October 23, 2023 • 21 mins
2023 has been a season of change on our homestead. Some of that has been planned. So of it, not so much. On this final episode of season 4, I share with you some of those changes and some lessons I've learned. I also share with you my vision for season 5.
Until next time, keep up the good work!!
Brian
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Microphone (ZOOM P4 Audio) & (00:02):
On your host, Brian Wells.
And I'm a fourth generationhomesteader since 2008.
My family and I have beenhomesteading 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.
(00:23):
Self-reliance.
And sustainability.
This is the homestead journey.
And this is season four.
Well, hello everyone.
And welcome.
Welcome.
Welcome.
Welcome to another episode ofthe homestead journey podcast.
My name is Brian Wells.
I am coming to you as alwaysfrom three beef ramen homestead
(00:46):
here in.
Beautiful upstate New York.
This is episode number 171.
And this is the final episode inseason four.
Can you believe that folks?
We have calm.
To the end of season four.
And I hope that you've enjoyedit.
(01:08):
In fact today's main topic as wewrap up the season is really
going to.
To be focused on what has beenthe topic for this entire
season.
And that is that 2023 has been aseason of change here on.
Three beef, farm and homestead.
And we're going to just talkabout some of the changes that
have taken place.
(01:29):
Some that were planned, somethat were unplanned and really
what it is meant and what itwill mean to us.
Moving forward here.
On three B farm and homestead.
Now at the end of this episode,I will share with you my vision
for season five.
I am planning on coming back.
For a, another season, seasonfive.
(01:49):
I'm very, very excited.
We're going to pivot just alittle bit, before we get into
all of that.
I did want to provide you withone last homestead happenings
one last update from threereform in homestead here in
2023.
As I share with you what we'vebeen doing here on three B farm
at homestead.
(02:14):
Now this past weekend was aweekend where we spent a lot of
time off.
The homestead.
And one of the things that Iactually had the opportunity to
do this past week was to attendmy first meeting as a new member
of the New York farm bureau.
This past week was the annualmeeting where they talk about
resolutions, where they votingofficers.
(02:35):
And so I had the opportunity toattend that and really to start
networking with people, gettingto know people.
Re acquainting myself with somepeople that I already knew.
Uh, and it really, really was agreat time and it really
reaffirmed to me.
That I made a great decisionjoining the New York farm
bureau, and I'm really excitedto see where things go One of
(02:55):
the other things I wanted toshare with you about this past
week is something that we didnot do.
As you know, normally I cycle myflock out every year either I
send them to the small animalauction or I put them in not
freezer camp, I guess we wouldcall it Canon camp.
I put them in dark.
I don't know.
What you would call that.
But, uh, if I don't send themoff to the small animal auction,
(03:18):
I will pressure can my old hens.
But because we got started solate this year with our pullets,
my pullets haven't started lane.
Now I want to say they haven'tstarted lane.
I have one or two that arelaying, but they're not laying
consistently enough to where Iwould feel comfortable that if I
got rid of my hands, that Iwould have a continuous supply
(03:40):
of eggs.
And as you know, We have notbought eggs for ourselves here
on three of your farm andhomestead since 2008.
And if I can keep that streakalive well by golly, I'm going
to do it.
So last weekend actually was thelast small animal auction at the
auction house that I normallyuse.
(04:00):
And so Bonnie and I had aconversation and we just decided
that we're going to winter over.
Both our flock of hens, as wellas our pullets.
But that actually ended up, um,being a very positive thing
because I had a friend reach outto me and said, Hey, Brian, I'm
looking for six or eight hens.
Do you have anything available?
And so I am going to be able toreduce the size of my flock.
(04:24):
By six or eight hens.
But hopefully still keep enoughhens on hand, even though their
production is starting to tailoff.
Some of them are starting tomolt.
But hopefully I'll be able tokeep enough production up, so I
don't have to buy eggs and Iwill be able to keep that streak
alive.
No, as far as the garden goes,we have not yet had our first
(04:47):
frost.
Usually our first frost isaround the 14th of October and
we have not had one.
As of yet.
And so we're still harvestingthings out of the garden, even
though things are starting toslow down a little bit, but
today I was able to chop up somepeppers and put them.
In our dehydrator.
I think that's the end of mypepper season with the exception
(05:09):
of some Thai chili peppers.
And my Thai chili peppers arejust starting to come on right
now.
But as you might recall, from acouple of episodes ago, a friend
of mine from work gave me someThai chili peppers gave me some
Hoben arrows.
And so I've been making somefermented hot pepper sauces.
And today, I went ahead andground them up and made the
(05:31):
sauce.
And overall, I'm very happy withhow it came out.
I did a little bit of differentbatches.
I did some with garlic.
Some was some sweet pepper inthem.
And overall hot, hot, hot.
Oh, so hot.
But also tasty it just a littledifferent flavor profile between
(05:51):
each batch, which I really,really enjoyed.
And so I'm going to take alittle bit.
For me each batch and give themto my friend from work that gave
me the peppers just so he can.
Try them out and kind of give mehis feedback.
But certainly that was somethingthat was exciting to do.
Up in the garden.
We still have a few things thatare, are holding on.
I've got some Dickinson pumpkinsthat are just about ready to go.
(06:14):
Some trombone and CNO squash.
That's about ready to go.
I've been letting my beans kindof hang on because I'm wanting
something to be dry beans andsome to be shell beans.
And so I usually will push theenvelope a little bit.
And usually the night before afrost is predicted, we'll go out
and we'll pick all the beans andwe'll sort out which ones are
gonna be shell beans, which onesare gonna be dry beans.
(06:37):
And then kind of go from there.
I do have a couple of heads of,of cauliflower left.
A few heads of cabbage left.
And then we have a bunch of rootcrops in the ground.
Still.
Some.
Ah, turnips some rutabagas, uh,some beats, some carrots.
Uh, and those are things thatwill withstand a light frost.
(06:59):
So I'm not very worried aboutthose.
And then we still have somekale.
And so, uh, you know, a fewthings left to harvest, but not
a whole lot.
Do you need to get up there anddo some clean out?
And then we will get things, uh,put to bed.
Uh, for the winter, hopefullyI'll get some garlic planted.
I am planning on taking, uh,some of the garlic that we
(07:21):
harvested this year and I'mgoing to replant that and
hopefully that will grow and dowell for us.
And, uh, so that's kind of wherewe are at with the garden.
The last thing I wanted to sharewith you is this past week was
Brian Jay's birthday.
And so on Saturday, Bonnie and Iactually had the opportunity to
go over, to take him and hisgirlfriend out for lunch.
(07:42):
And that was such a joy.
Certainly did take us away fromthe homestead and getting some
things done here.
As far as buttoning things up.
But I would much rather go spendtime with my son to do anything
else around here on thehomestead.
That's just how it is.
That's how it's always going tobe.
And it is all good.
Well, I do hope things are well,wherever you are at.
And if you have come to the endof your harvest, I hope it was a
(08:06):
successful one.
Certainly wasn't the bestharvest that we've ever had here
on 3-d farm and homestead.
But as they say, there's alwaysnext year and it's all good.
All right.
Let's jump on over to this.
Episode's charting the course.
(08:28):
So this certainly has Bennyseason of change here on three B
farm and homestead.
And that's something that we'vebeen talking about this entire
season.
And so on this episode, I wantedto share with you a few of the
things that have changed here onour homestead.
Uh, by choice and a few thingsthat happened well due to
circumstances outside.
(08:49):
Our control.
And then really to wrap thingsup with regards to how how all
of that impacts our homestead.
Moving forward.
So certainly our biggest changehere on the home side was the
fact that Brian Jay has left.
And now Bonnie and I are emptynesters.
And we talked a lot about that.
On last week's episode.
(09:09):
So I'm not going to dive intothat all whole lot, other than
the say, it certainly has been ahuge change here on the
homestead.
And the process of getting tothe spot where he has left us
certainly had a huge impact onour homestead, just because of
college visits and graduation,and then getting him moved to
(09:32):
college.
All of that took energy thatotherwise probably would have
gone into the homestead.
And directed at otherwise andyou know what?
It's all good.
It is certainly all good.
That's one of the things I thinkthat we as homesteaders need to
keep in the back of our minds isthat there are seasons in life
and there are seasons inhomesteading.
And as life happens.
(09:53):
We just need to be okay withthat.
And there are going to be timeswhen situations arise, whether
it's a child going off tocollege or whether maybe it's an
elderly parent that needs somecare or it's a job change,
whatever it is, there are thingsthat are going to arise in life
that are going to sometimesimpact the size and the scale.
At which you can homestead.
(10:14):
And Brian J heading to collegehas certainly been something
that has impacted us that way.
This year now, the second majorthing that was a change here on
the homestead was the fact thatwe adopted the Mediterranean
diet or the Mediterranean way ofeating.
night, I'm going to be totallyhonest with you.
We kind of fell off the wagon alittle bit around June
(10:35):
timeframe.
We did really, really great withthe Mediterranean diet.
The first part of the year, andBonnie really saw significant
health benefits or A1C levelsdropped back into normal range.
And she no longer was consideredpre-diabetic.
We also lost weight and we bothnoticed a great impact with
regards to our energy levels andour overall feeling of, of
(10:58):
health and wellbeing.
But just because of, of thingsthat were going on in life, we
certainly have not adhered tothat way of eating as much as we
were during the first part ofthe year.
And both of us have felt theimpact of that.
And so we are on a journey backin that direction.
Uh, starting D more compliantwith the Mediterranean way of
(11:21):
eating.
And, uh, we will continue to doso because we really do believe
in that and the benefits that ithas created for us.
As a part of that change though.
And as a part of Brian J headingoff to college, We got out of
pigs and that has been a huge,huge change for us.
(11:42):
Now it's almost three monthssince the pigs left three beef
farm and homestead, they leftthe end of July.
Here we are towards the end ofOctober.
And while it certainly was ahuge change for us emotionally,
it wasn't as traumatic as Ithought it would be.
I thought I would really, reallybe sad.
I'd be mopey and that I wouldreally miss the pigs.
And I have not up to this point.
(12:02):
But I have noticed an impact onmy activity level.
You see, I have a pedometer onmy phone and I keep track of the
number of steps that I takeevery day.
And since we got out of pigs, Icertainly have found myself not
taking as many steps.
As I was when I had the pigs,because I'm not taking food and
(12:24):
I'm not taking water out to themand I'm not walking around.
Checking on them and I'm notchasing them around trying to
get them back in where they'resupposed to be.
Certainly having pigs led to amore active lifestyle.
And so I've had to really forcemyself.
I don't wanna say off the couch,but I've had to find other ways
to make myself active.
(12:45):
Um, because of getting rid ofthe pigs and that really was not
something that I hadanticipated.
Having to do, but getting rid ofthe pig certainly was a huge
part of the change here on thehomestead in 2023.
Now, those are all of the thingsthat we planned.
(13:05):
Uh, as far as changes, there area few things that happened this
year, major changes that werenot planned.
The first being that we did notraise meat birds this year.
Now, when I say wasn't planned,we did not go into 2023 thinking
that we weren't going to raisemeat, birds.
What ended up happening is mydad ended up having to have knee
(13:26):
replacement surgery back in thespring.
And as a result of that, and asa result of how.
The Southern Adirondackhomesteading festival fell.
And because of Brian, Jaygraduating.
We just felt like doing a springbatch of meat, birds, wasn't
going to be a good fit.
So our thought was, well, we'lldo one in the fall, but then as
we started looking at our fallcalendar, And looking at the
(13:50):
home centers of new Englandevent and Brian J going off to
college and the fair and all ofthose things, we opted this
year, not to do meat, birds atall.
And that was a huge change forus.
We have done meat birds everyyear.
Uh, for, for the last six years,seven years.
Um, intentionally done meat,birds.
(14:10):
I'm not talking about justcycling out our flock, but
actually doing batches of meat,birds.
And it certainly felt weird thisyear.
Not processing a single chickenhere on three B farm.
In homestead.
The second major change thisyear, that happened, that was
outside of our control is thefact that we did not do turkeys.
Now we didn't do turkeys lastyear, but that was my plan.
(14:32):
But this year we plan to do.
Uh, a batch of turkeys.
And actually I was very excitedabout that because we had a plan
for what we were going to dowith the turkeys besides just
sell them.
And besides just put them.
In holes or halves in ourfreezer, but we were going to
take that Turkey meat.
We were grind it up.
Because we do eat a lot ofground Turkey.
(14:54):
Um, in our diet.
And so I thought this is goingto be great.
It's going to pair well with theMediterranean diet.
We're going to have this groundpoultry.
Uh, it's going to be awesome.
And so I ordered turkeys from ahatchery and then they had a bad
hatch and they weren't able tosend them, but they said, well,
make it up in a, in a week.
And then they weren't able tomake it up in a week.
And by the time all of that gotfigured out, it was so late that
(15:16):
if I were to order from somebodyelse, it just would've made no
sense.
And so this year we opted not todo turkeys.
And so this is going to be areally, really lean year.
As far as putting meat in thefreezer.
Now we did have some pigs.
Back in the spring that we putinto the freezer, but we're not
putting any of our own chickenor any of our own Turkey.
(15:38):
Into the freezer this year.
And that feels very, very weird.
And that was certainly alloutside of our control.
But the third major.
Issue of the third major changeon our homestead this year has
been the sheer lack of foodpreservation.
And that's not Ben because Ididn't want to do it.
(15:59):
And it hasn't really even beenbecause I didn't have time to do
it, but it's Ben because ourgarden didn't produce like it
has in the past.
Now I have done some candy andI've done some jams and jellies.
I've done.
Uh, some beans and so forth, butit certainly has not been at the
same level that I have done inthe past.
And I have canned nothing tomatorelated this year at all.
(16:20):
I have a few bags of tomatoes inthe freezer.
Not quite sure what I'm going todo with them.
I'm not sure if I will maketomato sauce.
Or if I will do stewed tomatoes,I've actually been thinking
about trying my hand at makingtomato soup, something I've
never done before.
So, I don't know, but certainlynowhere near the tomato harvest
(16:42):
that I'm used to getting, andcertainly nowhere near the level
of canning and food preservationthat I've done in the past.
But if the garden doesn'tproduce the garden, doesn't
produce, no, I could have goneto local truck farms and I could
have bought tomato.
I could have bought.
Other vegetables to, can I haveopted not to, for a variety of
(17:03):
different reasons.
But that has felt very, veryweird.
This year, our homestead hasbeen the least productive.
It has been.
I think since we, we reallystarted doing this.
With a plan and with a purpose.
And that has felt very, veryodd.
(17:24):
And at times I've kind of secondguessed myself at times.
I've kind of beat myself up alittle bit.
But what I'm learning is that Ineed to have a little bit, a
little grace with myself, and Ineed to remember that there are
going to be ebbs and flows.
There's going to be seasons onyour homestead.
There's going to be times whenlife happens.
(17:44):
Either life circumstances, getin the way of you being able to
pour as much time, effort andenergy into your homestead, as
you would like, maybe you aresick or you have a family member
that's sick.
Whatever it may be.
There are times when changescome in our lives and it just
really impacts our homesteads inways that we never imagined.
(18:07):
And we need to be okay withthat.
There are some times again wherethings happen that are outside
our control.
And we could try to force thingsto happen.
But usually what we need to dois just take a deep breath.
And remember.
Bless it or the flexible for,they shall not get bad, a shape.
All right, that's it for thisepisode, that's it for this
(18:32):
season.
I hope you've enjoyed it.
I hope that it has been helpfulto you.
It really has been helpful tome, as we mentioned last week on
last week's episode.
The episodes that we did withregards to empty nest
homesteading, I really dostrongly believe we're very
beneficial in helping Bonnie andI make the transition into being
(18:54):
empty nesters in much in a muchless traumatic fashion.
And so thank you so much forbeing along for the ride.
I really, really appreciate it.
Before I sign off though for onefinal time here in season four,
I did want to share with you myvision for season five.
In season five.
(19:14):
I am planning on doing just alittle bit of a pivot.
We're still talking homesteadingstuff.
But my plan is to do a seriesthat I am tentatively calling my
journey into.
And what this series will be isa series of interviews with
homesteaders and small producersacross the United States and
(19:35):
around the world, as we talkabout their journeys into
specific areas withinhomesteading.
So my goal is to really focus onthings like maybe soap making.
Or maybe someone's side hustleor how someone got into
homestead blogging, or maybe howsomeone got into podcasting.
Or how someone got into goats orcheesemaking those kinds of
(19:59):
things.
And really to understand howsomeone got into it, what
they've learned along the wayand why it matters.
And so if you have a story toshare, I'm not necessarily
looking for journeys intoHomesite and in general, but
really into a specific.
Skillset.
If there is something.
That you really have enjoyedlearning to do, and you're
(20:22):
passionate about it.
And you want to share that withother people.
Reach out to me.
brian@thehomesteadjourney.net.
I would love to hear your story.
And to share that story withother people, because I really
believe that those stories canbe very, very inspirational and
help people.
Decide.
(20:42):
Maybe they want to get into itor maybe after they hear your
story?
Nope, I'm good.
Don't want to go there.
Either way it's beneficial.
And so if you have a storyyou're interested in sharing.
Reach out to me, Brian, at thehomestead journey.net.
And I would be glad to have aconversation with you and we'll
see if it fits into season five,my journey into.
(21:07):
And whatever the topic is.
Now I am planning on launchingseason five, probably somewhere
around the first part ofFebruary.
Uh, so definitely keep an eyeout for that.
If you don't follow us on all ofour social media accounts.
Give us a like, or a follow onFacebook on Instagram.
Um, I will do my best to keepyou up to date there.
One we're getting ready tolaunch season five, or if you
(21:31):
haven't already subscribed toour newsletter, you can do so by
heading on over to our website,the homestead journey.net.
All right folks, that's it forthis episode, that's it for
season four.
As always.
Until next time.
Keep up.
The good work.
On your host, Brian Wells.
And I'm a fourth generationhomesteader since 2008.
My family and I have beenhomesteading 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.
(00:23):
Self-reliance.
And sustainability.
This is the homestead journey.
And this is season four.
Well, hello everyone.
And welcome.
Welcome.
Welcome.
Welcome to another episode ofthe homestead journey podcast.
My name is Brian Wells.
I am coming to you as alwaysfrom three beef ramen homestead
(00:46):
here in.
Beautiful upstate New York.
This is episode number 171.
And this is the final episode inseason four.
Can you believe that folks?
We have calm.
To the end of season four.
And I hope that you've enjoyedit.
(01:08):
In fact today's main topic as wewrap up the season is really
going to.
To be focused on what has beenthe topic for this entire
season.
And that is that 2023 has been aseason of change here on.
Three beef, farm and homestead.
And we're going to just talkabout some of the changes that
have taken place.
(01:29):
Some that were planned, somethat were unplanned and really
what it is meant and what itwill mean to us.
Moving forward here.
On three B farm and homestead.
Now at the end of this episode,I will share with you my vision
for season five.
I am planning on coming back.
For a, another season, seasonfive.
(01:49):
I'm very, very excited.
We're going to pivot just alittle bit, before we get into
all of that.
I did want to provide you withone last homestead happenings
one last update from threereform in homestead here in
2023.
As I share with you what we'vebeen doing here on three B farm
at homestead.
(02:14):
Now this past weekend was aweekend where we spent a lot of
time off.
The homestead.
And one of the things that Iactually had the opportunity to
do this past week was to attendmy first meeting as a new member
of the New York farm bureau.
This past week was the annualmeeting where they talk about
resolutions, where they votingofficers.
(02:35):
And so I had the opportunity toattend that and really to start
networking with people, gettingto know people.
Re acquainting myself with somepeople that I already knew.
Uh, and it really, really was agreat time and it really
reaffirmed to me.
That I made a great decisionjoining the New York farm
bureau, and I'm really excitedto see where things go One of
(02:55):
the other things I wanted toshare with you about this past
week is something that we didnot do.
As you know, normally I cycle myflock out every year either I
send them to the small animalauction or I put them in not
freezer camp, I guess we wouldcall it Canon camp.
I put them in dark.
I don't know.
What you would call that.
But, uh, if I don't send themoff to the small animal auction,
(03:18):
I will pressure can my old hens.
But because we got started solate this year with our pullets,
my pullets haven't started lane.
Now I want to say they haven'tstarted lane.
I have one or two that arelaying, but they're not laying
consistently enough to where Iwould feel comfortable that if I
got rid of my hands, that Iwould have a continuous supply
(03:40):
of eggs.
And as you know, We have notbought eggs for ourselves here
on three of your farm andhomestead since 2008.
And if I can keep that streakalive well by golly, I'm going
to do it.
So last weekend actually was thelast small animal auction at the
auction house that I normallyuse.
(04:00):
And so Bonnie and I had aconversation and we just decided
that we're going to winter over.
Both our flock of hens, as wellas our pullets.
But that actually ended up, um,being a very positive thing
because I had a friend reach outto me and said, Hey, Brian, I'm
looking for six or eight hens.
Do you have anything available?
And so I am going to be able toreduce the size of my flock.
(04:24):
By six or eight hens.
But hopefully still keep enoughhens on hand, even though their
production is starting to tailoff.
Some of them are starting tomolt.
But hopefully I'll be able tokeep enough production up, so I
don't have to buy eggs and Iwill be able to keep that streak
alive.
No, as far as the garden goes,we have not yet had our first
(04:47):
frost.
Usually our first frost isaround the 14th of October and
we have not had one.
As of yet.
And so we're still harvestingthings out of the garden, even
though things are starting toslow down a little bit, but
today I was able to chop up somepeppers and put them.
In our dehydrator.
I think that's the end of mypepper season with the exception
(05:09):
of some Thai chili peppers.
And my Thai chili peppers arejust starting to come on right
now.
But as you might recall, from acouple of episodes ago, a friend
of mine from work gave me someThai chili peppers gave me some
Hoben arrows.
And so I've been making somefermented hot pepper sauces.
And today, I went ahead andground them up and made the
(05:31):
sauce.
And overall, I'm very happy withhow it came out.
I did a little bit of differentbatches.
I did some with garlic.
Some was some sweet pepper inthem.
And overall hot, hot, hot.
Oh, so hot.
But also tasty it just a littledifferent flavor profile between
(05:51):
each batch, which I really,really enjoyed.
And so I'm going to take alittle bit.
For me each batch and give themto my friend from work that gave
me the peppers just so he can.
Try them out and kind of give mehis feedback.
But certainly that was somethingthat was exciting to do.
Up in the garden.
We still have a few things thatare, are holding on.
I've got some Dickinson pumpkinsthat are just about ready to go.
(06:14):
Some trombone and CNO squash.
That's about ready to go.
I've been letting my beans kindof hang on because I'm wanting
something to be dry beans andsome to be shell beans.
And so I usually will push theenvelope a little bit.
And usually the night before afrost is predicted, we'll go out
and we'll pick all the beans andwe'll sort out which ones are
gonna be shell beans, which onesare gonna be dry beans.
(06:37):
And then kind of go from there.
I do have a couple of heads of,of cauliflower left.
A few heads of cabbage left.
And then we have a bunch of rootcrops in the ground.
Still.
Some.
Ah, turnips some rutabagas, uh,some beats, some carrots.
Uh, and those are things thatwill withstand a light frost.
(06:59):
So I'm not very worried aboutthose.
And then we still have somekale.
And so, uh, you know, a fewthings left to harvest, but not
a whole lot.
Do you need to get up there anddo some clean out?
And then we will get things, uh,put to bed.
Uh, for the winter, hopefullyI'll get some garlic planted.
I am planning on taking, uh,some of the garlic that we
(07:21):
harvested this year and I'mgoing to replant that and
hopefully that will grow and dowell for us.
And, uh, so that's kind of wherewe are at with the garden.
The last thing I wanted to sharewith you is this past week was
Brian Jay's birthday.
And so on Saturday, Bonnie and Iactually had the opportunity to
go over, to take him and hisgirlfriend out for lunch.
(07:42):
And that was such a joy.
Certainly did take us away fromthe homestead and getting some
things done here.
As far as buttoning things up.
But I would much rather go spendtime with my son to do anything
else around here on thehomestead.
That's just how it is.
That's how it's always going tobe.
And it is all good.
Well, I do hope things are well,wherever you are at.
And if you have come to the endof your harvest, I hope it was a
(08:06):
successful one.
Certainly wasn't the bestharvest that we've ever had here
on 3-d farm and homestead.
But as they say, there's alwaysnext year and it's all good.
All right.
Let's jump on over to this.
Episode's charting the course.
(08:28):
So this certainly has Bennyseason of change here on three B
farm and homestead.
And that's something that we'vebeen talking about this entire
season.
And so on this episode, I wantedto share with you a few of the
things that have changed here onour homestead.
Uh, by choice and a few thingsthat happened well due to
circumstances outside.
(08:49):
Our control.
And then really to wrap thingsup with regards to how how all
of that impacts our homestead.
Moving forward.
So certainly our biggest changehere on the home side was the
fact that Brian Jay has left.
And now Bonnie and I are emptynesters.
And we talked a lot about that.
On last week's episode.
(09:09):
So I'm not going to dive intothat all whole lot, other than
the say, it certainly has been ahuge change here on the
homestead.
And the process of getting tothe spot where he has left us
certainly had a huge impact onour homestead, just because of
college visits and graduation,and then getting him moved to
(09:32):
college.
All of that took energy thatotherwise probably would have
gone into the homestead.
And directed at otherwise andyou know what?
It's all good.
It is certainly all good.
That's one of the things I thinkthat we as homesteaders need to
keep in the back of our minds isthat there are seasons in life
and there are seasons inhomesteading.
And as life happens.
(09:53):
We just need to be okay withthat.
And there are going to be timeswhen situations arise, whether
it's a child going off tocollege or whether maybe it's an
elderly parent that needs somecare or it's a job change,
whatever it is, there are thingsthat are going to arise in life
that are going to sometimesimpact the size and the scale.
At which you can homestead.
(10:14):
And Brian J heading to collegehas certainly been something
that has impacted us that way.
This year now, the second majorthing that was a change here on
the homestead was the fact thatwe adopted the Mediterranean
diet or the Mediterranean way ofeating.
night, I'm going to be totallyhonest with you.
We kind of fell off the wagon alittle bit around June
(10:35):
timeframe.
We did really, really great withthe Mediterranean diet.
The first part of the year, andBonnie really saw significant
health benefits or A1C levelsdropped back into normal range.
And she no longer was consideredpre-diabetic.
We also lost weight and we bothnoticed a great impact with
regards to our energy levels andour overall feeling of, of
(10:58):
health and wellbeing.
But just because of, of thingsthat were going on in life, we
certainly have not adhered tothat way of eating as much as we
were during the first part ofthe year.
And both of us have felt theimpact of that.
And so we are on a journey backin that direction.
Uh, starting D more compliantwith the Mediterranean way of
(11:21):
eating.
And, uh, we will continue to doso because we really do believe
in that and the benefits that ithas created for us.
As a part of that change though.
And as a part of Brian J headingoff to college, We got out of
pigs and that has been a huge,huge change for us.
(11:42):
Now it's almost three monthssince the pigs left three beef
farm and homestead, they leftthe end of July.
Here we are towards the end ofOctober.
And while it certainly was ahuge change for us emotionally,
it wasn't as traumatic as Ithought it would be.
I thought I would really, reallybe sad.
I'd be mopey and that I wouldreally miss the pigs.
And I have not up to this point.
(12:02):
But I have noticed an impact onmy activity level.
You see, I have a pedometer onmy phone and I keep track of the
number of steps that I takeevery day.
And since we got out of pigs, Icertainly have found myself not
taking as many steps.
As I was when I had the pigs,because I'm not taking food and
(12:24):
I'm not taking water out to themand I'm not walking around.
Checking on them and I'm notchasing them around trying to
get them back in where they'resupposed to be.
Certainly having pigs led to amore active lifestyle.
And so I've had to really forcemyself.
I don't wanna say off the couch,but I've had to find other ways
to make myself active.
(12:45):
Um, because of getting rid ofthe pigs and that really was not
something that I hadanticipated.
Having to do, but getting rid ofthe pig certainly was a huge
part of the change here on thehomestead in 2023.
Now, those are all of the thingsthat we planned.
(13:05):
Uh, as far as changes, there area few things that happened this
year, major changes that werenot planned.
The first being that we did notraise meat birds this year.
Now, when I say wasn't planned,we did not go into 2023 thinking
that we weren't going to raisemeat, birds.
What ended up happening is mydad ended up having to have knee
(13:26):
replacement surgery back in thespring.
And as a result of that, and asa result of how.
The Southern Adirondackhomesteading festival fell.
And because of Brian, Jaygraduating.
We just felt like doing a springbatch of meat, birds, wasn't
going to be a good fit.
So our thought was, well, we'lldo one in the fall, but then as
we started looking at our fallcalendar, And looking at the
(13:50):
home centers of new Englandevent and Brian J going off to
college and the fair and all ofthose things, we opted this
year, not to do meat, birds atall.
And that was a huge change forus.
We have done meat birds everyyear.
Uh, for, for the last six years,seven years.
Um, intentionally done meat,birds.
(14:10):
I'm not talking about justcycling out our flock, but
actually doing batches of meat,birds.
And it certainly felt weird thisyear.
Not processing a single chickenhere on three B farm.
In homestead.
The second major change thisyear, that happened, that was
outside of our control is thefact that we did not do turkeys.
Now we didn't do turkeys lastyear, but that was my plan.
(14:32):
But this year we plan to do.
Uh, a batch of turkeys.
And actually I was very excitedabout that because we had a plan
for what we were going to dowith the turkeys besides just
sell them.
And besides just put them.
In holes or halves in ourfreezer, but we were going to
take that Turkey meat.
We were grind it up.
Because we do eat a lot ofground Turkey.
(14:54):
Um, in our diet.
And so I thought this is goingto be great.
It's going to pair well with theMediterranean diet.
We're going to have this groundpoultry.
Uh, it's going to be awesome.
And so I ordered turkeys from ahatchery and then they had a bad
hatch and they weren't able tosend them, but they said, well,
make it up in a, in a week.
And then they weren't able tomake it up in a week.
And by the time all of that gotfigured out, it was so late that
(15:16):
if I were to order from somebodyelse, it just would've made no
sense.
And so this year we opted not todo turkeys.
And so this is going to be areally, really lean year.
As far as putting meat in thefreezer.
Now we did have some pigs.
Back in the spring that we putinto the freezer, but we're not
putting any of our own chickenor any of our own Turkey.
(15:38):
Into the freezer this year.
And that feels very, very weird.
And that was certainly alloutside of our control.
But the third major.
Issue of the third major changeon our homestead this year has
been the sheer lack of foodpreservation.
And that's not Ben because Ididn't want to do it.
(15:59):
And it hasn't really even beenbecause I didn't have time to do
it, but it's Ben because ourgarden didn't produce like it
has in the past.
Now I have done some candy andI've done some jams and jellies.
I've done.
Uh, some beans and so forth, butit certainly has not been at the
same level that I have done inthe past.
And I have canned nothing tomatorelated this year at all.
(16:20):
I have a few bags of tomatoes inthe freezer.
Not quite sure what I'm going todo with them.
I'm not sure if I will maketomato sauce.
Or if I will do stewed tomatoes,I've actually been thinking
about trying my hand at makingtomato soup, something I've
never done before.
So, I don't know, but certainlynowhere near the tomato harvest
(16:42):
that I'm used to getting, andcertainly nowhere near the level
of canning and food preservationthat I've done in the past.
But if the garden doesn'tproduce the garden, doesn't
produce, no, I could have goneto local truck farms and I could
have bought tomato.
I could have bought.
Other vegetables to, can I haveopted not to, for a variety of
(17:03):
different reasons.
But that has felt very, veryweird.
This year, our homestead hasbeen the least productive.
It has been.
I think since we, we reallystarted doing this.
With a plan and with a purpose.
And that has felt very, veryodd.
(17:24):
And at times I've kind of secondguessed myself at times.
I've kind of beat myself up alittle bit.
But what I'm learning is that Ineed to have a little bit, a
little grace with myself, and Ineed to remember that there are
going to be ebbs and flows.
There's going to be seasons onyour homestead.
There's going to be times whenlife happens.
(17:44):
Either life circumstances, getin the way of you being able to
pour as much time, effort andenergy into your homestead, as
you would like, maybe you aresick or you have a family member
that's sick.
Whatever it may be.
There are times when changescome in our lives and it just
really impacts our homesteads inways that we never imagined.
(18:07):
And we need to be okay withthat.
There are some times again wherethings happen that are outside
our control.
And we could try to force thingsto happen.
But usually what we need to dois just take a deep breath.
And remember.
Bless it or the flexible for,they shall not get bad, a shape.
All right, that's it for thisepisode, that's it for this
(18:32):
season.
I hope you've enjoyed it.
I hope that it has been helpfulto you.
It really has been helpful tome, as we mentioned last week on
last week's episode.
The episodes that we did withregards to empty nest
homesteading, I really dostrongly believe we're very
beneficial in helping Bonnie andI make the transition into being
(18:54):
empty nesters in much in a muchless traumatic fashion.
And so thank you so much forbeing along for the ride.
I really, really appreciate it.
Before I sign off though for onefinal time here in season four,
I did want to share with you myvision for season five.
In season five.
(19:14):
I am planning on doing just alittle bit of a pivot.
We're still talking homesteadingstuff.
But my plan is to do a seriesthat I am tentatively calling my
journey into.
And what this series will be isa series of interviews with
homesteaders and small producersacross the United States and
(19:35):
around the world, as we talkabout their journeys into
specific areas withinhomesteading.
So my goal is to really focus onthings like maybe soap making.
Or maybe someone's side hustleor how someone got into
homestead blogging, or maybe howsomeone got into podcasting.
Or how someone got into goats orcheesemaking those kinds of
(19:59):
things.
And really to understand howsomeone got into it, what
they've learned along the wayand why it matters.
And so if you have a story toshare, I'm not necessarily
looking for journeys intoHomesite and in general, but
really into a specific.
Skillset.
If there is something.
That you really have enjoyedlearning to do, and you're
(20:22):
passionate about it.
And you want to share that withother people.
Reach out to me.
brian@thehomesteadjourney.net.
I would love to hear your story.
And to share that story withother people, because I really
believe that those stories canbe very, very inspirational and
help people.
Decide.
(20:42):
Maybe they want to get into itor maybe after they hear your
story?
Nope, I'm good.
Don't want to go there.
Either way it's beneficial.
And so if you have a storyyou're interested in sharing.
Reach out to me, Brian, at thehomestead journey.net.
And I would be glad to have aconversation with you and we'll
see if it fits into season five,my journey into.
(21:07):
And whatever the topic is.
Now I am planning on launchingseason five, probably somewhere
around the first part ofFebruary.
Uh, so definitely keep an eyeout for that.
If you don't follow us on all ofour social media accounts.
Give us a like, or a follow onFacebook on Instagram.
Um, I will do my best to keepyou up to date there.
One we're getting ready tolaunch season five, or if you
(21:31):
haven't already subscribed toour newsletter, you can do so by
heading on over to our website,the homestead journey.net.
All right folks, that's it forthis episode, that's it for
season four.
As always.
Until next time.
Keep up.
The good work.
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