Not in the same boat but same mindset; never liked the idea of marriage or starting a family, I've seen lots of people start a small homestead alone. All it takes is the right attitude, foresight and planning, and realistic goals for starting out.
Love your honesty. I read so many homesteading women’s social media post on how burnt out and miserable their lives are when homeschooling, canning, cooking everything from scratch doing all the chores then feeling like failures because house isn’t clean and doesn’t look like this dream in their heads. I have 11 acres and have to run everything alone. I have 4 chickens that are enough for me. I love lamb and doing the carnivore diet so I do want to raise my meat. I think I can do a few rams a year. Thanks again for giving the real picture.
Thank you so much for doing this video. I truly appreciate your concept of being stewards of our lives and land. Thank you for the visuals and clear to understand content and bullet points. Very much appreciated!
postpartum depression gets talked about a bit more now, but not nearly enough! And back when my mum had us no one ever talked about it, but she went through it!
@@homesteadingwithPJ absolutely - women knowing it's normal to have struggles with those feelings, and there is help available, makes all the difference.
Great video! I do sheep as well, but I'm just starting and they're dairy sheep. I'm out doing morning chores right now which are pretty easy at the moment as they aren't in milk. I 100% agree with your "master one new thing per year." That was my mentality, but we ended up starting with 3 things. I've started out relatively slow (it's been 2.5 years) compared to my sister. She and her husband bought a combined 54 acres with my parents. In one year, she has added a herd of cattle, 17 adult goats, rabbits, pigs, more pigs, 3 livestock guardian dogs, chickens (multiple rounds of chickens), guineas, ducks, geese, and turkeys... oh, and now sheep. Because i have sheep so she needed to have sheep. (I mean, i have 3 dairy sheep. She has like 10 meat sheep lol). She started with 2 nigerian dwarf goats, a dog, and 2 breeding pairs of rabbits. Relationships are starting to strain and everyone keeps telling her to slow down so they can get infrastructure put in as they've been scrambling to squeeze animals in wherever they can. Then, lo and behold, 2 days after a slow-down conversation she comes home with another animal. There's a lot of space, but none of it is prepped other than the cow pasture (that cows occasionally get out of since there were apparently repairs that needed to be made). They're in constant scramble mode because someone's giving away free lambs they couldn't sell or she needed a boar RIGHT NOW. now they've got piglets in the wrong season and can't sell them! It stresses me out just hearing about it. I don't see how this can't all blow up. I really hope it doesn't, but i wouldn't put money on it. I wanted to start with just chickens and a garden in my new state and my new home on 3 acres. That would give us time to finish fencing, fix up the barn, and get a good handle on things. Especially because of my reasons: i was diagnosed with fibromyalgia at 29. I have a (now) 3 year old son and a growing my own food and being more active is the best way to take care of us both. Well, my boyfriend said that he wants this farm to be profitable immediately.... that's not possible. So i had to get my dairy lambs ASAP. this way the sheep have grown up with a kid running around and i don't have to worry as much about him stressing them out or them hurting him. He's getting better. Haha. So i ended up getting the sheep a full year earlier than I'd initially planned. It went okay, but it's been a bit of an obstacle sometimes. Last year i burned out on the garden. It was a record awful year for weeds, i STILL didnt get it all mulched, and out of 9 species of melon, only ONE gave me fruit. Disaster. We didn't make a PENNY. Plus, people have stopped buying eggs because if they can get it cheaper at the walmart or dollar general, they aren't going to pay for quality. I have pasture-raised, free range FRESH eggs up for $2/doz and can't sell a single one. Why? They put in a dollar general across the street from our little farm last year. Sigh. Sometimes it's hard, but I'M doing this for health. It would be nice to be able to break even, though. I'm trying to approach the garden with fresh zeal this year. My sheep are hopefully bred. If they are, they're due March-April.
I can definitely understand these struggles. It seems like no one values free-range eggs and organic vegetables where I live, so I just decided to start by feeding my household. I definitely hope the best for you all, and I’m cheering you on towards successes big and small.
Wow this is a lot! It's stressful just hearing about this! Chore and enterprise overload are real stressors that can interfere with your life and health. I hope things get turned around for family 😮 We've definitely gotten ourselves into more obstacles than we were prepared to deal with. It was moving across the country that actually helped us scale back on a lot of unneeded enterprises (huge laying flock and rabbits). Those are fine enterprises but we didn't get into them with full headspace for how it would impact our lives throughout the year, year over year. Sometimes the best way to slow down is to sell off the animals, which can be hard if you've grown especially attached to them. But giving yourself a few months to breath and think and plan really pays off. We sold off all of our ewes and lambs (all of our sheep!) about a year and a half ago. It was such a tough choice but after we sold them and I had space to breath it enabled our family to make better decisions about how to do things going forward. It's been so great ever since, and homesteading isn't killing us anymore. 😂 Also our garden was completely taken over last year when we left on an extended vacation in the summer. There was no hope of saving it! So we let the sheep into the garden and they cleaned it all up for us (thank you sheep!). You can't win them all, but we press forward a little wiser for next time. Best of luck to you with your garden and ewes (and possibly lambs!) this year.
We don't exactly have a homestead since we are on 161 acres but we do have sheep, goats and hopefully soon bees. I am terrible at gardening and have the blackest of black thumbs lol I do my best for maintaining and improving my pastures but I have given up on having a garden. I absolutely love what I do and love spending time with my animals and planning for the future of this land but I must admit, the last 4 or 5 months have been super difficult. I love being out on our land still but being pregnant has made everything 1000 times harder. I'm really hoping once baby is born and we have more of a routine again, I can get back into it like I used to but it does worry me that it's so challenging right now.
Wow, I didn't realize you have that many acres! We didn't start homesteading until both of our kids were born. Our youngest was 6 months old when we moved to our first homestead. Lugging him around sure wasn't easy, but it's the only life he's known. Which is a win for us! Good luck with the welcoming of your baby, hoping for a smooth and easy time for you and your little one.
@homesteadingwithPJ I feel like waiting until all kids are born is the wise way to do it whenever possible haha my oldest was about 6 months when we moved to the farm but we didn't get livestock until last year in the summer. I did attempt a garden for a few years but it was a very futile endeavor lol the biggest problem is watering. We have to haul water to our house so watering the garden is hard to justify.
The way I look at postpartum is that the mother has given the child all the life in her and there is just nothing left in her tank. It is a tough thing to go through on a homestead. My wife has suffered from it for almost two years after my second kid was born. It has really put a strain on the homestead to the point where I've scaled back to almost nothing. I have 4 sheep and one indoor garden (it's -40 with the windchill outside so outdoor gardening in our 6 month winter is not going to happen lol) and even they are not getting the attention they need.
fantastic video as always PJ. haha last part got me as its midnight and im eating some fried rice after a nightmare kidding in the barn in the subzero temps. such good points across the board and items we dont always pay attention to in our tik tok and instant gram driven idealistic world. unless its a symbiotic relationship, the farm or homestead is going to fail. bingo buddy! still have lots of pork left in the freezer?
I got a shiver in my back hearing about your freezing cold midnight kidding. Sounds terrible. And cold. I actually didn't know you had goats too! You've got everything up there! Yes! Still lots of pork in the freezer. I sold about 20 pounds a while ago, most of it was ground pork (which is nice, because I have a lot to go through). I probably have about 30-50 pounds of pork meat left, and another 20-40 pounds of fat. So we'll fine on lard for years to come!
Im divorced and I homestead on 15 acres with my two young children. No spouse and I refuse to believe i cant do this alone..
Wow I'm in the same boat!
Not in the same boat but same mindset; never liked the idea of marriage or starting a family, I've seen lots of people start a small homestead alone. All it takes is the right attitude, foresight and planning, and realistic goals for starting out.
Love your honesty. I read so many homesteading women’s social media post on how burnt out and miserable their lives are when homeschooling, canning, cooking everything from scratch doing all the chores then feeling like failures because house isn’t clean and doesn’t look like this dream in their heads. I have 11 acres and have to run everything alone. I have 4 chickens that are enough for me. I love lamb and doing the carnivore diet so I do want to raise my meat. I think I can do a few rams a year. Thanks again for giving the real picture.
This video is so well done, it looks like you guys have catapulted to the next level in content and production value, congrats!
Fantastic video PJ. Great timing for the new year. Thanks man
Thank you so much for doing this video. I truly appreciate your concept of being stewards of our lives and land. Thank you for the visuals and clear to understand content and bullet points. Very much appreciated!
I'm such a harry potter nerd this analogy makes so much sense!!
Great information for someone who wants to start a homestead.
Thanks for your honesty and sharing your experiences.
Wow! You and your family are a great bunch!
This is a well-made video, and it came as a great encouragement. Thank you!
postpartum depression gets talked about a bit more now, but not nearly enough! And back when my mum had us no one ever talked about it, but she went through it!
Yeah, it's terrible, and at such a vulnerable time too. Talking about it is just one easy first step to helping.
@@homesteadingwithPJ absolutely - women knowing it's normal to have struggles with those feelings, and there is help available, makes all the difference.
Great video! I do sheep as well, but I'm just starting and they're dairy sheep. I'm out doing morning chores right now which are pretty easy at the moment as they aren't in milk. I 100% agree with your "master one new thing per year." That was my mentality, but we ended up starting with 3 things. I've started out relatively slow (it's been 2.5 years) compared to my sister. She and her husband bought a combined 54 acres with my parents. In one year, she has added a herd of cattle, 17 adult goats, rabbits, pigs, more pigs, 3 livestock guardian dogs, chickens (multiple rounds of chickens), guineas, ducks, geese, and turkeys... oh, and now sheep. Because i have sheep so she needed to have sheep. (I mean, i have 3 dairy sheep. She has like 10 meat sheep lol). She started with 2 nigerian dwarf goats, a dog, and 2 breeding pairs of rabbits. Relationships are starting to strain and everyone keeps telling her to slow down so they can get infrastructure put in as they've been scrambling to squeeze animals in wherever they can. Then, lo and behold, 2 days after a slow-down conversation she comes home with another animal. There's a lot of space, but none of it is prepped other than the cow pasture (that cows occasionally get out of since there were apparently repairs that needed to be made). They're in constant scramble mode because someone's giving away free lambs they couldn't sell or she needed a boar RIGHT NOW. now they've got piglets in the wrong season and can't sell them! It stresses me out just hearing about it. I don't see how this can't all blow up. I really hope it doesn't, but i wouldn't put money on it.
I wanted to start with just chickens and a garden in my new state and my new home on 3 acres. That would give us time to finish fencing, fix up the barn, and get a good handle on things. Especially because of my reasons: i was diagnosed with fibromyalgia at 29. I have a (now) 3 year old son and a growing my own food and being more active is the best way to take care of us both. Well, my boyfriend said that he wants this farm to be profitable immediately.... that's not possible. So i had to get my dairy lambs ASAP. this way the sheep have grown up with a kid running around and i don't have to worry as much about him stressing them out or them hurting him. He's getting better. Haha. So i ended up getting the sheep a full year earlier than I'd initially planned. It went okay, but it's been a bit of an obstacle sometimes.
Last year i burned out on the garden. It was a record awful year for weeds, i STILL didnt get it all mulched, and out of 9 species of melon, only ONE gave me fruit.
Disaster.
We didn't make a PENNY. Plus, people have stopped buying eggs because if they can get it cheaper at the walmart or dollar general, they aren't going to pay for quality. I have pasture-raised, free range FRESH eggs up for $2/doz and can't sell a single one. Why? They put in a dollar general across the street from our little farm last year. Sigh. Sometimes it's hard, but I'M doing this for health. It would be nice to be able to break even, though. I'm trying to approach the garden with fresh zeal this year. My sheep are hopefully bred. If they are, they're due March-April.
I can definitely understand these struggles. It seems like no one values free-range eggs and organic vegetables where I live, so I just decided to start by feeding my household. I definitely hope the best for you all, and I’m cheering you on towards successes big and small.
Wow this is a lot! It's stressful just hearing about this! Chore and enterprise overload are real stressors that can interfere with your life and health. I hope things get turned around for family 😮
We've definitely gotten ourselves into more obstacles than we were prepared to deal with. It was moving across the country that actually helped us scale back on a lot of unneeded enterprises (huge laying flock and rabbits). Those are fine enterprises but we didn't get into them with full headspace for how it would impact our lives throughout the year, year over year. Sometimes the best way to slow down is to sell off the animals, which can be hard if you've grown especially attached to them. But giving yourself a few months to breath and think and plan really pays off. We sold off all of our ewes and lambs (all of our sheep!) about a year and a half ago. It was such a tough choice but after we sold them and I had space to breath it enabled our family to make better decisions about how to do things going forward. It's been so great ever since, and homesteading isn't killing us anymore. 😂 Also our garden was completely taken over last year when we left on an extended vacation in the summer. There was no hope of saving it! So we let the sheep into the garden and they cleaned it all up for us (thank you sheep!). You can't win them all, but we press forward a little wiser for next time. Best of luck to you with your garden and ewes (and possibly lambs!) this year.
Great job on giving the advice. This is very good advice to those who can slow down and listen!
Thanks, that was my goal. This is advice I wish I heard my first year homesteading.
Excellent video and great advice!
Great vid! Yeah “if you don’t eat lamb don’t raise sheep”! Applicable to many many situations. John
Seriously. like half the people I talk to who raise sheep, don't enjoy eating lamb. I don't get it!
Great video, as always. 😊 Love the asking yourself why 5 x. 👍🏼
Thanks! Crazy how often my learnings from business, leadership, and marketing come into play on the homestead.
@@homesteadingwithPJ yes, my teaching training comes up often as well. Teachers talk about the why at seemingly every rah rah workshop. 😊
We don't exactly have a homestead since we are on 161 acres but we do have sheep, goats and hopefully soon bees. I am terrible at gardening and have the blackest of black thumbs lol I do my best for maintaining and improving my pastures but I have given up on having a garden. I absolutely love what I do and love spending time with my animals and planning for the future of this land but I must admit, the last 4 or 5 months have been super difficult. I love being out on our land still but being pregnant has made everything 1000 times harder. I'm really hoping once baby is born and we have more of a routine again, I can get back into it like I used to but it does worry me that it's so challenging right now.
Wow, I didn't realize you have that many acres! We didn't start homesteading until both of our kids were born. Our youngest was 6 months old when we moved to our first homestead. Lugging him around sure wasn't easy, but it's the only life he's known. Which is a win for us!
Good luck with the welcoming of your baby, hoping for a smooth and easy time for you and your little one.
@homesteadingwithPJ I feel like waiting until all kids are born is the wise way to do it whenever possible haha my oldest was about 6 months when we moved to the farm but we didn't get livestock until last year in the summer. I did attempt a garden for a few years but it was a very futile endeavor lol the biggest problem is watering. We have to haul water to our house so watering the garden is hard to justify.
Smart approach. This is like with everything. Don't buy bicycle if you don't bike at least once per week. Ext.
The way I look at postpartum is that the mother has given the child all the life in her and there is just nothing left in her tank. It is a tough thing to go through on a homestead. My wife has suffered from it for almost two years after my second kid was born. It has really put a strain on the homestead to the point where I've scaled back to almost nothing. I have 4 sheep and one indoor garden (it's -40 with the windchill outside so outdoor gardening in our 6 month winter is not going to happen lol) and even they are not getting the attention they need.
Yup, you do what you gotta do to take care of the mother of your kids. Homestead is only an appendage of the home.
fantastic video as always PJ. haha last part got me as its midnight and im eating some fried rice after a nightmare kidding in the barn in the subzero temps. such good points across the board and items we dont always pay attention to in our tik tok and instant gram driven idealistic world. unless its a symbiotic relationship, the farm or homestead is going to fail. bingo buddy!
still have lots of pork left in the freezer?
I got a shiver in my back hearing about your freezing cold midnight kidding. Sounds terrible. And cold.
I actually didn't know you had goats too! You've got everything up there!
Yes! Still lots of pork in the freezer. I sold about 20 pounds a while ago, most of it was ground pork (which is nice, because I have a lot to go through).
I probably have about 30-50 pounds of pork meat left, and another 20-40 pounds of fat. So we'll fine on lard for years to come!
When you said “I won’t go down that rabbit hole too far” when talking about raising sheep had me laughing!
You know a thing or two about the trouble with small ruminants too!
Nooice! 😎 STOC
Haha! We just had lamb for dinner tonight! It was yummy!
Yes! I'm always happy to hear more people eating lamb!
8:45 did he die? 🤨
No, he just worked too hard for too little.
Promo>SM