August 8, 2024 • 32 mins
Have you ever wondered what it takes to ensure the safety of raw milk on a homestead? Join me on Keepin' it Real as I share my journey of learning to draw blood from our cows for regular disease testing, and our excitement as we await the A2 status results. You'll also get a close look at the challenges of managing maturing turkeys and a tough encounter with a steer and a permanent weaning ring. This episode is packed with valuable insights on resilient living and the practical steps you can take to prepare for unpredictable times.
Building a new farm community can be daunting, but I've discovered the importance of a strong support network and financial resilience. I recount my personal experience of moving to a new area and the immediate need to connect with neighbors. Together, we formed a tight-knit community with diverse skills that offer emotional and practical support. Additionally, I delve into the necessity of having an emergency fund, diversifying income streams, and possessing barterable goods. By fostering these relationships and financial strategies, we create a more secure environment for ourselves and our loved ones.
Our health and preparedness become even more crucial as we age. In this episode, I explore how strength training and daily stretching can prevent muscle loss and injuries, especially for those over 50. Drawing from my experience managing thoracic outlet syndrome, I offer stretching and stress management techniques. We also discuss the importance of emergency planning, food security through a well-stocked pantry, and the peace of mind that comes from being prepared. Finally, I share a heartfelt story about my southern upbringing, emphasizing the values of love, faith, and pride that shape a resilient and grateful lifestyle.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:14):
Hey y'all, welcome to Keepin' it Real, the Gorham
Homestead podcast, where we talkabout real food, real natural
living, the real art of naturalhealing and real life out here
in our Tennessee homestead thereal art of natural healing and
real life out here in ourTennessee homestead.
I'm your host, dawn Gorham, andtoday is Thursday.
Gosh, I got to look at the dateit is August the 8th, 2024, and
(00:34):
you are listening to episodenumber 20.
I finally hit it, number 20.
Our topic today is just anupdate about what's going on
around here, some new thingsthat I have learned, and then
we're going to talk about somecurrent events, not necessarily
getting into one side or theother of it, but kind of what
you can do in uncertain times.
(00:55):
That's what we're going to talkabout.
Resilient living, you know,preparing for the unpredictable,
just practical, everyday thingsthat you can do whether the
world goes to pot or it doesn't.
So that's what we'll do.
Um, first of all, I just wantto say a big shout out to our
sponsor of the day, a beescloset.
(01:16):
They are located in Bon Aqua,tennessee, and they are your
local place to go in and get allof your beekeeping supplies.
Joe Ellis, the owner, is afriend of the podcast and he is
a wonderful human being, soknowledgeable, so great.
He's been great for me everystep of the way, learning about
bees as well as my local beeclub and my friend, john
(01:38):
Witherspoon, comes over andhelps me Bees boy.
There's a lot to learn withthat, but I'm really enjoying it
.
So if you get a chance, stop byand tell Joe that you heard
about him on the podcast.
I think he would reallyappreciate that, so that we're
going to hop right into what'sgoing on around here.
Well, I have learned a new skillsince I have been on here last
(02:02):
and it was a couple of weeks ago, I think about 10 days ago now
my AI guy came over and helpedme draw blood work on my cows,
and that's something that I'd,you know, previously relied on a
vet to do, or relied on him todo, and I just decided this year
that, you know, in the interestof doing regular testing, now
(02:27):
that I have more customers, youknow it's real, it's a
commitment for me.
I want to make the most safe,clean, raw milk possible
available to the people that arein my herd share, so just
decided to learn how to do it.
So, sure enough I'm a naturalDidn't realize it.
I had tried to do it by myselfa couple of times and just
(02:50):
wasn't able to get blood to flowat all.
And literally what he showed mewas that I was just a half inch
, maybe even a quarter inch, toofar to the right.
So once I brought that back, Iwas able to hit it every single
time.
And so now I've got it down andI'm real, I can pregnancy test
my cows.
We pregnancy tested all of them, um, and then I was able to
(03:14):
send off blood work and thankyou Jesus, hallelujah, all of my
cows came back um, clean, noBLV, no, um, no BVD, no Yonis,
nothing.
Everything was nice and clean.
I'm still waiting on the resultsof their A2 status so that we I
mean we're breeding for A2.
(03:34):
Every sire that we use is allA2, a2.
So hopefully, going forward,that is what we will.
You know that's what we willbreed.
But I'm interested in knowingwhat my adult cows are.
One of them I know she's A1, a2, because that's I mean.
Her owner that I got her fromtold me that.
(03:56):
So just really interested inthat.
So I called them today.
Turns out that test got lost atCentral Star and they're going
to call me back.
It's supposed to take 10 daysfor you to get your A2 status
back, so I suspect I may bewaiting another 10 days, because
she said she did not have anyrecord of me requesting their A2
(04:17):
status.
So maybe another 10 days beforeI know that, but I'm really
excited to have that.
I mean, that was it was Tommywas so sweet to come and walk me
through all that.
I've learned that the blood testis much more accurate than the
urine test, what was called theP test that I had previously
(04:38):
been using, and it's a lot more.
It's a lot more like a humanpregnancy test.
Like you get two lines.
It's either is or it isn't, andthe ones before you kind of had
to interpret the color.
Was it blue, was it purple, wasit amber?
And that meant they weren'tpregnant at all.
So I like this.
Two lines yes, one line no ismuch better for me.
(05:00):
So that's what we're doing withthe cows.
The turkeys are growing.
Oh my gosh, they're growing.
I'm kind of ready to get to thepoint where we're processing
them because they're kind ofaggressive Not like aggressive
hurting me, but you know I tryto go out to feed them and
they're just all over me.
So I'm kind of looking forwardto the end of that season, and
(05:25):
that's how it always goes aroundhere.
By the time the meat birds areready to process, I'm ready for
them to be done.
By the time the turkeys areready to process, I'm ready for
them to be done.
I have a little steer that I'vebeen trying to sell.
He needs to go before the endof this month and because we
installed a permanent weaningring in his nose, it was like a
(05:46):
bull ring, it's a crown one andit was supposed to work better
than some of the other ones.
Because you can't get it outLike the other weaning rings, I
would put it in 24 hours later,I would go in and go out there
and he would have it out.
Well, this one he hasn't beenable to get out, but it's not
slowing him down at all.
(06:06):
He just turns his head andworks around it.
Even though it's spiky, itpokes her.
She doesn't care and she is dueto calve October the 30th.
So by August the 30th is timeto dry her off, and if he is
still trying to nurse on her, Iwon't be able to do that and I
(06:26):
don't have a way to separatethem.
So either one, I've got to sellhim, or two, he's going to have
to just go to the freezer andget what very little bit of meat
that I can get out of his tinylittle body, cause he's not.
He's not very big, he's ninemonths old, but he's a Jersey,
so he's not he's not real big.
So that's kind of where we areon that.
(06:48):
There's um.
We'll see.
If I don't sell him in the nextweek and I've got him priced
right, y'all, I'm priced him tomove.
I priced him at $500.
Come get him, um, but if hedoesn't, then I will.
I'll just pay the $200 toprocess him and put him in the
freezer and that'll be the endof that.
So, things that are going on,we're going to move right into
(07:12):
our main topic.
I don't want to be like doomand gloom and super political
one way or another, but we're inreally scary times and I think
that, either way that things goin November, that it's going to
(07:32):
be a very volatile situation.
And with things heating up inthe Middle East, things
continuing to be ongoing betweenRussia and Ukraine, stock
market acting crazy, you know,the attempted assassination on
Trump, the Kamala, I mean,everything is just like, oh my
(07:57):
God, what else can happen?
And with that chaos?
Because I feel like that's whatit is it's just a lot of chaos
and I don't know if the time hascome that it's going to come to
a head.
We all know it's going to cometo a head eventually.
(08:19):
I don't know if this is it.
I don't have any idea.
But what I do want to talk aboutis there's nothing you can do
about it, like there's nothingwe can do to stop the what's
going on in Washington or in theMiddle East, or between Russia
and Ukraine or in Venezuela oranything else.
(08:40):
There's nothing we can do aboutit.
The only thing that you haveany control over is your inner
circle, like the wholepermaculture idea.
You know your circle is your isyour main focus.
You know your circle is your isyour main focus, and that's
(09:07):
really where we should bespending our energy, not really
freaking out and panicking aboutthings that are going on out
there, but just what we can dohere.
And the things that I'm going totalk about are just like my
personal opinion and again youtake it with a grain of salt Um,
what I?
The things that I believe inthe opinions that I have are
mine and um, it's what works forme and what I believe will work
going forward, and what youknow the greater community of
(09:30):
self-reliant people.
Um, kind of all practice thesame things, um.
Um, kind of all practice thesame things, um.
But the number one thing is tojust develop a strong support
network and that's reallyimportant.
When I moved here to this farmand I've talked about this
before, but the very first thingthat I did was reach out to my
neighbors, like I wanted to knowwho my neighbors were and I
(09:52):
wanted them to know who I am,and that has been very
advantageous for us, because ourneighbors now have become a
very strong support network forus.
Like if things were to go down,I'm pretty confident that the
people on this road will doeverything that we can do to
(10:14):
survive together, and I love thepeople on my road.
Everybody has an amazing amountof skills.
Some of them are so far aheadof me it's ridiculous, but it's
a great way to build a sense ofsecurity and when you build
those relationships, you canbuild them with your family, you
(10:35):
can build them with friends,you can build them with your
neighbors, you can build themwith friends.
You can build them with yourneighbors.
You can have what they call ateam.
Like you can get all into this,you know, and plug in people,
for you know each thing.
If you've got a dentist andyou've got somebody that's in
the military and you've got aparamedic and you've got I mean
that's kind of pushing it.
It's like everybody's dream butit's pushing it.
(10:58):
It's like everybody's dream butit's pushing it.
But those people can provideemotional and practical support
for you, like they're the peoplethat are going to be there for
you.
You know if you need food,they've got food.
If they need food, you've gotfood.
You know if you need somethingmoved and you need strong hands,
and that you know those are thepeople that'll come and help
you out in times of need andwhen push comes to shove.
(11:19):
If the world were to go, youknow, south, and God forbid, we
hope that it don't and we planthat it won't.
But those are the people whoare that you're stuck with, like
(11:43):
the people in your house andthe people in your neighborhood
or on your road or in yourcommunity, in your little area.
Those are the people that youare going to have to rely on.
So, everything that you can doand anything that you can do to
team up with those people andbuild community with those
people, the more better offyou're going to be and the
further out that you getbuilding community, the less
likely those people are toactually be able to help you if
(12:06):
things actually went bad,because they won't be able to
get to you.
So try to build up with thepeople who are right around your
house.
Another thing that you can do isbuild financial resistance, and
what I mean by that is, youknow, have that emergency fund,
have some money, cash, havesilver, have things that are of
(12:30):
value, that you can barter,whether that's bullets, or
whether that's food ortoothbrushes or tampons, or, you
know, diapers, baby food,whatever but have some sort of
emergency fund and diversifythat and you can also have, you
know, maximize your incomestreams.
(12:51):
Don't put all your eggs in onebasket.
You know I sell milk, but Ialso sell eggs, and I also teach
workshops and I also work withmy husband at his law office,
and you know I have a lot ofdifferent things going on,
because if one thing dries up,then I can focus my energy
somewhere else.
So that's kind of a smart thingto do if you have the ability
(13:13):
to do it, even if you're sellingplant starts or you're making
tinctures or medicinals orwhatever.
Just have more than one thing,more than one way to make money
with skills and products orwhatever that is.
And then the big big thing andthis is a thing that took me a
(13:33):
long time to wrap my head aroundwas minimizing debt, and that
should have been obvious.
It should have been commonsense for me.
But I grew up in a family wheredebt was just anticipated, like
you graduate and you get a carpayment and you have a house
payment and then you have creditcards and you have a retail
(13:57):
store credit card and gas cardsand all that stuff, and that
really got me in a lot oftrouble in my 20s.
And so, you know, as I gotolder and I became a big fan of
Dave Ramsey, I learned that youknow a lot of people hate Dave
Ramsey because he's so anti-debt.
(14:18):
But you have to understand thatspending is an addiction and for
me, I am not a person who canhave a credit card.
I can't, because I have atendency to see it and want it
and buy it, even if I don't havethe money and then I think, oh,
I'll pay that back.
Well then I don't, or I paylittle payments on it and then
(14:42):
the interest piles up, and soI'm just I can't, I am a junkie,
and I know that I'm a junkieand I know that there's things
that I want, and I always havemore wants than I have money.
So that's just one of thosethings.
And if you're one of thosepeople, you know, the same way,
an alcoholic can't be hangingout in a bar If you are a person
(15:03):
who has previously beenaddicted to debt, then you can't
have a credit card, you can'tbuy, you know, have put things
on payments, you can't go outand have tons of debt because
you're just going to spend morethan you make.
So, that being said, minimizingyour debt is a huge security
(15:24):
asset.
It's a good feeling, becausethe less that you have to spend,
the less that it takes to live.
So trying to minimize your debtis a huge thing and I'm still
working on it.
It still happens to me.
I still have impulse buys andI'm growing out of it.
(15:48):
I'm 50, but I'm growing out ofit.
So minimize the debt, enhancingyour skill set.
The more that you can learn,the better off that you will be.
And you know I've alwaysjokingly said I want to be more
valuable alive than I am dead.
So you know, if people evercome to try to overtake me, at
(16:11):
least know how to do things andI'm not useless.
So you know, enhance thoseskill sets.
Learn how to do things.
Learn how to preserve your food, learn how to do your.
You know regular householdmaintenance.
Learn how to run a chainsaw,gardening self-defense.
Self-defense is a really greatskill to have, especially for us
(16:33):
women.
You know, the more that we cantrain and the more that we can
learn, the more we are able todefend ourselves and protect
ourselves when our husbands orour sons or whatever, whenever
someone you know with morestrength and power than you is
not around to protect you.
So that's a really good skillto enhance.
(16:56):
And staying informed.
I hate this part.
I don't like the news, like Idon't turn on the news if I can
help it.
I actually go to Twitter mostof the time for my information
and that seems to have becomethe norm, because you can get
information faster on Twitterthan what the mainstream news
(17:17):
will come out with it.
You do have to kind of sortthrough what you think is real
and what's not, because, justlike the legacy media, there's
as much baloney on Twitter asthere is on TV.
So you just kind of got to beable to sort through that.
But you can get a feel forthings like, you can get the
general gist of, like, what'sgoing on, and I've recently just
(17:41):
started following their Israeligovernment because I feel like
I get more information aboutwhat's actually going on over
there by following, you know,people that are actually in
Israel than I do turning on theTV, people that are actually in
Israel than I do turning on theTV, and sort of the same thing
with the riots in England.
You can kind of see more ofwhat's going on from Twitter
(18:04):
than you can, because they'rereally not even talking about it
on TV at all.
But you can see all the firesand all the people rioting and
people attacking cars and allthe people rioting and people
attacking cars.
And a man got arrested formaking an offensive post on
Facebook.
They literally came andarrested him because they didn't
like what he said, and that wasin England, and the guy's got
(18:29):
his little TV or his littlephone running the whole time and
so you see the whole thing.
So just kind of stay in abreastwithout going overboard, like
without becoming obsessed withit, but you still kind of got to
know.
You can't bury your head in thesand, which is what I would
(18:49):
love to do.
I would love to be so Amishthat I didn't know anything was
going on.
But at the same time, if Idon't know anything's going on,
then I can't sort of prepare orbe you know, be ready for it.
Um, just kind of knowing thatthe things that may happen.
(19:12):
In preparing realistically orreasonably and not going just
like crazy overboard Inuncertain times, one of the most
important things that you cando is to prioritize your own
physical health.
So try to be as healthy as youcan and try to stay away from
(19:38):
you know the doctors as much asyou can and do as much as you
can at home and learn herbalremedies for certain things,
just because at some point itmay be to where we can't get the
medications that we need andwant.
So just trying to be as healthyas you can Certain things like
(19:58):
you know, if you're diabetic,and you're type 1 diabetic, and
you're on insulin and yourpancreas literally stopped
working, there's nothing you cando other than just, you know,
try to maintain your weight andtake your insulin, that's it.
But a type 2 diabetic can youknow?
Cut out the sugar, cut out thecarbs, do some exercise and you
(20:21):
know you can improve thatsituation.
So just do the best that youcan Try to.
You know, as we get older women,we lose our muscle mass.
So one of the best things thatwe can do is start doing some
strength training.
And men I guess men are thesame way as their testosterone
levels drop, but same way for us.
You know, over 50, we reallystart losing that muscle mass
(20:49):
fast.
So, doing some strengthtraining to stay strong, keep
your back strong and stretching,you know, limberness is really,
really important.
It's what keeps you from beinginjured.
Stretching is one of the bestand I do it every day.
It's part of my daily routinebecause I had an injury about 10
years ago.
They call it thoracic outletsyndrome.
(21:10):
I think I've talked about itbefore, but if I don't do those
stretches then I'm hurting.
So, you know, just prioritizingyour health, maintain a healthy
diet, do the best you can and,you know, maintain your stress
level.
Try to keep that down.
Learn how to breathe, learn howto relax.
Don't get all caught up in allof the chaos that is happening
(21:35):
around us.
If you can stay grounded andyou can keep your center, then
all of the chaos out there doesnot affect you as much.
Having an emergency plan,knowing what you will do in a
situation, is always a greatthing to do.
We do certain drills throughoutthe year, same way kids do at
(21:58):
school, same way they do a firedrill, same way they do a
tornado drills.
We do certain things so that weknow what we will do in certain
situations and we used to dothem at the courthouse, like we
would have fire drills, we wouldhave active shooter drills, we
would have you know things thatthat way everybody knew and it
wasn't chaos if something badhappened.
(22:20):
So that's not silly and it'snot out there and it's not crazy
for people to do things likethat, because it's muscle memory
and you know.
You're much better off in asituation when everybody knows
what to expect and everybodyknows what everyone else is
going to do in a situationKeeping your deep pantry.
(22:45):
I preach this so much because Ilove canning, I love food
preservation and so if I couldtell you as a listener, one of
the most important things thatyou can do to avoid major stress
in a situation is to know thatyou have food and whether that
(23:07):
is canned goods that you go buyor whether it's home canned
goods that you preserve yourselfor whether it's home canned
goods that you preserve yourselfIf you're going to, you know,
one of the great places that youcan go to is like a restaurant
food supply Gordon Food Supplyand Franklin has, you know, tons
of huge cans of tomatoes andgreen beans and you know you can
(23:28):
stack those to the ceiling ifyou wanted to.
Costco that's another greatplace.
You can get organic versions ofthat stuff at Costco.
You can go to the Mormons, theLatter-day Saints, and they will
sell you number 10 cans offreeze-dried stuff in boxes.
(23:49):
You can buy it by the case andjust stack those cases up and
put your date that you got themand the date that they expire.
And you know it's just someinsurance to know that you have
something if you can't get outof your house, even if it's, you
know something.
You know a weather relatedevent or something more
(24:09):
catastrophic.
That way you know that you'recovered and it's a huge sense of
security to know that you havethat and, like all winter long,
if I don't want to get out, Ireally don't have to Now.
It might get boring some of thestuff that we would have to eat
, but I don't have to.
So that's just a.
(24:29):
That would be my number one.
Number one have as deep apantry as you can possibly get
and just start with, you know, acouple of extra weeks.
You don't have to go out andspend $5,000 on, you know,
enough stuff to last your familyfor a year all at one time.
Just keep buying a little extraand putting the extra back
(24:50):
every time you go to the grocerystore.
And I know that things are soexpensive right now Inflation is
killing all of us.
But you know, when I don't havethe money to go to the grocery
store because the budget doesn'treally allow it, it is very
comforting to know that I have afreezer full of beef and a
freezer full of chicken and afreezer full of fish and a
(25:13):
freezer full of deer and a pig,and you know I can eat meat for
months and be just fine.
And I have all of the food thatI canned from the garden and
you know that's just that.
That's a hedge againstinflation in and of itself, if
you have, because it's not goingto be any cheaper tomorrow than
it is today.
(25:33):
So just know that I have apositive mindset.
I do have hope, like I have hopethat everything is going to be
all right.
I hope that our country comesto a sense of peace.
I hope that all of this isgoing to work itself out
(25:58):
eventually and, of course, Ihave faith in God and I have
faith in God's plan, and so thatkind of helps to keep me from
freaking out, because some ofthe stuff when I see it on TV,
my first impulse is to want tofreak out.
I do, I really really do,because just where I see things
(26:18):
potentially going is scary, likeit's really scary the thought
of a potential, you know, civilwar between people, the thought
of maybe going to war here onour soil with some foreign
countries or them.
You know, we've never knownanything like that here.
We've never had to deal withwar on our soil since you know,
(26:42):
the Civil War for real.
I mean, I understand there wasHawaii and there was, you know,
9-11 and whatever, but that wasnot like all-out war, that was
an attack and it was terribleand it was horrible, but it's
not soldiers marching across orplanes flying across or anything
(27:04):
like that, and so that scaresme to think about that.
I'm hoping that that wouldnever happen, but I don't know
if there's any way to preparefor that either.
But I'm hopeful.
I'm hopeful that it's all goingto be all right.
It is really all going to beall right.
The last thing that I want totalk about is engaging in
(27:26):
community preparedness.
Besides just your local, youknow your next door neighbors or
your street or whatever.
You can do things likevolunteering for your local fire
department or participating inlocal preparedness initiatives
or becoming part ofSelf-Reliance Festival, that
(27:46):
community Start a alliance groupwithin your community.
We have the Dixon HomesteadersAlliance Group and we talk about
that and we have differenttopics and we have people who
work together to do things andthat's just a really great way
to be with like-minded people.
(28:08):
And you know, a lot of peoplewill tell you that it is not
good to be with people who thinklike you, that you should be
with people who challenge yourthought, and to some extent that
is true.
I'm not opposed to that.
Posing views are so polarizingand so polar opposite of what I
(28:36):
believe I don't want to be withthose people.
I have no desire to hang outwith somebody who is so polar
opposite of me.
It's just the same way.
I wouldn't be friends with them.
I don't need it.
I don't need you.
You lay with dogs, you pick upfleas, and I don't want that
kind of mentality rubbing off onme.
(28:57):
And I don't think that it would.
I don't think anything canchange my mentality.
But you know you get my drift.
So it's OK to be with likeminded people, despite what the
other side will tell you,because they don't like us to
(29:18):
congregate.
They don't like for like-mindedpeople to come together and
discuss things, because that'show the American Revolution
happened.
So the more that they candivide us and the more that they
can tell us that we don't needto be with other people who are
like us, the more we should doit.
(29:38):
So that's what I got to sayabout that.
And again, I understand it'sgood to have people to challenge
your views, but if it'ssomething so opposed to your
core values, it's not necessary.
You have your morals, valuesand principles and you can stick
to those.
So that's all I got to say fortoday.
(30:01):
We're going to wrap it up.
Next week I'm going to bejoined by my friend, stephanie
Talent, and we are going to betalking about why farmers hate
homesteaders, the differencebetween traditional farming and
the modern homesteading movement, and that should be a very
interesting conversation.
So hope you'll tune in nextThursday.
(30:24):
We'll probably have it uploadedby around one or two o'clock.
So thank you so much for tuningin.
I hope you took a little bit.
I didn't mean to be all doom andgloom today.
I know kind of the tone, butit's just because of what's
going on in the world.
It does kind of scare me andthat does come out in my tone a
little bit.
But I'm trying to be superpositive.
I'm really trying to focus onwhat I can do rather than what's
(30:48):
being done to me.
So that's what I wouldrecommend that you do Just focus
on your home, focus on yourfriends, focus on your family,
you know, and just do what youcan do to make yourself more
resilient, to make yourself moresafe and to make sure that your
family, you know, can eat andyou know that's that's it.
(31:12):
That's all you can do.
And pray and be, be good toyour people, be good to your
friends.
So thank you so much for tuningin.
I hope you enjoyed today'spodcast.
Um, if you like it, it'd begreat if you could like and
subscribe, leave a review andlet me know what you think.
Um, it helps other people tofind my podcast.
You can find me on the socialsat the Gorm Homestead and on my
(31:48):
website at the gormhomesteadcom.
Whatever you're doing todayy'all, just remember to keep it
real.
See y'all.
My daddy was a guitar pickerPlaying all the local clubs and
my mama was a waitress whenthey'd park M18 wheeler trucks.
So we didn't have much money.
Times were kind of hard, livingin a trailer On the edge of
(32:14):
grandpa's farm.
Yeah, I may not come from much,but I've got just enough.
As long as my baby's in my armsand the good Lord knows what's
in my heart, I refuse to beashamed.
(32:36):
It's just a southern thing.
Hey y'all, welcome to Keepin' it Real, the Gorham
Homestead podcast, where we talkabout real food, real natural
living, the real art of naturalhealing and real life out here
in our Tennessee homestead thereal art of natural healing and
real life out here in ourTennessee homestead.
I'm your host, dawn Gorham, andtoday is Thursday.
Gosh, I got to look at the dateit is August the 8th, 2024, and
(00:34):
you are listening to episodenumber 20.
I finally hit it, number 20.
Our topic today is just anupdate about what's going on
around here, some new thingsthat I have learned, and then
we're going to talk about somecurrent events, not necessarily
getting into one side or theother of it, but kind of what
you can do in uncertain times.
(00:55):
That's what we're going to talkabout.
Resilient living, you know,preparing for the unpredictable,
just practical, everyday thingsthat you can do whether the
world goes to pot or it doesn't.
So that's what we'll do.
Um, first of all, I just wantto say a big shout out to our
sponsor of the day, a beescloset.
(01:16):
They are located in Bon Aqua,tennessee, and they are your
local place to go in and get allof your beekeeping supplies.
Joe Ellis, the owner, is afriend of the podcast and he is
a wonderful human being, soknowledgeable, so great.
He's been great for me everystep of the way, learning about
bees as well as my local beeclub and my friend, john
(01:38):
Witherspoon, comes over andhelps me Bees boy.
There's a lot to learn withthat, but I'm really enjoying it
.
So if you get a chance, stop byand tell Joe that you heard
about him on the podcast.
I think he would reallyappreciate that, so that we're
going to hop right into what'sgoing on around here.
Well, I have learned a new skillsince I have been on here last
(02:02):
and it was a couple of weeks ago, I think about 10 days ago now
my AI guy came over and helpedme draw blood work on my cows,
and that's something that I'd,you know, previously relied on a
vet to do, or relied on him todo, and I just decided this year
that, you know, in the interestof doing regular testing, now
(02:27):
that I have more customers, youknow it's real, it's a
commitment for me.
I want to make the most safe,clean, raw milk possible
available to the people that arein my herd share, so just
decided to learn how to do it.
So, sure enough I'm a naturalDidn't realize it.
I had tried to do it by myselfa couple of times and just
(02:50):
wasn't able to get blood to flowat all.
And literally what he showed mewas that I was just a half inch
, maybe even a quarter inch, toofar to the right.
So once I brought that back, Iwas able to hit it every single
time.
And so now I've got it down andI'm real, I can pregnancy test
my cows.
We pregnancy tested all of them, um, and then I was able to
(03:14):
send off blood work and thankyou Jesus, hallelujah, all of my
cows came back um, clean, noBLV, no, um, no BVD, no Yonis,
nothing.
Everything was nice and clean.
I'm still waiting on the resultsof their A2 status so that we I
mean we're breeding for A2.
(03:34):
Every sire that we use is allA2, a2.
So hopefully, going forward,that is what we will.
You know that's what we willbreed.
But I'm interested in knowingwhat my adult cows are.
One of them I know she's A1, a2, because that's I mean.
Her owner that I got her fromtold me that.
(03:56):
So just really interested inthat.
So I called them today.
Turns out that test got lost atCentral Star and they're going
to call me back.
It's supposed to take 10 daysfor you to get your A2 status
back, so I suspect I may bewaiting another 10 days, because
she said she did not have anyrecord of me requesting their A2
(04:17):
status.
So maybe another 10 days beforeI know that, but I'm really
excited to have that.
I mean, that was it was Tommywas so sweet to come and walk me
through all that.
I've learned that the blood testis much more accurate than the
urine test, what was called theP test that I had previously
(04:38):
been using, and it's a lot more.
It's a lot more like a humanpregnancy test.
Like you get two lines.
It's either is or it isn't, andthe ones before you kind of had
to interpret the color.
Was it blue, was it purple, wasit amber?
And that meant they weren'tpregnant at all.
So I like this.
Two lines yes, one line no ismuch better for me.
(05:00):
So that's what we're doing withthe cows.
The turkeys are growing.
Oh my gosh, they're growing.
I'm kind of ready to get to thepoint where we're processing
them because they're kind ofaggressive Not like aggressive
hurting me, but you know I tryto go out to feed them and
they're just all over me.
So I'm kind of looking forwardto the end of that season, and
(05:25):
that's how it always goes aroundhere.
By the time the meat birds areready to process, I'm ready for
them to be done.
By the time the turkeys areready to process, I'm ready for
them to be done.
I have a little steer that I'vebeen trying to sell.
He needs to go before the endof this month and because we
installed a permanent weaningring in his nose, it was like a
(05:46):
bull ring, it's a crown one andit was supposed to work better
than some of the other ones.
Because you can't get it outLike the other weaning rings, I
would put it in 24 hours later,I would go in and go out there
and he would have it out.
Well, this one he hasn't beenable to get out, but it's not
slowing him down at all.
(06:06):
He just turns his head andworks around it.
Even though it's spiky, itpokes her.
She doesn't care and she is dueto calve October the 30th.
So by August the 30th is timeto dry her off, and if he is
still trying to nurse on her, Iwon't be able to do that and I
(06:26):
don't have a way to separatethem.
So either one, I've got to sellhim, or two, he's going to have
to just go to the freezer andget what very little bit of meat
that I can get out of his tinylittle body, cause he's not.
He's not very big, he's ninemonths old, but he's a Jersey,
so he's not he's not real big.
So that's kind of where we areon that.
(06:48):
There's um.
We'll see.
If I don't sell him in the nextweek and I've got him priced
right, y'all, I'm priced him tomove.
I priced him at $500.
Come get him, um, but if hedoesn't, then I will.
I'll just pay the $200 toprocess him and put him in the
freezer and that'll be the endof that.
So, things that are going on,we're going to move right into
(07:12):
our main topic.
I don't want to be like doomand gloom and super political
one way or another, but we're inreally scary times and I think
that, either way that things goin November, that it's going to
(07:32):
be a very volatile situation.
And with things heating up inthe Middle East, things
continuing to be ongoing betweenRussia and Ukraine, stock
market acting crazy, you know,the attempted assassination on
Trump, the Kamala, I mean,everything is just like, oh my
(07:57):
God, what else can happen?
And with that chaos?
Because I feel like that's whatit is it's just a lot of chaos
and I don't know if the time hascome that it's going to come to
a head.
We all know it's going to cometo a head eventually.
(08:19):
I don't know if this is it.
I don't have any idea.
But what I do want to talk aboutis there's nothing you can do
about it, like there's nothingwe can do to stop the what's
going on in Washington or in theMiddle East, or between Russia
and Ukraine or in Venezuela oranything else.
(08:40):
There's nothing we can do aboutit.
The only thing that you haveany control over is your inner
circle, like the wholepermaculture idea.
You know your circle is your isyour main focus.
You know your circle is your isyour main focus, and that's
(09:07):
really where we should bespending our energy, not really
freaking out and panicking aboutthings that are going on out
there, but just what we can dohere.
And the things that I'm going totalk about are just like my
personal opinion and again youtake it with a grain of salt Um,
what I?
The things that I believe inthe opinions that I have are
mine and um, it's what works forme and what I believe will work
going forward, and what youknow the greater community of
(09:30):
self-reliant people.
Um, kind of all practice thesame things, um.
Um, kind of all practice thesame things, um.
But the number one thing is tojust develop a strong support
network and that's reallyimportant.
When I moved here to this farmand I've talked about this
before, but the very first thingthat I did was reach out to my
neighbors, like I wanted to knowwho my neighbors were and I
(09:52):
wanted them to know who I am,and that has been very
advantageous for us, because ourneighbors now have become a
very strong support network forus.
Like if things were to go down,I'm pretty confident that the
people on this road will doeverything that we can do to
(10:14):
survive together, and I love thepeople on my road.
Everybody has an amazing amountof skills.
Some of them are so far aheadof me it's ridiculous, but it's
a great way to build a sense ofsecurity and when you build
those relationships, you canbuild them with your family, you
(10:35):
can build them with friends,you can build them with your
neighbors, you can build themwith friends.
You can build them with yourneighbors.
You can have what they call ateam.
Like you can get all into this,you know, and plug in people,
for you know each thing.
If you've got a dentist andyou've got somebody that's in
the military and you've got aparamedic and you've got I mean
that's kind of pushing it.
It's like everybody's dream butit's pushing it.
(10:58):
It's like everybody's dream butit's pushing it.
But those people can provideemotional and practical support
for you, like they're the peoplethat are going to be there for
you.
You know if you need food,they've got food.
If they need food, you've gotfood.
You know if you need somethingmoved and you need strong hands,
and that you know those are thepeople that'll come and help
you out in times of need andwhen push comes to shove.
(11:19):
If the world were to go, youknow, south, and God forbid, we
hope that it don't and we planthat it won't.
But those are the people whoare that you're stuck with, like
(11:43):
the people in your house andthe people in your neighborhood
or on your road or in yourcommunity, in your little area.
Those are the people that youare going to have to rely on.
So, everything that you can doand anything that you can do to
team up with those people andbuild community with those
people, the more better offyou're going to be and the
further out that you getbuilding community, the less
likely those people are toactually be able to help you if
(12:06):
things actually went bad,because they won't be able to
get to you.
So try to build up with thepeople who are right around your
house.
Another thing that you can do isbuild financial resistance, and
what I mean by that is, youknow, have that emergency fund,
have some money, cash, havesilver, have things that are of
(12:30):
value, that you can barter,whether that's bullets, or
whether that's food ortoothbrushes or tampons, or, you
know, diapers, baby food,whatever but have some sort of
emergency fund and diversifythat and you can also have, you
know, maximize your incomestreams.
(12:51):
Don't put all your eggs in onebasket.
You know I sell milk, but Ialso sell eggs, and I also teach
workshops and I also work withmy husband at his law office,
and you know I have a lot ofdifferent things going on,
because if one thing dries up,then I can focus my energy
somewhere else.
So that's kind of a smart thingto do if you have the ability
(13:13):
to do it, even if you're sellingplant starts or you're making
tinctures or medicinals orwhatever.
Just have more than one thing,more than one way to make money
with skills and products orwhatever that is.
And then the big big thing andthis is a thing that took me a
(13:33):
long time to wrap my head aroundwas minimizing debt, and that
should have been obvious.
It should have been commonsense for me.
But I grew up in a family wheredebt was just anticipated, like
you graduate and you get a carpayment and you have a house
payment and then you have creditcards and you have a retail
(13:57):
store credit card and gas cardsand all that stuff, and that
really got me in a lot oftrouble in my 20s.
And so, you know, as I gotolder and I became a big fan of
Dave Ramsey, I learned that youknow a lot of people hate Dave
Ramsey because he's so anti-debt.
(14:18):
But you have to understand thatspending is an addiction and for
me, I am not a person who canhave a credit card.
I can't, because I have atendency to see it and want it
and buy it, even if I don't havethe money and then I think, oh,
I'll pay that back.
Well then I don't, or I paylittle payments on it and then
(14:42):
the interest piles up, and soI'm just I can't, I am a junkie,
and I know that I'm a junkieand I know that there's things
that I want, and I always havemore wants than I have money.
So that's just one of thosethings.
And if you're one of thosepeople, you know, the same way,
an alcoholic can't be hangingout in a bar If you are a person
(15:03):
who has previously beenaddicted to debt, then you can't
have a credit card, you can'tbuy, you know, have put things
on payments, you can't go outand have tons of debt because
you're just going to spend morethan you make.
So, that being said, minimizingyour debt is a huge security
(15:24):
asset.
It's a good feeling, becausethe less that you have to spend,
the less that it takes to live.
So trying to minimize your debtis a huge thing and I'm still
working on it.
It still happens to me.
I still have impulse buys andI'm growing out of it.
(15:48):
I'm 50, but I'm growing out ofit.
So minimize the debt, enhancingyour skill set.
The more that you can learn,the better off that you will be.
And you know I've alwaysjokingly said I want to be more
valuable alive than I am dead.
So you know, if people evercome to try to overtake me, at
(16:11):
least know how to do things andI'm not useless.
So you know, enhance thoseskill sets.
Learn how to do things.
Learn how to preserve your food, learn how to do your.
You know regular householdmaintenance.
Learn how to run a chainsaw,gardening self-defense.
Self-defense is a really greatskill to have, especially for us
(16:33):
women.
You know, the more that we cantrain and the more that we can
learn, the more we are able todefend ourselves and protect
ourselves when our husbands orour sons or whatever, whenever
someone you know with morestrength and power than you is
not around to protect you.
So that's a really good skillto enhance.
(16:56):
And staying informed.
I hate this part.
I don't like the news, like Idon't turn on the news if I can
help it.
I actually go to Twitter mostof the time for my information
and that seems to have becomethe norm, because you can get
information faster on Twitterthan what the mainstream news
(17:17):
will come out with it.
You do have to kind of sortthrough what you think is real
and what's not, because, justlike the legacy media, there's
as much baloney on Twitter asthere is on TV.
So you just kind of got to beable to sort through that.
But you can get a feel forthings like, you can get the
general gist of, like, what'sgoing on, and I've recently just
(17:41):
started following their Israeligovernment because I feel like
I get more information aboutwhat's actually going on over
there by following, you know,people that are actually in
Israel than I do turning on theTV, people that are actually in
Israel than I do turning on theTV, and sort of the same thing
with the riots in England.
You can kind of see more ofwhat's going on from Twitter
(18:04):
than you can, because they'rereally not even talking about it
on TV at all.
But you can see all the firesand all the people rioting and
people attacking cars and allthe people rioting and people
attacking cars.
And a man got arrested formaking an offensive post on
Facebook.
They literally came andarrested him because they didn't
like what he said, and that wasin England, and the guy's got
(18:29):
his little TV or his littlephone running the whole time and
so you see the whole thing.
So just kind of stay in abreastwithout going overboard, like
without becoming obsessed withit, but you still kind of got to
know.
You can't bury your head in thesand, which is what I would
(18:49):
love to do.
I would love to be so Amishthat I didn't know anything was
going on.
But at the same time, if Idon't know anything's going on,
then I can't sort of prepare orbe you know, be ready for it.
Um, just kind of knowing thatthe things that may happen.
(19:12):
In preparing realistically orreasonably and not going just
like crazy overboard Inuncertain times, one of the most
important things that you cando is to prioritize your own
physical health.
So try to be as healthy as youcan and try to stay away from
(19:38):
you know the doctors as much asyou can and do as much as you
can at home and learn herbalremedies for certain things,
just because at some point itmay be to where we can't get the
medications that we need andwant.
So just trying to be as healthyas you can Certain things like
(19:58):
you know, if you're diabetic,and you're type 1 diabetic, and
you're on insulin and yourpancreas literally stopped
working, there's nothing you cando other than just, you know,
try to maintain your weight andtake your insulin, that's it.
But a type 2 diabetic can youknow?
Cut out the sugar, cut out thecarbs, do some exercise and you
(20:21):
know you can improve thatsituation.
So just do the best that youcan Try to.
You know, as we get older women,we lose our muscle mass.
So one of the best things thatwe can do is start doing some
strength training.
And men I guess men are thesame way as their testosterone
levels drop, but same way for us.
You know, over 50, we reallystart losing that muscle mass
(20:49):
fast.
So, doing some strengthtraining to stay strong, keep
your back strong and stretching,you know, limberness is really,
really important.
It's what keeps you from beinginjured.
Stretching is one of the bestand I do it every day.
It's part of my daily routinebecause I had an injury about 10
years ago.
They call it thoracic outletsyndrome.
(21:10):
I think I've talked about itbefore, but if I don't do those
stretches then I'm hurting.
So, you know, just prioritizingyour health, maintain a healthy
diet, do the best you can and,you know, maintain your stress
level.
Try to keep that down.
Learn how to breathe, learn howto relax.
Don't get all caught up in allof the chaos that is happening
(21:35):
around us.
If you can stay grounded andyou can keep your center, then
all of the chaos out there doesnot affect you as much.
Having an emergency plan,knowing what you will do in a
situation, is always a greatthing to do.
We do certain drills throughoutthe year, same way kids do at
(21:58):
school, same way they do a firedrill, same way they do a
tornado drills.
We do certain things so that weknow what we will do in certain
situations and we used to dothem at the courthouse, like we
would have fire drills, we wouldhave active shooter drills, we
would have you know things thatthat way everybody knew and it
wasn't chaos if something badhappened.
(22:20):
So that's not silly and it'snot out there and it's not crazy
for people to do things likethat, because it's muscle memory
and you know.
You're much better off in asituation when everybody knows
what to expect and everybodyknows what everyone else is
going to do in a situationKeeping your deep pantry.
(22:45):
I preach this so much because Ilove canning, I love food
preservation and so if I couldtell you as a listener, one of
the most important things thatyou can do to avoid major stress
in a situation is to know thatyou have food and whether that
(23:07):
is canned goods that you go buyor whether it's home canned
goods that you preserve yourselfor whether it's home canned
goods that you preserve yourselfIf you're going to, you know,
one of the great places that youcan go to is like a restaurant
food supply Gordon Food Supplyand Franklin has, you know, tons
of huge cans of tomatoes andgreen beans and you know you can
(23:28):
stack those to the ceiling ifyou wanted to.
Costco that's another greatplace.
You can get organic versions ofthat stuff at Costco.
You can go to the Mormons, theLatter-day Saints, and they will
sell you number 10 cans offreeze-dried stuff in boxes.
(23:49):
You can buy it by the case andjust stack those cases up and
put your date that you got themand the date that they expire.
And you know it's just someinsurance to know that you have
something if you can't get outof your house, even if it's, you
know something.
You know a weather relatedevent or something more
(24:09):
catastrophic.
That way you know that you'recovered and it's a huge sense of
security to know that you havethat and, like all winter long,
if I don't want to get out, Ireally don't have to Now.
It might get boring some of thestuff that we would have to eat
, but I don't have to.
So that's just a.
(24:29):
That would be my number one.
Number one have as deep apantry as you can possibly get
and just start with, you know, acouple of extra weeks.
You don't have to go out andspend $5,000 on, you know,
enough stuff to last your familyfor a year all at one time.
Just keep buying a little extraand putting the extra back
(24:50):
every time you go to the grocerystore.
And I know that things are soexpensive right now Inflation is
killing all of us.
But you know, when I don't havethe money to go to the grocery
store because the budget doesn'treally allow it, it is very
comforting to know that I have afreezer full of beef and a
freezer full of chicken and afreezer full of fish and a
(25:13):
freezer full of deer and a pig,and you know I can eat meat for
months and be just fine.
And I have all of the food thatI canned from the garden and
you know that's just that.
That's a hedge againstinflation in and of itself, if
you have, because it's not goingto be any cheaper tomorrow than
it is today.
(25:33):
So just know that I have apositive mindset.
I do have hope, like I have hopethat everything is going to be
all right.
I hope that our country comesto a sense of peace.
I hope that all of this isgoing to work itself out
(25:58):
eventually and, of course, Ihave faith in God and I have
faith in God's plan, and so thatkind of helps to keep me from
freaking out, because some ofthe stuff when I see it on TV,
my first impulse is to want tofreak out.
I do, I really really do,because just where I see things
(26:18):
potentially going is scary, likeit's really scary the thought
of a potential, you know, civilwar between people, the thought
of maybe going to war here onour soil with some foreign
countries or them.
You know, we've never knownanything like that here.
We've never had to deal withwar on our soil since you know,
(26:42):
the Civil War for real.
I mean, I understand there wasHawaii and there was, you know,
9-11 and whatever, but that wasnot like all-out war, that was
an attack and it was terribleand it was horrible, but it's
not soldiers marching across orplanes flying across or anything
(27:04):
like that, and so that scaresme to think about that.
I'm hoping that that wouldnever happen, but I don't know
if there's any way to preparefor that either.
But I'm hopeful.
I'm hopeful that it's all goingto be all right.
It is really all going to beall right.
The last thing that I want totalk about is engaging in
(27:26):
community preparedness.
Besides just your local, youknow your next door neighbors or
your street or whatever.
You can do things likevolunteering for your local fire
department or participating inlocal preparedness initiatives
or becoming part ofSelf-Reliance Festival, that
(27:46):
community Start a alliance groupwithin your community.
We have the Dixon HomesteadersAlliance Group and we talk about
that and we have differenttopics and we have people who
work together to do things andthat's just a really great way
to be with like-minded people.
(28:08):
And you know, a lot of peoplewill tell you that it is not
good to be with people who thinklike you, that you should be
with people who challenge yourthought, and to some extent that
is true.
I'm not opposed to that.
Posing views are so polarizingand so polar opposite of what I
(28:36):
believe I don't want to be withthose people.
I have no desire to hang outwith somebody who is so polar
opposite of me.
It's just the same way.
I wouldn't be friends with them.
I don't need it.
I don't need you.
You lay with dogs, you pick upfleas, and I don't want that
kind of mentality rubbing off onme.
(28:57):
And I don't think that it would.
I don't think anything canchange my mentality.
But you know you get my drift.
So it's OK to be with likeminded people, despite what the
other side will tell you,because they don't like us to
(29:18):
congregate.
They don't like for like-mindedpeople to come together and
discuss things, because that'show the American Revolution
happened.
So the more that they candivide us and the more that they
can tell us that we don't needto be with other people who are
like us, the more we should doit.
(29:38):
So that's what I got to sayabout that.
And again, I understand it'sgood to have people to challenge
your views, but if it'ssomething so opposed to your
core values, it's not necessary.
You have your morals, valuesand principles and you can stick
to those.
So that's all I got to say fortoday.
(30:01):
We're going to wrap it up.
Next week I'm going to bejoined by my friend, stephanie
Talent, and we are going to betalking about why farmers hate
homesteaders, the differencebetween traditional farming and
the modern homesteading movement, and that should be a very
interesting conversation.
So hope you'll tune in nextThursday.
(30:24):
We'll probably have it uploadedby around one or two o'clock.
So thank you so much for tuningin.
I hope you took a little bit.
I didn't mean to be all doom andgloom today.
I know kind of the tone, butit's just because of what's
going on in the world.
It does kind of scare me andthat does come out in my tone a
little bit.
But I'm trying to be superpositive.
I'm really trying to focus onwhat I can do rather than what's
(30:48):
being done to me.
So that's what I wouldrecommend that you do Just focus
on your home, focus on yourfriends, focus on your family,
you know, and just do what youcan do to make yourself more
resilient, to make yourself moresafe and to make sure that your
family, you know, can eat andyou know that's that's it.
(31:12):
That's all you can do.
And pray and be, be good toyour people, be good to your
friends.
So thank you so much for tuningin.
I hope you enjoyed today'spodcast.
Um, if you like it, it'd begreat if you could like and
subscribe, leave a review andlet me know what you think.
Um, it helps other people tofind my podcast.
You can find me on the socialsat the Gorm Homestead and on my
(31:48):
website at the gormhomesteadcom.
Whatever you're doing todayy'all, just remember to keep it
real.
See y'all.
My daddy was a guitar pickerPlaying all the local clubs and
my mama was a waitress whenthey'd park M18 wheeler trucks.
So we didn't have much money.
Times were kind of hard, livingin a trailer On the edge of
(32:14):
grandpa's farm.
Yeah, I may not come from much,but I've got just enough.
As long as my baby's in my armsand the good Lord knows what's
in my heart, I refuse to beashamed.
(32:36):
It's just a southern thing.
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