The EASIEST Way to GROW MORE FOOD

[@bt5029]

In Texas, we got into homesteading to save property taxes. Our old house in town, valued at 360,000 our property taxes were 7,000 a year. Our homestead,.also valued at 360,000 our property taxes are 2,150 - homesteading saves a minimum of $5,000 a year in property taxes. Second reason was to raise healthy, inexpensive protein for our children and grandchildren. Finally, our homesteading is our retirement plan. Low taxes, no water bill as we have a well, no electric bill as we have a wind turbine. When your income is fixed you need to fix your expenses. Plus, every morning in retirement we have something constructive to do, we are outdoors, getting exercise and raising healthy food

[@Wilddaisyhomestead]

Brilliant plan for sure…. I hope to accomplish the same.

[@bt5029]

@Wilddaisyhomestead Reviewed your channel. You have been busy online these past 7 years! While I have a KZbin site, I haven't posted any videos yet. We all have our gifts and mine is to be my wife's manual labor 😀 Now that I have entered semi-retirement i do hope to start posting videos so who knows. Good luck in your adventure!

[@priestesslucy]

Can you elaborate on exactly how homesteading as we define it helps your taxes? Did you dedicate part of your land to Agriculture status? Might be different in Texas but AFAIK, most states don't care if you _homestead_ your homestead, it's just an exemption you can claim on your owner occupied property.

[@bt5029]

Texas has a homestead exemption like most states. Due to the high property taxes, Texas also has an alternative tax value for land used in agriculture. Each county is different in how it's implemented but in our case, only about 10% of the actual value of the land is taxed. Plus, in our case I'm over 65 so my value was frozen for tax purposes. That freeze last as long as either I or my wife own the property ie until the second one dies. So it's not so much "homesteading" that saves the tax as "agricultural activity". That can include raising farm animals, cutting hay, crop farming, raising bees, raising fruit or nut trees - so basically all the things many homesteaders do. FYI, horses by themselves don't count

[@CindyPaxton]

Awesome! My husband and I are on the same train, a bit behind. But getting there. We are in Texas as well and the taxes are no joke! Be blessed!

[@lindajohnson1035]

Health journey began in my garden for combatting Fibromyalgia and anxiety disorder and my garden gave me so much joy that my mental health benefited. As a Navy Vet. dependent I’ve wanted to be a farm girl since I was knee high to a duck and God brought my dream to reality on my 1/2 acre and now I revel in my love for and from my small dairy goat herd

[@TranBimbim2222]

This is my first time watching your channel, but I’m definitely subscribing. The content is so practical and informative!

[@Homesteadyshow]

😁 glad to have you join us!

[@AlgiereRanch]

ohhh my goodness those baby goats are cute!! We want goats but we are definitely waiting. We are starting to build a place for our family to grow in all aspects.

[@hestiasgardenhomestead7562]

My husband and I moved to Mexico to his family land. Been here 5 months, have 2 pigs, a goat, and a sheep all for meat. We also have chickens, i want to sell eggs and maybe start a meat market in our village.

[@joanneganon7157]

Hey Aust, I grow what I can fit on my patio, but I still haven't found the baguts to tie a milk cow to my light post🤣! Thanks for the confidence you share with folks , it sounds very helpful for the new kids that want to achieve🌞! JO JO IN VT 💞

[@kingglizzer]

I was just thinking to myself a few days ago that it was about time for your new child to arrive. So happy for you.

[@1965gracebug]

So funny 😂. I was thinking I would like a chicken refresher course (already processed chickens 2 times but need more information). Then you mentioned becoming a Pioneer and I thought to myself, I thought I did become a Pioneer. Went the website and sure enough, I am a pioneer! Yayyyyyy!! Thank you for all the great useful and entertaining content (free and in the Pioneer section)!! Yah bless you all!

[@kricketjoy]

Turkeys were also fairly affordable for us. They free ranged entirely and produced lots of meat. The boys are jerks to my teenage son though. They were more efficient for us than chickens.

[@albrightfs]

When you homestead you take on the responsibility of the care, wellness and comfort of the animals under your care. That includes days you are sick, bad weather, no vacations.. You hatch them, help birth them, raise them sometimes bottle feeding, bringing them in the house and keeping them safe, nurture them. Then the butcher day comes. This is the part I believe that many people cannot stomach, I totally understand. *much easier to go to a grocery store(yet those grocery store products are raised in horrific ways)..... We've been blasted for "eating" the animals we raise. I would rather know how the animal was treated and whats in the meat and that is why we started raising ducks, chickens, pheasants, chukars, quail, rabbits, pigs, goats, sheep, cows on our own property.. WE went thru several stages - sending off the animal to processors was NOT a option after not getting our own product back and having to work at the processors convenience. .. WE watched videos "butcher brothers !".. and alas here we are today with a meat room we built, processing area and do all of our own harvest, cut and wrap. If we can do it so can others... We are in our 60s and started just a couple year ago processing all on property. minimal supplies and cuts the processing $$$$ and you know what you are getting along with all the other cuts and things the butchers take.

[@sheribristol2826]

This is a good blog Austin!

[@Wilddaisyhomestead]

I started for several reasons. Healthier, self sufficient, love the animals…. But I also wanted to start so I can show people that it is possible even if you plan on eating your animals, to treat the animals and livestock with dignity, kindness and love while they’re here on this earth. Not only do I believe every living creature deserves love, I also believe that animals well cared for, kept clean, happy and healthy are going to produce food that is healthier there by creating a circle in the food chain of healthy and happy.

[@noellethehuman]

I feel like my biggest reasons that homesteading is appealing to me would be food independence, experimenting with breeding programs for different livestock (I'm in college and will be studying Animal Science as a minor program in Biological Sciences & my major is in Biological Anthropology, eventually I will also get my single subject teaching credentials in Biology & Geoscience), experimenting with crop genetics, and offering growing space/free food to my community. I would love to sell stuff at local farmer's markets too, maybe next year. I'm going to be putting in a cut flower section into the garden next year, so I would be able to sell bouquets as well as produce and eggs. This year was the first year that my partner and I started working with our yard. We rent, but we're lucky to live in a pretty rural sub-community within a larger urban area. Our landlord loves everything we've done so far, so that helps a lot. This year we grew some food, herbs, planted native perennials, grew 2 cannabis clones (we can "grow up to 6 mature or 12 immature plants per patient for up to 5 patients" in our county, we're in CA), got a small greenhouse, started an earthworm farm, started a clover patch, put in a bird bath, made a hangout area and we got a small backyard flock of chickens - one roo and 5 hens. We're fortunate to have a huge yard, I'd say it's a good 1/3 acre for just the yard and the whole lot is more like 1/2. The chickens have a big coop with a built-in run, then we added an extension - and we made a makeshift chicken tractor so they can graze the yard a bit. We have a lot of hawks/vultures in our area as well as raccoons, possums, stray cats and recently some coyotes were spotted in our neighborhood. We would love to free range the chickens, but they need to have some sort of protection. My dream is to get into a house that we can renovate and is on a more sizeable piece of land. It would be nice to own our land too, but we'll see. Both my partner & I do taxes for a living and are in college (he's an Accounting major). Eventually I'll be able to start teaching high school and go on research trips as an on-site Anthropologist during school breaks. I also have an Associate's degree in Theater so I act and write for fun - sometimes I get paid, so that's nice. I have a lot of goals with homesteading honestly, and it ties into a lot of my life. Sorry for the long-winded comment! I can get pretty passionate about this kind of stuff.

[@arlenevieau5284]

Food security and improved nutrition were the driving force behind developing our homestead.

[@cowgirlval5216]

Great job guys!

[@calebdavis788]

this video the best one youv done in the longest

[@nancyseery2213]

Yes, to be more self sufficient!!! I also want to be able to leave that type of self sufficiency to my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. I can garden and preserve food. but don't have land to raise animals. I would also love a place where we could build a root cellar and grow more crops and add a freeze drier to my wish list. I have the children, grandchildren and one great grandchild, but I also have a spouse that does not want to move out of the suburbs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Oh, I do have the chickens, but our limit where we live is 6.

[@diamonaskkye]

Truthfully, the reason we started homesteading was because of Covid. My sister had just had a baby who was allergic to everything. She has a very strict diet that she could eat, and it was really really hard to find them food that they could both eat and formula and it made me realize that the system that I depended upon wasn’t so dependable

[@Livsalittlefarm]

I wish self sufficiency was as easy as it sounds... We started in our journey in the pandemic, and it was a main motivation at them time. But when you get into it, you'll quickly find it's expensive, vets, equipment, infrastructure, feed... And sometimes even your hardest work and best investment doesn't pay off, a crop fails and dairy cow gets a disease.... So how self sufficient are you when it's costing you more than buying from the store? Your working a normal job and then working off hours to build the farm and care for the animals. Life is easier when you have community. We can't do it all. We have a guy who keeps bees on our place in exchange for some honey. We chose to be pay a local butcher over building a walk in cooler to hang a beef. This is why the lasting motivating factor hasn't been self sufficiency We've realized we still aren't really self sufficient. But we do have high quality food and we are closer to self sufficiency but accept that we need community.

[@TallCFarms]

Aus, processed my first two goats just recently and got to say, I am a convert. First meal was the breast and it was marinated in white vinegar, soy and garlic, then put on the smoker. SO GOOD!!! I've got a friend that raises heritage red wattle & mangalista pigs, so picking up one from her in a few weeks. (550lb !) I'm hoping to do my first meat chickens this spring. I'm sorry I can't join your Pioneer subscription. Money is tight, and even that much is more than I can afford to part with

[@Homesteadyshow]

Yum! That sounds amazing! No worries, I know times are tough for many right now! Glad to have you here! If there’s something specific you’d like to watch in the Pioneer library, just email me :) I’ll send a link

[@kricketjoy]

Our chickens cost us more than the most expensive eggs would. I love our chickens, but we may move to just cows and gardens, with fully free range rabbits for fertilizer.

[@jodyhadley2895]

So far we have done chickens (Rhode Island Reds, Cornish Cross, and Barred Rock) and rabbits. While I do love the Cornish cross meat, I don't like that I have to order them every time we want more. My goal is to be self sufficient and be able to hatch out duel purpose birds so we don't have to rely on a hatchery for chicks. Whenever a hen successfully sits and hatches eggs without killing her babies and she's able to raise them with the flock, she gets a leg band and her job on the homestead is to raise chicks. Hens without a leg band get picked when we decide to thin the flock or need to put some birds in the freezer. Honestly though, we have found that rabbits are a much easier animal to raise and butcher than chickens. They're quiet and with enough space they're easy to clean up after. Harvesting goes way faster since skinning is faster than plucking. So we actually produce more rabbits than chickens. Next thing we want to add is milk goats so we're not buying milk from the store.

[@jocelynsertich2686]

My first meat animals were rabbits, but then I moved on to chickens and quail. I don't enjoy it, but I feel like it's important to raise my own meat. I have goats now, and will need to decide if I eat those this summer. I only had one kid, and it was a doe last year, and the previous year I got my first doe in milk. But rabbits and quail can be raised in your garage.

[@brazil7028]

Nice, the only thing I would be hesitant on would be the breed. I would prefer something that can breed so I will not be dependent on having to purchase from a breeder.

[@regencylass]

Check out the Bresse chicken. It's a heritage breed that is fast growing. Not as fast as Cornish X, but weeks faster than any other breed I've found (I've raised over 30 different breeds, and even more varieties, over the years). Bresse are good foragers, and...they are decent egg layers, laying between 200 and 250 eggs a year.

[@brazil7028]

@regencylass1183 I'll look into that.

[@babyfaceJackson]

We want to know where our food comes from. Also I have felt a pressing from the Lord for many years pushing me to start. We started learning skills from history, and gardening with multiple seasons and perennials, we have an orchard, and are finally about to get our chickens. Woohoo. Slowly putting up the infrastructure from nothing.

[@Alrixa]

Hi. What is in that ‘chicken feed’? Just grains? Or something else?

[@LucyRich7]

few years ago I started with 20 meat birds and since then I have been increasing the number of meat birds. as for now we have, egg layers, meat cows, rabbits for meat and for fertilizer and thinking to add a pair of kunekune next Spring.

[@ElQuende]

The idea of not "depending" on the government per say for our food, is appealing to me and is a reason of why I would do homesteading. However as I learn more and more about it, there really is no complete self suffiency unless you do it all which is not really reasonable. For example, raising chickens for meat and eggs, yes you are able to produce it at your farm but you still depend on the government and society to be able to feeds those chickens, unless you grow their food as well.

[@adityamahato-gt6qr]

I want to homestead because i love to be around animals i love to grow plants i love a peaceful life 😪😪😪

[@itsthebonster]

We started raising meat rabbits about a year and a half ago and it was kind of the same thing when it comes to processing time.

[@CurtisDavis89]

#1 Self Sufficient #2 Working with my own animals

[@NadesikoRose]

For me, it’s not so much the baby animals but the self-sufficiency of it. I grew up in the country and vegetable gardens, animals (other than dogs and cats) didn’t enter the picture until my teen years. Right now I live in the city but have grown tired of it, so am making plans to leave the city and go back to the country. Not sure where in the country I plan to live though. Chickens surprised me, I would have said rabbits because of the large litters they have. Chickens for eggs, rabbits for meat. Rabbits is also something that you can do if you have a tiny backyard, possibly even in an apartment since they are also considered pets as well.

[@mel924]

What`s going on with sunny mountain?

[@michellewilson7868]

I like to garden and we wanted clean food....it snowballed from there. Fruits, veggies, herbs, dairy goats, eggs, chicken meat, turkey, quail, pork, trade for beef, hunt for venison, lamb coming soon.

[@OhSnap-kb9vr]

I grew up 3/4 of a mile down a dirt and gravel road in a farming community, but I did not live on a farm. Living in NYC for the past few decades means the quality of food available, even when you pay a premium, is not the best. Food is the first reason. I personally believe there is nothing more important than what we put in our bodies. I try to buy only organic and non-GMO. I also prefer heirloom produce and grassfed heritage breed meats. Im not gonna lie, any animals I raise will probably end up being pets, but I hope to eventually sell and move to the close vicinity of an Amish community somewhere. I currently pay almost more than I can afford to ship their food to me. There is a 100% difference in the quality. If all I can manage is to grow veggies and raise chickens for eggs while buying or bartering for meats and dairy from neighbors, I will die a happy homesteader. Coming in at number two is self-sufficiency. After the past four years that seems to be a prudent goal. As 1 person, I think I can even manage an off-grid or modified off grid lifestyle. 🥰

[@dixsigns1717]

Healthy food, without all the chemicals!

[@Nw29249]

I can't wait to have my eggs and steak in my backyard.

[@SummerBearrys]

For healthier food!

[@jamesking1033]

We love animals, and it all started as a bit of a hobby farm, but after watching videos on how pigs, chickens, and cows were treated in food operations, particularly large scale slaughterhouses, battery chickens, pigs, etc, it disturbed us to the point of having honest discussions with ourselves about going vegan, or raising our own meat, because we did not want to contribute to the way in which these animals are housed, and treated due to mass and large scale production, so we wanted better stewardship of both animals, and the land as well, and wanted better/healthier options for food, wanted more self sufficiency, more options, more security, etc.

[@coanev]

The website doesn't seem to be showing the black friday prices fore, it still says $5 a month. Would you be able to help?

[@Homesteadyshow]

Hi! I am happy to help, email me [e-mail], but note the Black Friday Sale is for our Year Long membership, I explain at 15:30 "if you sign up for a year, you can get the membership for $3.33 a month". The site is showing that black friday sale price. I know it was confusing, I am sorry for that, if you cant do the year membership but want to sign up for the sale price at a monthly interval just email me, we can make it happen 😁

[@debbisucassady7831]

To get away from the noise & chaos of machines and hear, see and have a better connection to God's creation.

[@kylelouer4323]

For me it’s really everything. I love animals, my favorite movie as a kid was ace Ventura pet detective so it makes sense, I love to grow anything with a viable return like veg, herbs, fruit. And I love peace and quiet. I think I just want to be a hobbit but homesteading is as close as I can get 😂 but serious I want to live a hobbit life

[@ChadKovac]

Resilience and adaptability. We've been trying goats for 2 years we've managed to have about 10 baby goats and so far I think one maybe two of survived

[@ChadKovac]

It's a constant battle with these goats keeping them alive It's like they want to die. Between trying to hang themselves or poison themselves or just lay in a corner and die they just my goodness they're tough to keep alive... So much safeguard ivermectin all the medications son I wish I would have got sheep

[@regencylass]

I've never had a problem keeping goat kids, or adults, alive. But then, I raise the old Tennessee Fainter aka myotonic. They are duel purpose, very hardy, and easy kidding. I can go out and feed in the morning, and by that evening a momma will be walking back in from the field with two (to four!) new bouncing kids. Winter, summer, doesn't matter.

[@moniquem783]

Twice you said you’re a family of 9 now. So bub has arrived? If I’m not jumping the gun here… congratulations!! I hope they’re both doing well. I’m looking forward to the lamb course. I think I’m very close to taking the plunge. I might end up trying sheep’s milk too.

[@Homesteadyshow]

Yes 😁 thanks Monique, mama and baby are doing great 😊

[@moniquem783]

@ YAY!!! So thrilled for you! Give K my love. And some for you of course ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@moniquem783]

Don’t mind all the notifications. It looked like the @ didn’t work 😂😂😂😂

[@WickedAwesomeGardening]

Not Aust calling me out in the first 5 seconds on the video LOL

[@Homesteadyshow]

😂 it's legit a reason for a lot of people

[@Poppy_love59]

I stopped raising sheep when I first got into cattle. The beauty of raising cattle instead of sheep or goats is that you do so much less in terms of butchering etc... For my family we butcher one head. That is plenty of red meat to get us through a year. When I started I actually started with 5 head 2 pregnant cows three yearlings. When I harvested the three we had meat coming out of our ears and struggled to get rid of it. We didn't want to go to the local farmers market and sit there week after week trying to unload all of his excess meat especially as things dwindled so the different cuts were all basically ground beef. So neighbors and friends ate really well at a very cheap price that year. Yet we still not only mad back our initial investment but we had enough extra to buy even more cattle. However we stuck that money into our savings for a vacation trip and bought only 3 yearlings that next year. We were still ignorant of just how much meat we really needed to supply just our family. Of course we also has chickens and pigs and we also have two different varieties of fish from two separate ponds. We also that year decided to invest in some shellfish to increase our dietary protein variety. But once again we had way too much meat, but the extra income and the popularity we had with friends and family turned us into confirmed cattlemen, that is my son and I. So yes we maintain a herd of exactly three cows which we purchase every year as yearlings and raise them out for an additional year. Some times we go 14-16 months because we don't harvest until the meat we have in the freezers gets very low. But as a General rule we go about 13 months before harvesting. I guess it really just depends on why you want to raise the animals, but it doesn't always have to be about profit and raising them for self sufficiency is very viable, just make sure you know what your actual needs are. lol

[@RebekahCapson]

I wanted to provide us with healthy food that I knew was grown ethically.

[@safeathomestead9217]

I live in a dessert setting so no grass. Suggestions?

[@terriwhite6273]

Link to his channel would be helpful

[@Homesteadyshow]

kzbin.info

[@delafe]

I want to simplify our lives

[@debbiemaas5019]

Wanted cleaner food plus love love animals

[@kricketjoy]

Self sufficiency is a big deal with us, but I’m quickly learning that the human is not meant to be self sufficient. We are like ants. We are society dependent by nature even if it’s just emotionally. That’s not a bad thing… if you live in a Godly society.

[@megangodfrey5237]

more people could start more easy with vege garden and friut trees thouh

[@shaunrasmussen5886]

i can only grow fruits and veggies where i am at. 😭😭

[@AbsoluteAttitude_22]

Rolls of Hay ?? Those rolls are called BALES...

[@GrandmaBeth2dogs]

I,m homesteading because I didn't want to buy a gym membership.😏

[@kricketjoy]

But… you really aren’t self sufficient with meat chickens unless you breed them, which most people don’t with meat chickens. The tractors would have to be in a large field with multiple moves per day because feed is nuts in price. Cows are really the best choice for us. The cheapest are rabbits if you can feed them forage only, which we can.

[@Homesteadyshow]

Kricketjoy, your right, you would be MORE self sufficient if you breed your own meat chickens. No doubt. I think Cornish x chickens are a quick, easy, BIG win that can start your dominoes falling down the path to more and more self sufficiency. "Don't let perfect be the enemy of the good" 😁

[@hillockfarm8404]

Yep, my first choice for no land and so on meat animal is rabbit also. (still have them), garden is mini, land not there right now. Rabbit though i can put in the shed, spare room or whatever spot. If i had only 2-3 animals like 2 does and a buck like the advice start setup i could if needed even section of a bit of the livingroom and raise 3-4 litters per doe per year right inside my house. Would require staying on top of cleaning them (would help with keeping them pottytrained as they like to be), but yes it can be done. Chickens need to be outside, not just for scratching for bugs and such, but also featherdust destroys your longs in the long run.

[@kricketjoy]

@@Homesteadyshow That’s fair, nothing is perfect, but the labor is high with chickens also in my experience. So… I have to do that math as well. My husband’s labor is worth way too much doing his normal job, so that leaves me and the kids. My labor is worth more simply because we live 40 minutes from anything, so if my homeschooled kids are going to go to guitar/ jujitsu/ co-op then it becomes a money and time drain to add chickens in there. We have 25 egg layers at the moment, but so far predator pressure has been high, and we’ve lost every flock since our pyrenees died (he died because the neighbors wanted him locked up, he roamed. He couldn’t do his job, hated being enclosed, and it ultimately killed him. So, we can’t have LGD dogs even with the acreage.) I’m just about done with Chickens. If they get stressed they stop laying, that could be as simple as a deer walking by their enclosure. I’ve found that for us it’s cheaper to just shoot the deer and stock the freezer with that. 😂 Which is what we do.

[@mileswilliams9737]

Self sufficiency is kind of a myth, you need some kind of community. There's taking good care of your food which would have terrible lives otherwise. Last is true equity. It's all worth something and all builds to something I can pass down. It's meat for the kids, my parents, my grand kids. It's a source of security for my family that will weather difficult times