I agree, it is a lot of hard, monotonous work. But if it's something you're truly called to do, I can personally confirm that it is the most fulfilling, rewarding work/job ever. Sure, it's hard. But most good things that are worth your time are. Homesteading fills my soul with joy like no other thing. The only thing better is having and raising kids, which we get to then teach about animal husbandry and how to garden effectively, which is truly the best of both worlds!
And keeping trees alive and veggies and even grass is hard, so many writers destroying your greens like voles, moles, gophers and other wildlife. It's hard and expensive to keep up. The social aspect is lonely, no one to talk to close by and going into town us expensive on the gas.
Yeah plus Ballerina Farms is a multi millionaire that has her own company and her father is founder of JetBlue. She's just cosplaying as a tradwife for TikTok to boost her business. All fake.
Milk right out of the cow is not room temperature, George. It's the body temperature of the cow. It's nice and warm. I was raised on a farm in the 1950s and we got our milk from a neighbor farm. It came in a glass gallon jug and the top third of it was cream. It was a house rule that you had to shake it well before pouring. My brother often just poured and drank the cream and the rest of us were stuck with skim milk for the next day.
I laughed when George mentioned listening to Smart Money Happy Hour while on his tractor, because that’s exactly what I’m doing while on my tractor. I’ll just give it to you all straight- you have to live in a relatively inexpensive area to make homesteading work. I live in the Sierra Nevada Mountains between Sacramento and Reno. I don’t make a penny from our homestead. Fortunately, I’m a successful financial planner and make a great income. My ranch could never earn enough to pay for itself here. I love growing my own beef, lamb, goats, chickens, eggs, pork, etc. We have 65 fruit trees, vegetable gardens, animals, etc. I do this because I love having clean water, clean food, clean air, ponds with fish, places for my kids to ride their ATVs, and space to explore and enjoy the world. I would guess that my ranch costs me roughly $350k/year for upkeep. Feel free to ask me any questions.
We have been homesteading for 10+ years and have seen many people come and go because they didn't realise how expensive it is. They expect homesteading to look like what they see on Instagram and RUclips instead of real life. We both have full time jobs in town and focus on raising food for our family and friends. A few years ago I visited a bunch of commercial feed operations and it definitely reinforced why we chose to raise our own food. I would never want to give up many of our conveniences but choose to devote my time and energy to what I feel is important.
The homestead quiz brough back a memory for me. My mom grew up on a farm with immigrant parents. She married my dad a machinist and we grew up on a 3 acre country lot - we did not have a lot of knowledge about farming. One day some siblings and I were sitting at the kitchen table playing Trivial Pursuit. My very reserved mom was at the sink doing dishes. The trivia question was - how many teats does a cow have? My sibling guessed 5. My mom laughed so hard - she was doubled over at the sink. Mom ended up explaining to us that no matter what the animal, they would always come in even pairs.
We raise highland cows, chickens, and fruits and vegetables in our garden on our farm. Anytime we eat something we grew or raised it’s one of the most expensive meals we eat lol
@@FOMAHsince2014 and how many people buy them to be glorified pets and for photography sessions? That's like saying, do you knkw how much that 67 stingray brought without acknowledging that 98% of cars go down in value
Watching this episode made me legit laugh out loud! As someone who does lots of homesteading and has worked for tractor supply for 10 years and has a huge amount of respect for the Ramsey team and one day hopes to join the Ramsey team, this was hands down one of my favorite episodes! Thanks for the quality content and entertainment!
Wanting to homestead is a millennial thing. Many of our grandparents lived this way and then it skipped our parents. I think we feel like we lost something. There are so many lost arts and skills...we want to go back to being self-sustaining, work the land, know where our food came from. This is why I do it!
Same. I wouldn't trade it for anything. Love my cows/chickens/sheep/goats! Best life I can give my kids. The fact we have to call them in after dark because they are "frog hunting". 🥰
I am a small scale homesteader. I have a large garden, chickens and dairy goats. It is so much work, but so worth it! I love working with animals and in the garden I wouldn't want to live any other way and getting to do it with my daughter along side is all the better! As far as the money goes it is hard to say. I'm not sure we save money, but I think we might break even especially now that we have enough goat kids each year to sell to help cover expenses. If I ever got into making goat milk soaps or lotions to sell I could probably proffit from it. But for me it is about the quality of food( I mean farm fresh eggs!) and enjoying a way of life that is tied to the seasons. Also you can do things without huge over head costs. we bought only 2 acres of land( we were moving anyway for other reason) the land already had a barn and while we did buy a truck to help with hauling things we spent less than $2,000 on it and that was in 2021, and yes it is beat up, old, and the insides are falling apart but it hauls hay just fien :) Enjoy the show guy!!!
In a similar vein, I've seen videos of guys restoring antique mowers and such. No talking, but each step was done in real time and edited to make them shorter. There were captions. The sounds of the machines, sanding, hammering, etc. are weirdly relaxing.
George saying where would you get a pickup for $1700 to homestead cracked me up. I don’t think he knows that one of the first requirements of homesteading is being able to make a dirt cheap broken janky machine go.
I enjoyed this episode and y’all take on the homestead life. It didn’t have to be expensive though you can start “homesteading” anywhere by learning simple skills like going to farmers markets and learning how to preserve what you get such as canning.
A thing they missed in Homesteading that is the most expensive part is the skills required. This is also the most valuable resource from homesteading as those skills easily translate to side income and directly compensate when vested back into the homestead.
We’ve built an urban homestead in our small town while we dream of moving to our off-grid mountain property. We started with chickens, and let them become financially self-sustaining before investing in a large raised bed garden. The garden is on-track to be self-sustaining this year. We’re hoping to add bees and rabbits next spring. You don’t have to jump all-in right from the jump.
My family lives on a homestead. Its a lot of work. Theres no days off. Its not easy. Its not an esthetic, its a lifestyle. Its also not cheap. Its been 8 years and we're only just now breaking even on our investment by selling eggs and seasonal produce. We have well over 100 chickens now because the eggs are how we afford this lifestyle. Also, something is always going wrong. Im immune to it now, but it was very difficult at first. Last year our barn was destroyed in a bad storm and half of our animals were killed including a horse and stuff that were like pets and not just livestock. Im still occasionally crying about that because I feel so guilty. I know there was nothing we could do. It was a tornado, it was a blessing we didn't lose our house, but it was just a lot of death and it felt terrible. We were finding mangled chicken carcasses for almost 2 weeks.
Real farming/homesteading happens when trouble pops up. So many view the lifestyle how they see in the paintings not realizing the real hard work. Anyone can picture themselves doing simple chores not realizing that the real works starts when problems, emergencies, and loss happen.
Yes, I hate that they used this farm as the example because they had such an advantage to starting up their "homestead." It isn't realistic for people who do have small farms and homesteads who are scrimping and saving to get by without being able to afford the luxury aesthetic.
Was just on a road trip with my wife this past week. 8 hours of driving both ways we got alot of Smart Money Happy Hour in. You’re both so interesting and funny it made the time fly bye! Keep up the good work!
Homesteading is the most fulfilling and satisfying way of life in existence. I love that my food is always just right outside. I love caring for my animals and I love that my animals in turn care for me by feeding me eggs and milk. The hardest part for me is eating my animals, but it has to be done sometimes. I do prefer to get my meat from the store, but love veggies, eggs, and milk fresh from the farm. My homestead never produced a significant income, but considering it provided me with food, I was able to live on $10k/yr income
My question is, When you live on a homestead what do you do if you want to go on a week long vacation? Who takes care of the animals? I am growing a few tomato plants in containers and that is enough for me.
You go on vacation in the winter. You have to pay someone to come feed the animals and milk them. Or you trade taking care of each others farms with other farmers.
Build community! Find a neighbor that needs their chickens looked after during a holiday and offer to look in on their property and keep an eye on things. They will definitely be more apt to help you out in a pinch too. We've been blessed with wonderful "neighbors" and we take turns.
❤We butcher chickens, have a milk cow, pigs, laying hens, garden, and homeschool. I don’t think we could do it without my husband’s stable job. Yes George, he is in shape and tan. ;)
MOST IMPORTANT POINT IF YOU ARE MARRIED. Make sure your spouse and kids are willing to go for the ride and understand the level of work involved. Keep in mind there are many types of homesteads. Ranging from 1/2 acre to 40+acres. You will most likly need to get creative and there is a mountain of information out there on this.
I have 2 acres. We put in a small fenced in garden 12 years ago. Lots of fresh veggies and fruit. Now we have chickens and live the eggs. Yes, it’s a bit of work, BUT so worth it!
Farming is 24/7 and something breaks every 3rd day and you need to be able to fix it yourself, go farm with someone else for a month. 99%will be shocked at the work. And you are tied to the farm at all times. And it can cost way more than you think. We ran a cow calf operation for 13 yrs. that beat the love of farming right out of us🤣🤣
The supply chain issues are why we put in a garden and got chickens. We also have the ability to take on rabbits. We want to be able to amp up production if the supply chain fails. I had the overwhelming “I WILL feed my kids” attitude after covid.
My husband works full time and the kids and I homeschool/homestead. It works for us, it's hard work, but it's as expensive as you make it. Yes if you buy everything out right, it's going to be expensive. If you work it, hit up auctions and garage sales, build your skills, grow from raised beds to larger gardens... It's a lot more possible than folks make it. I guess it depends what you want to spend your money on. You can put your kids in every sport or you can create a co op with your other homesteading friends and butcher chickens together then go out and play volleyball at the end of the day and send everyone home with their own processed chicken.
Ballerina Farm has access to hundreds of MILLIONS with her husband and in laws. They have no financial concern. It is not out of necessity. It is 100% monetized and performative. They have help!! Most folks can't even imagine their level of comfort and feeling of financial security.
So many of the basic skills used by homesteaders like growing, harvesting, and preserving your own food aren't known by most people. Homesteaders know how their food was raised and treated. There is a special sense of accomplishment when you're able to do all these things yourself versus depending on someone else.
I agree with George on the spiders in the house. If they were intended to live, they would not have come into my house. Outside is their territory, inside they dead.
Showed a few social media posts to my in-laws (that are actual farmers) about this 'homesteading' trend. They watched a few and just laughed and said "they're not homesteading...they're just farming". Homesteading is apparently when the government gives away land and you have the requirement to live on it and improve it for a certain amount of time and then you will get ownership of the land. Big rush in the late 1800's / early 1900's for homesteaders to get land. That's how my in-law's grandparents got their land originally. That said, buying land to become a farmer isn't homesteading. It would be great if the Federal government introduced a new homesteading program to give away a lot of federal land that could become farming land and actually offer to people willing to be homesteaders.
Your own chickens are NOT a ticket ro cheap eggs - all the cost of feed and other supplies make the actual coat of the eggs very pricey! It's all about Knowing where your eggs come from- how chickens were fed and raised. And when (not IF) grid goes down, you have a food source
I grew up with a garden and it was great-fresh herbs, veggies, and berries. We’d pick cherries at my uncle and aunts, we had the plum trees. My grandma had the grapes. Just coordinate in your neighborhood who does the zucchini cause that can get out of hand
I started a backyard food garden when kale prices increased from $0.99 to $2.89. Now kale grow like weeds in the backyard and I raise pet chickens, so I do not buy eggs. I rarely go to the market nowadays. It does take work, but it's worth it.
Homesteading isn’t all fun. Not sure why people romanticize it. Chickens are dirty stinkers, and they randomly die, especially those your favorite. I think our chickens’ eggs cost like airplane, but yea, they are 100% organic. You need to learn how to 🔪 them. Gardening sometimes is exhausting, my parents been doing it for 45+ years (beside their 9-5 career jobs) I do it since about 5yo. I’d never get milk cows because I never had thise around and it’s seems to be too much work. I still want to get some sheep and goats, but not crazy amount (2-3). And increase my garden to at least what my parents had (only about 1/4ac food forest that fed 8-10 people during hard times and foos shortages in the country i was born). Canning and preserving is the worst part, but it is not avoidable. The main thing is can afford doing it because i have an IT job (10y in this field) plus it is not just something that is popular today, it is a life style i was raised on. I’d never do it without stable income and back up plan.
Great episode, definitely saving the drink recipe. Also cleaning/detailing (lawns and carpets and cars) and bushcraft videos are definitely RUclips's most relaxing videos.
it's a 7 days per week, no vacation job. We prefer making money in our careers to fund our grasfed beef cattle farm. hopefully one day we can make it our business and main income source. But only if we can pay someone else to do some of the daily chores so we can still live the life we want. we have part of that worked out already but not completely.
I would consider myself a very small scale city homestead. I have 1/4 acre with nine chickens, about 250 sq ft of garden plus a couple peach trees. For me it's less about saving money (although if inflation keeps going, maybe my tomatoes will actually be profitable ha!) and more about my own peace and happiness. I'm most happy after weeding the garden, seeing my plants grow, watching how the compost is breaking down, etc. Weird, sure. But if you don't actually like it then it's not for you. On a small scale it really doesn't take much time. After the chickens are grown and your plants start growing, I'm only putting in maybe 15 minutes a day of work. If you do little things a little each day it's easy to keep up with on a small scale. If anyone is interested in starting, I would start with some window boxes and a small compost system (you could do an under-sink bokashi for natural waste, or small tumbler if you have some outdoor space) Compost is the foundation of pretty much everything, so I would start there.
I started raising pet chickens for eggs, growing fruits and vegetables in my backyard garden. When kale price went from $0.99 to $2.49, I used to spend > $200 monthly for just kale to make kale juice. Today, kale grows like weeds in my garden, and I rarely go to the market except for beef. I'm also healthier, stronger, and I saved money on internet, no Netflix, no Prime by living a simple lifestyle.
Real farming/homesteading happens when trouble pops up. So many view the lifestyle how they see in the paintings not realizing the real hard work. Anyone can picture themselves doing simple chores not realizing that the real works starts when problems, emergencies, and loss happen. Lessons are learned hard on the farm. After every challenge we purpose those lessons to not go wasted on us. I listened to this episode harrowing our paddocks.
These guys have never worked on a farm. Try getting the manure out and cleaning the cow room! It's hard but it's satisfying to not be dependent on someone
Blessings boys do free yard cleanups also. Our farm isn’t really a homestead, but man, is it a lot of work! There is stress over what predators will get our young goats, chickens, calves. We have Pyrenees guardians to keep goats safe. So many responsibilities and things to troubleshoot. Fences never seem secure enough, waterers are not dependable enough.It’s tough, but I think it is my husband’s addiction. It could be so much worse!
I grew up on a simple farm raising all our food and meat ( rabbits, chickens, sheep, and pigs). We were up at 5 am during school to feed and care for the animals but in the summer we were able to sleep in til 6am. I raised my kids in the city but took them back home in the summers to reach them about this life. All my kids are raised and I have a desire to return to the life I grew up with. Although one thing I will add to my modest farm would be bees! They could be a great revenue stream.
Idk about homesteading, but when it comes to doing a lot more for ourselves, I have a theory. As women were entering & being more respected in the workforce in the last generations, convenience was more expensive but affordable and worth it for mom to work and have an income/career. NOW, with prices on EVERYTHING rising like crazy, we are looking for where we can count pennies. Families with kids cannot afford to have both parents working with the prices of childcare.
I hope people thinking about homesteading watch the RUclips channels about it because it is A LOT of hard work. Most people have NO idea just how hard it is. No sick days, no "I don't wanna work" days, etc. It can be wonderful, but you really need to understand what's involved.
I mean ballerina farms is able to do that because of their wealth. And they also run a business from their farm. I’m happy for them but they’re not homesteaders like the ones I know who aren’t running a business from their home/land. They’re just feeding their families and neighbors and have a pretty simple life.
I doubt that you need to have all the homestead things when you first decide to have a homestead. For example, we live in a modest house in a small neighborhood and have “microsteaded” for the past year. We have chickens in our basement (they have access to the outside through a window) and have a decent size garden. We pick up things (or borrow them) as we need them and we plan to buy a bigger lot of land when our house is paid off and we have a decent down payment. Going at the rate of money can still work on a homestead.
Being as self-sufficient as possible is one of the best things we can do to insulate ourselves (& our money) from any economic, societal, or other upheavals that may occur.
We don't want to homestead but we are trying to build off-grid. Quotes for well installation are all between $22,000-28,000. Our relatives in the same area paid $5,000 in 2008. 😭
We have a 5 acre homestead in south eastern Washington state and we went about in a mortgage way where the house backed up the homestead. We were given animals to start from friends and family even when we weren’t ready. It can be daunting at times but we formed our life to not need extravagant vacations. We love where we are. We supplement my wife’s income with selling sourdough bread and seasonal veggies at our local farmers market. So it is possible to make it work.
I been thinking very hard about doing this one day. I need to hang out with more people that are actually doing this full time so I can learn from them. But I really do love the country living
If you can afford to take a summer off go help on a homestead fir a summer. You will know pretty quick if you would like it. Or help out on weekends in exchange for some produce and meat. There are ways to see if you would like it and you would be learning new skills.🌞
As a millennial descendent of multi generations of farmer's, I don't understand how city folk are financially making it while homesteading. In my personal opinion, homesteading is over romanticized.
The problem I have with Instagram homesteading is that it is not real. Real homesteading is messy and hard work. Not a slower way of life, or an ideal way of life. We farm in Minnesota and if you love snow and winter it means you have never had to raise livestock in negative degree weather for months on end😅 also the money saving aspect is absolutely not true. The meat we raise ourself is way more expensive than just going to the grocery store. Why do we do it?? We love the animals, the garden, and my husband has 700 acres of field that he harvests for our income. But the idea that farming is a beautiful and ideal way of life is laughable😂 but we would never change it❤
You guys are in love with the idea of homesteading. The actual life on the farm is a lot of hard monotonous work.
It’s definitely more the aesthetic going viral, there’s not enough land for all of us to have 5 acres to ourselves
You also have to be relatively wealthy to have all that time to spend doing the tasks
I agree, it is a lot of hard, monotonous work. But if it's something you're truly called to do, I can personally confirm that it is the most fulfilling, rewarding work/job ever. Sure, it's hard. But most good things that are worth your time are. Homesteading fills my soul with joy like no other thing. The only thing better is having and raising kids, which we get to then teach about animal husbandry and how to garden effectively, which is truly the best of both worlds!
And keeping trees alive and veggies and even grass is hard, so many writers destroying your greens like voles, moles, gophers and other wildlife. It's hard and expensive to keep up. The social aspect is lonely, no one to talk to close by and going into town us expensive on the gas.
Yeah plus Ballerina Farms is a multi millionaire that has her own company and her father is founder of JetBlue. She's just cosplaying as a tradwife for TikTok to boost her business. All fake.
Milk right out of the cow is not room temperature, George. It's the body temperature of the cow. It's nice and warm. I was raised on a farm in the 1950s and we got our milk from a neighbor farm. It came in a glass gallon jug and the top third of it was cream. It was a house rule that you had to shake it well before pouring. My brother often just poured and drank the cream and the rest of us were stuck with skim milk for the next day.
I laughed when George mentioned listening to Smart Money Happy Hour while on his tractor, because that’s exactly what I’m doing while on my tractor. I’ll just give it to you all straight- you have to live in a relatively inexpensive area to make homesteading work. I live in the Sierra Nevada Mountains between Sacramento and Reno. I don’t make a penny from our homestead. Fortunately, I’m a successful financial planner and make a great income. My ranch could never earn enough to pay for itself here. I love growing my own beef, lamb, goats, chickens, eggs, pork, etc. We have 65 fruit trees, vegetable gardens, animals, etc. I do this because I love having clean water, clean food, clean air, ponds with fish, places for my kids to ride their ATVs, and space to explore and enjoy the world. I would guess that my ranch costs me roughly $350k/year for upkeep. Feel free to ask me any questions.
We have been homesteading for 10+ years and have seen many people come and go because they didn't realise how expensive it is. They expect homesteading to look like what they see on Instagram and RUclips instead of real life. We both have full time jobs in town and focus on raising food for our family and friends. A few years ago I visited a bunch of commercial feed operations and it definitely reinforced why we chose to raise our own food. I would never want to give up many of our conveniences but choose to devote my time and energy to what I feel is important.
The homestead quiz brough back a memory for me. My mom grew up on a farm with immigrant parents. She married my dad a machinist and we grew up on a 3 acre country lot - we did not have a lot of knowledge about farming. One day some siblings and I were sitting at the kitchen table playing Trivial Pursuit. My very reserved mom was at the sink doing dishes. The trivia question was - how many teats does a cow have? My sibling guessed 5. My mom laughed so hard - she was doubled over at the sink. Mom ended up explaining to us that no matter what the animal, they would always come in even pairs.
We NEVER had a vacation when I grew up on a farm. We couldn't leave!
We raise highland cows, chickens, and fruits and vegetables in our garden on our farm. Anytime we eat something we grew or raised it’s one of the most expensive meals we eat lol
Probably should raise actual beef cattle instead of pets.
Have you seen how much some of those hairy cows have brought!?!
@@FOMAHsince2014 and how many people buy them to be glorified pets and for photography sessions? That's like saying, do you knkw how much that 67 stingray brought without acknowledging that 98% of cars go down in value
@@codys5727 we do raise them as beef and people pay top dollar for them as beef and for breeding stock
We had chickens for eggs. It cost us twice as much to raise eggs as buy them. Everyone I know who eats their animals says the same thing.
Watching this episode made me legit laugh out loud! As someone who does lots of homesteading and has worked for tractor supply for 10 years and has a huge amount of respect for the Ramsey team and one day hopes to join the Ramsey team, this was hands down one of my favorite episodes! Thanks for the quality content and entertainment!
Wanting to homestead is a millennial thing. Many of our grandparents lived this way and then it skipped our parents. I think we feel like we lost something. There are so many lost arts and skills...we want to go back to being self-sustaining, work the land, know where our food came from. This is why I do it!
I love that you recognize that this is a lot harder than people make it look on IG!!! ❤😂
I live on a farm, would be considered homesteaders for sure. Definitely not easy, tons of hard work and long days.
Same. I wouldn't trade it for anything. Love my cows/chickens/sheep/goats! Best life I can give my kids. The fact we have to call them in after dark because they are "frog hunting". 🥰
I grew up on a family farm. It is a great way to raise a family, but after they move out, it is way too much physical labor for an older couple.
I am a small scale homesteader. I have a large garden, chickens and dairy goats. It is so much work, but so worth it! I love working with animals and in the garden I wouldn't want to live any other way and getting to do it with my daughter along side is all the better! As far as the money goes it is hard to say. I'm not sure we save money, but I think we might break even especially now that we have enough goat kids each year to sell to help cover expenses. If I ever got into making goat milk soaps or lotions to sell I could probably proffit from it. But for me it is about the quality of food( I mean farm fresh eggs!) and enjoying a way of life that is tied to the seasons. Also you can do things without huge over head costs. we bought only 2 acres of land( we were moving anyway for other reason) the land already had a barn and while we did buy a truck to help with hauling things we spent less than $2,000 on it and that was in 2021, and yes it is beat up, old, and the insides are falling apart but it hauls hay just fien :) Enjoy the show guy!!!
SB Mowing!! He also does pressure washing … it’s glorious
In a similar vein, I've seen videos of guys restoring antique mowers and such. No talking, but each step was done in real time and edited to make them shorter. There were captions. The sounds of the machines, sanding, hammering, etc. are weirdly relaxing.
Yesss!!
Love watching Spencer transform those yards. Al Bladez is great too.
George saying where would you get a pickup for $1700 to homestead cracked me up. I don’t think he knows that one of the first requirements of homesteading is being able to make a dirt cheap broken janky machine go.
I enjoyed this episode and y’all take on the homestead life. It didn’t have to be expensive though you can start “homesteading” anywhere by learning simple skills like going to farmers markets and learning how to preserve what you get such as canning.
A thing they missed in Homesteading that is the most expensive part is the skills required. This is also the most valuable resource from homesteading as those skills easily translate to side income and directly compensate when vested back into the homestead.
We’ve built an urban homestead in our small town while we dream of moving to our off-grid mountain property. We started with chickens, and let them become financially self-sustaining before investing in a large raised bed garden. The garden is on-track to be self-sustaining this year. We’re hoping to add bees and rabbits next spring. You don’t have to jump all-in right from the jump.
My family lives on a homestead. Its a lot of work. Theres no days off. Its not easy. Its not an esthetic, its a lifestyle.
Its also not cheap. Its been 8 years and we're only just now breaking even on our investment by selling eggs and seasonal produce. We have well over 100 chickens now because the eggs are how we afford this lifestyle.
Also, something is always going wrong. Im immune to it now, but it was very difficult at first. Last year our barn was destroyed in a bad storm and half of our animals were killed including a horse and stuff that were like pets and not just livestock. Im still occasionally crying about that because I feel so guilty. I know there was nothing we could do. It was a tornado, it was a blessing we didn't lose our house, but it was just a lot of death and it felt terrible. We were finding mangled chicken carcasses for almost 2 weeks.
Real farming/homesteading happens when trouble pops up. So many view the lifestyle how they see in the paintings not realizing the real hard work. Anyone can picture themselves doing simple chores not realizing that the real works starts when problems, emergencies, and loss happen.
You guys didn’t talk about how Ballerina Farms is the son of the CEO of multiple airlines. They glamorize homestead but it’s all just a showcase
Came here to say this!
THIS!!!! It drive me nuts that people leave that part out. They have at least $3 million just in their property alone.
Yes, I hate that they used this farm as the example because they had such an advantage to starting up their "homestead." It isn't realistic for people who do have small farms and homesteads who are scrimping and saving to get by without being able to afford the luxury aesthetic.
Your show is my guilty you tube watching pleasure! You’re funny, entertaining and informative!
I LOVE the grass mowing guy!!!
George's reel thing at the end, it's called SB Mowing. So satisfying to watch!
Or The Boring Channel 😊
I love that channel
Was just on a road trip with my wife this past week. 8 hours of driving both ways we got alot of Smart Money Happy Hour in. You’re both so interesting and funny it made the time fly bye! Keep up the good work!
Homesteading is the most fulfilling and satisfying way of life in existence. I love that my food is always just right outside. I love caring for my animals and I love that my animals in turn care for me by feeding me eggs and milk. The hardest part for me is eating my animals, but it has to be done sometimes. I do prefer to get my meat from the store, but love veggies, eggs, and milk fresh from the farm. My homestead never produced a significant income, but considering it provided me with food, I was able to live on $10k/yr income
My question is, When you live on a homestead what do you do if you want to go on a week long vacation? Who takes care of the animals? I am growing a few tomato plants in containers and that is enough for me.
You go on vacation in the winter. You have to pay someone to come feed the animals and milk them. Or you trade taking care of each others farms with other farmers.
Build community! Find a neighbor that needs their chickens looked after during a holiday and offer to look in on their property and keep an eye on things. They will definitely be more apt to help you out in a pinch too. We've been blessed with wonderful "neighbors" and we take turns.
❤We butcher chickens, have a milk cow, pigs, laying hens, garden, and homeschool. I don’t think we could do it without my husband’s stable job. Yes George, he is in shape and tan. ;)
MOST IMPORTANT POINT IF YOU ARE MARRIED. Make sure your spouse and kids are willing to go for the ride and understand the level of work involved. Keep in mind there are many types of homesteads. Ranging from 1/2 acre to 40+acres. You will most likly need to get creative and there is a mountain of information out there on this.
Rachel, the key to cilantro is “slow bolt” seeds and succession sowing.
I too watch the rug cleaning on RUclips and Instagram. It’s weirdly satisfying.
I have 2 acres. We put in a small fenced in garden 12 years ago. Lots of fresh veggies and fruit. Now we have chickens and live the eggs. Yes, it’s a bit of work, BUT so worth it!
I love the simple life! I'm not a homesteader but I have always loved gardening.
My husband, former farm boy, wants none of it like Sharon Ramsey. It seems so romantic to those who haven't experienced it (like me)!
I love the mowing show too- it’s so satisfying too funny!
Farming is 24/7 and something breaks every 3rd day and you need to be able to fix it yourself, go farm with someone else for a month. 99%will be shocked at the work. And you are tied to the farm at all times. And it can cost way more than you think. We ran a cow calf operation for 13 yrs. that beat the love of farming right out of us🤣🤣
The supply chain issues are why we put in a garden and got chickens. We also have the ability to take on rabbits. We want to be able to amp up production if the supply chain fails.
I had the overwhelming “I WILL feed my kids” attitude after covid.
My husband works full time and the kids and I homeschool/homestead. It works for us, it's hard work, but it's as expensive as you make it. Yes if you buy everything out right, it's going to be expensive. If you work it, hit up auctions and garage sales, build your skills, grow from raised beds to larger gardens... It's a lot more possible than folks make it. I guess it depends what you want to spend your money on. You can put your kids in every sport or you can create a co op with your other homesteading friends and butcher chickens together then go out and play volleyball at the end of the day and send everyone home with their own processed chicken.
Ballerina Farm has access to hundreds of MILLIONS with her husband and in laws. They have no financial concern. It is not out of necessity. It is 100% monetized and performative. They have help!! Most folks can't even imagine their level of comfort and feeling of financial security.
So many of the basic skills used by homesteaders like growing, harvesting, and preserving your own food aren't known by most people. Homesteaders know how their food was raised and treated. There is a special sense of accomplishment when you're able to do all these things yourself versus depending on someone else.
Unpasteurised milk is disgusting 🤢 I grew up on a farm and we used to milk cows 🐮 farming is a nightmare and a ton of work.
Where are the comments about Lindsay being back come on guys? I’m so happy about it🎉
I agree with George on the spiders in the house. If they were intended to live, they would not have come into my house. Outside is their territory, inside they dead.
😂. But you built your home on their home.
@@PinkieJoJo the House was built in the 50s. Spiders only live for a short season. The spider I squished a few months ago was trespassing. 👩⚖️
@@PinkieJoJo 🤣
Showed a few social media posts to my in-laws (that are actual farmers) about this 'homesteading' trend. They watched a few and just laughed and said "they're not homesteading...they're just farming". Homesteading is apparently when the government gives away land and you have the requirement to live on it and improve it for a certain amount of time and then you will get ownership of the land. Big rush in the late 1800's / early 1900's for homesteaders to get land. That's how my in-law's grandparents got their land originally. That said, buying land to become a farmer isn't homesteading. It would be great if the Federal government introduced a new homesteading program to give away a lot of federal land that could become farming land and actually offer to people willing to be homesteaders.
Your own chickens are NOT a ticket ro cheap eggs - all the cost of feed and other supplies make the actual coat of the eggs very pricey! It's all about Knowing where your eggs come from- how chickens were fed and raised. And when (not IF) grid goes down, you have a food source
Doomsday is coming……take off your tin foil hat 🎩
@rory644 no thanks, it's no trouble to leave it on. Have a good day.
I am addicted to the Hoof GP. Satisfying to watch dairy cattle hoof trimming
I grew up with a garden and it was great-fresh herbs, veggies, and berries. We’d pick cherries at my uncle and aunts, we had the plum trees. My grandma had the grapes. Just coordinate in your neighborhood who does the zucchini cause that can get out of hand
I live in Idaho! And prices definitely have increased 4 or 5 times. To get a well would be around $30,000!
I started a backyard food garden when kale prices increased from $0.99 to $2.89. Now kale grow like weeds in the backyard and I raise pet chickens, so I do not buy eggs. I rarely go to the market nowadays. It does take work, but it's worth it.
Homesteading isn’t all fun. Not sure why people romanticize it.
Chickens are dirty stinkers, and they randomly die, especially those your favorite. I think our chickens’ eggs cost like airplane, but yea, they are 100% organic.
You need to learn how to 🔪 them.
Gardening sometimes is exhausting, my parents been doing it for 45+ years (beside their 9-5 career jobs) I do it since about 5yo.
I’d never get milk cows because I never had thise around and it’s seems to be too much work.
I still want to get some sheep and goats, but not crazy amount (2-3).
And increase my garden to at least what my parents had (only about 1/4ac food forest that fed 8-10 people during hard times and foos shortages in the country i was born).
Canning and preserving is the worst part, but it is not avoidable.
The main thing is can afford doing it because i have an IT job (10y in this field) plus it is not just something that is popular today, it is a life style i was raised on.
I’d never do it without stable income and back up plan.
Great episode, definitely saving the drink recipe. Also cleaning/detailing (lawns and carpets and cars) and bushcraft videos are definitely RUclips's most relaxing videos.
it's a 7 days per week, no vacation job. We prefer making money in our careers to fund our grasfed beef cattle farm. hopefully one day we can make it our business and main income source. But only if we can pay someone else to do some of the daily chores so we can still live the life we want. we have part of that worked out already but not completely.
I would consider myself a very small scale city homestead. I have 1/4 acre with nine chickens, about 250 sq ft of garden plus a couple peach trees.
For me it's less about saving money (although if inflation keeps going, maybe my tomatoes will actually be profitable ha!) and more about my own peace and happiness. I'm most happy after weeding the garden, seeing my plants grow, watching how the compost is breaking down, etc. Weird, sure. But if you don't actually like it then it's not for you.
On a small scale it really doesn't take much time. After the chickens are grown and your plants start growing, I'm only putting in maybe 15 minutes a day of work. If you do little things a little each day it's easy to keep up with on a small scale.
If anyone is interested in starting, I would start with some window boxes and a small compost system (you could do an under-sink bokashi for natural waste, or small tumbler if you have some outdoor space) Compost is the foundation of pretty much everything, so I would start there.
I just tried the Earl Grey Tea Mocktail. Delicious! Thanks for the recommendation!
George, bring John and come to Oregon for a guided elk hunt! We could show you a good time.
Most people with greenhouses in the north still have to heat them. It doesn’t stay warm at night.
I started raising pet chickens for eggs, growing fruits and vegetables in my backyard garden. When kale price went from $0.99 to $2.49, I used to spend > $200 monthly for just kale to make kale juice. Today, kale grows like weeds in my garden, and I rarely go to the market except for beef. I'm also healthier, stronger, and I saved money on internet, no Netflix, no Prime by living a simple lifestyle.
Awe quoting EverAfter is iconic lol
Real farming/homesteading happens when trouble pops up. So many view the lifestyle how they see in the paintings not realizing the real hard work. Anyone can picture themselves doing simple chores not realizing that the real works starts when problems, emergencies, and loss happen. Lessons are learned hard on the farm. After every challenge we purpose those lessons to not go wasted on us. I listened to this episode harrowing our paddocks.
On Cilantro-- it does not like hot weather, so plant in the early spring or late summer.
I'm not a homesteader but this show has inspired me to grow my own herbs! Love it!
These guys have never worked on a farm. Try getting the manure out and cleaning the cow room! It's hard but it's satisfying to not be dependent on someone
Blessings boys do free yard cleanups also. Our farm isn’t really a homestead, but man, is it a lot of work! There is stress over what predators will get our young goats, chickens, calves. We have Pyrenees guardians to keep goats safe. So many responsibilities and things to troubleshoot. Fences never seem secure enough, waterers are not dependable enough.It’s tough, but I think it is my husband’s addiction. It could be so much worse!
I grew up on a simple farm raising all our food and meat ( rabbits, chickens, sheep, and pigs). We were up at 5 am during school to feed and care for the animals but in the summer we were able to sleep in til 6am. I raised my kids in the city but took them back home in the summers to reach them about this life. All my kids are raised and I have a desire to return to the life I grew up with. Although one thing I will add to my modest farm would be bees! They could be a great revenue stream.
Idk about homesteading, but when it comes to doing a lot more for ourselves, I have a theory. As women were entering & being more respected in the workforce in the last generations, convenience was more expensive but affordable and worth it for mom to work and have an income/career. NOW, with prices on EVERYTHING rising like crazy, we are looking for where we can count pennies. Families with kids cannot afford to have both parents working with the prices of childcare.
George, Is the mowing RUclips short/TikTok you watch SB Mowing? If it is, I binge-watch all the time!
I hope people thinking about homesteading watch the RUclips channels about it because it is A LOT of hard work. Most people have NO idea just how hard it is. No sick days, no "I don't wanna work" days, etc. It can be wonderful, but you really need to understand what's involved.
The Boring Channel is the guy who does huge outdoors transformations for free. There are others too, all brilliant to watch! Xx
I mean ballerina farms is able to do that because of their wealth. And they also run a business from their farm. I’m happy for them but they’re not homesteaders like the ones I know who aren’t running a business from their home/land. They’re just feeding their families and neighbors and have a pretty simple life.
Love the himestead idea. My daughter would like to do it in the future but for me I love the sounds of the drink.
I doubt that you need to have all the homestead things when you first decide to have a homestead. For example, we live in a modest house in a small neighborhood and have “microsteaded” for the past year. We have chickens in our basement (they have access to the outside through a window) and have a decent size garden. We pick up things (or borrow them) as we need them and we plan to buy a bigger lot of land when our house is paid off and we have a decent down payment. Going at the rate of money can still work on a homestead.
Being as self-sufficient as possible is one of the best things we can do to insulate ourselves (& our money) from any economic, societal, or other upheavals that may occur.
Thats me😂 rug cleaning before bedtime🙈🙈🙈
Growing up we had chickens. My sisters and I would go collect eggs in the mornings. That was fun.
We don't want to homestead but we are trying to build off-grid. Quotes for well installation are all between $22,000-28,000. Our relatives in the same area paid $5,000 in 2008. 😭
We have a 5 acre homestead in south eastern Washington state and we went about in a mortgage way where the house backed up the homestead. We were given animals to start from friends and family even when we weren’t ready. It can be daunting at times but we formed our life to not need extravagant vacations. We love where we are. We supplement my wife’s income with selling sourdough bread and seasonal veggies at our local farmers market. So it is possible to make it work.
Rosemary is set it and forget it! I’m with you
You can't put a fertilized egg in water if you want a chick to grow. The egg has to keep its protective coating called bloom on it
I been thinking very hard about doing this one day. I need to hang out with more people that are actually doing this full time so I can learn from them. But I really do love the country living
If you can afford to take a summer off go help on a homestead fir a summer. You will know pretty quick if you would like it. Or help out on weekends in exchange for some produce and meat. There are ways to see if you would like it and you would be learning new skills.🌞
Who makes the decision for each episode if it will be a mock tail or a cocktail drink? Thanks!
Homesteading is near impossible when you live in a van down by the river.
To buy an acerage where I live in the midwest, which is a pretty cheap cost of living, comparatively, is minimum $250,000
That’s an absolute rip off. In Virginia we’ve got land for as cheap as $20,000 an acre.
@@reaper-sz5tm I guess I was including an acreage with a house, barn, maybe a couple other buildings on it, if that makes a difference!
@@reaper-sz5tm $20,000 an ACRE!?! holy heck!
I do not see anything cheaper 550k where i live now and we are looking at the different states and houses that meet our basic needs are 375-400k
@KatrinVB89 WOW that's crazy!! Have you tried Kentucky?😂
In a container of water…
If egg sinks to bottom it is good
If egg floats to top throw it out
In between…eat soon
As a millennial descendent of multi generations of farmer's, I don't understand how city folk are financially making it while homesteading. In my personal opinion, homesteading is over romanticized.
Old sturbridge Village is great
I love SBMowing, George! It is incredible!
This is cool idea with cost of things but this is hard work!!
loved this talk and topic!!!
George, you need to build a Tiny Home on Rachel’s property!
Then you can hang out with Winston and King Charles anytime you want!!
Love SB Mowing George....
@SBMowing is the channel you were referencing George, guy is awesome, great channel!
George, do you realize keeping barns pristine involves a lot of manure removal?
He wipes his dogs' butts, so I have a feeling he would be OK.
I often day dream about starting a homestead but I can honestly barley keep herbs alive on my back deck
OK guys, this episode had me laughing right out loud over and over again, thanks!
SB Mowing. He does a great job 💯👍
SBmowing is the guy who cleans up the yards. He’s got a pressure washing channel as well
Depends if you like the outdoors. Best life I've ever had. No suburbs for me. No hoa!
If you are interested watch Homestead Rescue with Marty, Misty and Matt Raney.
LOVE me some Raneys!
The problem I have with Instagram homesteading is that it is not real. Real homesteading is messy and hard work. Not a slower way of life, or an ideal way of life. We farm in Minnesota and if you love snow and winter it means you have never had to raise livestock in negative degree weather for months on end😅 also the money saving aspect is absolutely not true. The meat we raise ourself is way more expensive than just going to the grocery store. Why do we do it?? We love the animals, the garden, and my husband has 700 acres of field that he harvests for our income. But the idea that farming is a beautiful and ideal way of life is laughable😂 but we would never change it❤
My RUclips guilty pleasure is Ramsey content. I don’t tell anyone for fear of being judged.
So i missed this episode. Most start off as part time home steaders and do DIY for everything.