May 15, 2023 • 33 mins
While scrolling through some of the Facebook homesteading groups, I saw over and over again people starting their post by saying, "Please be kind" or "Please don't judge me". It's sad to me that people feel the need to start out their post that way. And so, today's episode is really all about being kind, remember that we too, at one point didn't know the things, and that it really isn't hard to be kind to others. (And when all else fails, we can just scroll on by!!)
Enjoy!!
Brian
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Brian (00:02):
I'm your host Brian Wells, and I'm a fourth
generation homesteader Since2008, my family and I have been
homesteading here in beautifulupstate New York.
In 2019, I launched theHomestead Journey podcast.
To help people just like you getstarted and find success on
their journey towardsself-sufficiency, self-reliance,
(00:24):
and sustainability.
This is the Homestead journey,and this is season four.
Well, hello everyone andwelcome, welcome, welcome,
welcome to another episode ofthe Homestead Journey podcast.
My name is Brian Wells.
(00:46):
I am coming to you from three BFarm and Homestead here in
beautiful upstate New York, andthis is episode number 156 of
the Homestead Journey Podcast.
And as I record this, today isMother's Day.
So first of all, let me startout by wishing all of the
(01:10):
mothers who listen to thispodcast, let me wish you all a
very happy Mother's Day.
I had the opportunity, theprivilege, the blessing today to
spend time with my mom and ofcourse with Bonnie, and I don't
take that lightly.
There were many, many yearswhere, because of where we were
located geographically, I wasunable to spend time with my
(01:34):
mother on Mother's Day.
And so certainly it is ablessing to be able to do that.
Actually, yesterday evening wewent out for dinner and then
today we had dinner at my momand dad's homestead, the humming
bee homestead, and it was just aa wonderful time.
My dad and I and Brian, Jay, wecooked.
(01:58):
So far, nobody has, uh, fallenill, so I, we'll, we'll take
that as a win.
But again, just a, a greatopportunity, a blessing to be
able to spend time with them.
And actually just thinking aboutsome things that my mom taught
me over the years.
Yes, mom, I, I, I did payattention.
(02:18):
Maybe you didn't think I was atthe time, but I, I did pay
attention.
And that actually is a littlebit of the background for what
we're gonna be talking about asthe main topic today on the
charting the core segment.
And really, it all boils down tobe kind, be nice.
And sometimes in thehomesteading sphere, I see
(02:40):
people being really, reallynasty to each other.
And so today, in honor ofMother's Day and in particular
in honor of my mom, I'm gonnajust maybe remind you of some
things, and I know I, I know I'mpreaching to the choir here
because I know that the peoplewho listen to my podcast are not
(03:00):
nasty people.
Okay.
No nasty people listen to thispodcast.
No, I think all of us though, wedo need a reminder every once in
a while to be nice.
And so anyhow, we're gonna talkabout that.
But before we do, let's jump onover to this week's Homestead
Happenings, because folks, man,It was a busy week, both on and
(03:22):
off to Homestead and I am soexcited to share with you what
we've got going on here on threeB Farm and Homestead.
So buckle up and let's jump onover to this week's Homestead
Happenings.
(03:42):
Well, certainly it was a busyweek here lots of stuff going
on, particularly around thegarden.
And when I talk.
Around the garden.
I mean that both figurativelyand literally.
So I spent quite a bit of timethis week moving wood chips.
I really put aside plantinggarden because the raised beds
had just really gotten a lot ofweeds around them.
(04:02):
And so I think I mentioned lastweek that I had, I.
We'd whacked that down to bearEarth and this week I just moved
up load after load after load ofwood chips and then I've got
that all leveled out and I'vegot the fence up now around the,
the raised beds and it justlooks so much nicer and I'm just
(04:22):
getting excited to, to be ableto get out there and get.
Things planted.
I, I actually didn't getanything more planted this
weekend just because of thewhole, uh, laundry list of other
things that I, I ended up doinghere on the homestead.
But I, I do feel like I've setmyself up for success up there,
and so hopefully, it will looknicer.
(04:44):
So if it looks nicer, I'm, I'mgonna wanna spend more time up
there that, that's at least whatI'm, that's my story and I'm
sticking to it.
Also spent some time in the RuthStout bed.
I had shared with you that wehad used some pigs to till the
land and then I had leveled itout and this week I got some
mulk and got that spread out.
So that's already for us toplant.
(05:06):
So just a lot of planting aheadof us here in the near future.
But I'm also glad that Iresisted the urge to put out
anything that was tender or toplant things that might be frost
sensitive.
Because we have had up here whatsome people might refer to as
fake.
(05:26):
Other people might refer to asfault spring, and some people
might refer to it as, FoolsSpring because what happens is
we get these nice.
Beautiful days of 70 degreeseven up into the eighties, and
things are starting to green upand people are thinking, okay,
great.
(05:47):
Let me get out there and let meget stuff planted in the garden.
But no, no, no, no, no, folks,it's way, I don't wanna say way
too early for that, becausetomorrow's gonna be May 15th.
May 15th is really our lastaverage frost date in my area.
And you might remember onepisode 1 54, I talked about how
(06:09):
your U S D A Hardiness zonedoesn't matter.
What's important is knowing yourlast.
Average frost date.
And so for us, our last averagefrost date is the 15th of May,
but looking ahead in theforecast on Wednesday, it is
supposed to get down to 33degrees, which means.
(06:32):
Until that has passed.
I certainly don't wanna put outanything that is going to be
frost sensitive.
And in fact, what I'm doingright now, I'm in the process of
hardening off my plants, and soI won't be planning anything
that's frost sensitive untilafter the Southern Adirondack
Home Setting Festival, just tobe on the safe side, but also
(06:53):
because, it's gonna be a busy,busy week getting ready for
that.
So why put myself under anyother pressure where we might
end up having to cover raisedbeds and stuff like that?
Nope.
I'm just gonna wait until nextweek when hopefully the threat
of frost is passed As I said, Ihave started hardening off my
(07:16):
vegetables.
I actually had not gotten aroundto fitting things out a little
bit late to the game on that.
So what I decided to try doingthis year with my tomatoes that
I thinned out is just trying to.
Put them in some soil and seeingif I can get them to root.
Now, tomatoes are something thatreally do well with that.
(07:36):
If you've ever looked at atomato plant, you'll see all of
these little hairs on the sideof the tomato plants.
And what happens with those isif the conditions are right,
those will actually turn intoroots, which is why it's really
recommended that you planttomato plants.
Deep because those little hairsare going to develop a nice,
(07:58):
healthy root system, which willfeed your tomato plant and will
help it produce even, uh, a moreabundant harvest.
And so I'm just rolling thedice.
I would normally throw thosethings out.
So I just took another tray,filled up some cups with some
potting soil, popped those downin there, and we'll see what we
get.
(08:18):
But it's always an experimentand it's always fun to try those
things out.
This week I also got the farmtruck running again.
That's the good news.
Well, I guess the good news isalso the thing that was wrong
with it is that the MAP sensor,don't ask me what MAP stands
for.
I think it's manifold airpressure sensor, but don't hold
(08:41):
me to that.
But that is the reason why mytruck was running really, really
rough and it was running really,really rich and it was
backfiring out the intake.
And so, I swapped that out.
It was like a$50 part, and boy,I'm back in business, got power,
took it for a drive around theblock, really, really happy
(09:02):
about it.
Get home and the thing wassmoking like a 4th of July
barbecue grill.
Said What in the world's goingon?
Well, when I had it up to mybuddy's place.
My buddy Mark, who you mightremember from my episode, he and
my buddy Chad were the ones thatI talked through what I should
buy with regards to a farmtruck.
And he took a look at it whileit was running rough and he
(09:24):
said, Brian, um, it looks likeyou've got a.
Leaky rear main seal.
Now the rear main seal is theseal between the engine and the
transmission.
And while it seems like it'smore than just a leaky, uh, rear
main seal, it's like a gushyrear main seal.
(09:45):
So that is not a job that I'mgoing to tackle.
I just don't have the, I don'thave the equipment for it.
And so I'm gonna have to take itto my mechanic and have them do
it.
No idea what it's gonna run me.
Uh, but that's the joy of an oldfarm truck, right?
Uh, I bought the truck so Icould work on it, and maybe I
(10:05):
should just suck it up buttercupand do the work myself, but,
It's just the wrong time of theyear for me to tackle a project
like that.
Again, I really don't have theequipment for it.
Transmission stands, I don'thave a lift, so it would be a
pain in the neck to do it, andit would be kind of dangerous
for me to do it, so I'm gonna.
Take it to a professional, havea professional do it for me, and
(10:28):
then we'll see what othergremlins we find.
But anyhow, at least the farmtruck is running again, and I am
very, very happy about that, butvery, very sad that I'm gonna
have to sink some money into arear main seal.
Last thing I wanted to sharewith you is that, This week I
got a battery powered chainsaw.
(10:50):
Now, you might remember back onan episode, I don't, it was
several years ago.
Don't remember exactly whatepisode number it was.
I was not thrilled with the ideaof battery powered lawn tools.
I.
And to be frank, I still am notconvinced that they are a good
fit, especially from agovernment mandate perspective.
(11:11):
I think for Joe Blow, ahomeowner who might be cutting
down a tree every once in awhile, A battery powered
chainsaw might be a good thingthat, in fact, that's the reason
why I got that, because with agas powered chainsaw, they sit
around, the carbs gunk up andthey're a, a, a bit of a pain in
(11:33):
the butt, but, When I thinkabout arborists or I think about
people who do landscaping for aliving, I'm still not convinced
that batteries are at the spotto where you can charge them
quickly enough without having tohave tons and tons of batteries
(11:54):
or very expensive batteries thatare gonna hold the charge for a
while.
So still not convinced that forthat application, The technology
is there.
I might be wrong, been wrongbefore, I'll be wrong again in
the future.
But for me, Joe Blow homeowner,who is going to use a chainsaw
every once in a great while, Ithink a battery powered chainsaw
(12:19):
and maybe a battery power weedwhacker.
Um, they're, they're gonna,they're gonna make sense.
Uh, and they're, they'restarting to get into that spot
from a, from a financialperspective where they made
sense.
I went ahead and got a DeWaltbecause I already.
Live in the DeWalt land.
I have, I have a bunch of DeWaltbattery powered, drills and saws
(12:43):
and, and things of that nature.
And this uses the same batterytype, so it's a 20 volt battery.
It's in that same family.
And so it just made sense for meto stay.
In that area, in the DeWaltchainsaw does have very, very
good reviews, and I can tellyou, having used it this weekend
(13:04):
to cut down a tree and to cut upa tree, it works very, very
well.
Now I did go ahead and buy thechainsaw with the five amp power
battery.
And the reason why I did that isbecause the other batteries that
I have are two amp powerbatteries, and I felt like I
would have to be swapping thoseout a lot, even though they
(13:25):
technically will work with thesaw.
It's just not gonna give you thenumber of cuts that I might
want, even the little bit thatI'm going to use it.
So I did get the five amp hourbattery.
So glad I did.
It worked like a champ.
I dropped, I don't know, it'sprobably, um, it was probably a
10 to 12 inch in diameter tree,so we're not talking a giant
(13:50):
Sequoia, but it was still alarger than a sapling.
And with a 12 inch bar, I wasable to, Um, drop that tree and
drop it exactly where I wantedit.
So I, I was very, very pleasedwith myself, uh, and I was also
very pleased with theperformance of the chainsaw.
Now, of course, it wouldn't beme running a chainsaw without
(14:13):
getting the bar stuck in.
Uh, uh, in, in the tree I was, Iwas, uh, going to cut up some of
the limbs and it shifted.
And of course now the bar'spinched, and so I had to go get
my reciprocating saw my saw saw,and um, cut out the chainsaw
because that's just how I roll.
(14:35):
Every time I use a chainsaw, Ialways pinch the bar.
Yeah.
So I guess I gotta, I, I mean,that's why I don't have a beard
and I don't wear flannel.
I'm not a lumberjack.
Anyhow, I was overall very, veryhappy with that saw, and we'll
see how it, it continues to workfor me in the future.
(14:56):
Have a few other saplings thatneed to, to come down around the
property and so once I get thegarden in, probably start doing
some tidying up.
But again, very happy with it.
So all of that to say folks,Very busy week here on the
homestead.
A lot of good stuff going on,and I'm just looking forward as
we look forward to garden season2023.
(15:16):
Really ramping up.
Just trying to remind myself,Brian, it's been fools
springing.
It's been fools springing.
It's been fools springing.
You're not as far behind as whatyou feel.
And even if you are, it is whatit is.
We'll get planted.
What we get planted.
We'll harvest what we canharvest, and we'll just have to
be okay doing the best we canwith what we've got to work
(15:38):
with.
So that's what's been going onhere on three B four.
I'm in Homestead.
I hope things are well whereveryou are at.
Before we jump on over to thisweek's charting the course, I
did want to let you know alittle bit about this coming
weekend.
So this coming weekend, uh, May19th, 20th, and 21st is going to
be the Southern Adirondack HomeSetting Festival here in
(16:01):
beautiful, upstate New York.
And if you live in this area,And you are interested.
We do have weekend passes stillavailable.
We have day passes stillavailable.
If you're interested at all inchecking that out, head on over
to the homesteadjourney.net/festival.
You'll be able to, uh, see the,the list of speakers, the
(16:21):
timeframes, and also to be ableto buy tickets there if you are
interested in attending.
But what I'm also going to bedoing, hopefully, fingers
crossed I'm gonna be able topull this off, is I am planning
on going live both Saturday, sothat'll be May 20th, and then on
Sunday, May 21st at noon Easterntime.
(16:45):
And I have set up an event onFacebook.
So if you are interested I'mgoing to be streaming it live on
Facebook now.
I, I would love to try to streamit live to Facebook and to
YouTube.
I just don't think the computerI have is gonna be able to
handle that.
I also am not 100% sure that thebandwidth I'm going to have to
(17:05):
work with would support that.
So this year, just trying tokeep things simple.
We're just going to go live onFacebook for sure.
Well, when I say for sure,fingers crossed that I can get
everything all set up andworking the way, but I'm
planning on going live onSaturday and on Sunday from noon
(17:25):
Eastern until one o'clock.
I am also hoping to maybe throwin a few other lives, just kind
of on the fly as we gothroughout the weekend.
So maybe Friday night I might beable to pull it off maybe
Saturday night.
We'll just have to see howthings go.
I'm hoping to also get someinterviews while I'm there.
(17:48):
For future episodes.
And I am also going to take bothof those lives and I am planning
on turning those into futureepisodes as well.
So if you miss the lives or youdon't like Facebook, or you're
not on Facebook, don't worry,you're not gonna miss out.
Those will be future episodes,probably edited, but uh, those
(18:11):
will be available in the future.
So if you can't make it to thelives, certainly don't.
Don't panic, they'll, they'll beavailable in the future.
I'm also fingers crossed, hopingto record both of my talks that
I'll be giving.
I'm gonna be giving a talk, akeynote, uh, on what is home
studying and why does it matter.
(18:32):
And then I'm also gonna betalking about chickens.
And so, uh, I'm hopeful thatI'll be able to record both of
those and those will becomefuture.
Episodes of content here on thepodcast, but all of that to say,
my guess is that next week aftera busy, busy weekend, I, I'd
(18:54):
love to say, There's gonna be anepisode, or the episode might be
a day late.
My guess is there's not gonna bean episode next week.
My guess is I'm just gonna be sobeat.
I'm gonna come home, I'm gonnacollapse on the couch, and
that's gonna be all she wrote.
So, uh, if there's an episode,there's an episode.
If there's not, there's not,please bear with me.
(19:16):
Please have patience, butcertainly there will be the
lives available.
Just in case you have to havethat Homestead Journey Podcast
fix.
All right.
All of that said, let's jump onover to this week's charting the
course, and let's talk aboutbeing kind one to another.
Here we go.
(19:43):
So as I was scrolling throughsome of the home setting groups
on Facebook, and, and to befrank, I don't do that much
anymore.
I, I was struck by the number oftimes where people would post
something along the lines of, Ihave a question, please be kind,
or, I have a question.
Please don't judge me.
(20:04):
I thought how sad it is thatpeople cannot come to a forum, a
Facebook group, where there is alot of knowledge that they can
draw from, and yet they cannotdo it in a way where they're.
(20:27):
Not afraid of being ridiculedand made fun of and people just
being jerks.
To me, that's so sad because abig part of homesteading is
community and unfortunatelythere are a lot of people who
don't have the physicalcommunity that I've been
(20:51):
blessed.
To, to have, they don't have a,mom and dad that support them
They don't have family that theygrew up in who have been willing
to pass on the, the knowledgeand the skills They don't have
the.
The, the network of friends thathave been willing to show them
(21:13):
how to castrate pigs like mybuddy Jack Rowland showed me,
They just don't have thatcommunity.
And so they come into theseFacebook groups looking for
that.
And unfortunately, a lot oftimes what they find is they
find vitriol, they findmeanness, they find unkindness.
(21:33):
And today in the spirit ofMother's Day and in the spirit
of saying, Hey, mom.
I did hear what you were sayingwhen I was growing up.
I haven't always put it intopractice, but I did hear what
you were saying.
Let's just talk about a fewthings.
So the first thing I want us toremember is that their journey
(21:57):
is not our journey.
When you look at what somebody'swanting to do on their
homestead, and maybe they'redesiring to go off grid and
you're like, that's crazy.
Or maybe they're not gonna gooff grid and you think they
should go off grid, whatever itis, just keep in mind that their
journey is not our journey.
(22:20):
In fact, I was talking to afriend of mine today at church
and we were talking more in thecontext of what it means to be a
farm.
Now they have a homestead.
In fact, they've bought somepigs from me and they're going
to be getting a family milk cowthis week.
And they have, uh, meat birdsright now out on pasture.
Like they're doing the thingsand they're learning skills and
(22:41):
they're trying to pass thoseskills on and share those skills
with other people as they'vebeen learning things.
And she was telling me how whenshe talks to people, she always
feels like she has to qualifywhat their farm is because so
many people think that unlessyou have 800 cows or a thousand
(23:02):
cows that you're milking, you'renot a real farm.
And in fact, both she and herhusband grew up on.
I, I believe on dairy farms oraround dairy farms like that.
And so even they have a hardtime wrapping their heads around
that.
What they're doing really is, isfarming and they don't need to
qualify it.
(23:23):
They don't need to make excusesfor the reason why they do the
things that they do.
Because their journey is notanybody else's journey.
Now they're getting a familymilk cow this week.
Guess who has no desire to havea family?
Milk cow.
(23:43):
This guy right here?
Yeah, me.
I have no desire to have afamily milk cow.
Now, I'm not saying that I willnever have a family milk cow,
but right now, that's not partof my journey.
I don't think it will ever be apart of my journey.
I'm excited for them, but that'snot my journey.
That's their journey, and so I'mgonna cheer'em on.
(24:06):
I'm not gonna say you're crazyfor getting a family milk cow.
Do you realize how much is gonnatie you down and how much it
work?
No.
Why would I do that?
I'm gonna encourage them.
Because that's their journey.
It's not my journey.
And so when you see people goinga route that's different than
you, or they're doing thingsdifferently than what you would
do them, just keep in mind thatthey're on a different path or
(24:29):
maybe they're on a differentstep of the same path, but it
doesn't matter.
Your journey is not theirjourney and their journey is not
your journey.
The second thing I would say is,Your self-sufficiency is
different than theirself-sufficiency.
Now what do I mean by that?
Well, as you might remember,way, way, way, way back in the
(24:49):
day as I was talking about whatit means to Homestead, and in
fact if you look at this logoright here, those three S's,
which look like a path, youknow, signifying a journey, but
it's three S's.
Self-sufficiency, self-relianceand sustainability.
Now you might remember I talkedabout self-sufficiency, meaning
stuff, the things that we canraise, grow, produce, and or
(25:12):
process on our homestead.
Self-reliance speaks to skills.
Do I have the skills necessaryto raise, grow, produce, and or
process the stuff that I need?
And sustainability speaks tosystems.
Do I have systems in placewhereby with minimal to no
off-farm, off homestead inputs,I can apply my skills to raise,
grow, produce, and or processthe stuff that I need?
(25:35):
Well, the stuff that you need.
And the stuff that I need areprobably going to be two totally
different sets of stuff.
The things that are important toyou may be different than what's
important to me.
Going back to my friends,they're getting a family milk
cow.
For them, having their own dairyis important.
(25:58):
So what's self-sufficiency tothem is different than what is
self-sufficiency to me.
And that's okay.
What's important to you isprobably gonna be different than
what's important to me.
And what's important to me mightbe different than what's
important to you.
And you know what?
It might change over time.
(26:19):
As you know, I'm in the processof getting out of pigs.
Why am I getting out of pigs?
Well, I'm getting out of pigs inpart because we have been
transitioning to theMediterranean diet and we don't
need the pork.
So why raise pigs?
I don't need to raise pigs to bea homesteader, right?
That part of self-sufficiency isno longer a part of my journey,
(26:41):
and you're going to have thoseebbs and flows and it's all
good.
So when.
You see somebody generating ortry attempting to generate
something that maybe you thinkis foolish.
So what?
What's important to them isdifferent than what's important
to you.
And maybe you look at somebodyand you say, well, why aren't
you doing this?
And why aren't you growing this?
(27:02):
And why aren't you generatingthis?
Maybe it's not important tothem.
Or again, going back to what Isaid before, maybe they're on a
different step on their journey.
It's okay.
Their self-sufficiency isdifferent than your
self-sufficiency.
Your self-sufficiency isdifferent than their
self-sufficiency.
What they need and want isprobably different than what you
(27:24):
need and or want, and it's allgood.
The third thing I would say isthis.
You don't know at all.
You don't know at all.
And what you do know, keep inmind.
This what you do know at onepoint in your life you didn't
know at one point in your life,somebody shared with you the
(27:47):
knowledge that you now currentlyhave.
Now, maybe you've learned itthrough the school of hard
knocks, okay?
But even learning it through theschool of hard knocks means that
at one point in time you didn'tknow what you know now.
And the other thing is, folks,there's more to learn.
You're never gonna knoweverything.
(28:08):
And I, I see so many times onthe home setting groups, people
who think that either A, theyknow it all, or B, they have no
desire to help other people.
All they wanna do is just standand mock and be like, well, I
learned it through the school ofhard knocks.
So you need to learn the hardlesson.
Why B, that way, why, why, whybe that way?
(28:35):
If you're further on down theroad than somebody else, pass on
what you've been given, pass onwhat you've been blessed with.
Pay it forward.
You know, my buddy Jack Rowlin,he came here one day and he
showed me how to castrate pigs,and I had some friends.
That bought some pigs from melater on.
(28:57):
Who?
Then?
They're Sal Faron, and so theyhad some piglets and so now it
was a matter of they needed tolearn how to castrate pigs.
Now I could have been a jerk andbe like, watch YouTube videos,
or I had little figured out whywould I do that?
Jack was kind enough to show mehow, so you know what I did?
(29:20):
I went up to my buddy's houseand I showed him how to do it.
Uh, it's not the most pleasantthing in the world to do, and
there's a lot of different waysyou can do it, just to be frank.
I shouldn't say a lot ofdifferent ways, but there's
several different ways that youcan do it.
But I went up there and I showedhim, Passed it on.
I paid it forward because therewas one point in time in my life
(29:41):
when I didn't know how tocastrate pigs.
Quite honestly.
It's a skill I'd rather notknow.
I don't think there's anybodythat enjoys that process.
If you do, you, it's sick,twisted son of a gun.
But no, it's something that Ilearned and so I passed it on
and I'm just simply saying thatas we learn skills, we acquire
knowledge, help somebody elsealong the way, and just
(30:07):
understand that you don't knowit all.
You're never gonna know it all.
And if you think you know itall, you are a fool.
There's always something else tolearn.
It's a new way to learn.
And you know what?
Sometimes folks are gonna dothings differently than you do.
They may not necessarily buyinto the same philosophies that
(30:29):
you do.
They may go down a differentroad than you're going down.
God bless'em.
You know what?
It might work.
You know what?
It might not work.
And if it doesn't work, don't bea jerk about it.
Ah, I told Jada, why, why bethat way?
(30:51):
Just try to help'em learn fromtheir mistakes, encourage them
to get back up to try it again,to keep on going.
And the other thing is this.
Sometimes you run across stuffand, and folks, this is a
growing edge for me.
I'll just be honest with you,but you don't have to jump into
everything.
(31:13):
There's sometimes there arepeople who post things that
they're just seeking attention.
Scroll on by.
There are other people who maybethey've got an opinion about a
topic that's different thanyours.
Sometimes it's best just toscroll on by.
Other times, maybe there's anopportunity to have a dialogue
(31:35):
with somebody to try tounderstand why they have that
perspective.
But if you start seeing thingsgo off the rails, just let it
be, keep in mind, homestead isnot a competition.
There's not any prize forworld's best homesteader.
(31:57):
It's not a race, not like whocan get there bigger, faster, et
cetera.
No, it's just a way of livingwhere hopefully today, I'm a
little bit more self-sufficient,self-reliant and sustainable
(32:17):
than I was yesterday and whatother people think.
And what other people say andwhat other people are doing.
Does it really matter if I'mfinding joy and I'm generating
the things that I need and Iwant, and if my soul is filled
and my soul is fed, doesanything else really matter?
(32:41):
I don't think so.
But what do you think?
Reach out to me, Brian, at thehomestead journey.net.
I would love to hear from you.
You can also find us on all ofthe socials links are in the
show notes.
Folks, it's gonna be a busy weekhere on the homestead.
I'm looking forward to theSouthern Adirondack Homestead
(33:02):
Festival.
if you are up here in the greatNortheast.
And you've got next weekendfree.
I'd love to meet you in person,but if not, don't forget, we'll
be going live.
And so you're going to be ableto hear from some of the
attendees, some of the speakers.
(33:23):
If this all works out well, Ithink it's gonna be a good time.
So if you can't make it inperson, show up for the lives.
And see what's going on here inbeautiful upstate New York.
Until next time, everybody, asalways, keep up the good work.
I'm your host Brian Wells, and I'm a fourth
generation homesteader Since2008, my family and I have been
homesteading here in beautifulupstate New York.
In 2019, I launched theHomestead Journey podcast.
To help people just like you getstarted and find success on
their journey towardsself-sufficiency, self-reliance,
(00:24):
and sustainability.
This is the Homestead journey,and this is season four.
Well, hello everyone andwelcome, welcome, welcome,
welcome to another episode ofthe Homestead Journey podcast.
My name is Brian Wells.
(00:46):
I am coming to you from three BFarm and Homestead here in
beautiful upstate New York, andthis is episode number 156 of
the Homestead Journey Podcast.
And as I record this, today isMother's Day.
So first of all, let me startout by wishing all of the
(01:10):
mothers who listen to thispodcast, let me wish you all a
very happy Mother's Day.
I had the opportunity, theprivilege, the blessing today to
spend time with my mom and ofcourse with Bonnie, and I don't
take that lightly.
There were many, many yearswhere, because of where we were
located geographically, I wasunable to spend time with my
(01:34):
mother on Mother's Day.
And so certainly it is ablessing to be able to do that.
Actually, yesterday evening wewent out for dinner and then
today we had dinner at my momand dad's homestead, the humming
bee homestead, and it was just aa wonderful time.
My dad and I and Brian, Jay, wecooked.
(01:58):
So far, nobody has, uh, fallenill, so I, we'll, we'll take
that as a win.
But again, just a, a greatopportunity, a blessing to be
able to spend time with them.
And actually just thinking aboutsome things that my mom taught
me over the years.
Yes, mom, I, I, I did payattention.
(02:18):
Maybe you didn't think I was atthe time, but I, I did pay
attention.
And that actually is a littlebit of the background for what
we're gonna be talking about asthe main topic today on the
charting the core segment.
And really, it all boils down tobe kind, be nice.
And sometimes in thehomesteading sphere, I see
(02:40):
people being really, reallynasty to each other.
And so today, in honor ofMother's Day and in particular
in honor of my mom, I'm gonnajust maybe remind you of some
things, and I know I, I know I'mpreaching to the choir here
because I know that the peoplewho listen to my podcast are not
(03:00):
nasty people.
Okay.
No nasty people listen to thispodcast.
No, I think all of us though, wedo need a reminder every once in
a while to be nice.
And so anyhow, we're gonna talkabout that.
But before we do, let's jump onover to this week's Homestead
Happenings, because folks, man,It was a busy week, both on and
(03:22):
off to Homestead and I am soexcited to share with you what
we've got going on here on threeB Farm and Homestead.
So buckle up and let's jump onover to this week's Homestead
Happenings.
(03:42):
Well, certainly it was a busyweek here lots of stuff going
on, particularly around thegarden.
And when I talk.
Around the garden.
I mean that both figurativelyand literally.
So I spent quite a bit of timethis week moving wood chips.
I really put aside plantinggarden because the raised beds
had just really gotten a lot ofweeds around them.
(04:02):
And so I think I mentioned lastweek that I had, I.
We'd whacked that down to bearEarth and this week I just moved
up load after load after load ofwood chips and then I've got
that all leveled out and I'vegot the fence up now around the,
the raised beds and it justlooks so much nicer and I'm just
(04:22):
getting excited to, to be ableto get out there and get.
Things planted.
I, I actually didn't getanything more planted this
weekend just because of thewhole, uh, laundry list of other
things that I, I ended up doinghere on the homestead.
But I, I do feel like I've setmyself up for success up there,
and so hopefully, it will looknicer.
(04:44):
So if it looks nicer, I'm, I'mgonna wanna spend more time up
there that, that's at least whatI'm, that's my story and I'm
sticking to it.
Also spent some time in the RuthStout bed.
I had shared with you that wehad used some pigs to till the
land and then I had leveled itout and this week I got some
mulk and got that spread out.
So that's already for us toplant.
(05:06):
So just a lot of planting aheadof us here in the near future.
But I'm also glad that Iresisted the urge to put out
anything that was tender or toplant things that might be frost
sensitive.
Because we have had up here whatsome people might refer to as
fake.
(05:26):
Other people might refer to asfault spring, and some people
might refer to it as, FoolsSpring because what happens is
we get these nice.
Beautiful days of 70 degreeseven up into the eighties, and
things are starting to green upand people are thinking, okay,
great.
(05:47):
Let me get out there and let meget stuff planted in the garden.
But no, no, no, no, no, folks,it's way, I don't wanna say way
too early for that, becausetomorrow's gonna be May 15th.
May 15th is really our lastaverage frost date in my area.
And you might remember onepisode 1 54, I talked about how
(06:09):
your U S D A Hardiness zonedoesn't matter.
What's important is knowing yourlast.
Average frost date.
And so for us, our last averagefrost date is the 15th of May,
but looking ahead in theforecast on Wednesday, it is
supposed to get down to 33degrees, which means.
(06:32):
Until that has passed.
I certainly don't wanna put outanything that is going to be
frost sensitive.
And in fact, what I'm doingright now, I'm in the process of
hardening off my plants, and soI won't be planning anything
that's frost sensitive untilafter the Southern Adirondack
Home Setting Festival, just tobe on the safe side, but also
(06:53):
because, it's gonna be a busy,busy week getting ready for
that.
So why put myself under anyother pressure where we might
end up having to cover raisedbeds and stuff like that?
Nope.
I'm just gonna wait until nextweek when hopefully the threat
of frost is passed As I said, Ihave started hardening off my
(07:16):
vegetables.
I actually had not gotten aroundto fitting things out a little
bit late to the game on that.
So what I decided to try doingthis year with my tomatoes that
I thinned out is just trying to.
Put them in some soil and seeingif I can get them to root.
Now, tomatoes are something thatreally do well with that.
(07:36):
If you've ever looked at atomato plant, you'll see all of
these little hairs on the sideof the tomato plants.
And what happens with those isif the conditions are right,
those will actually turn intoroots, which is why it's really
recommended that you planttomato plants.
Deep because those little hairsare going to develop a nice,
(07:58):
healthy root system, which willfeed your tomato plant and will
help it produce even, uh, a moreabundant harvest.
And so I'm just rolling thedice.
I would normally throw thosethings out.
So I just took another tray,filled up some cups with some
potting soil, popped those downin there, and we'll see what we
get.
(08:18):
But it's always an experimentand it's always fun to try those
things out.
This week I also got the farmtruck running again.
That's the good news.
Well, I guess the good news isalso the thing that was wrong
with it is that the MAP sensor,don't ask me what MAP stands
for.
I think it's manifold airpressure sensor, but don't hold
(08:41):
me to that.
But that is the reason why mytruck was running really, really
rough and it was running really,really rich and it was
backfiring out the intake.
And so, I swapped that out.
It was like a$50 part, and boy,I'm back in business, got power,
took it for a drive around theblock, really, really happy
(09:02):
about it.
Get home and the thing wassmoking like a 4th of July
barbecue grill.
Said What in the world's goingon?
Well, when I had it up to mybuddy's place.
My buddy Mark, who you mightremember from my episode, he and
my buddy Chad were the ones thatI talked through what I should
buy with regards to a farmtruck.
And he took a look at it whileit was running rough and he
(09:24):
said, Brian, um, it looks likeyou've got a.
Leaky rear main seal.
Now the rear main seal is theseal between the engine and the
transmission.
And while it seems like it'smore than just a leaky, uh, rear
main seal, it's like a gushyrear main seal.
(09:45):
So that is not a job that I'mgoing to tackle.
I just don't have the, I don'thave the equipment for it.
And so I'm gonna have to take itto my mechanic and have them do
it.
No idea what it's gonna run me.
Uh, but that's the joy of an oldfarm truck, right?
Uh, I bought the truck so Icould work on it, and maybe I
(10:05):
should just suck it up buttercupand do the work myself, but,
It's just the wrong time of theyear for me to tackle a project
like that.
Again, I really don't have theequipment for it.
Transmission stands, I don'thave a lift, so it would be a
pain in the neck to do it, andit would be kind of dangerous
for me to do it, so I'm gonna.
Take it to a professional, havea professional do it for me, and
(10:28):
then we'll see what othergremlins we find.
But anyhow, at least the farmtruck is running again, and I am
very, very happy about that, butvery, very sad that I'm gonna
have to sink some money into arear main seal.
Last thing I wanted to sharewith you is that, This week I
got a battery powered chainsaw.
(10:50):
Now, you might remember back onan episode, I don't, it was
several years ago.
Don't remember exactly whatepisode number it was.
I was not thrilled with the ideaof battery powered lawn tools.
I.
And to be frank, I still am notconvinced that they are a good
fit, especially from agovernment mandate perspective.
(11:11):
I think for Joe Blow, ahomeowner who might be cutting
down a tree every once in awhile, A battery powered
chainsaw might be a good thingthat, in fact, that's the reason
why I got that, because with agas powered chainsaw, they sit
around, the carbs gunk up andthey're a, a, a bit of a pain in
(11:33):
the butt, but, When I thinkabout arborists or I think about
people who do landscaping for aliving, I'm still not convinced
that batteries are at the spotto where you can charge them
quickly enough without having tohave tons and tons of batteries
(11:54):
or very expensive batteries thatare gonna hold the charge for a
while.
So still not convinced that forthat application, The technology
is there.
I might be wrong, been wrongbefore, I'll be wrong again in
the future.
But for me, Joe Blow homeowner,who is going to use a chainsaw
every once in a great while, Ithink a battery powered chainsaw
(12:19):
and maybe a battery power weedwhacker.
Um, they're, they're gonna,they're gonna make sense.
Uh, and they're, they'restarting to get into that spot
from a, from a financialperspective where they made
sense.
I went ahead and got a DeWaltbecause I already.
Live in the DeWalt land.
I have, I have a bunch of DeWaltbattery powered, drills and saws
(12:43):
and, and things of that nature.
And this uses the same batterytype, so it's a 20 volt battery.
It's in that same family.
And so it just made sense for meto stay.
In that area, in the DeWaltchainsaw does have very, very
good reviews, and I can tellyou, having used it this weekend
(13:04):
to cut down a tree and to cut upa tree, it works very, very
well.
Now I did go ahead and buy thechainsaw with the five amp power
battery.
And the reason why I did that isbecause the other batteries that
I have are two amp powerbatteries, and I felt like I
would have to be swapping thoseout a lot, even though they
(13:25):
technically will work with thesaw.
It's just not gonna give you thenumber of cuts that I might
want, even the little bit thatI'm going to use it.
So I did get the five amp hourbattery.
So glad I did.
It worked like a champ.
I dropped, I don't know, it'sprobably, um, it was probably a
10 to 12 inch in diameter tree,so we're not talking a giant
(13:50):
Sequoia, but it was still alarger than a sapling.
And with a 12 inch bar, I wasable to, Um, drop that tree and
drop it exactly where I wantedit.
So I, I was very, very pleasedwith myself, uh, and I was also
very pleased with theperformance of the chainsaw.
Now, of course, it wouldn't beme running a chainsaw without
(14:13):
getting the bar stuck in.
Uh, uh, in, in the tree I was, Iwas, uh, going to cut up some of
the limbs and it shifted.
And of course now the bar'spinched, and so I had to go get
my reciprocating saw my saw saw,and um, cut out the chainsaw
because that's just how I roll.
(14:35):
Every time I use a chainsaw, Ialways pinch the bar.
Yeah.
So I guess I gotta, I, I mean,that's why I don't have a beard
and I don't wear flannel.
I'm not a lumberjack.
Anyhow, I was overall very, veryhappy with that saw, and we'll
see how it, it continues to workfor me in the future.
(14:56):
Have a few other saplings thatneed to, to come down around the
property and so once I get thegarden in, probably start doing
some tidying up.
But again, very happy with it.
So all of that to say folks,Very busy week here on the
homestead.
A lot of good stuff going on,and I'm just looking forward as
we look forward to garden season2023.
(15:16):
Really ramping up.
Just trying to remind myself,Brian, it's been fools
springing.
It's been fools springing.
It's been fools springing.
You're not as far behind as whatyou feel.
And even if you are, it is whatit is.
We'll get planted.
What we get planted.
We'll harvest what we canharvest, and we'll just have to
be okay doing the best we canwith what we've got to work
(15:38):
with.
So that's what's been going onhere on three B four.
I'm in Homestead.
I hope things are well whereveryou are at.
Before we jump on over to thisweek's charting the course, I
did want to let you know alittle bit about this coming
weekend.
So this coming weekend, uh, May19th, 20th, and 21st is going to
be the Southern Adirondack HomeSetting Festival here in
(16:01):
beautiful, upstate New York.
And if you live in this area,And you are interested.
We do have weekend passes stillavailable.
We have day passes stillavailable.
If you're interested at all inchecking that out, head on over
to the homesteadjourney.net/festival.
You'll be able to, uh, see the,the list of speakers, the
(16:21):
timeframes, and also to be ableto buy tickets there if you are
interested in attending.
But what I'm also going to bedoing, hopefully, fingers
crossed I'm gonna be able topull this off, is I am planning
on going live both Saturday, sothat'll be May 20th, and then on
Sunday, May 21st at noon Easterntime.
(16:45):
And I have set up an event onFacebook.
So if you are interested I'mgoing to be streaming it live on
Facebook now.
I, I would love to try to streamit live to Facebook and to
YouTube.
I just don't think the computerI have is gonna be able to
handle that.
I also am not 100% sure that thebandwidth I'm going to have to
(17:05):
work with would support that.
So this year, just trying tokeep things simple.
We're just going to go live onFacebook for sure.
Well, when I say for sure,fingers crossed that I can get
everything all set up andworking the way, but I'm
planning on going live onSaturday and on Sunday from noon
(17:25):
Eastern until one o'clock.
I am also hoping to maybe throwin a few other lives, just kind
of on the fly as we gothroughout the weekend.
So maybe Friday night I might beable to pull it off maybe
Saturday night.
We'll just have to see howthings go.
I'm hoping to also get someinterviews while I'm there.
(17:48):
For future episodes.
And I am also going to take bothof those lives and I am planning
on turning those into futureepisodes as well.
So if you miss the lives or youdon't like Facebook, or you're
not on Facebook, don't worry,you're not gonna miss out.
Those will be future episodes,probably edited, but uh, those
(18:11):
will be available in the future.
So if you can't make it to thelives, certainly don't.
Don't panic, they'll, they'll beavailable in the future.
I'm also fingers crossed, hopingto record both of my talks that
I'll be giving.
I'm gonna be giving a talk, akeynote, uh, on what is home
studying and why does it matter.
(18:32):
And then I'm also gonna betalking about chickens.
And so, uh, I'm hopeful thatI'll be able to record both of
those and those will becomefuture.
Episodes of content here on thepodcast, but all of that to say,
my guess is that next week aftera busy, busy weekend, I, I'd
(18:54):
love to say, There's gonna be anepisode, or the episode might be
a day late.
My guess is there's not gonna bean episode next week.
My guess is I'm just gonna be sobeat.
I'm gonna come home, I'm gonnacollapse on the couch, and
that's gonna be all she wrote.
So, uh, if there's an episode,there's an episode.
If there's not, there's not,please bear with me.
(19:16):
Please have patience, butcertainly there will be the
lives available.
Just in case you have to havethat Homestead Journey Podcast
fix.
All right.
All of that said, let's jump onover to this week's charting the
course, and let's talk aboutbeing kind one to another.
Here we go.
(19:43):
So as I was scrolling throughsome of the home setting groups
on Facebook, and, and to befrank, I don't do that much
anymore.
I, I was struck by the number oftimes where people would post
something along the lines of, Ihave a question, please be kind,
or, I have a question.
Please don't judge me.
(20:04):
I thought how sad it is thatpeople cannot come to a forum, a
Facebook group, where there is alot of knowledge that they can
draw from, and yet they cannotdo it in a way where they're.
(20:27):
Not afraid of being ridiculedand made fun of and people just
being jerks.
To me, that's so sad because abig part of homesteading is
community and unfortunatelythere are a lot of people who
don't have the physicalcommunity that I've been
(20:51):
blessed.
To, to have, they don't have a,mom and dad that support them
They don't have family that theygrew up in who have been willing
to pass on the, the knowledgeand the skills They don't have
the.
The, the network of friends thathave been willing to show them
(21:13):
how to castrate pigs like mybuddy Jack Rowland showed me,
They just don't have thatcommunity.
And so they come into theseFacebook groups looking for
that.
And unfortunately, a lot oftimes what they find is they
find vitriol, they findmeanness, they find unkindness.
(21:33):
And today in the spirit ofMother's Day and in the spirit
of saying, Hey, mom.
I did hear what you were sayingwhen I was growing up.
I haven't always put it intopractice, but I did hear what
you were saying.
Let's just talk about a fewthings.
So the first thing I want us toremember is that their journey
(21:57):
is not our journey.
When you look at what somebody'swanting to do on their
homestead, and maybe they'redesiring to go off grid and
you're like, that's crazy.
Or maybe they're not gonna gooff grid and you think they
should go off grid, whatever itis, just keep in mind that their
journey is not our journey.
(22:20):
In fact, I was talking to afriend of mine today at church
and we were talking more in thecontext of what it means to be a
farm.
Now they have a homestead.
In fact, they've bought somepigs from me and they're going
to be getting a family milk cowthis week.
And they have, uh, meat birdsright now out on pasture.
Like they're doing the thingsand they're learning skills and
(22:41):
they're trying to pass thoseskills on and share those skills
with other people as they'vebeen learning things.
And she was telling me how whenshe talks to people, she always
feels like she has to qualifywhat their farm is because so
many people think that unlessyou have 800 cows or a thousand
(23:02):
cows that you're milking, you'renot a real farm.
And in fact, both she and herhusband grew up on.
I, I believe on dairy farms oraround dairy farms like that.
And so even they have a hardtime wrapping their heads around
that.
What they're doing really is, isfarming and they don't need to
qualify it.
(23:23):
They don't need to make excusesfor the reason why they do the
things that they do.
Because their journey is notanybody else's journey.
Now they're getting a familymilk cow this week.
Guess who has no desire to havea family?
Milk cow.
(23:43):
This guy right here?
Yeah, me.
I have no desire to have afamily milk cow.
Now, I'm not saying that I willnever have a family milk cow,
but right now, that's not partof my journey.
I don't think it will ever be apart of my journey.
I'm excited for them, but that'snot my journey.
That's their journey, and so I'mgonna cheer'em on.
(24:06):
I'm not gonna say you're crazyfor getting a family milk cow.
Do you realize how much is gonnatie you down and how much it
work?
No.
Why would I do that?
I'm gonna encourage them.
Because that's their journey.
It's not my journey.
And so when you see people goinga route that's different than
you, or they're doing thingsdifferently than what you would
do them, just keep in mind thatthey're on a different path or
(24:29):
maybe they're on a differentstep of the same path, but it
doesn't matter.
Your journey is not theirjourney and their journey is not
your journey.
The second thing I would say is,Your self-sufficiency is
different than theirself-sufficiency.
Now what do I mean by that?
Well, as you might remember,way, way, way, way back in the
(24:49):
day as I was talking about whatit means to Homestead, and in
fact if you look at this logoright here, those three S's,
which look like a path, youknow, signifying a journey, but
it's three S's.
Self-sufficiency, self-relianceand sustainability.
Now you might remember I talkedabout self-sufficiency, meaning
stuff, the things that we canraise, grow, produce, and or
(25:12):
process on our homestead.
Self-reliance speaks to skills.
Do I have the skills necessaryto raise, grow, produce, and or
process the stuff that I need?
And sustainability speaks tosystems.
Do I have systems in placewhereby with minimal to no
off-farm, off homestead inputs,I can apply my skills to raise,
grow, produce, and or processthe stuff that I need?
(25:35):
Well, the stuff that you need.
And the stuff that I need areprobably going to be two totally
different sets of stuff.
The things that are important toyou may be different than what's
important to me.
Going back to my friends,they're getting a family milk
cow.
For them, having their own dairyis important.
(25:58):
So what's self-sufficiency tothem is different than what is
self-sufficiency to me.
And that's okay.
What's important to you isprobably gonna be different than
what's important to me.
And what's important to me mightbe different than what's
important to you.
And you know what?
It might change over time.
(26:19):
As you know, I'm in the processof getting out of pigs.
Why am I getting out of pigs?
Well, I'm getting out of pigs inpart because we have been
transitioning to theMediterranean diet and we don't
need the pork.
So why raise pigs?
I don't need to raise pigs to bea homesteader, right?
That part of self-sufficiency isno longer a part of my journey,
(26:41):
and you're going to have thoseebbs and flows and it's all
good.
So when.
You see somebody generating ortry attempting to generate
something that maybe you thinkis foolish.
So what?
What's important to them isdifferent than what's important
to you.
And maybe you look at somebodyand you say, well, why aren't
you doing this?
And why aren't you growing this?
(27:02):
And why aren't you generatingthis?
Maybe it's not important tothem.
Or again, going back to what Isaid before, maybe they're on a
different step on their journey.
It's okay.
Their self-sufficiency isdifferent than your
self-sufficiency.
Your self-sufficiency isdifferent than their
self-sufficiency.
What they need and want isprobably different than what you
(27:24):
need and or want, and it's allgood.
The third thing I would say isthis.
You don't know at all.
You don't know at all.
And what you do know, keep inmind.
This what you do know at onepoint in your life you didn't
know at one point in your life,somebody shared with you the
(27:47):
knowledge that you now currentlyhave.
Now, maybe you've learned itthrough the school of hard
knocks, okay?
But even learning it through theschool of hard knocks means that
at one point in time you didn'tknow what you know now.
And the other thing is, folks,there's more to learn.
You're never gonna knoweverything.
(28:08):
And I, I see so many times onthe home setting groups, people
who think that either A, theyknow it all, or B, they have no
desire to help other people.
All they wanna do is just standand mock and be like, well, I
learned it through the school ofhard knocks.
So you need to learn the hardlesson.
Why B, that way, why, why, whybe that way?
(28:35):
If you're further on down theroad than somebody else, pass on
what you've been given, pass onwhat you've been blessed with.
Pay it forward.
You know, my buddy Jack Rowlin,he came here one day and he
showed me how to castrate pigs,and I had some friends.
That bought some pigs from melater on.
(28:57):
Who?
Then?
They're Sal Faron, and so theyhad some piglets and so now it
was a matter of they needed tolearn how to castrate pigs.
Now I could have been a jerk andbe like, watch YouTube videos,
or I had little figured out whywould I do that?
Jack was kind enough to show mehow, so you know what I did?
(29:20):
I went up to my buddy's houseand I showed him how to do it.
Uh, it's not the most pleasantthing in the world to do, and
there's a lot of different waysyou can do it, just to be frank.
I shouldn't say a lot ofdifferent ways, but there's
several different ways that youcan do it.
But I went up there and I showedhim, Passed it on.
I paid it forward because therewas one point in time in my life
(29:41):
when I didn't know how tocastrate pigs.
Quite honestly.
It's a skill I'd rather notknow.
I don't think there's anybodythat enjoys that process.
If you do, you, it's sick,twisted son of a gun.
But no, it's something that Ilearned and so I passed it on
and I'm just simply saying thatas we learn skills, we acquire
knowledge, help somebody elsealong the way, and just
(30:07):
understand that you don't knowit all.
You're never gonna know it all.
And if you think you know itall, you are a fool.
There's always something else tolearn.
It's a new way to learn.
And you know what?
Sometimes folks are gonna dothings differently than you do.
They may not necessarily buyinto the same philosophies that
(30:29):
you do.
They may go down a differentroad than you're going down.
God bless'em.
You know what?
It might work.
You know what?
It might not work.
And if it doesn't work, don't bea jerk about it.
Ah, I told Jada, why, why bethat way?
(30:51):
Just try to help'em learn fromtheir mistakes, encourage them
to get back up to try it again,to keep on going.
And the other thing is this.
Sometimes you run across stuffand, and folks, this is a
growing edge for me.
I'll just be honest with you,but you don't have to jump into
everything.
(31:13):
There's sometimes there arepeople who post things that
they're just seeking attention.
Scroll on by.
There are other people who maybethey've got an opinion about a
topic that's different thanyours.
Sometimes it's best just toscroll on by.
Other times, maybe there's anopportunity to have a dialogue
(31:35):
with somebody to try tounderstand why they have that
perspective.
But if you start seeing thingsgo off the rails, just let it
be, keep in mind, homestead isnot a competition.
There's not any prize forworld's best homesteader.
(31:57):
It's not a race, not like whocan get there bigger, faster, et
cetera.
No, it's just a way of livingwhere hopefully today, I'm a
little bit more self-sufficient,self-reliant and sustainable
(32:17):
than I was yesterday and whatother people think.
And what other people say andwhat other people are doing.
Does it really matter if I'mfinding joy and I'm generating
the things that I need and Iwant, and if my soul is filled
and my soul is fed, doesanything else really matter?
(32:41):
I don't think so.
But what do you think?
Reach out to me, Brian, at thehomestead journey.net.
I would love to hear from you.
You can also find us on all ofthe socials links are in the
show notes.
Folks, it's gonna be a busy weekhere on the homestead.
I'm looking forward to theSouthern Adirondack Homestead
(33:02):
Festival.
if you are up here in the greatNortheast.
And you've got next weekendfree.
I'd love to meet you in person,but if not, don't forget, we'll
be going live.
And so you're going to be ableto hear from some of the
attendees, some of the speakers.
(33:23):
If this all works out well, Ithink it's gonna be a good time.
So if you can't make it inperson, show up for the lives.
And see what's going on here inbeautiful upstate New York.
Until next time, everybody, asalways, keep up the good work.
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