The Homestead Journey

On this episode we talk about when you may want to NOT do some homesteading things and instead, hire someone else to do them; in essence, trading dollars for hours.  I also mention the Livestock Conservancy and the fact that this week is International Heritage Breeds Week. Episode with Cathy Payne https://www.livestockconservancy.org/ I also mention Beardsley Zoo, Enjoy, Brian http://www.thehomest...

On this episode of Five Minute Fridays, we talk about trellising.  We talk about it's benefits and my favorite way to trellis vegetables.  Enjoy, Brian http://support.thehomesteadjourney.net http://www.thehomesteadjourney.net/shop http://www.thehomesteadjourney.net https://www.facebook.com/TheHomesteadJourneyPodcast http://www.youtube.com/c/3BFarmandHomestead https://www.facebook.com/3BFarmNY...

On this episode I am pleased to be joined by two wonderful guests.  My lovely wife Bonnie joins me as we talk to Deborah Niemann from thriftyhomesteader.com .  Deborah is the author of several books, including Homegrown and Homemade and Raising Goats Naturally.  She is also the host of the podcast, " For the Love of Goats ".   We talk about how goats can be great contributors to a homest...

This is the first episode of our new series, 5 Minute Fridays.  These episodes will be my answers to questions or take on a homesteading topic in 5 minutes or less.  They will also include a motivational quote of the week to help you tackle your homesteading weekend. If you didn't catch my episode on The Urban Farm Podcast, you can hear it here:  https://www.urbanfarm.org/2021/04/30/595-farme...

This week I learned of a ballot initiative in Colorado called PAUSE, "Protect Animals from Unnecessary Suffering and Exploitation".  That sounds like a good thing, until you read the text (click here to do so).  What you find is that it criminalizes normal homesteading practices with regards to raising animals and it places onerous burdens on the raising of livestock for meat.    Activis...

On this week's episode we talk pigs; ear notching, ear tagging and my LEAST favorite chore of all time.  I share with you why we do what we do, I explain a little about the Universal Ear Notching System and I explain why we castrate males on our farm. If you are up to castrating pigs yourself, these are the scalpels we use.   Do NOT buy the crappy ones that Tractor Supply sells.  It's an...

This week as I was scrolling through Facebook homesteading groups, I ran across this post, "Is having meat chickens worth it to you??? We have about 28 currently and I feel like we’ve put so much money into these things. I thought this was going to be cheaper than buying store bought meat... I was very very wrong" On this episode, I address one of the biggest myths of homesteading; that...

This week a listener by the name of Jeremiah reached out and asked me some questions about the best way to make money on your homestead.  After I answered him,  I got to thinking that this might be a good topic for an episode.  And, upon further reflection, I felt that my original reply to Jeremiah was lacking.  And so I have put together my thoughts on how to use your homestead to generate income...

On this episode, I am happy to be joined by Farmer Greg Peterson from theurbanfarm.org and host of The Urban Farm Podcast .  Greg is a green living and sustainability innovator whose mission is to inspire people to embrace their own greenness, which he does daily by living what he speaks. As a resident of Phoenix for the last 48 years, Greg is well-versed in urban sustainability and food productio...

On this week's episode we head back to the garden to talk about hybrids varieties of vegetables.  Many times, in homesteading and gardening circles, hybrids get a bad rap.  People love their heirlooms and open pollinated varieties (and so do I) and treat "hybrid" like it's a dirty word.  Now, certainly hybrids at times have fairly earned a reputation as not being very tasty.  A...

Currently lumber prices are through the roof.  A friend I work with told me the other day that the trusses that she had ordered last year for $8,000 (and then had to cancel) were going to cost her $24,000 this year.  If you go to Lowes (or Home Depot or your local lumber yard) you'll find that 2x4's that used to cost $2 or $3 are going for $6 or $7 each.  Plywood that used to cost $15 no...

For some reason, it seems that many people in the homesteading world think that in order to be a "real" homesteader, you shouldn't work an off homestead/farm job.  Is it possible to be a full-time homesteader?  I don't think so.  And on this episode, I explain why. Enjoy! Brian http://www.thehomesteadjourney.net/shop http://www.thehomesteadjourney.net https://www.facebook.com/T...

This is the fourth and final episode in our three part series on starting seeds.  When I started this series, my plan was to only do three episodes:  one on  What to start, when to start, how much to start.  The second would cover 6 basic things needed for seed starting. And finally I planned to wrap up the series by talking about how we start seeds on 3B Farm and Homestead.  But, this week as I w...

On this episode, we talk about the seed starting system we use here on 3B Farm and Homestead.  I share with you the things we have tried that didn’t work so well as well as the things that have worked very well for us.  Keep in mind that this is a work in process and what I do next year may differ from what I do this year.  I certainly don’t claim this to be the world’s BEST seed starting system. ...

 Last week we talked about what to start indoors, when to start it and how much to start. This week we are moving on to the nuts and bolts of starting seeds; the basics that you need to be successful in starting seeds. On this episode we talk about the 6 basic things you need: 1. Seed starting mix 2. Containers 3. Water 4. Light 5. Seeds 6. Proper environment Here is the link to the LED lights fro...

It's that time of the year; the time when we turn our attention to the spring and we think about getting our gardens started.  For some of us, that means starting some seeds indoors.  Maybe you are new to gardening and you're confused as to what should be started indoors, what should be direct sown, and what can go either way.  Maybe you're unsure of what varieties you should grow (...

 I am calling this episode "don't forget the perennials" Now, the idea for this episode came from a conversation I had last Sunday evening with the father, his name is James, of one of the scouts in my son's troop. You may recall that I recorded last week's episode on Saturday because we were planning on going tubing with the scouts at the mountain where my son and I work....

 Sustainability is a word that can mean many things. But, many times when people use the term, they use it as a synonym for environmentally friendly. In my opinion, that's a very narrow view of the word. Google defines sustaininabilty as: * the ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level.  * avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance. Be...

 Today's episode is the second in a 3 part series as we talk about becoming more self-sufficient, self-reliant and sustainable this year. I take you back, almost to the beginning ( Episode 2 ) to talk about how I define those terms.    We also take a look back at Episode 3 where I talked about some great resources you can use to help learn homesteading skills.   I then talk about 6 barriers t...

Today's episode is the first in a 3 part series as we talk about becoming more self-sufficient, self-reliant and sustainable this year. I take you back, almost to the beginning ( Episode 2 ) to talk about how I define those terms.  And then we dive into the first steps towards becoming more self-sufficient this year. Enjoy! Brian http://www.thehomesteadjourney.net/shop http://www.thehomestead...

 What a crazy week this has been. We are a little over a week into 2021 and I think some of us are already starting the countdown to 2022. For those of you listening to this podcast in the future, I am recording this the Sunday after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building in DC. This week also had some Senate runoffs in Georgia to determine control of the next congress. We are still in the...

 This is the time of the year when people are setting goals. Personal, professional and if you're into homesteading, setting goals for your homestead. All of that is great. As I reflect back on my goals for 2020, I will tell you that some of the things I had planned didn't get done. Life had other plans.  Now, I certainly think that goals are great. But, flexibility is also key. Sometime...

In my 43 years of living on God's green earth, I am sure I have received thousands of gifts.  Some have been large and some have been small.  Some have been expensive and some have not cost a lot of money.  But, there is one gift in particular that has meant more than any gift I have ever received.  It wasn't large. It wasn't expensive.  But, I cherish like I no other. I hope you en...

 I am a procrastinator. I'll be the first to admit that I sometimes have a really bad habit of avoiding chores that I don't enjoy doing. This week, I had that come back to bite me in the butt, BIG time.   Actually, in three different ways.  And so, this week, I was all prepared to talk about procrastination in light of the old adage, "Never put off until tomorrow, that which you can...

On this episode I am privileged to be joined by Troy McClung from the Pastured Pig Podcast (You may remember that I was honored to be a guest on that show a couple of weeks ago) and from The Red Toolhouse Youtube channel .  Troy is a wealth of homesteading knowledge.  In particular, he focuses on pastured pigs and timber management (something I don't think any other homesteading YouTube chann...