Homesteading Reflections

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As much as I love movies and shows, I don't watch a lot of tv, because, well, I have a homestead, am a mom of a couple of teenagers, and quite honestly, I don't like to sit still that much.

That said, it is the time of year where we get to hibernate a bit. The homestead is put to bed for the winter, and other than normal daily chores like feeding the critters, bringing up firewood, and cooking for my human herd, I don't have as much hard labor to do as during the warm months of the year.

So streaming a few shows has been a thing, especially with me being down for the count thanks to Count Coldula last week.

One of the shows we stumbled upon is Homestead Rescue. Basically the show follows the Raney family, a clan of Alaska homesteaders who traverse the country to help rescue failing homesteads.

I'm not going to lie, I have found it fascinating!

First of all, the Raney's are from Alaska and Marty Raney was a busheler (timber faller) in Southeast Alaska just like my dad. In fact, they worked in the same camps and on the same island during the same time, so I am reasonably sure they have crossed paths.

And Mr. Raney, well, he's a joy for me to watch because he reminds me so much of my dad, a barrel of half-crazy energy with a get-r-done attitude.

The second reason I love the show is it focuses on the aspect of mentorship. So many people romaticize the idea of homesteading and farming but quickly get overwhelmed when they dive into it.

And the show showcases what happens a lot of the time. Especially if you don't have a mentor or experience to draw from.

We humans have to learn things a multitude of ways. Experience is an awesome, and many times brutal, teacher. Mentors are like the 90-weight grease that lubricates your three-point implements. It makes the pretty much always hard process a bit more smooth. The problem in our post modern society is there is such a huge knowledge gap.

Many millennials and X'ers have a desire to produce their own food and to be self-sufficient, but what they don't have is access to generational knowledge in the form of mentors whether they be family members or old timers who have forged a path through hard work and grit. So many people don't know how or don't have the confidence to do any DIY things from hammering a nail to digging a post hole. You are going to learn things in the school of hard homesteading knocks, and it's ten times harder if you are starting in a knowledge deficit because of a lack of societal mentorship from your elders.

Sure, we have Youtube, books, and forums, and I am eternally grateful for the Interwebs because I have gleaned a TON of knowledge from that beautiful repository of shared knowledge over the years, but as great as that knowledge is, it's not the same as learning by doing or having someone show/guide you in person.

And we see that ideal time and time again on the Homestead Rescue Show.

One of my favorite episodes was a couple of tech people with no homesteading experience who decided to move to the country and start a free range pig farm.

Something I have encountered so many times over the years are people with ideology who have no idea when it comes to the actual reality of the implemented practice of their aims. Those poor want-to-be pig farms were letting their hogs run wild on their land. And the hogs did what hogs do, destroy things.

And I am not going to lie, while loss is a reality on any homestead, I really, really hate to see animals suffer because of people's hubris and lack of experience. To double down on a system of production you know nothing about even when you see the animals you are trying to produce suffering really bugs me. That and I just hate seeing litter after litter of dead piglets because you are determined to free-range. Sigh.

Animal husbandry is an art, and one that can't be absorbed from just reading a book or watching a video. When people ask me what animal I'd recommend they start with on a homestead I always say chickens (with rabbits a close second). There's nothing wrong with starting small.

The reason why is you are going to make mistakes and losing a couple chickens is far less damaging to your homestead than losing an entire shed because your herd of unruly pigs is a destructive pork tsunami.

Also, free-range doesn't mean not contained. But you wouldn't know that if you hadn't managed a herd or flock of anything. You can still free range animals within the confines of a fence, as the poor city kids learned after dealing with a year of porcine terror.

Last night's episode was a couple with no homestead experience who wanted to raise ad sell cattle. Handling cattle is an art, and nothing about caring for them is a small task. I grew up around my Papa's 100 head of cows so I knew that I wasn't bringing them onto my homestead until I had proper fencing, handling areas, and a budget that could accommodate their largesse. Not to mention you can't be timid when you are needing to get in there and give a cow a shot or stop a steer from rampaging through your tomato patch.

On the other hand, I love the spirit of all the folks on the show who want to embrace the homesteading way of life. It's honestly really encouraging that there are so many people in this country who want to make a go of self-sufficiency. I just hate seeing how many people are causing harm to themselves and livestock because of our human (and very American) propensity to want instant results and to do what we want without going through a bit of knowledge base growing.

I mean seriously, if you don't know how to build a fence out of baling twine then you are going to be in trouble😉

That said, I am really enjoying the show, because it shows that people aren't afraid to ask for help and those who have the resources and knowledge to answer the call aren't afraid to do so. I know there have been times in my homesteading journey where I was so, so overwhelmed and will be eternally grateful for those who stepped in a gave me a hand up. Because sometimes life tends to mire you in a bit of a hog wallow.

I just hope that this trend of homesteading that has been building for a bit now gives rise to more folks helping each other and mentoring each other in a way that our ancestors did so that we can all thrive as a community. I truly believe the world is in a dire need to return to more community based systems of food production and interaction.

And now that I have rambled far more than I needed to about this subject I am going to pop off here, as I have an entire garlic crop project to plan and spreadsheet. I'd love to hear your thoughts about your homesteading journeys, what kind of mentors you had, if any, and some of your stories.😊

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And as most of the time, all of the images in this post were taken on the author's still kinda in shock that two boys ate ten banana muffins this morning iPhone.

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