Thank you thank you for supporting the idea of people coming into this lifestyle post covid!!! I'm going into 8 years of this myself, but ANY TIME someone says they'd like to try to grow food, I am all over it offering my help and anything I know!! God love them, they won't all stick to it. But those who want to learn I will teach all I can any day of the week!
When I saw you give the eggs away, I thought how great it was that you have gotten so far into your comfort zone that you have started comforting others. That's what God wants for us.
7:47 "Can we please just celebrate the fact that people are interested in growing their food?" THANK YOU!! The more people interested in any amount of homesteading the better.
You go girl!!! During the last Depression, growing food and chickens was a normal part of people’s daily lives. That was how people survived the Great Depression of the 1930’s. If those people didn’t have ways to create food at home, most of us wouldn’t exist!!! 😮Think about that!!! The flag stone is so beautiful. I love the colors in it. Those guys deserve all the praise for how beautiful that patio turned out. I am glad you shared the eggs with those guys. Jessica, I really really love you as a person. I wish we were neighbors. You are exactly the kind of person I enjoy spending time with. Thank you so much for sharing your life with all of us. You are a Blessing.
I'm egg rich right now on just 10 hens. I share with my neighbors. And I put 21 in an incubator a week ago. It will be my first hatch and I am so eggcited! There is a chicken swap the 3rd Saturday of the month, weather & holidays permitting at Collins Feed & Garden in Mullins, SC 8a-1p. People sell chicks and eggs.
Whoever is wondering why projects aren't completed needs to sit back and think of all you have accomplished? I'm impressed at your accomplishments. Not only are you raising children, but you have businesses off-site you are building. I can't wait to see the table, but I have thoroughly enjoyed watching what you have accomplished in UNDER TWO years. Thank you so much for sharing.
Jess I feel like you don’t have a vision for that contaminated high tunnel because it’s scorned you. Plant some beans, and maybe just fill the whole thing with legumes so you can have an epic win out of that high tunnel to revitalize your feelings about it!
We hatch and sell chicks, poults, ducks, and geese. It is a lot of work with tons of brooders around but it can bring in a pretty penny, especially heritage purebred birds. We've been doing it for years and there is a slight increase in new poultry owns the past couple of years. But we love that, we want to help everyone we can have more food security for themselves and their families.
My sister and brother in law live in North Florida and I helped them get started turning their place into a suburban homestead. They started with two Greenstalks. Then they built raised beds. Now they've added chickens. I'm so proud of them.
It feels SO good to give eggs to people! Our girls are in overdrive, and I feel like a Rockefeller when I hand someone a couple dozen eggs and thank them for helping me "get rid" of the abundance. I'm RICH!!!🙂
I am really tired of people telling me how much work it is, how I can’t grow in Arizona, blah blah blah It’s very discouraging but I will have what I want whether they approve or not.
Thank you for speaking up about newbie homesteaders. My hubby grew up on a farm w/chickens, pigs, milk cows and steers and his Mom canned and did all the things. They butchered meat on their farm. When we were first married (55 years ago) he was in the Army. After a few years he got out and got a job. We rented a little acreage out in the country and got some chickens. I knew NOTHING about growing baby chicks into laying hens and all the things. Hubs told me what to do and I learned basically after a quick tutorial, not without some failures and deciding to do things differently. Thirty 6 years ago we bought a small acreage and now have chickens, hogs, steers, and two mini donkeys. I have had a huge garden for years and can all our garden produce, making compost, and all the things. I basically learned from books and trial and error. Anyone wanting to get into this life, I encourage with gusto! Yes, growing your own food is wonderful and yes, those of us that have been doing this for a while need to be encouragers. We are always learning and experimenting and that is part of the wonder of it all. We know what is in our food and we love doing it. Encourage those in your community even if it is a patio garden. Let's help, not hinder other willing to learn. :)
AMEN! Rant on about that sista! The more people that raise even SOME of their own food, the less pressure on the grocery stores for those who can't or just don't. Balance!
Thank you so much for speaking up for the new homesteaders. I’ve been gardening my whole life but I’m a newbie at raising chickens. I’ve been wanting chicks for many years, but I finally got my husband on board with it this year. Sadly, I’ve read a lot of disheartening comments about us newbies. I’m trying to brush that off and focus on the positive, encouraging, helpful comments. Thank you for being so welcoming and supportive! ❤️🙏🐥
Congratulations on adding chickens to your home! Don’t pay any attention to the naysayers, you do what you want! Life is about trying and learning from others, it’s not about beating others down! Two things I try to remember…nobody is born an expert in anything and nobody puts pants on both legs at once. 😉💕👍
Everyone who's been keeping chickens forever had to start somewhere! Just doesn't make sense to naysay someone just starting out. Good luck and have fun!
Don't be disheartened, it's your way of living and nobody should judge another.. my house burned a year ago and I can't rebuild so i"m in a camper in summer doing my gardens, and AM getting more hens , a lot of travelling back and forth tending them in winter but.... : )
I love chickens and some of my family think I'm crazy for it but it's what I love along with gardening for the first time in a while but do what you love and want to do
Don’t worry about being a newbie. It doesn’t matter what you are learning, we always start out not knowing how to something. Forget about the naysayers. Learn and enjoy!! ❤️
Hello Jess, regarding the shade cloth over tomato plants. For many years I have used 50% white shade cloth over our tomatoes to protect them from our hot South Australian summers. I learnt it from our local radio Gardening guru and have found it really helps stop scorching. I use 3/4" pvc pipe that will bend into an arch when new. Run the ends down T-posts and zip-tie securely. I then use zip-ties to loosely attach the shade cloth to the arch, stretching the cloth. I can then slide the cloth back in cool weather like an awning. These are easily rolled up and removed at the end of the summer and stored away. I hope this gives your creative juices a jump-start. Love your channel🌻🌻
When my tomatoes start struggling and getting too tall, I trim them back to very close to the ground and leave a new stem and start all over! They grow so much faster because they're still attached to a full size root system. Spring tomatoes and autumn tomatoes from one plant, skipping the summer heat and fruit fly season. (Queensland, Australia. Zone 10?)
Had thought if I'm apparently not skipping tomatoes this year, to try cutting them down and starting over with big suckers, but of course! I can just leave the big suckers right there! Thank you for that.
When we were younger and on our acreage with our large gardens, it was so rewarding in sharing the excess produce. Your comments caused a wash of good memories!! Thanks
We’ve had chickens for over 15 years and we have given every egg they have laid away. We have blessed hundreds of people with our eggs. It’s our way of giving back what God has given us. We have about 30 chickens right now. Love your videos and you are such an inspiration to me. My husband said that girl has such a soft voice.
Buy a pool noodle and cut a slit down one side. Place it on top of the cattle panel to protect the shade cloth from ripping if you do that in the garden.
Lol! I am always checking out people's fields and gardens. My husband teases me about taking me from the farm, but not taking the farm from me. :) We also have an orchard and a large garden that we built after watching your videos. So thank you.
What?! People seriously ask you why stuff isn't DONE?! I've been BLOWN AWAY by how much y'all have done to that piece of land since you got it. It seems astronomical...for real. And now I'm blown away that there's people out there who are questioning why stuff "isn't done" on your farm. Say whaaaat 🤣
Corned beef and cabbage is a totally American thing. It came from the Irish immigrating to the US and shopping in Jewish areas. In Ireland it's way more common to do pork than beef. I do a pork loin roast, chop and fry up some bacon and fry up some potatoes in that, and then I save some pork water and boil the cabbage in there. My husband looks forward to it every year
Jessica, I'm happy to see people growing their own food and raising their own animals. I promise you that if I were able to grow a garden and raise animals, I'd be doing it. It's just that I physically cannot do it. I'm proud of people who do it!
We only have a little over 4 acres, so we only have 15 hens and I enjoy sharing eggs with others!!!! So you sharing those eggs touches my heart deeply! Thank you for sharing your journey with us. I can't put into words what it means to me to listen, watch and learn from you.
PREACH GIRL! So glad you addressed the negativity surrounding new people jumping into this lifestyle. We are better together, cheering one another on, giving wisdom and having a teachable heart to learn something from someone else. I’m not one to usually like trends but this trend of gardening and chickens is one I will cheer on forever!! 👊🏻
Jess, honestly this is the first year I have done veggies from seeds. I really don't know what I am doing but to go into my den and see flowers, tomatoes, onions, etc popping out of the soil. WOW. One pepper has shown it's little stem but if one did others will follow. I always start late on everything, not just planting seeds but getting ready to go to work, doing bills and taxes. But this is a miracle for me. Thank you so much for helping me along. Love Bev from Oklahoma
The burden of abundance. Two years ago my Craig's Crimson Cherry tree had, oh, maybe a billion cherries. Well, maybe not a billion but it sure was a lot. I finally found a family friend who has 7 kids who loved cherries. Don't get me wrong, I love cherries too but one can only eat so many without getting sick. She and her daughter came over and I cut out of the tree, with scissors, move than half of those super delicious cherries onto a canvas tarp. We then went through them and took out all the leaves and tada, more cherries than one could possible use for one year. God is good. Don't get me started on my yearly abundance of pluerry's. Can't wait to see if the high tunnel is healed. God bless your family.
Thank you Jess. My husband and I have worked hard to buy our land... and our timing just ended up being when all these other people are buying land. We bought last July. This spring is my first time doing chickens. I didn't 'flock' to this because of covid - but it seems like that attitude of "UGH new homesteaders" applies to anyone starting out... no matter your reasons. So thanks for validating us, this is hard no matter what we don't need negativity thrown at us too. Love from Iowa
You share your abundance and it'll come back to you! I've shared excess eggs to later be blessed with plant starts, plywood, etc. Thank you for not bashing us newbies! I started with chickens and gardening for the first time ever last year. So much to learn but I'm loving it! My husband and I are going to our first homesteading conference this June and I can't wait!
I'm grateful that I managed to get some chicks but I didn't need 15 of them. I ordered the 15 minimum and sold 6. I purposely bought hens but I'm a little worried that at least 3 are roosters. They're way too little to tell just yet. But I am hoping to be able to provide myself and my daughter's household with eggs. It's been 15 years since I've had chickens but I feel much better having them again.
Jess, I don't know if you will ever see this comment... but Thank you for letting me walk through your garden with you! You are a dear friend to me and a true refuge in a difficult time of life. You have been a blessing today! God bless! ❤
I agree, we should 100% celebrate anyone interested in growing their own food. It's homesteading channels like yours that inspired me to grow a backyard garden. I don't have a homestead but I make it work with what I have for land, which isn't much. I had a successful, albeit challenging harvest last year and this year will be better because I've learned so much and I'm still learning because of people like you that are willing to share your knowledge & expertise. Growing my own food did more for me than just growing food for my family. It has taught me patience, resilience & perseverance. It has improved my mental health, my concentration, my mood & my physical health among other things. I can't even put into words how growing my own food has impacted my life. We need to encourage & support people that want to grow their own food to feed themselves and their families, not ridicule or scoff at them.
I had to give my hens away because our city ordinance changed from when I first started raising chickens. I gave them to our daughter-in-law’s cousin and in turn she gives us eggs. Our son and daughter-in-law live in a rural town north of us and they have started hatching and raising chickens and quail. I can’t wait until their chickens are old enough to lay. The end of this month I will be getting a bigger and better greenhouse to replace the smaller on that was completely destroyed by one of Southwest Oklahoma 100 mph straight line winds 2 weeks ago. I’m going to start a few seedlings in the house this week but will go ahead and starting more in April. Our oldest son wants me to teach our other daughter-in-law to can and preserve food.😅 I think we will be learning together.😂
I am so thankful for you and videos every day!! There are days I can't even get out of bed, but I always enjoy and am so encouraged by everything you post. I have had chickens for a year n half now and they have really saved my life, they are such great therapy for me and now I am knee deep in seed planting and figuring out my garden, it will be small but plentiful! Thank you and bless you!
Here's an easy green cabbage recipe: in a stock pot, saute 1/4 cup butter, one chopped onion, 2-3 cloves of minced garlic, add chopped cabbage and one quart jar of preserved tomatoes with juice, one chopped chili/jalapeno or pepper of your choice (sweet or spicy, your choice) cover and cook until cabbage is tender about 20 minutes. Keeps well in the refrigerator and I have frozen leftovers too.
Thanks for your positive words to all those getting started to grow food. We will need them all and everybody once started as a beginner. It might be inconvenient when chicks and potting compost are sold out, but it is a wonderful sign that more people join the club, so welcome dear friens of the earth!😊
For the cattle panel trellis put a pool noodles along the top and drape the shade cloth over it like a cartoon tent and set some rocks on the bottoms, that's what we did during the 2020 PNW heatwave, we live somewhere windy so the pool noodles prevents the fabric from rubbing itself ragged
Jess, you're a wonderful example of a welcoming soul. I would much rather be a newbie chicken farmer than a newbie at welcoming people to the fold of my specialty. You have that down, and have a great deal to teach SOME of us. I'm always glad to have new gardening buddies and farming buddies, as there's enough work for everyone, ha ha!! The other side of things being sold out in stores such as chicks,etc, is that gives storeowners the message they need to stock more. This is a GOOD thing, ultimately, as the message gets out that farming is hot, and our stores need to respond. People just need to be thinking bigger; the farming community needs large hearts and open arms to our new wave of farming folk.🌻🌿🌿🍀
My local TSC sold out, within 4 hours, on the last 3 deliveries, over 500 chicks each. Over the weekend we picked up some chicks from a local man, charging same price as he has for years. I'm seeing lots of chicks for sale locally but the prices are crazy high.
Jess, I just had to tell you just how amazing you look! Your energy, your stamina- you’re so much happier and healthier, it’s obvious! Carnivore and keto are amazing healers! 🎉You go, girl!
Jess you're so cute!! You GLOW! I've been watching you since 2020 and you actually look like you have reversed in age by a few years! Keep on doing whatever you're doing.
CABBAGE LEAVES are good steamed or blanched and used like tortillas. Stuff with some leftovers and have enchiladas, burritos, tacos or stuffed cabbage rolls etc. But with your size family, there may not be many leftovers. Lol
I’ve been asked to sell eggs to people and asked to sell chickens for eggs or meat. Nope, tried it once and not interested anymore. I’d prefer to bless friends and family with free eggs, but my birds will grow old on our homestead eating plenty of pests around the gardens. I feel God has blessed us so bless others because we are already prospering in what God’s given us each day.
"I'm not complaining about the 'egg-cess' of eggs" Jess says!! I love it!! Wonderful of you to share with the hard workers, too!! Have a wonderful day!
1. love the hair. 2. if you would be so kind as to keep me in your prayers. I lost my 17 year old only daughter last dec and my marriage of 26 years is not going well. My health is suffering. I need strength right now. 3. I've had floodlights in my back yard working for the last 2 hours (washington state) building my garden. Been listening to you the entire time. It feels like you've been a friend all these years and just your voice comforts me, doesn't matter what you're talking about....it just comforts me to know you're there. God Bless your sweet soul and sharing yourself with us. It matters so much.
Here in Tucson the feed stores are selling out very quickly! I used to be able to buy pullets from a local feed store. Not now, all the chicks are being sold within a few days.
Jess, it just makes me so giddy every time I see your cows! Seems like yesterday you were sharing with us your dream to have a cow and then you found your first Helen and the rest is history ! now y'all have a herd it's so amazing
Oh girl, come back to Arkansas!! I wish i had met you before you left!! Smelling the tomato seedlings--I thought I was the only person who would enjoy such a thing!! You are so young and yet already so patient. That table top is gorgeous!!
There is nothing better than fried cabbage in bacon fat and an onion sliced, fried but still with a "bite" left to it, not cooked to baby food mush. Finish with a drizzle of balsamic and a dollop of mayo, mixed together and that is heaven! I also do a balsamic mayo to dip my blanched asparagus in. So yummy!
Your “season of life” mentality has honestly changed the way I see and handle things in life so much in such a positive way ❤️ so thank you sweet Jess. Speaking of garden rubbernecking last year I was doing just that because I saw the biggest amaranth I have ever seen in all of my life. It was probably 10/12 feet tall and it made my soul smile.❤️
I went to home Depot to pick up some fruit trees yesterday for our new homestead and saw they had tomato plants....in March....in zone 7, that were like 6" tall! I was like 'man they are stupid! It's fixing to freeze the next 3 nights, poor babies are gonna die. These people think it's time to put tomato plants in the ground.' Oh the people that will lose their money on those plants, so sad! Hopefully they know. I told Steven that I just wanted to buy them all so I could protect them 🤣
I used to take the kids on the back roads just so we could see the cows and the farms. Always forever pointing them out and just enjoying that in the city. :) I hear ya on the rubbernecking!!
You are absolutely right about needing to encourage those that are trying to start a homestead, or if they're just growing a garden for the first time or trying to raise some chickens...they need to be encouraged and helped if need be😊❤ Happy Belated Birthday to Toby🎈🎈🎈 Absolutely a garden, animal, homestead rubbernecker here, lol🤣❤
SUNFLOWERS!!! Sunflowers are good for pulling issues out of the ground 😊 you can feed them to the chooks if they’re good. If the sunflowers are good/healthy not the hens, they are always good ❤
We just ate our first cabbage today! It was so rewarding to eat food that you know was grown from seed without chemicals, in our own soil. I boiled it up with butter and I could tell it was different then cabbages in the store. You have certainly inspired me to grow food and raise chickens. I am very grateful.
Jess it just makes my heart happy seeing people get back on the land or even in their back or front yard thank you Jess and Miah god bless and happy birthday ben 💕🎊🎂🎊💕😍
My grandson Kei just turned 6. He is my garden buddy. On his Birthday he was outside playing and he stopped and says GiGi can we garden. So we started some sugar snap peas. His growing request this season is baby watermelon and purple potatoes 🙌🏻💖
I want chickens soooo badly. I have names picked out already and everything, but we just can’t have them yet. Hopefully within the next 5 years we should have our forever place and I can finally get my girls. The idea of handing a friend (or my mother) a basket of fresh eggs is something I really look forward to.
In Arizona here, that's a good idea about the shade cloth for tomatoes, I tried putting one in a large pot in the shade of my trees during summer, it survived and I've been getting small amount of tomatoes all winter. Can't beat homegrown tomatoes!
I’d love to see how he’s building everything! A chick room - I did that with a static coup and a screen door. Every 2 years we raise chicks so there’s a peaceful year ahead without worrying about babies. The garden will get all the attention this summer.
I DEFINITELY think your lifestyle is admirable. I garden… grow flowers and vegetables in an urban space, but someday I’d love to be you, but on a slightly smaller scale. Most importantly, love and enjoy every phase in your life!
Even if not all who try growing their own food stick with, there will no doubt be an appreciation for how hard people work to grow food. Find the positive.
Jess, thank you so much for being so positive about newbies. I too think that anything anyone can do to grow some food is a positive, since just about anything they do means less impact on the earth, if only in terms of all the shipping and traveling. It is so helpful to be positive! I love hearing chickens in my neighborhood. My family used to have them, but they are not permitted in my current location and I am too chicken to flaunt that rule. However, I enjoy hearing a rooster crowing periodically somewhere in the local area. I love seeing squash vines peeking over fences. Food growing is so enriching for the family and the neighborhood!
I’ve been making homemade bread and then making homemade French toast sticks out of that. Then I Freeze them in gallon size ziplock bags for breakfast. I can use up 10 eggs per gallon size bag of frozen French toast sticks from the bread and batter recipes! Kids love it too!
Lol..egg wealth. I was giving away chicken and duck eggs to my neighbors, like the crazy zucchini person does. I started duck eggs in the incubator, thankfully my main duck went broody 12 days in, so she's on them now and I have chicken eggs in the incubator.
Love your positivity and support towards new-ish homesteaders and gardeners! I've learned so much from your videos already. Your attitude and approach is so refreshing. 💚
Thanks again for the eggs. Felt like easter circa 1993...💯😂
Amazing job on the patio, that stonework is stunning!
Thank you thank you for supporting the idea of people coming into this lifestyle post covid!!! I'm going into 8 years of this myself, but ANY TIME someone says they'd like to try to grow food, I am all over it offering my help and anything I know!! God love them, they won't all stick to it. But those who want to learn I will teach all I can any day of the week!
I love helping share what I have learned as well, makes me feel justified in gaining this knowledge for a purpose, bless you!
When I saw you give the eggs away, I thought how great it was that you have gotten so far into your comfort zone that you have started comforting others. That's what God wants for us.
7:47 "Can we please just celebrate the fact that people are interested in growing their food?" THANK YOU!! The more people interested in any amount of homesteading the better.
You go girl!!! During the last Depression, growing food and chickens was a normal part of people’s daily lives. That was how people survived the Great Depression of the 1930’s. If those people didn’t have ways to create food at home, most of us wouldn’t exist!!! 😮Think about that!!!
The flag stone is so beautiful. I love the colors in it. Those guys deserve all the praise for how beautiful that patio turned out. I am glad you shared the eggs with those guys.
Jessica, I really really love you as a person. I wish we were neighbors. You are exactly the kind of person I enjoy spending time with. Thank you so much for sharing your life with all of us. You are a Blessing.
“That’s not for me!” Girl, thank you for saying that! Thank you for being real about it.
I just taught this phrase to my kids. It's set a boundary without judgement. I love it!
I'm egg rich right now on just 10 hens. I share with my neighbors. And I put 21 in an incubator a week ago. It will be my first hatch and I am so eggcited! There is a chicken swap the 3rd Saturday of the month, weather & holidays permitting at Collins Feed & Garden in Mullins, SC 8a-1p. People sell chicks and eggs.
Whoever is wondering why projects aren't completed needs to sit back and think of all you have accomplished? I'm impressed at your accomplishments. Not only are you raising children, but you have businesses off-site you are building. I can't wait to see the table, but I have thoroughly enjoyed watching what you have accomplished in UNDER TWO years. Thank you so much for sharing.
Jess I feel like you don’t have a vision for that contaminated high tunnel because it’s scorned you. Plant some beans, and maybe just fill the whole thing with legumes so you can have an epic win out of that high tunnel to revitalize your feelings about it!
That’s a beautiful idea
I was thinking the same thing! I'd just fill it full of flowers for a season or two so that every time I entered it would sing to me.
@@abhayathomas1232 💐🌸🦋🌻🌼🌷🌱🪴
That is a great idea!
They say sunflowers suck out the bad stuff!
We hatch and sell chicks, poults, ducks, and geese. It is a lot of work with tons of brooders around but it can bring in a pretty penny, especially heritage purebred birds.
We've been doing it for years and there is a slight increase in new poultry owns the past couple of years. But we love that, we want to help everyone we can have more food security for themselves and their families.
My sister and brother in law live in North Florida and I helped them get started turning their place into a suburban homestead. They started with two Greenstalks. Then they built raised beds. Now they've added chickens. I'm so proud of them.
I am a garden rubber-necker too! 😂 When people drive slow by my house (or even better -stop and take a photo), it is the BIGGEST compliment! ❤️🦩🤣
It feels SO good to give eggs to people! Our girls are in overdrive, and I feel like a Rockefeller when I hand someone a couple dozen eggs and thank them for helping me "get rid" of the abundance. I'm RICH!!!🙂
I am really tired of people telling me how much work it is, how I can’t grow in Arizona, blah blah blah
It’s very discouraging but I will have what I want whether they approve or not.
Thank you for speaking up about newbie homesteaders. My hubby grew up on a farm w/chickens, pigs, milk cows and steers and his Mom canned and did all the things. They butchered meat on their farm. When we were first married (55 years ago) he was in the Army. After a few years he got out and got a job. We rented a little acreage out in the country and got some chickens. I knew NOTHING about growing baby chicks into laying hens and all the things. Hubs told me what to do and I learned basically after a quick tutorial, not without some failures and deciding to do things differently. Thirty 6 years ago we bought a small acreage and now have chickens, hogs, steers, and two mini donkeys. I have had a huge garden for years and can all our garden produce, making compost, and all the things. I basically learned from books and trial and error. Anyone wanting to get into this life, I encourage with gusto! Yes, growing your own food is wonderful and yes, those of us that have been doing this for a while need to be encouragers. We are always learning and experimenting and that is part of the wonder of it all. We know what is in our food and we love doing it. Encourage those in your community even if it is a patio garden. Let's help, not hinder other willing to learn. :)
Now that would make a great slogan on a tshirt "I'm a garden rubbernecker". Hint, hint! - Rhonda
AMEN! Rant on about that sista! The more people that raise even SOME of their own food, the less pressure on the grocery stores for those who can't or just don't.
Balance!
Thank you so much for speaking up for the new homesteaders. I’ve been gardening my whole life but I’m a newbie at raising chickens. I’ve been wanting chicks for many years, but I finally got my husband on board with it this year. Sadly, I’ve read a lot of disheartening comments about us newbies. I’m trying to brush that off and focus on the positive, encouraging, helpful comments. Thank you for being so welcoming and supportive! ❤️🙏🐥
Congratulations on adding chickens to your home! Don’t pay any attention to the naysayers, you do what you want! Life is about trying and learning from others, it’s not about beating others down! Two things I try to remember…nobody is born an expert in anything and nobody puts pants on both legs at once. 😉💕👍
Everyone who's been keeping chickens forever had to start somewhere! Just doesn't make sense to naysay someone just starting out. Good luck and have fun!
Don't be disheartened, it's your way of living and nobody should judge another.. my house burned a year ago and I can't rebuild so i"m in a camper in summer doing my gardens, and AM getting more hens , a lot of travelling back and forth tending them in winter but.... : )
I love chickens and some of my family think I'm crazy for it but it's what I love along with gardening for the first time in a while but do what you love and want to do
Don’t worry about being a newbie. It doesn’t matter what you are learning, we always start out not knowing how to something. Forget about the naysayers. Learn and enjoy!! ❤️
Yessss, preach about celebrating others getting into homesteading!! I always rather spread knowledge than just sell my products!
Hello Jess, regarding the shade cloth over tomato plants. For many years I have used 50% white shade cloth over our tomatoes to protect them from our hot South Australian summers. I learnt it from our local radio Gardening guru and have found it really helps stop scorching. I use 3/4" pvc pipe that will bend into an arch when new. Run the ends down T-posts and zip-tie securely. I then use zip-ties to loosely attach the shade cloth to the arch, stretching the cloth. I can then slide the cloth back in cool weather like an awning. These are easily rolled up and removed at the end of the summer and stored away. I hope this gives your creative juices a jump-start. Love your channel🌻🌻
YES! I nearly drive off the road every time I pass a yard with a vegetable garden. LOL!😂
When my tomatoes start struggling and getting too tall, I trim them back to very close to the ground and leave a new stem and start all over! They grow so much faster because they're still attached to a full size root system. Spring tomatoes and autumn tomatoes from one plant, skipping the summer heat and fruit fly season.
(Queensland, Australia. Zone 10?)
Had thought if I'm apparently not skipping tomatoes this year, to try cutting them down and starting over with big suckers, but of course! I can just leave the big suckers right there! Thank you for that.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful tip! Game changer for sure! Blessings on your day Kiddo!🌻🐛💕
When we were younger and on our acreage with our large gardens, it was so rewarding in sharing the excess produce. Your comments caused a wash of good memories!! Thanks
We’ve had chickens for over 15 years and we have given every egg they have laid away. We have blessed hundreds of people with our eggs. It’s our way of giving back what God has given us. We have about 30 chickens right now. Love your videos and you are such an inspiration to me. My husband said that girl has such a soft voice.
Buy a pool noodle and cut a slit down one side. Place it on top of the cattle panel to protect the shade cloth from ripping if you do that in the garden.
Lol! I am always checking out people's fields and gardens. My husband teases me about taking me from the farm, but not taking the farm from me. :) We also have an orchard and a large garden that we built after watching your videos. So thank you.
What?! People seriously ask you why stuff isn't DONE?! I've been BLOWN AWAY by how much y'all have done to that piece of land since you got it. It seems astronomical...for real. And now I'm blown away that there's people out there who are questioning why stuff "isn't done" on your farm. Say whaaaat 🤣
Corned beef and cabbage is a totally American thing. It came from the Irish immigrating to the US and shopping in Jewish areas. In Ireland it's way more common to do pork than beef.
I do a pork loin roast, chop and fry up some bacon and fry up some potatoes in that, and then I save some pork water and boil the cabbage in there. My husband looks forward to it every year
Jessica, I'm happy to see people growing their own food and raising their own animals. I promise you that if I were able to grow a garden and raise animals, I'd be doing it. It's just that I physically cannot do it. I'm proud of people who do it!
We only have a little over 4 acres, so we only have 15 hens and I enjoy sharing eggs with others!!!! So you sharing those eggs touches my heart deeply!
Thank you for sharing your journey with us. I can't put into words what it means to me to listen, watch and learn from you.
PREACH GIRL! So glad you addressed the negativity surrounding new people jumping into this lifestyle. We are better together, cheering one another on, giving wisdom and having a teachable heart to learn something from someone else. I’m not one to usually like trends but this trend of gardening and chickens is one I will cheer on forever!! 👊🏻
Jess, honestly this is the first year I have done veggies from seeds. I really don't know what I am doing but to go into my den and see flowers, tomatoes, onions, etc popping out of the soil. WOW. One pepper has shown it's little stem but if one did others will follow. I always start late on everything, not just planting seeds but getting ready to go to work, doing bills and taxes. But this is a miracle for me. Thank you so much for helping me along. Love Bev from Oklahoma
The burden of abundance. Two years ago my Craig's Crimson Cherry tree had, oh, maybe a billion cherries. Well, maybe not a billion but it sure was a lot. I finally found a family friend who has 7 kids who loved cherries. Don't get me wrong, I love cherries too but one can only eat so many without getting sick. She and her daughter came over and I cut out of the tree, with scissors, move than half of those super delicious cherries onto a canvas tarp. We then went through them and took out all the leaves and tada, more cherries than one could possible use for one year. God is good. Don't get me started on my yearly abundance of pluerry's. Can't wait to see if the high tunnel is healed. God bless your family.
I agree, celebrate people trying new things and growing food. It is a good thing.
Thank you Jess. My husband and I have worked hard to buy our land... and our timing just ended up being when all these other people are buying land. We bought last July. This spring is my first time doing chickens. I didn't 'flock' to this because of covid - but it seems like that attitude of "UGH new homesteaders" applies to anyone starting out... no matter your reasons. So thanks for validating us, this is hard no matter what we don't need negativity thrown at us too. Love from Iowa
The slate is fantastic. My dad did the hallway from the front door to the bedrooms. Way back in the 1970's.
I NEVER got tired looking at it.
You share your abundance and it'll come back to you! I've shared excess eggs to later be blessed with plant starts, plywood, etc. Thank you for not bashing us newbies! I started with chickens and gardening for the first time ever last year. So much to learn but I'm loving it! My husband and I are going to our first homesteading conference this June and I can't wait!
Jess, I truly love your caring and compassionate nature. Your acceptance of others is refreshing. You are a beautiful young woman.
I'm grateful that I managed to get some chicks but I didn't need 15 of them. I ordered the 15 minimum and sold 6. I purposely bought hens but I'm a little worried that at least 3 are roosters. They're way too little to tell just yet. But I am hoping to be able to provide myself and my daughter's household with eggs. It's been 15 years since I've had chickens but I feel much better having them again.
Please include us when you fill the incubator again. The repetition is not boring because it's the story of your farm.
Jess, I don't know if you will ever see this comment... but Thank you for letting me walk through your garden with you! You are a dear friend to me and a true refuge in a difficult time of life. You have been a blessing today! God bless! ❤
I agree, we should 100% celebrate anyone interested in growing their own food. It's homesteading channels like yours that inspired me to grow a backyard garden. I don't have a homestead but I make it work with what I have for land, which isn't much. I had a successful, albeit challenging harvest last year and this year will be better because I've learned so much and I'm still learning because of people like you that are willing to share your knowledge & expertise. Growing my own food did more for me than just growing food for my family. It has taught me patience, resilience & perseverance. It has improved my mental health, my concentration, my mood & my physical health among other things. I can't even put into words how growing my own food has impacted my life. We need to encourage & support people that want to grow their own food to feed themselves and their families, not ridicule or scoff at them.
Yes!! I just started selling hatching eggs and I am literally in the process of hatching baby chicks and they are already sold!
I had to give my hens away because our city ordinance changed from when I first started raising chickens. I gave them to our daughter-in-law’s cousin and in turn she gives us eggs. Our son and daughter-in-law live in a rural town north of us and they have started hatching and raising chickens and quail. I can’t wait until their chickens are old enough to lay. The end of this month I will be getting a bigger and better greenhouse to replace the smaller on that was completely destroyed by one of Southwest Oklahoma 100 mph straight line winds 2 weeks ago. I’m going to start a few seedlings in the house this week but will go ahead and starting more in April. Our oldest son wants me to teach our other daughter-in-law to can and preserve food.😅 I think we will be learning together.😂
I am so thankful for you and videos every day!! There are days I can't even get out of bed, but I always enjoy and am so encouraged by everything you post. I have had chickens for a year n half now and they have really saved my life, they are such great therapy for me and now I am knee deep in seed planting and figuring out my garden, it will be small but plentiful! Thank you and bless you!
Here's an easy green cabbage recipe: in a stock pot, saute 1/4 cup butter, one chopped onion, 2-3 cloves of minced garlic, add chopped cabbage and one quart jar of preserved tomatoes with juice, one chopped chili/jalapeno or pepper of your choice (sweet or spicy, your choice) cover and cook until cabbage is tender about 20 minutes. Keeps well in the refrigerator and I have frozen leftovers too.
Thanks for your positive words to all those getting started to grow food. We will need them all and everybody once started as a beginner. It might be inconvenient when chicks and potting compost are sold out, but it is a wonderful sign that more people join the club, so welcome dear friens of the earth!😊
For the cattle panel trellis put a pool noodles along the top and drape the shade cloth over it like a cartoon tent and set some rocks on the bottoms, that's what we did during the 2020 PNW heatwave, we live somewhere windy so the pool noodles prevents the fabric from rubbing itself ragged
Jess, you're a wonderful example of a welcoming soul. I would much rather be a newbie chicken farmer than a newbie at welcoming people to the fold of my specialty. You have that down, and have a great deal to teach SOME of us. I'm always glad to have new gardening buddies and farming buddies, as there's enough work for everyone, ha ha!! The other side of things being sold out in stores such as chicks,etc, is that gives storeowners the message they need to stock more. This is a GOOD thing, ultimately, as the message gets out that farming is hot, and our stores need to respond. People just need to be thinking bigger; the farming community needs large hearts and open arms to our new wave of farming folk.🌻🌿🌿🍀
My local TSC sold out, within 4 hours, on the last 3 deliveries, over 500 chicks each. Over the weekend we picked up some chicks from a local man, charging same price as he has for years. I'm seeing lots of chicks for sale locally but the prices are crazy high.
Yes.. Just be kind... World would be such a nicer place if everyone had that philosophy
That should be a t shirt. "I am a Garden Rubbernecker!"
I love the REAL pace of life that you share with us Jess. Please don't change a thing! (I know you won't) ❤️
Jess, I just had to tell you just how amazing you look! Your energy, your stamina- you’re so much happier and healthier, it’s obvious! Carnivore and keto are amazing healers! 🎉You go, girl!
Love that you said to not to speak death over people! What an amazing world it would be if we all spoke life over everyone!❤❤❤
Jess you're so cute!! You GLOW! I've been watching you since 2020 and you actually look like you have reversed in age by a few years! Keep on doing whatever you're doing.
Thank you for your Christian attitude. You welcome others to share in the bounty of growing their own food. You are a blessing to us.
CABBAGE LEAVES are good steamed or blanched and used like tortillas. Stuff with some leftovers and have enchiladas, burritos, tacos or stuffed cabbage rolls etc. But with your size family, there may not be many leftovers. Lol
HI Jess, "I'm a garden rubbernecker" would be a great t-shirt. 😃
I’ve been asked to sell eggs to people and asked to sell chickens for eggs or meat. Nope, tried it once and not interested anymore. I’d prefer to bless friends and family with free eggs, but my birds will grow old on our homestead eating plenty of pests around the gardens. I feel God has blessed us so bless others because we are already prospering in what God’s given us each day.
"I'm not complaining about the 'egg-cess' of eggs" Jess says!! I love it!! Wonderful of you to share with the hard workers, too!! Have a wonderful day!
Yes!! The more folks who grow food, the better off all of us are!❤
I too was raised with the saying of "abundance one is blessed with you should always share the wealth"!🙏🏽 It goes without saying!
Chips are adorable, stonework is gawgeous! Spring has sprung!
Generally I start seeds in the house or out on my lettuce table fully covered with a mesh bag from onions.
I used past pineapple plastic jars in the mesh bag.
1. love the hair. 2. if you would be so kind as to keep me in your prayers. I lost my 17 year old only daughter last dec and my marriage of 26 years is not going well. My health is suffering. I need strength right now. 3. I've had floodlights in my back yard working for the last 2 hours (washington state) building my garden. Been listening to you the entire time. It feels like you've been a friend all these years and just your voice comforts me, doesn't matter what you're talking about....it just comforts me to know you're there. God Bless your sweet soul and sharing yourself with us. It matters so much.
what to do with the tunnel with the contaminated soil will come to you when it needs to
Here in Tucson the feed stores are selling out very quickly! I used to be able to buy pullets from a local feed store. Not now, all the chicks are being sold within a few days.
Jess, it just makes me so giddy every time I see your cows! Seems like yesterday you were sharing with us your dream to have a cow and then you found your first Helen and the rest is history ! now y'all have a herd it's so amazing
Oh girl, come back to Arkansas!! I wish i had met you before you left!! Smelling the tomato seedlings--I thought I was the only person who would enjoy such a thing!! You are so young and yet already so patient. That table top is gorgeous!!
Yes, let's celebrate people growing their own food. So much healthier! 🙌
There is nothing better than fried cabbage in bacon fat and an onion sliced, fried but still with a "bite" left to it, not cooked to baby food mush. Finish with a drizzle of balsamic and a dollop of mayo, mixed together and that is heaven! I also do a balsamic mayo to dip my blanched asparagus in. So yummy!
Your “season of life” mentality has honestly changed the way I see and handle things in life so much in such a positive way ❤️ so thank you sweet Jess. Speaking of garden rubbernecking last year I was doing just that because I saw the biggest amaranth I have ever seen in all of my life. It was probably 10/12 feet tall and it made my soul smile.❤️
I went to home Depot to pick up some fruit trees yesterday for our new homestead and saw they had tomato plants....in March....in zone 7, that were like 6" tall! I was like 'man they are stupid! It's fixing to freeze the next 3 nights, poor babies are gonna die. These people think it's time to put tomato plants in the ground.' Oh the people that will lose their money on those plants, so sad! Hopefully they know. I told Steven that I just wanted to buy them all so I could protect them 🤣
I used to take the kids on the back roads just so we could see the cows and the farms. Always forever pointing them out and just enjoying that in the city. :) I hear ya on the rubbernecking!!
You are absolutely right about needing to encourage those that are trying to start a homestead, or if they're just growing a garden for the first time or trying to raise some chickens...they need to be encouraged and helped if need be😊❤ Happy Belated Birthday to Toby🎈🎈🎈 Absolutely a garden, animal, homestead rubbernecker here, lol🤣❤
SUNFLOWERS!!! Sunflowers are good for pulling issues out of the ground 😊 you can feed them to the chooks if they’re good. If the sunflowers are good/healthy not the hens, they are always good ❤
"Oh, look. A basket!" That made me smile, and the timing was perfect for gathering eggs.
We just ate our first cabbage today! It was so rewarding to eat food that you know was grown from seed without chemicals, in our own soil. I boiled it up with butter and I could tell it was different then cabbages in the store. You have certainly inspired me to grow food and raise chickens. I am very grateful.
Love the smells in all crops - tomatoes, sage, Basil, cilantro, rosemary…… I intentionally brush them as I pass by.
Jess it just makes my heart happy seeing people get back on the land or even in their back or front yard thank you Jess and Miah god bless and happy birthday ben 💕🎊🎂🎊💕😍
“I’m a garden rubber necker, how about you”? So true! I’ll admit I am! God bless you Jess ❤️
My grandson Kei just turned 6. He is my garden buddy. On his Birthday he was outside playing and he stopped and says GiGi can we garden. So we started some sugar snap peas. His growing request this season is baby watermelon and purple potatoes 🙌🏻💖
I want chickens soooo badly. I have names picked out already and everything, but we just can’t have them yet. Hopefully within the next 5 years we should have our forever place and I can finally get my girls. The idea of handing a friend (or my mother) a basket of fresh eggs is something I really look forward to.
I’m a garden rubber necker too 😂😂 i love that title😊
In Arizona here, that's a good idea about the shade cloth for tomatoes, I tried putting one in a large pot in the shade of my trees during summer, it survived and I've been getting small amount of tomatoes all winter.
Can't beat homegrown tomatoes!
I’d love to see how he’s building everything! A chick room - I did that with a static coup and a screen door. Every 2 years we raise chicks so there’s a peaceful year ahead without worrying about babies. The garden will get all the attention this summer.
Yes!! Let's celebrate more are growing! Nice to see more caring about the food they eat. Such great progress for so many!
I've always pictured my retirement being raising a few alpacas, spinning their fiber, and weaving blankets.
I love seeing Bear. Sweet dog. Great idea about raising chicks. I hope a lot of people have success with that!
Jess, yes, agree, celebrate the big interest in chickens and gardening…
I DEFINITELY think your lifestyle is admirable. I garden… grow flowers and vegetables in an urban space, but someday I’d love to be you, but on a slightly smaller scale. Most importantly, love and enjoy every phase in your life!
Even if not all who try growing their own food stick with, there will no doubt be an appreciation for how hard people work to grow food. Find the positive.
Jess I am a garden rubbernecker. Also a maple syrup rubbernecker rubbernecker all the way, especially when I see bee hives.
Jess, thank you so much for being so positive about newbies. I too think that anything anyone can do to grow some food is a positive, since just about anything they do means less impact on the earth, if only in terms of all the shipping and traveling. It is so helpful to be positive!
I love hearing chickens in my neighborhood. My family used to have them, but they are not permitted in my current location and I am too chicken to flaunt that rule. However, I enjoy hearing a rooster crowing periodically somewhere in the local area. I love seeing squash vines peeking over fences. Food growing is so enriching for the family and the neighborhood!
Is anyone else loving her hair like I am? Love all her styles, but really like this
I’d just like to say I’m addicted. I haven’t found out how to listen in yet but I don’t miss an episode here. Your passion is so inspiring.
I’ve been making homemade bread and then making homemade French toast sticks out of that. Then I Freeze them in gallon size ziplock bags for breakfast. I can use up 10 eggs per gallon size bag of frozen French toast sticks from the bread and batter recipes! Kids love it too!
Lol..egg wealth. I was giving away chicken and duck eggs to my neighbors, like the crazy zucchini person does.
I started duck eggs in the incubator, thankfully my main duck went broody 12 days in, so she's on them now and I have chicken eggs in the incubator.
Love your positivity and support towards new-ish homesteaders and gardeners! I've learned so much from your videos already. Your attitude and approach is so refreshing. 💚