September 12, 2023 • 24 mins
This past weekend, I had the privilege of helping Jack Pollner put on the Fall Gathering of the Homesteaders of New England. What a great time!!! On this episode I share with you about the event, including 6 lessons I've (re)learned by attending the event. Enjoy!!
Brian
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
I'm your host, Brian Wells.
And I'm a fourth generationhomesteader.
Since 2008, my family and I havebeen homesteading here.
Beautiful upstate 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.
His season four.
Well, hello everyone.
And welcome back.
To another episode of thehomestead journey podcast.
So excited to be back here inbeautiful upstate New York after
(00:45):
a weekend, over in beautifulSouthern New Hampshire.
But as always, my name is BrianWells and I am coming to you
from.
Three before I'm at homestead.
Here in beautiful upstate NewYork.
This is season four, and this isepisode number 167.
(01:07):
Of the homestead journeypodcast.
If you were brand new to thepodcast, Welcome.
Welcome.
Welcome.
I am so glad.
that you have decided to make mea part of your day.
And I do hope that you find.
This podcast.
Helpful.
If there's any way that I can beof help to you, any topics that
I haven't covered in the past?
That you would like to have mecover.
(01:30):
And this certainly doesn't justhold true for people who are new
to the podcast, but it also.
Holds true for those of you whohave been around for awhile.
Reach out to me.
brian@thehomesteadjourney.net ismy email address.
Or you can contact me on all ofthe social media.
accounts that we have links forin the show notes.
(01:50):
If you're a longtime listener,of course.
Welcome back.
So grateful to have you herewith us.
And today's episode is going tobe a little bit different than
what I have done in the past.
for a couple of reasons.
Number one for time constraints.
I'm trying to get this episoderecorded and edited in up.
a day late.
And a dollar short.
No.
(02:11):
A day later than I normally do.
And I have another meetingcoming up here at seven o'clock.
so I need to get this recordedand uploaded.
So this is going to be a shorterepisode.
that I normally do at least Ithink it will be.
And also, I'm not going to do ahomestead happening segment
(02:31):
other than to tell you.
That last Monday being laborday, Bonnie and I want kayaking.
I spent a number of daysprepping to go to the
homesteaders.
Of new England conference, whichwas this past weekend in
Greenfield, New Hampshire.
And so there really wasn't a lotto tell you about with regards
to, what's been going here onthe homestead simply because
(02:53):
other than trying to keep bodyand soul together, And joined
some of the provisions from thegarden and then trying to keep
body and soul together with myanimals.
There's not been a whole lotgoing on in the homestead simply
because we were prepping to goto homesteaders of new England.
And then we spent the weekendthere.
And so the focus of today'sepisode is going to be a bit of
(03:15):
a recap of home centers of newEngland.
And then also I'm going to sharewith you six things that I
learned, or maybe relearned.
Well, I was there at thehomesteaders of new England.
So on Friday.
Bonnie and I left earlyafternoon and headed on over to
(03:35):
a beautiful green field, NewHampshire, and a wound our way
up through the mountains ofSouthern Vermont.
And.
We arrived at Oak park where thehomesteaders of new England.
Fall gathering, took place.
Just before some.
Wicked weather settings.
(03:56):
I took over with me a 10 by 20tent that we had borrowed from
my sons.
Boy scout troop.
Or maybe I should say former boyscout troop, but anyhow, they
were gracious enough to lendthat to me.
Bonnie and I arrived inGreenfield again, just as that
weather was coming our way.
So we set that up very, veryquickly and were able to get it
(04:17):
set up and state down justbefore.
A series of thunderstorms rollthrough.
Don Bradner for a littlemountain life was there.
Helped me get it set up.
And then Jack headed home tobring his tractor.
Back to the event.
So while we were waiting forJack to come back with a
tractor, we were hanging outunderneath the pavilion.
(04:38):
As that first thunderstorm camein, as we're standing there,
looking out, we happened to see.
Jax easy up, start to kind oflift up off the ground in the
wind.
And so Don.
Made a mad dash for that.
I followed him.
Couldn't keep up.
I'm not in as good of shape asDon is.
Evidently.
And so we made it underneath thepop-up started holding it down
(05:02):
just to see lightning startflashing all around us.
And so Don kind of looks over atme and he says, well, Brian, If
we go out like this, it's beennice.
No one.
Yeah.
But anyhow, We were able tosurvive that first passing of
thunderstorms.
Another line of thunderstormscame in and Jack and Dawn
(05:23):
decided they would make a, alittle bit of a detour over to
the park to check on everythingbecause we had vendors that had
set up pop-up tents.
We had the big, huge tents.
That had been set up and as theywere pulling in and looking at
it, well, a big gust of windcame through and it literally
snapped.
The top of one of the anchors wehad some of those screw into the
(05:46):
ground.
Anchors it snapped the top ofone of those right off and flip
that 10 by 20 tent.
Right up on it top.
And so I get a text from Jackthat said something along the
lines of.
How partial are you to thattent?
And I'm like, oh my goodnesswhat's happened.
(06:07):
I said, did it flip over?
He said, yup.
Okay.
Is it mangled?
Nope.
I don't think there's anydamage.
What couldn't you have led withthat, Jack?
I mean, come on now.
I have a little bit of heart.
But anyhow, it survived the restof the tent survived.
And on Saturday we went aheadand kicked off the event and
(06:27):
really had fairly good weatherfor the day.
In fact, it was probably alittle bit on the hot side.
But no rain at all on Saturday,which was amazing considering
what the forecast.
W had been now on Sunday, it wasa bit of a different story on
Sunday.
We did have some more rain thatcame through, but it did come
through it, it felt like atoptimal times, When we would
(06:50):
have people under the tent,listening to the speakers and
really between speakers, peoplewere able to make their way from
one tent to another, if theywere going to switch, because we
did have two speaker tents goingthis year.
And they were able to do sorelatively in a dry manner.
With the exception, I think ofone of the breaks.
(07:11):
But overall the event went off.
W very, very well without ahitch.
There were a few little snafooshere and there, but overall it
just went so very, very well.
And just so grateful to all ofthe speakers that came, had a
great lineup of speakers.
I didn't get to hear everybodybecause there were times when I
(07:33):
was at one tent.
Hyping a speaker in there tokind of assist them.
And so I didn't hear what wasgoing on.
In the other tent, but the talksthat I did here were just
absolutely excellent.
And I really, really enjoyedthem.
Certainly it was great to seeJack and Jackie.
And their family from themindful homestead, Don Bradner
(07:55):
from little mountain life,always just an absolute pleasure
to hang out with them and torenew acquaintances and just
kind of pick up where we leftoff Emma, Jack and Jackie's
daughter just loves Bonnie.
But it certainly was just anabsolute pleasure and just a
great time hanging out with themand some of, of their friends
(08:17):
from, from back in the day andhearing some of the stories,
some of their college friends.
Just was an absolute, absoluteprivilege.
And it was just a joy.
And it certainly was great to,to see people who were at last
year's event, there were a fewpeople that had joined us for
the Southern Adirondack homesetting festival back.
(08:38):
In may who were there.
And so it was great to renewacquaintances with them.
I was able to see rich Giordanowho was just absolutely a
wonderful, wonderful guy.
A brilliant, brilliant man.
And so it was great to see himas well.
And then of course I had theopportunity to to meet some new
(08:58):
people.
I will have the opportunity tomeet some people that you may be
familiar with.
In fact, some of them, I knowyou are familiar with because
they've been on the podcastbefore and I've been on their
podcast.
And a, an example of that wouldbe Troy McClung from red tool
house, YouTube channel, and fromthe pastured pig podcast.
And I got to meet him and hiswife.
(09:19):
And their family, and that wasjust an absolute, wonderful,
wonderful time.
I was able to meet Alan Ginafrom lamina acres.
Great people just wonderfulpeople.
I can't say enough.
Good about them.
And had the opportunity to meetginger from Murray McMurray
hatchery.
Marie McMurry was the title.
(09:40):
Sponsor of the, I guess thepresenting sponsor of the
homesteaders of the Englandconference this year.
They were last year as well.
And getting to know her andspend some time with her was
just absolutely a joy as well.
I've got to spend a little bitof time with Morgan gold from
gold Shaw farm.
(10:01):
And Danny from wicked awesomegardening.
YouTube channel and Facebook.
And so it was great getting toknow and to renew acquaintances
with, with people like that.
But it was also great to be ableto sit down and to break bread
with other individuals, otherhomesteaders, maybe that don't
have a YouTube channel, Some ofthem might have a small YouTube
(10:23):
channel.
don't have a huge following.
But just such an honor and aprivilege to meet everybody and
to have conversations and toshare stories and to commiserate
one with another and to share inthe joys and successes.
And it just was such an awesome,awesome time.
And Bonnie and I ate lunch withsome people from the north shore
(10:46):
one day and we ate lunch withsome people that were from Rhode
Island.
The next day.
It just had really greatconversations and had great
interactions and.
It was just, it was just anabsolutely amazing, awesome
time.
And then just to hear frompeople who listen to the podcast
(11:07):
and for them to share with mehow much the podcast has meant
to them.
Um, certainly was a validationof why I do what I do.
And so thank you so much.
Thank you so much to everybodywho made the event.
As awesome as it was such a joyto be a part of that.
We got home late last night.
(11:28):
I think it was a little aftereight by nine o'clock.
I was in bed zonked out.
I was absolutely exhausted.
I think on Saturday with theexception of the lunch break.
I think I sat down a grand totalof probably 20 minutes
throughout the whole day.
I was on my feet on the go.
All day long and enjoyed everyminute of it.
(11:49):
But certainly it wore me plumout.
I'm certainly not as young as Iused to be.
And so definitely those kinds ofthings catch up to you.
Very very quickly.
But thank you so much toeveryone.
Attendees vendors, speakers,sponsors.
(12:09):
Who helped make homesteaders ofnew England, what it was this
year and for your continuedsupport to make it, to continue
to make it even better in yearsto come.
I'm already looking forward to.
Homesteaders of new England,2024.
So what I wanted to end withtoday is I want to just share
(12:31):
with you.
Six lessons or six things that Ilearned, or maybe you relearned
from being at the home centersof new England conference this
year.
The first thing I learned, andthis is a little bit tongue in
cheek, a little bit of a poke,maybe.
But that is that a New Hampshireisn't as free as I thought.
(12:56):
It's one of those things for meto live here in upstate New York
and have people tell me that Ilive in the calming state of, of
New York.
And sometimes it feels that way.
All of the regulations, the hightaxes, all of the, the nonsense
that we put up with.
And you kind of look and think,well, maybe the grass is greener
on the other side of the fenceand, and.
(13:17):
In all seriousness, there'sprobably a lot there, there are
probably a lot of ways where itis that way in New Hampshire,
but certainly it was veryinteresting to me.
As I listened to some of thetalks in particular, there was a
talk by the cooperativeextension from the university of
New Hampshire.
On selling.
(13:38):
Poultry.
Um, On breeding and sellingpoultry in New Hampshire.
And there actually were someregulations that they have that
we don't even have here in NewYork state.
And so that kind of left mechuckling a little bit.
And then we also had a greatpanel discussion led by Don from
porcupine real estate.
And then w members of that wereMorgan from gold Shaw farm and
(14:01):
Danny from a wicked awesomegardening.
That was focused on buying landin new England.
And because Dom is licensed inNew Hampshire, it really was
focused heavily.
With regards to that.
And again, hearing some of thegotchas, the land use
restrictions.
(14:22):
Zoning regulations and so forththat can be found in New
Hampshire.
It's one of those things that Iwas reminded that wherever you
go there you are.
And so the grass is not alwaysgreener on the other side.
Of the fence.
The second thing I was remindedof is the more local the event
is to you.
I think the more valuable theinformation you're going to get.
(14:46):
And again, a great example ofthat was the panel discussion on
buying land for your home setnow?
Well, there certainly was a lotof information, a great
information to take away fromthat talk that would apply to
buying a homestead anywhere yougo.
Certainly though.
The information.
Was more helpful and more, moreuseful.
(15:09):
To people who are looking to buyland in New Hampshire.
Because again, that's where Domis a licensed real estate agent.
And it would be very, verydifficult nigh unto impossible
to bring in somebody who couldspeak to that in every state.
Within new England.
And then when you go to aconference like homesteaders of
(15:32):
America, which reallyencompasses all of the United
States, Maybe even Canada andMexico, and I don't even know
where else they've got peoplethat come from.
But then to get somebody thatcan speak to the minutia, the
nitty-gritty.
Maybe gotchas that you need tothink about that might pertain
to the area that you're lookingat.
(15:52):
It becomes even more difficult.
And so that's why I think theseregional events are so very
important.
Because the more localized itis, the more meaningful it's
going to be.
To you.
And so I was really reminded ofthat fact.
This past weekend, the thirdthing that I learned this past
(16:13):
weekend.
Is that the UNH cooperativeextension is looking to put
together a comprehensive,website and program specifically
geared to homesteaders.
And that's something that.
I at least I'm not aware of withcooperative extensions.
In the states near where I am.
(16:34):
And now if you live in a statewhere they have a comprehensive
program, For home settersthrough the cooperative
extension, I would love to hearabout that and I will certainly
make people aware of thatthrough.
Whatever means I can, because Ithink it's very, very important
that people have access.
To those kinds of resources, butUNH cooperative extension
(16:56):
certainly has.
Identified that as a gap.
And so what they're doing iswhile they have a lot of things
that would be helpful tohomesteaders, it's kind of
siloed.
And they're trying to pull allof that together and connect the
dots to really help people whowere brand new to homesteading
know how to homestead wellwithin New Hampshire and how to
(17:19):
be able to access the resourcesthat maybe they need in order to
find success.
And I think any kind of programlike that.
Is going to be very, verybeneficial to homesteading in
the long run.
And so I'm very excited to seehow that grows, how that morphs.
I spoke to the gentleman who isleading that effort.
(17:42):
And one of the things right nowis they really don't know what
they don't know.
And so if you're a homesteaderin New Hampshire and there are
resources.
That you would like to see orthat you would like to have
available to you?
Reach out to them.
Reach out to the UNH cooperativeextension.
(18:02):
And just let them know.
I'm excited to see how it grows.
In New Hampshire and looking tosee if maybe we can use that as
a pattern or a template to dothe same thing here in New York
state.
The fourth thing that I learned.
And I, and.
I want to say learned relearned,but I was reminded of.
(18:23):
Is that there are always newrabbit holes to go down.
It doesn't matter how longyou've been doing this folks.
There are always new things tolearn and.
You go to events like this,Whether it's homesteaders of new
England or the SouthernAdirondack homesteading festival
or homesteaders of America orwhatever it is.
(18:45):
And there's always something newto learn about.
And a new rabbit trails topursue.
And so for me, Two of the bigones that I came away with was
to explore again.
heritage meat, birds, gingerfrom Murray McMurry gave a
really, really excellentpresentation on hybrid versus
(19:08):
heritage.
Meat birds.
And really piqued my interestwith regards to a few varieties
that I had not reallyconsidered, not really thought
about.
And so I'm thinking about maybeexploring those will.
I, I don't know, but it'sdefinitely a rabbit hole that
I'm thinking about.
Heading down how far I go downthat rabbit hole.
(19:30):
Still remains to be seen.
But it certainly was a very,very interesting talk.
The second thing.
Is something that I'm aware of.
I actually was introduced toback at the sharkutery event
that I went to with.
With Jack that was led byMeredith Lee, who you might
remember.
From being on the podcast acouple of years ago.
(19:51):
But was Koji fermentation Had anexcellent presentation on that
at the event this past weekend.
And so it's something that I'minterested in exploring a little
further, how far I go down thatrabbit hole.
I don't know.
But I was just reminded thatthere's always something new to
learn.
There's always something new todiscover and.
(20:15):
Those were two of the thingsthat really stuck out to me.
The fifth thing that I wasreminded of, this past weekend,
at the fall gathering ofhomesteaders of new England.
Is that hearing other people'sstories is inspiring.
One of the things that I justreally, really enjoyed this
(20:37):
weekend was sitting in chattingwith other homesteaders and
hearing their stories, hearinghow they had gotten into
homesteading hearing about themistakes they'd made along the
way, hearing about the successesthat they had had.
And all of that just reallyserved to inspire me,
reinvigorate me and send me backhere to three B farm and
(20:58):
homestead just re-energized tokeep.
Doing what I'm doing.
And I think.
That's probably.
The best reason to go to theseevents.
It's one thing to chat withpeople online.
And I'm not discounting that.
But it's such a different thing.
(21:19):
When you are sitting with peopleacross the picnic table.
And joining tacos and joinedchips.
And just chatting about howpeople have gotten to where
they're at and where they planon going next.
And.
Having people ask me aboutthings that I have learned along
the way.
(21:40):
And just making thoseconnections.
It's just so inspiringreinvigorating and I just
absolutely enjoyed.
That part of it.
But I would also say.
That I came away reminded that Ineed to homestead.
(22:01):
For the stage of life that I'mat being careful that I don't do
too much, that I don't go downtoo many rabbit holes, knowing
when to say yes, knowing when tosay no, knowing when to start
things, knowing when to quitthings, knowing when to put
things.
On pause.
All of those things are so veryvitally important in order for
(22:24):
somebody to have successlong-term as a homesteader.
And so I certainly was remindedof that again, this past
weekend.
So totally enjoyed thehomesteaders of the wingless
fall gathering this year.
And I am so excited about theone in 2024.
I hope, but if you are in thegreat Northeast, if you miss
(22:46):
this one, don't miss next.
Year's.
Mark and on your calendar thesecond full weekend in
September, you're not going towant to miss it.
And of course, Coming up inApril of 2024, there will be the
Southern Adirondack homesteadingfestival.
And so if you want to be a partof that as well, we'd love to
(23:07):
have you.
And if you don't live in thegreat Northeast, my
recommendation to you is tofind.
As close to you as possible.
Homesteady new vent.
So that you can make thoseconnections.
Because, as I said before, Thecloser that event is to where
(23:28):
you live.
I think the more valuable theinformation, because it's going
to just have greater focus.
In the area that you're at.
In my opinion, if it's donecorrectly.
And certainly I felt like Jackdid it right.
Once again.
So folks, that's it for thisepisode of the home set journey
(23:48):
podcast.
I hope you've enjoyed it.
I hope it's inspired you.
To go find a home settingconference.
If there's not one near youstart one.
I just tell you folks.
As physically tired as I was,when I got home, I was so
recharged.
Re-energized reinvigorated.
Reinspired.
By being at the fall gatheringat the home centers of new
(24:09):
England.
And so I want the same for you.
If you're kind of stuck in arut, if you're feeling bad, And
you're thinking about throwingup your hands and in, and moving
on and trying something else.
Before you do that.
See, if you can find.
An event like this to go to andsee if it reignites that, that
fire in your belly.
(24:30):
Just re sparks, rekindles thatdesire for you to pursue
self-sufficiency self-relianceand sustainability.
Folks.
I hope you've enjoyed this.
That's it for this week.
Until next week, everybody.
Keep up.
The good work.
I'm your host, Brian Wells.
And I'm a fourth generationhomesteader.
Since 2008, my family and I havebeen homesteading here.
Beautiful upstate 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.
His season four.
Well, hello everyone.
And welcome back.
To another episode of thehomestead journey podcast.
So excited to be back here inbeautiful upstate New York after
(00:45):
a weekend, over in beautifulSouthern New Hampshire.
But as always, my name is BrianWells and I am coming to you
from.
Three before I'm at homestead.
Here in beautiful upstate NewYork.
This is season four, and this isepisode number 167.
(01:07):
Of the homestead journeypodcast.
If you were brand new to thepodcast, Welcome.
Welcome.
Welcome.
I am so glad.
that you have decided to make mea part of your day.
And I do hope that you find.
This podcast.
Helpful.
If there's any way that I can beof help to you, any topics that
I haven't covered in the past?
That you would like to have mecover.
(01:30):
And this certainly doesn't justhold true for people who are new
to the podcast, but it also.
Holds true for those of you whohave been around for awhile.
Reach out to me.
brian@thehomesteadjourney.net ismy email address.
Or you can contact me on all ofthe social media.
accounts that we have links forin the show notes.
(01:50):
If you're a longtime listener,of course.
Welcome back.
So grateful to have you herewith us.
And today's episode is going tobe a little bit different than
what I have done in the past.
for a couple of reasons.
Number one for time constraints.
I'm trying to get this episoderecorded and edited in up.
a day late.
And a dollar short.
No.
(02:11):
A day later than I normally do.
And I have another meetingcoming up here at seven o'clock.
so I need to get this recordedand uploaded.
So this is going to be a shorterepisode.
that I normally do at least Ithink it will be.
And also, I'm not going to do ahomestead happening segment
(02:31):
other than to tell you.
That last Monday being laborday, Bonnie and I want kayaking.
I spent a number of daysprepping to go to the
homesteaders.
Of new England conference, whichwas this past weekend in
Greenfield, New Hampshire.
And so there really wasn't a lotto tell you about with regards
to, what's been going here onthe homestead simply because
(02:53):
other than trying to keep bodyand soul together, And joined
some of the provisions from thegarden and then trying to keep
body and soul together with myanimals.
There's not been a whole lotgoing on in the homestead simply
because we were prepping to goto homesteaders of new England.
And then we spent the weekendthere.
And so the focus of today'sepisode is going to be a bit of
(03:15):
a recap of home centers of newEngland.
And then also I'm going to sharewith you six things that I
learned, or maybe relearned.
Well, I was there at thehomesteaders of new England.
So on Friday.
Bonnie and I left earlyafternoon and headed on over to
(03:35):
a beautiful green field, NewHampshire, and a wound our way
up through the mountains ofSouthern Vermont.
And.
We arrived at Oak park where thehomesteaders of new England.
Fall gathering, took place.
Just before some.
Wicked weather settings.
(03:56):
I took over with me a 10 by 20tent that we had borrowed from
my sons.
Boy scout troop.
Or maybe I should say former boyscout troop, but anyhow, they
were gracious enough to lendthat to me.
Bonnie and I arrived inGreenfield again, just as that
weather was coming our way.
So we set that up very, veryquickly and were able to get it
(04:17):
set up and state down justbefore.
A series of thunderstorms rollthrough.
Don Bradner for a littlemountain life was there.
Helped me get it set up.
And then Jack headed home tobring his tractor.
Back to the event.
So while we were waiting forJack to come back with a
tractor, we were hanging outunderneath the pavilion.
(04:38):
As that first thunderstorm camein, as we're standing there,
looking out, we happened to see.
Jax easy up, start to kind oflift up off the ground in the
wind.
And so Don.
Made a mad dash for that.
I followed him.
Couldn't keep up.
I'm not in as good of shape asDon is.
Evidently.
And so we made it underneath thepop-up started holding it down
(05:02):
just to see lightning startflashing all around us.
And so Don kind of looks over atme and he says, well, Brian, If
we go out like this, it's beennice.
No one.
Yeah.
But anyhow, We were able tosurvive that first passing of
thunderstorms.
Another line of thunderstormscame in and Jack and Dawn
(05:23):
decided they would make a, alittle bit of a detour over to
the park to check on everythingbecause we had vendors that had
set up pop-up tents.
We had the big, huge tents.
That had been set up and as theywere pulling in and looking at
it, well, a big gust of windcame through and it literally
snapped.
The top of one of the anchors wehad some of those screw into the
(05:46):
ground.
Anchors it snapped the top ofone of those right off and flip
that 10 by 20 tent.
Right up on it top.
And so I get a text from Jackthat said something along the
lines of.
How partial are you to thattent?
And I'm like, oh my goodnesswhat's happened.
(06:07):
I said, did it flip over?
He said, yup.
Okay.
Is it mangled?
Nope.
I don't think there's anydamage.
What couldn't you have led withthat, Jack?
I mean, come on now.
I have a little bit of heart.
But anyhow, it survived the restof the tent survived.
And on Saturday we went aheadand kicked off the event and
(06:27):
really had fairly good weatherfor the day.
In fact, it was probably alittle bit on the hot side.
But no rain at all on Saturday,which was amazing considering
what the forecast.
W had been now on Sunday, it wasa bit of a different story on
Sunday.
We did have some more rain thatcame through, but it did come
through it, it felt like atoptimal times, When we would
(06:50):
have people under the tent,listening to the speakers and
really between speakers, peoplewere able to make their way from
one tent to another, if theywere going to switch, because we
did have two speaker tents goingthis year.
And they were able to do sorelatively in a dry manner.
With the exception, I think ofone of the breaks.
(07:11):
But overall the event went off.
W very, very well without ahitch.
There were a few little snafooshere and there, but overall it
just went so very, very well.
And just so grateful to all ofthe speakers that came, had a
great lineup of speakers.
I didn't get to hear everybodybecause there were times when I
(07:33):
was at one tent.
Hyping a speaker in there tokind of assist them.
And so I didn't hear what wasgoing on.
In the other tent, but the talksthat I did here were just
absolutely excellent.
And I really, really enjoyedthem.
Certainly it was great to seeJack and Jackie.
And their family from themindful homestead, Don Bradner
(07:55):
from little mountain life,always just an absolute pleasure
to hang out with them and torenew acquaintances and just
kind of pick up where we leftoff Emma, Jack and Jackie's
daughter just loves Bonnie.
But it certainly was just anabsolute pleasure and just a
great time hanging out with themand some of, of their friends
(08:17):
from, from back in the day andhearing some of the stories,
some of their college friends.
Just was an absolute, absoluteprivilege.
And it was just a joy.
And it certainly was great to,to see people who were at last
year's event, there were a fewpeople that had joined us for
the Southern Adirondack homesetting festival back.
(08:38):
In may who were there.
And so it was great to renewacquaintances with them.
I was able to see rich Giordanowho was just absolutely a
wonderful, wonderful guy.
A brilliant, brilliant man.
And so it was great to see himas well.
And then of course I had theopportunity to to meet some new
(08:58):
people.
I will have the opportunity tomeet some people that you may be
familiar with.
In fact, some of them, I knowyou are familiar with because
they've been on the podcastbefore and I've been on their
podcast.
And a, an example of that wouldbe Troy McClung from red tool
house, YouTube channel, and fromthe pastured pig podcast.
And I got to meet him and hiswife.
(09:19):
And their family, and that wasjust an absolute, wonderful,
wonderful time.
I was able to meet Alan Ginafrom lamina acres.
Great people just wonderfulpeople.
I can't say enough.
Good about them.
And had the opportunity to meetginger from Murray McMurray
hatchery.
Marie McMurry was the title.
(09:40):
Sponsor of the, I guess thepresenting sponsor of the
homesteaders of the Englandconference this year.
They were last year as well.
And getting to know her andspend some time with her was
just absolutely a joy as well.
I've got to spend a little bitof time with Morgan gold from
gold Shaw farm.
(10:01):
And Danny from wicked awesomegardening.
YouTube channel and Facebook.
And so it was great getting toknow and to renew acquaintances
with, with people like that.
But it was also great to be ableto sit down and to break bread
with other individuals, otherhomesteaders, maybe that don't
have a YouTube channel, Some ofthem might have a small YouTube
(10:23):
channel.
don't have a huge following.
But just such an honor and aprivilege to meet everybody and
to have conversations and toshare stories and to commiserate
one with another and to share inthe joys and successes.
And it just was such an awesome,awesome time.
And Bonnie and I ate lunch withsome people from the north shore
(10:46):
one day and we ate lunch withsome people that were from Rhode
Island.
The next day.
It just had really greatconversations and had great
interactions and.
It was just, it was just anabsolutely amazing, awesome
time.
And then just to hear frompeople who listen to the podcast
(11:07):
and for them to share with mehow much the podcast has meant
to them.
Um, certainly was a validationof why I do what I do.
And so thank you so much.
Thank you so much to everybodywho made the event.
As awesome as it was such a joyto be a part of that.
We got home late last night.
(11:28):
I think it was a little aftereight by nine o'clock.
I was in bed zonked out.
I was absolutely exhausted.
I think on Saturday with theexception of the lunch break.
I think I sat down a grand totalof probably 20 minutes
throughout the whole day.
I was on my feet on the go.
All day long and enjoyed everyminute of it.
(11:49):
But certainly it wore me plumout.
I'm certainly not as young as Iused to be.
And so definitely those kinds ofthings catch up to you.
Very very quickly.
But thank you so much toeveryone.
Attendees vendors, speakers,sponsors.
(12:09):
Who helped make homesteaders ofnew England, what it was this
year and for your continuedsupport to make it, to continue
to make it even better in yearsto come.
I'm already looking forward to.
Homesteaders of new England,2024.
So what I wanted to end withtoday is I want to just share
(12:31):
with you.
Six lessons or six things that Ilearned, or maybe you relearned
from being at the home centersof new England conference this
year.
The first thing I learned, andthis is a little bit tongue in
cheek, a little bit of a poke,maybe.
But that is that a New Hampshireisn't as free as I thought.
(12:56):
It's one of those things for meto live here in upstate New York
and have people tell me that Ilive in the calming state of, of
New York.
And sometimes it feels that way.
All of the regulations, the hightaxes, all of the, the nonsense
that we put up with.
And you kind of look and think,well, maybe the grass is greener
on the other side of the fenceand, and.
(13:17):
In all seriousness, there'sprobably a lot there, there are
probably a lot of ways where itis that way in New Hampshire,
but certainly it was veryinteresting to me.
As I listened to some of thetalks in particular, there was a
talk by the cooperativeextension from the university of
New Hampshire.
On selling.
(13:38):
Poultry.
Um, On breeding and sellingpoultry in New Hampshire.
And there actually were someregulations that they have that
we don't even have here in NewYork state.
And so that kind of left mechuckling a little bit.
And then we also had a greatpanel discussion led by Don from
porcupine real estate.
And then w members of that wereMorgan from gold Shaw farm and
(14:01):
Danny from a wicked awesomegardening.
That was focused on buying landin new England.
And because Dom is licensed inNew Hampshire, it really was
focused heavily.
With regards to that.
And again, hearing some of thegotchas, the land use
restrictions.
(14:22):
Zoning regulations and so forththat can be found in New
Hampshire.
It's one of those things that Iwas reminded that wherever you
go there you are.
And so the grass is not alwaysgreener on the other side.
Of the fence.
The second thing I was remindedof is the more local the event
is to you.
I think the more valuable theinformation you're going to get.
(14:46):
And again, a great example ofthat was the panel discussion on
buying land for your home setnow?
Well, there certainly was a lotof information, a great
information to take away fromthat talk that would apply to
buying a homestead anywhere yougo.
Certainly though.
The information.
Was more helpful and more, moreuseful.
(15:09):
To people who are looking to buyland in New Hampshire.
Because again, that's where Domis a licensed real estate agent.
And it would be very, verydifficult nigh unto impossible
to bring in somebody who couldspeak to that in every state.
Within new England.
And then when you go to aconference like homesteaders of
(15:32):
America, which reallyencompasses all of the United
States, Maybe even Canada andMexico, and I don't even know
where else they've got peoplethat come from.
But then to get somebody thatcan speak to the minutia, the
nitty-gritty.
Maybe gotchas that you need tothink about that might pertain
to the area that you're lookingat.
(15:52):
It becomes even more difficult.
And so that's why I think theseregional events are so very
important.
Because the more localized itis, the more meaningful it's
going to be.
To you.
And so I was really reminded ofthat fact.
This past weekend, the thirdthing that I learned this past
(16:13):
weekend.
Is that the UNH cooperativeextension is looking to put
together a comprehensive,website and program specifically
geared to homesteaders.
And that's something that.
I at least I'm not aware of withcooperative extensions.
In the states near where I am.
(16:34):
And now if you live in a statewhere they have a comprehensive
program, For home settersthrough the cooperative
extension, I would love to hearabout that and I will certainly
make people aware of thatthrough.
Whatever means I can, because Ithink it's very, very important
that people have access.
To those kinds of resources, butUNH cooperative extension
(16:56):
certainly has.
Identified that as a gap.
And so what they're doing iswhile they have a lot of things
that would be helpful tohomesteaders, it's kind of
siloed.
And they're trying to pull allof that together and connect the
dots to really help people whowere brand new to homesteading
know how to homestead wellwithin New Hampshire and how to
(17:19):
be able to access the resourcesthat maybe they need in order to
find success.
And I think any kind of programlike that.
Is going to be very, verybeneficial to homesteading in
the long run.
And so I'm very excited to seehow that grows, how that morphs.
I spoke to the gentleman who isleading that effort.
(17:42):
And one of the things right nowis they really don't know what
they don't know.
And so if you're a homesteaderin New Hampshire and there are
resources.
That you would like to see orthat you would like to have
available to you?
Reach out to them.
Reach out to the UNH cooperativeextension.
(18:02):
And just let them know.
I'm excited to see how it grows.
In New Hampshire and looking tosee if maybe we can use that as
a pattern or a template to dothe same thing here in New York
state.
The fourth thing that I learned.
And I, and.
I want to say learned relearned,but I was reminded of.
(18:23):
Is that there are always newrabbit holes to go down.
It doesn't matter how longyou've been doing this folks.
There are always new things tolearn and.
You go to events like this,Whether it's homesteaders of new
England or the SouthernAdirondack homesteading festival
or homesteaders of America orwhatever it is.
(18:45):
And there's always something newto learn about.
And a new rabbit trails topursue.
And so for me, Two of the bigones that I came away with was
to explore again.
heritage meat, birds, gingerfrom Murray McMurry gave a
really, really excellentpresentation on hybrid versus
(19:08):
heritage.
Meat birds.
And really piqued my interestwith regards to a few varieties
that I had not reallyconsidered, not really thought
about.
And so I'm thinking about maybeexploring those will.
I, I don't know, but it'sdefinitely a rabbit hole that
I'm thinking about.
Heading down how far I go downthat rabbit hole.
(19:30):
Still remains to be seen.
But it certainly was a very,very interesting talk.
The second thing.
Is something that I'm aware of.
I actually was introduced toback at the sharkutery event
that I went to with.
With Jack that was led byMeredith Lee, who you might
remember.
From being on the podcast acouple of years ago.
(19:51):
But was Koji fermentation Had anexcellent presentation on that
at the event this past weekend.
And so it's something that I'minterested in exploring a little
further, how far I go down thatrabbit hole.
I don't know.
But I was just reminded thatthere's always something new to
learn.
There's always something new todiscover and.
(20:15):
Those were two of the thingsthat really stuck out to me.
The fifth thing that I wasreminded of, this past weekend,
at the fall gathering ofhomesteaders of new England.
Is that hearing other people'sstories is inspiring.
One of the things that I justreally, really enjoyed this
(20:37):
weekend was sitting in chattingwith other homesteaders and
hearing their stories, hearinghow they had gotten into
homesteading hearing about themistakes they'd made along the
way, hearing about the successesthat they had had.
And all of that just reallyserved to inspire me,
reinvigorate me and send me backhere to three B farm and
(20:58):
homestead just re-energized tokeep.
Doing what I'm doing.
And I think.
That's probably.
The best reason to go to theseevents.
It's one thing to chat withpeople online.
And I'm not discounting that.
But it's such a different thing.
(21:19):
When you are sitting with peopleacross the picnic table.
And joining tacos and joinedchips.
And just chatting about howpeople have gotten to where
they're at and where they planon going next.
And.
Having people ask me aboutthings that I have learned along
the way.
(21:40):
And just making thoseconnections.
It's just so inspiringreinvigorating and I just
absolutely enjoyed.
That part of it.
But I would also say.
That I came away reminded that Ineed to homestead.
(22:01):
For the stage of life that I'mat being careful that I don't do
too much, that I don't go downtoo many rabbit holes, knowing
when to say yes, knowing when tosay no, knowing when to start
things, knowing when to quitthings, knowing when to put
things.
On pause.
All of those things are so veryvitally important in order for
(22:24):
somebody to have successlong-term as a homesteader.
And so I certainly was remindedof that again, this past
weekend.
So totally enjoyed thehomesteaders of the wingless
fall gathering this year.
And I am so excited about theone in 2024.
I hope, but if you are in thegreat Northeast, if you miss
(22:46):
this one, don't miss next.
Year's.
Mark and on your calendar thesecond full weekend in
September, you're not going towant to miss it.
And of course, Coming up inApril of 2024, there will be the
Southern Adirondack homesteadingfestival.
And so if you want to be a partof that as well, we'd love to
(23:07):
have you.
And if you don't live in thegreat Northeast, my
recommendation to you is tofind.
As close to you as possible.
Homesteady new vent.
So that you can make thoseconnections.
Because, as I said before, Thecloser that event is to where
(23:28):
you live.
I think the more valuable theinformation, because it's going
to just have greater focus.
In the area that you're at.
In my opinion, if it's donecorrectly.
And certainly I felt like Jackdid it right.
Once again.
So folks, that's it for thisepisode of the home set journey
(23:48):
podcast.
I hope you've enjoyed it.
I hope it's inspired you.
To go find a home settingconference.
If there's not one near youstart one.
I just tell you folks.
As physically tired as I was,when I got home, I was so
recharged.
Re-energized reinvigorated.
Reinspired.
By being at the fall gatheringat the home centers of new
(24:09):
England.
And so I want the same for you.
If you're kind of stuck in arut, if you're feeling bad, And
you're thinking about throwingup your hands and in, and moving
on and trying something else.
Before you do that.
See, if you can find.
An event like this to go to andsee if it reignites that, that
fire in your belly.
(24:30):
Just re sparks, rekindles thatdesire for you to pursue
self-sufficiency self-relianceand sustainability.
Folks.
I hope you've enjoyed this.
That's it for this week.
Until next week, everybody.
Keep up.
The good work.
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