketing, networking, accounting...just on and on. Having an active FFA in school was so helpful.
I've been reading about a chapter or two of Toby Dog to my daughter (4 months) everyday since I got it on Tuesday. We are only halfway through it and we are enjoying it immensely!
It is no doubt a huge difference in the atmosphere and impact on your body. My husband was a farmer and I was the office worker. I understood farming because I came from a farming family as did my husband. The culture of the office compared to farming is so different. People in the office are more concerned with what someone else is or is not doing. The farming community in my area are very supportive. I live in West Tennessee.
It's my dream to have a farm someday when I retire. I have been reading books and learning everything I can, and your videos are part of my curriculum. Interviews with other farmers are helpful. I say as long as you can do the boring jobs, be grateful you can do them.
Hey Morgan, first of all we have been following you for the last 8 years. We are so proud of you❤. Every time we watch your videos it’s like checking in with our favorite son. We left the big city (Seattle) to live the country life 10 years ago (when we were 60). My husband retired from Seattle Police after 35 hard years of service (and not a moment too soon) and I was a Ballroom Dance Instructor. It was easier for him than for me as he was ready to get his hands dirty and “play”. It was more difficult for me as my life had been ballroom gowns and high heels. (It took me 2 years to “lose the city”) It is hard work and lots of learning to go from city life to rustic living, but it’s worth it. We laughed when we heard the part about investing in REAL tools as opposed to what we call “toy tools”. We were total “city-iots” …. All I can say to other “dreamers”….don’t be afraid. Don’t listen to the nay-sayers. It could add many years to your life. Morgan… you are the best. Keep doing what you a are doing. EXCELLENT INTERVIEW!❤
8 yrs? He's been on UA-cam 8 yrs already?! I remember his first video of him chopping down the tree but it sure doesn't feel like 8 yrs already....man time sure does fly by.
Hi Morgan! Love this video. A lot of people are going back to the way it used to be. Hangin there Morgan, you have many memories of Molly Muder Mittens. She impacted your farm.❤
Very interesting. It's good to hear sbout others' stories. My father and his brother were the first folks in their families to go to college and get degrees. My uncle got his in geology, I think. My dad got his in electrical engineering. My mother's folks had a dairy. My dad worked for a consulting company for distribution power lines. We always had a garden growing up to keep prices reasonable. So growing some vegetables wasn't foreign to me. I took a circuitus route to a civil engineering tech degree/job but I always seemed to grow flowers and veggies to eat and hopefully a few to share no matter where I landed. I have a degree in fine art, too. I attended an art school for a while in California. My sister and I sgared an apartment. We found wood scraps and built planters and raised everything from carrots to corn on our balcony. The neighbors were always amazed at our jungle! Both my sister and I have always enjoyed having green things around. Sadly, this last year has been a real health challenge for me and I never had the strength or balance to even water the yard. I didn't really even have dandelions growing this year. Taking vitamin B12 has improved things so much. I'm hoping that I'm feeling much better by next Spring planting season. It's been very depressing looking at the bare ground. I never expected to experience such barrenness. Sigh! Growing green things feeds my soul, especially now in my retirement! So your channel has been a lifeline for me the past few months! Thanks! Prayers for health and safety!🙏❤️🙏
Thankyou for sharing . I had to give up my vegetables garden a few years ago , the city doesn't like counters , then this year it was all including flowers . It hurt but I realized I didn't have the energy for it . I am taking B12 to .I had to up mine for awhile . I am eating meat now and eggs . Thankyou for sharing .it is a loss . I would love to live on a farm and do it all .but I can't .
But i see what you are saying, as we recently purchased a farm property in upstate New York. Seems everyone does many jobs and has a real do it yourself attitude. And i love that as i have that mostly myself. I believe that being more rural thoe, usually whatever job you have you make alittle less. So you need to make a dollar do more for you, so you do it yourself and have now learned how. Creates a very diverse, handi person
It all boils down to which career path bringing the individual the most meaning and fulfilment. It is special if you can still use skills of one career path on the next, making you you uniquely skilled individual. You are all incredible humans, thanks for sharing this with us.
Hi Morgan, I really enjoyed this podcast episode. Awesome interview‼️Jason from Sow The Land is a fantastic homesteader with a lovely family. You and Jason have so much great information to share. Take care.
Can be as tough, the loss of an animal one loves as another person. Nothing but respect and gratitude for the rare transparency and skillful communication you share Gordon
I just moved to Asheville. I lived in charlotte, so close by, and was working at starbucks. I was miserable, I had been in charlotte my whole life (only 20 years old). Working on a farm now in Candler and ive never been happier.
Living the agrarian life, regulating your daily chores by the sun and weather's seasons VS Getting in your car, traffic, crowds of people giving you tension and aggravation, punching a time clock, taking orders, facing customers giving you more tension and aggravation, working strict schedules, getting sick from other sick people. I lived door #2 for 65.5 years in southern Connecticut. Now I live by the sun, chickens, garden, grass, wood, tractor in middle New Hampshire. Haven't been sick a day since I moved to the rural environment. Take door #1 💚
I have noticed you're more happy on the farm farm life is good for your soul it does look like fun on your farm you have the best life they're all adorable and they are loved i love how you share your farm life. Farming is hard but worth it
This is so amazingly helpful. I was trying to figure out what I needed to do. I retired from a federal job and decided I wanted to homestead. And I've been trying to figure it out for a while now lol thank you thank you thank you
The challenge for so many wanting to make this change is like you said; how do you make a living? It's a challenge. We have about 3 acres in Central Texas, and our attempts to grow anything has been a disaster. Bad drought and excessive heat (100+ temps from late June til this past Wednesday, 9/27/23. It's brutal. We aren't really homesteading, as I have a full time job, and my wife handles most animal work, mainly egg layer chickens, plus pet goats and turkeys. tl:dr- even the best laid plans can be bolloxed by bad weather.
I got sick at 55 and gave all my stuff to my son, the best thing I ever did, made my health 100 percent better (NOT MY WORRY ) AHHHHHHHHHHHH............. stress just melted ...................
That was an awesome idea, maybe you stumbled onto something there. Someone should set up like a “farmers exchange “. Where you can buy all the essentials a farm needs. Maybe one for farm animals, that you source from cooperating breeders. And all the equipment you would need. And one for the plant growers…….crops and the equipment. I don’t even know what all that would entail. But it seems like it would help.
from times to times, the older southeastern asian refugees would tell me that they wish they were able to still able to live in their homelands. most of them were farmers and agreed that life as farmers was less stressful than office works.
That was great. I grew up on a farm, same size and variety as yours, but it's still a scary thought to think of running one by myself after a career in tech. You guys did it without any previous experience. Maybe I'm right to be scared, 'cause it is hard work. Hay seeds sticking to the sweat on your body 'cause you have to be out there baling hay while the sun shines. 😅 And truth told, my Dad always did heating and roofing work to pay the farm bills. Hats off to you.
I love the idea of owning a farm because I would know how the animals are being treated, what they’re being fed. Same goes for a vegetable garden and the physical activity would be healthy for my spouse and I. The problem is I’m not physically capable of doing that all on my own. My spouse and I would have to hire farm-hands to help take care of all the heavy lifting.
Nice video, it is not just coming from a white collar job it coming from any job or even like myself still working a full time job and having a homestead. Regardless on having a homestead you need a system of cash follow to pay the bills. It bothers me that some UA-camrs make it look easy or not hard to have a working homestead or farm. I wish they would be open and forward about the financial side. The physical side of farming or homesteading well it’s a given y out don’t go out side get it done or it doesn’t get done. Now I grew up having a garden. My grandparents had a farm and work full times job also had a camp ground on there property for extra income and farm animals. My wife on the flip side is a born and raised Philadelphian and never in her wildest dreams though she would be living and working on our homestead stuff. Bot tum line It is hard work and not easy physically and financially.
I’m so pleased for you to be where you are now. You seem so much happier. Your poor camera, 🤭 as it keeps on being knocked over. Love your work. Thank you. May you all please take care and stay safe. Louisa.
I think the topic you're discussing happens with whatever lifestyle you choose. I'm sure everyone has down times and questions their choices. Unless you are independently wealthy you need a way to provide for yourself and for many their families. Perhaps it's a matter of maturity. Sounds like you need to go out with your wife and enjoy yourself. Keep doing what you're doing and you'll get through it. Don't give up and things will work out for you..
I grew up on a small farm. My mother said that if I didn't want to marry a farmer, I shouldn't go out with farmers, so I didn't. I married an engineering student and we moved to a city after he graduated. I have never thought about "living the good life" on a farm. It was a great place to grow up - not going back!
Daily farm chores can be taxing but just remember you don't have that knucklehead Boss barking orders at you all day and you can take time to scratch that piglets belly if you want to. ♥️♥️♥️
I truly enjoyed this video. I have lived the homestead-like lifestyle almost my entire life, having been born into it. It was a way of life in my generation. Hard work is a good thing.
Morgan, I'm happy for you. You would have gone brain dead in your previous life. My wise brother told me," It's about expectations". When I feel my dreams are getting a little tripped up, I remind myself of his words.
I love how Jason is always honest and raw with the truth on farming and homesteading. It is work, and a lot of times work that you can’t just walk away from becuz it’s now 4pm.
Thinking of no farms, even tomato plants in Southern California, my father, who would have turned 82 2 days ago, moved there as a boy. At that time it was all orchards down there. He talked lovingly about the wonderful apricots that you could pick from the trees. His parents raised chickens. Now it’s all entirely buried in buildings and infrastructure.
Homestead/living off the land/patchwork - that's how old school farmers used to do it 150 years ago. Nobody had one income stream. This modern single employer paycheck stuff works..until it doesn't.
I'd go down to the city to visit my gf at Pratt while she was in college. I'm next door to you in NH. No way I'd live in the city! Rather hear ducks than trains and tragic. Take care Gold Shaw Farm family!!
I call what y'all are doing - "multi-hyphenates" entrepreneurial - pivots quickly according to demand/changes in season or circumstances and doesn't have a standard work schedule.
You've been a farmer 1 year longer than I and I think you are doing great. Your journey, although very different has been an encouragement to me in mine.
@miditrax - Thanks for reminding folks that farmers get no time off unless they can hire someone to farm sit for them. The other thing no one on these channels talks about is that farming seems to be a non-starter for singletons. You don't have to be a couple with 4 homeschooled kids to use as free labor in order to run a farm. What I've always appreciated the most about Morgan & Allison is that they are childless by choice & running their farm together. But I realized lately that even when if I can afford to buy the land for cash, it will be utterly impossible to run a farm by myself. And I'm not willing to go out & marry someone just to have a partner to work a farm with. Also, it seems that Morgan makes more from his TY channel than he does from farming. Which is not a dis, just an observation. I could never be on YT, all I want to do is be able raise enough high quality food to feed myself & stay healthy. But I love this channel so I'll still keep watching.👍🏽
I'm glad you're getting it down to be a farmer, what it's like for city kid to turn dirty aggi. I was the other side, growing up on the farm, knowing farm work, loving farm work. But in the 1970s the old family farm was running down with an income of less than $10K A year the bank wouldn't even let me into an office to finance a 130 acre farm for $60 K so ended up in a timeclock job I hated for 40+ years.
I like watching your videos. My father in law was raised on a farm in Pennsylvania in the early 1900s and he would tell stories about being raised on the farm . Sounds like he in joyed it. He had 6 brothers and not one of including him left the farm when they got older.
I remember your videos about planting your permaculture orchard and how exhausting that was for you. This was a very interesting discussion. It brought back fond memories of my physical transition as I adapted to years working on land I owned for a while.
As someone who lived in both worlds as I grew up on the farm, left for a while for the city life, then back to the farm, I have noticed a few things. The big thing is people who grew up in the city and went to school to learn the “one job” got trained to do that one job. It basically didn’t change much. Farm life or country life in general is all about solving problems as come up. You never know from week to week what’s going to go wonky. There are things you learn to do daily, like tending animals. But it’s those unexpected things that crop up that cause you to be ever expanding your knowledge and skill sets. Some people just aren’t into constantly needing to learn new things. Needing to repair things, add things, remove things, change things to accommodate ever changing situations like weather situations and animal situations. Fighting animals, sick animals, animals out of the fences gardens that are out of control, harvests coming on all once, needing to put up all the hay before it rains…it’s never ending. There’s a lot of stress at times and you have to be very flexible and versatile in your skills to manage it all. For someone who sat a desk and did one thing over and over, then went home to relax…..it’s literally like going to different world. It’s not for everyone and that’s fine. Country people are the epitome of “Jack of all trades”!
You have to work hard physically everyday! You have to think & reason really hard everyday. You have to be there for the animals 24/7/365 ANIMALS DIE and that shuld never feel good. It is nessary and sometimes tragic. it never stops! It is hard work EVERYDAY.
Human beings weren’t meant to sit in little cubicles and fill out tps reports!! Hahah office space. But seriously, farm living isnt for everyone. But for those that it is, farming is there religion and the land is there church.
Thanks for this video. I have been wanting a farm for the longest so now I’m slowly integrating myself by getting chickens and watching them grow up so I can sell the eggs and next I’m getting meat birds to sell. I just need to learn how to market myself and my products.
I’ve lived in a polar opposite lifestyle from Morgan, but ended up in a similar situation. I spent over 40 years working very dangerous and demanding physical jobs. I traveled across North America from Texas to Alaska, building the industrial infrastructure of modern society. Power plants, mines, factories, refineries and all kinds of other industries were my workplaces. I’m retired now and living on a small farm with my son and his wonderful wife and my incredibly intelligent grandchildren. And my life is great. I have my family just steps from my front porch. I have a rope swing hanging on my porch so my granddaughter and I can discuss talking dogs and magical fairies 🧚♀️. My grandson practices his baseball skills in the batting cage we built in the shop/barn. I feed the pitching machine and he does his swings! Add our chickens, dogs, fruit trees and vegetable garden and life is pretty darn good!
Thanks for your hard work! Glad you are at peace 😊
You should look up videos of Bunny the talking dog & the channel Bilispeaks.
Both Bunny a dog & Bili a cat have learned to talk by using speech buttons that were originally for the disabled.
I've seen Bunny remind her human to give her medicine to Bunny & Bili's favorite word used to be Mad. Bunny also told her human she had a thorn in her paw & needed help.
You can actually get button kits now. So it's even easier to start teaching your animals to talk to you.
Just watch out adding litterbox or you'll be cleaning the cats toilet a lot.
I'd love to see someone teach farm animals how to 'talk' too.
I bet a horse or pony would be great at it.
Might be a fun project to do together. It just starts with a single button & teaching them to push it. But it will get up to an amazing number eventually.
That sounds like a wonderful home & family. U go gramps! 🫶🏼 from Amsterdam, NL🌷
Absolutely lovely testimony. Thanks for sharing. And im truly glad you've found yourself to be in a place of true happiness and contentment.
Happy for you. Enjoy!
What they don't tell you - Farmers get no time off, ever. No off-the-clock, always something else to fix or go wrong. Paperwork + 24/7 hard labor, no vacation, no days sick, no days off unless you can arrange (and pay) someone to 'Farm-sit'. Respect for Farmers/Ranchers, especially on smaller holdings.
And then when they retire and need nursing homes or assistance, can’t get it because the land they own makes them too “rich”. Even though renting out the land is the only way they make money, have to sell it to become even more poor, in order to then get assistance. Something in there is broken. Lots of young people now want to start farms but the land/equipment is being sold off. Imagine a world where retiring farmers could find and reach a deal with those who want to begin, the knowledge that could be shared, the young could learn the old ways and the old could smile knowing their hard work LIVES ON! ❤
talk about 24/7/365 ... now your farming eh?
... never getting much time to non farm acuities
FARMERS. FARMERS. FARMERS FEED THE WORLD
I don't really need days off, I just want what I do to matter
absolutely
At least farmers get to move around and take walks around the farm. Most businesses with office work looks boring and
stressful. Especially being for hours with coworkers that are not friends.
Love your channel. I have a law degree, blah blah 6 figure white collar job and all that crap. I can’t convince the wife to farm but she has agreed to us living in the comfy suburb but owning a small orchard nearby. I used to be a carpenter and remember what my body and mind was back then. It is completely different. There’s something clean about your work day ending with muscles sore from work rather than stiff from inaction.
Half traditional video, half podcast. I like this format!
heck yeah! It was nice catching up Morgan. Thanks for having me on!
Great seeing your interview!! Love watching you both.
It was very good to see you conversation with Morgan . Many thanks.
I’ve been watching this channel for about a year and a half and find the content to be healing to my soul. I’m gonna pop over and check out your channel as well now. I really appreciated the conversation and information you shared today☺️
🕊♥️🇨🇦🙏🏻♥️🕊
My grandfather grew up on a farm. After WW2 he went to college and got a white collar job. He claimed that he didn't regret that decision but he turned his whole back yard into a small farm. He canned food for the winter and was pretty self sufficient. I guess he had the best of both worlds.
you can take the farmer out of the farm but you can't take the farm out of the farmer. many southeastern asian refugees i knew were the same. after settling elsewhere, they turned their yards into mini gardens. they were poor but never hungry.
That's me now
You described my grandma. She became a teacher and they could afford a house "in town" just after WW2. My grandpa had been a tenant farmer in southern Minnesota before that. My grandma had taught in a 1 room school house prior to marriage and family. So she had to go to college. Their backyard had a beautiful flower garden, berries and vegetables patch. Grandma canned, froze and pickled what she grew. She was of German ancestry and grandpa was from Norwegian descent.
❤
I remember finding your channel years ago, your growth and mindset are really aspirational .
You look so much happier and healthier now, than you did back then. I worked as a federal contractor, a little over 20 yrs..working in windowless facilities. It sucks to work strictly for wages…I retired in 2021, and I love it! WVa (I was born here and all my family is here) has a lower cost of living, so social security should be all I need ( if not, I’ll work part time) And I won’t miss the every five year pain in the ass, to maintain the clearance. You certainly deserve your happiness, and you are good at it…raising your animals ethically…they have a good life that ends in just one bad day.
I live in the suburbs, and on the corner of my street lives an old Haitian man. Every spring, he tills his entire backyard by hand, alone, and turns it into one giant field of crops! All of his fences are covered in grape vines and he encourages people to pick the grapes that hang on the outside! It's a free snack every time we walk by!
Farming is challenging because you need expertise in so many areas - business management, mechanics, construction, animal husbandry, agronomy, marketing, networking, accounting...just on and on. Having an active FFA in school was so helpful.
I had to Google what an FFA was, sounds like a fantastic organization, super tool for youth🇨🇦
I've been reading about a chapter or two of Toby Dog to my daughter (4 months) everyday since I got it on Tuesday. We are only halfway through it and we are enjoying it immensely!
That makes me so happy!
I bought the hard cover edition for my grand daughter. I appreciate you sharing your jump into farming from office.
"Rush hour" cracked me up! 😂 Morgan, dear man, you look INCREDIBLE now, healthy and so much happier. Of course, I totally credit your lovely wife. 😉
I thought that was a great one too lol!
The thing I notice with the changes I have noticed with Morgan is how much healthier physically he looks and appears to be.❤
Bad thing about half of white collar workers is that they can't really be physical, unlike being a farmer or a construction worker.
And younger looking.
It is no doubt a huge difference in the atmosphere and impact on your body. My husband was a farmer and I was the office worker. I understood farming because I came from a farming family as did my husband. The culture of the office compared to farming is so different. People in the office are more concerned with what someone else is or is not doing. The farming community in my area are very supportive. I live in West Tennessee.
It's my dream to have a farm someday when I retire. I have been reading books and learning everything I can, and your videos are part of my curriculum. Interviews with other farmers are helpful. I say as long as you can do the boring jobs, be grateful you can do them.
I left the farm in 2018. Been working on military bases all over the world. I miss the farm, but I am happy I changed it up.
Hey Morgan, first of all we have been following you for the last 8 years. We are so proud of you❤. Every time we watch your videos it’s like checking in with our favorite son. We left the big city (Seattle) to live the country life 10 years ago (when we were 60). My husband retired from Seattle Police after 35 hard years of service (and not a moment too soon) and I was a Ballroom Dance Instructor. It was easier for him than for me as he was ready to get his hands dirty and “play”. It was more difficult for me as my life had been ballroom gowns and high heels. (It took me 2 years to “lose the city”)
It is hard work and lots of learning to go from city life to rustic living, but it’s worth it. We laughed when we heard the part about investing in REAL tools as opposed to what we call “toy tools”. We were total “city-iots” …. All I can say to other “dreamers”….don’t be afraid. Don’t listen to the nay-sayers. It could add many years to your life. Morgan… you are the best. Keep doing what you a are doing. EXCELLENT INTERVIEW!❤
8 yrs? He's been on UA-cam 8 yrs already?! I remember his first video of him chopping down the tree but it sure doesn't feel like 8 yrs already....man time sure does fly by.
he said he started in 2018 though so that doesn't add up @@Lonesome__Dove
Hi Morgan!
Love this video. A lot of people are going back to the way it used to be.
Hangin there Morgan, you have many memories of Molly Muder Mittens. She impacted your farm.❤
Very interesting. It's good to hear sbout others' stories. My father and his brother were the first folks in their families to go to college and get degrees. My uncle got his in geology, I think. My dad got his in electrical engineering. My mother's folks had a dairy. My dad worked for a consulting company for distribution power lines. We always had a garden growing up to keep prices reasonable. So growing some vegetables wasn't foreign to me. I took a circuitus route to a civil engineering tech degree/job but I always seemed to grow flowers and veggies to eat and hopefully a few to share no matter where I landed. I have a degree in fine art, too. I attended an art school for a while in California. My sister and I sgared an apartment. We found wood scraps and built planters and raised everything from carrots to corn on our balcony. The neighbors were always amazed at our jungle! Both my sister and I have always enjoyed having green things around. Sadly, this last year has been a real health challenge for me and I never had the strength or balance to even water the yard. I didn't really even have dandelions growing this year. Taking vitamin B12 has improved things so much. I'm hoping that I'm feeling much better by next Spring planting season. It's been very depressing looking at the bare ground. I never expected to experience such barrenness. Sigh! Growing green things feeds my soul, especially now in my retirement! So your channel has been a lifeline for me the past few months! Thanks!
Prayers for health and safety!🙏❤️🙏
Hope you are feeling better next year!🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Thankyou for sharing .
I had to give up my vegetables garden a few years ago , the city doesn't like counters , then this year it was all including flowers .
It hurt but I realized I didn't have the energy for it .
I am taking B12 to .I had to up mine for awhile .
I am eating meat now and eggs .
Thankyou for sharing .it is a loss .
I would love to live on a farm and do it all .but I can't .
But i see what you are saying, as we recently purchased a farm property in upstate New York. Seems everyone does many jobs and has a real do it yourself attitude. And i love that as i have that mostly myself. I believe that being more rural thoe, usually whatever job you have you make alittle less. So you need to make a dollar do more for you, so you do it yourself and have now learned how. Creates a very diverse, handi person
That time lapse photography of the cows eating grass is amazing: they looked just like lawn mowers going back and forth!
Really digging these podcast videos
It all boils down to which career path bringing the individual the most meaning and fulfilment. It is special if you can still use skills of one career path on the next, making you you uniquely skilled individual.
You are all incredible humans, thanks for sharing this with us.
Morgan has really diversified over a very short period.
My top 3 favourite homesteaders. Morgan, Jason, & Justin.
👍 I love homesteaders. Thank you for being who you are and doing what you are doing.
I watch Sow the Land and thanks for having him on your channel. It was very informative.
This is timely! Thank you!
Thanking you for being the 'they'... as in they didn't tell us... we keeping asking who is the they we should be asking!
Good morning from hawaii. Love having my coffee and watching you and your farm.😊
Hi Morgan, I really enjoyed this podcast episode. Awesome interview‼️Jason from Sow The Land is a fantastic homesteader with a lovely family. You and Jason have so much great information to share. Take care.
Jason is a good fellow. I watch his channel for a while. Sometimes I watch people for a while and then I stop.
Love that rush hour. Remember that so much. Grandparent's🎉 had a dairy. We milked by hand.
Enjoyed this video immensely.
Can be as tough, the loss of an animal one loves as another person. Nothing but respect and gratitude for the rare transparency and skillful communication you share Gordon
I just moved to Asheville. I lived in charlotte, so close by, and was working at starbucks. I was miserable, I had been in charlotte my whole life (only 20 years old). Working on a farm now in Candler and ive never been happier.
Living the agrarian life, regulating your daily chores by the sun and weather's seasons
VS
Getting in your car, traffic, crowds of people giving you tension and aggravation, punching a time clock, taking orders, facing customers giving you more tension and aggravation, working strict schedules, getting sick from other sick people.
I lived door #2 for 65.5 years in southern Connecticut. Now I live by the sun, chickens, garden, grass, wood, tractor in middle New Hampshire. Haven't been sick a day since I moved to the rural environment. Take door #1 💚
I have noticed you're more happy on the farm farm life is good for your soul it does look like fun on your farm you have the best life they're all adorable and they are loved i love how you share your farm life. Farming is hard but worth it
Hi from South Africa. It is sundown here now. Great videos and podcasts Morgan.
2:31 I totally laughed outloud with the cows staring at you with all that podcast gear on.
"Oh Lord, Mabel, he's talking to himself again. Wouldja listen to that?"
I can totally relate to Jason. I'm an Engineering Tech for a bunch of Engineers and Geo's.... Almost done. 🙂
You’re living the dream!
That AI Morgan was something else!
@WildPuffaLumps2 The Thumbnail on the right, but what caught my attention was at 0:09
This is so amazingly helpful. I was trying to figure out what I needed to do. I retired from a federal job and decided I wanted to homestead. And I've been trying to figure it out for a while now lol thank you thank you thank you
Been watching Sow The Land channel for a while it’s a very calm and relaxing channel
Super! You and Jason are my favorite famed personalities 😊
That was great! I love your podcasts!
The challenge for so many wanting to make this change is like you said; how do you make a living? It's a challenge.
We have about 3 acres in Central Texas, and our attempts to grow anything has been a disaster. Bad drought and excessive heat (100+ temps from late June til this past Wednesday, 9/27/23. It's brutal.
We aren't really homesteading, as I have a full time job, and my wife handles most animal work, mainly egg layer chickens, plus pet goats and turkeys.
tl:dr- even the best laid plans can be bolloxed by bad weather.
Why Texas ?
The bottom line that sticks out to me financial capability and physical abilities ❤❤
I got sick at 55 and gave all my stuff to my son, the best thing I ever did, made my health 100 percent better (NOT MY WORRY ) AHHHHHHHHHHHH............. stress just melted ...................
Excellent video. Both are good men. We respect you very much
That was an awesome idea, maybe you stumbled onto something there. Someone should set up like a “farmers exchange “. Where you can buy all the essentials a farm needs. Maybe one for farm animals, that you source from cooperating breeders. And all the equipment you would need. And one for the plant growers…….crops and the equipment. I don’t even know what all that would entail. But it seems like it would help.
Like a farmers co-op?
@nikkireigns More extensive than that. A one place stop for everything you would need.
from times to times, the older southeastern asian refugees would tell me that they wish they were able to still able to live in their homelands. most of them were farmers and agreed that life as farmers was less stressful than office works.
Great podcast Morgan!🇨🇦
That was great. I grew up on a farm, same size and variety as yours, but it's still a scary thought to think of running one by myself after a career in tech. You guys did it without any previous experience. Maybe I'm right to be scared, 'cause it is hard work. Hay seeds sticking to the sweat on your body 'cause you have to be out there baling hay while the sun shines. 😅 And truth told, my Dad always did heating and roofing work to pay the farm bills. Hats off to you.
I love the idea of owning a farm because I would know how the animals are being treated, what they’re being fed. Same goes for a vegetable garden and the physical activity would be healthy for my spouse and I. The problem is I’m not physically capable of doing that all on my own. My spouse and I would have to hire farm-hands to help take care of all the heavy lifting.
Nice video, it is not just coming from a white collar job it coming from any job or even like myself still working a full time job and having a homestead. Regardless on having a homestead you need a system of cash follow to pay the bills. It bothers me that some UA-camrs make it look easy or not hard to have a working homestead or farm. I wish they would be open and forward about the financial side. The physical side of farming or homesteading well it’s a given y out don’t go out side get it done or it doesn’t get done. Now I grew up having a garden. My grandparents had a farm and work full times job also had a camp ground on there property for extra income and farm animals. My wife on the flip side is a born and raised Philadelphian and never in her wildest dreams though she would be living and working on our homestead stuff.
Bot tum line It is hard work and not easy physically and financially.
Still adorable after all these years 😊
I’m so pleased for you to be where you are now. You seem so much happier. Your poor camera, 🤭 as it keeps on being knocked over. Love your work. Thank you. May you all please take care and stay safe. Louisa.
Stay safe from what?
What an excellent vid, Morgan. Growing up on a farm and trying to live in a city was a challenge that beat me. I’m back on the land.
Those pictures of you from ten years ago and then now, you look so much better now! Healthier, happier!
I think the topic you're discussing happens with whatever lifestyle you choose. I'm sure everyone has down times and questions their choices. Unless you are independently wealthy you need a way to provide for yourself and for many their families. Perhaps it's a matter of maturity. Sounds like you need to go out with your wife and enjoy yourself. Keep doing what you're doing and you'll get through it.
Don't give up and things will work out for you..
You are welcome. We are family. I told you about my loss. God bless
You seem so much more Peaceful now❤
I grew up on a small farm. My mother said that if I didn't want to marry a farmer, I shouldn't go out with farmers, so I didn't. I married an engineering student and we moved to a city after he graduated. I have never thought about "living the good life" on a farm. It was a great place to grow up - not going back!
Daily farm chores can be taxing but just remember you don't have that knucklehead Boss barking orders at you all day and you can take time to scratch that piglets belly if you want to. ♥️♥️♥️
I truly enjoyed this video. I have lived the homestead-like lifestyle almost my entire life, having been born into it. It was a way of life in my generation.
Hard work is a good thing.
Morgan, I'm happy for you. You would have gone brain dead in your previous life. My wise brother told me," It's about expectations". When I feel my dreams are getting a little tripped up, I remind myself of his words.
I moved to North Carolina 20 years ago. I absolutely love living here.
I love how Jason is always honest and raw with the truth on farming and homesteading. It is work, and a lot of times work that you can’t just walk away from becuz it’s now 4pm.
Thinking of no farms, even tomato plants in Southern California, my father, who would have turned 82 2 days ago, moved there as a boy. At that time it was all orchards down there. He talked lovingly about the wonderful apricots that you could pick from the trees. His parents raised chickens. Now it’s all entirely buried in buildings and infrastructure.
Homestead/living off the land/patchwork - that's how old school farmers used to do it 150 years ago. Nobody had one income stream. This modern single employer paycheck stuff works..until it doesn't.
I'd go down to the city to visit my gf at Pratt while she was in college. I'm next door to you in NH. No way I'd live in the city! Rather hear ducks than trains and tragic. Take care Gold Shaw Farm family!!
I call what y'all are doing - "multi-hyphenates" entrepreneurial - pivots quickly according to demand/changes in season or circumstances and doesn't have a standard work schedule.
You've been a farmer 1 year longer than I and I think you are doing great. Your journey, although very different has been an encouragement to me in mine.
@miditrax - Thanks for reminding folks that farmers get no time off unless they can hire someone to farm sit for them. The other thing no one on these channels talks about is that farming seems to be a non-starter for singletons. You don't have to be a couple with 4 homeschooled kids to use as free labor in order to run a farm. What I've always appreciated the most about Morgan & Allison is that they are childless by choice & running their farm together.
But I realized lately that even when if I can afford to buy the land for cash, it will be utterly impossible to run a farm by myself. And I'm not willing to go out & marry someone just to have a partner to work a farm with.
Also, it seems that Morgan makes more from his TY channel than he does from farming. Which is not a dis, just an observation. I could never be on YT, all I want to do is be able raise enough high quality food to feed myself & stay healthy. But I love this channel so I'll still keep watching.👍🏽
I keep my mind engaged during routine chores by listening to audiobooks or podcasts.
I’m to the point where you 2 are talking about being tired and wore out.. remember each year it gets harder the older you get😂
I'm glad you're getting it down to be a farmer, what it's like for city kid to turn dirty aggi. I was the other side, growing up on the farm, knowing farm work, loving farm work. But in the 1970s the old family farm was running down with an income of less than $10K A year the bank wouldn't even let me into an office to finance a 130 acre farm for $60 K so ended up in a timeclock job I hated for 40+ years.
I'm not sure this sort of life is for me but seems nice
I would have loved to start a farm, ever since I was in public school. But now, I know I can't do it physically. It might just kill me 😅
This is a interview and converstion to listen to again
I like watching your videos. My father in law was raised on a farm in Pennsylvania in the early 1900s and he would tell stories about being raised on the farm . Sounds like he in joyed it. He had 6 brothers and not one of including him left the farm when they got older.
I remember your videos about planting your permaculture orchard and how exhausting that was for you. This was a very interesting discussion. It brought back fond memories of my physical transition as I adapted to years working on land I owned for a while.
Thanks Morgan for introducing us to Sow the Land. We subbed and look forward to their many videos.
Interesting.....Thanks Morgan & Jason 👍
Old Shoe🇺🇸
Sounds like a talk for HOA, creative income sources while doing the homesteading dream
As someone who lived in both worlds as I grew up on the farm, left for a while for the city life, then back to the farm, I have noticed a few things. The big thing is people who grew up in the city and went to school to learn the “one job” got trained to do that one job. It basically didn’t change much. Farm life or country life in general is all about solving problems as come up. You never know from week to week what’s going to go wonky. There are things you learn to do daily, like tending animals. But it’s those unexpected things that crop up that cause you to be ever expanding your knowledge and skill sets. Some people just aren’t into constantly needing to learn new things. Needing to repair things, add things, remove things, change things to accommodate ever changing situations like weather situations and animal situations. Fighting animals, sick animals, animals out of the fences gardens that are out of control, harvests coming on all once, needing to put up all the hay before it rains…it’s never ending. There’s a lot of stress at times and you have to be very flexible and versatile in your skills to manage it all. For someone who sat a desk and did one thing over and over, then went home to relax…..it’s literally like going to different world. It’s not for everyone and that’s fine. Country people are the epitome of “Jack of all trades”!
Great episode. Jason has a great channel also (as well as his neighbor Ben)
Appreciate it this from both of you .
Eye opening .
Thanks for the insights and good conversation.
Love this video.
Sometimes tonight ❤
You have to work hard physically everyday! You have to think & reason really hard everyday. You have to be there for the animals 24/7/365 ANIMALS DIE and that shuld never feel good. It is nessary and sometimes tragic. it never stops! It is hard work EVERYDAY.
I like sow the land.
Human beings weren’t meant to sit in little cubicles and fill out tps reports!! Hahah office space. But seriously, farm living isnt for everyone. But for those that it is, farming is there religion and the land is there church.
Thanks for this video. I have been wanting a farm for the longest so now I’m slowly integrating myself by getting chickens and watching them grow up so I can sell the eggs and next I’m getting meat birds to sell. I just need to learn how to market myself and my products.
Gosh, you look so much younger now than ten years ago…..yahoo!!💥
I LOVE Sow the Land
I love this channel.
My mind is boggled that anyone would ever think that farmers just "live off the land" without doing physical labor.