During my unfortunate incarceration in the hospital last year, I discovered something that most people in the developed world already knew: YouTube. I don't spend a lot of time sitting and even less time watching TV, so I had assumed that YouTube was a glorified way for people to talk about themselves and spread more crazy into the world. However, I discovered that it also includes people that are doing productive things and sharing their ideas.
Some women are pros at nursing a child and can even push a shopping cart or vacuum a floor while performing this activity. I am not one of those talented ladies. I am clumsy and would rather not risk dropping my baby even if it didn't include dragging a sensitive part of my anatomy to the floor with them. Therefore, I have been sitting, and watching, much more than is normal for me. I have gained great ideas and inspiration from some of these YouTube videoss Just ask the hubby!
When the opportunity came to see some of these individuals speak in person (along with Joel Salatin), we decided to jump on it. We recently attended the Farm Where You Live Festival in Asheville, NC.
Here's a description of our trip:
We currently work from home. This is a blessing in so many ways. However, it makes us lazy as to the setup of our property. There is almost always someone around to identify and fix a problem with the land or animals. As we prepared to be gone for a short trip, we discovered that our systems are not set up for an absence. Preparing to be gone for even a short time took much longer than anticipated and included events like resetting an automatic feeder and a stalled ATV that had to be hauled back to the barn.
We don't travel often. We have designed our life and home to be a place that we enjoy so we don't spend a lot of time traveling. After trying to pack for a family of seven, I discovered another reason that we don't travel very much. Our daughters decided to pack everything that could fit into a bag, including a random stick for those stick-related emergencies. After much negotiation and tearful pleas, the bag was decreased to a reasonable size. I assumed that my boys, being older and wiser, could pack their own stuff for an overnight trip. Of course, we all know what happens when you assume?!? We discovered in the hotel that my son packed only a book, underwear, swimming trunks and three pairs of pants that unfortunately did not belong to him. I cannot explain it and apparently, he couldn't either even though he tried in only the way that a preteen can justify packing nothing applicable for a journey.
Despite our rough start, the trip was a success.
The check-in was easy, and we only had a small bit of confusion as the demonstrators were moved to accommodate the space. You can't have any event without a few hiccups. The coordinators worked hard to rectify any issues, and everyone was pleasant to be around. The atmosphere was one of positivity and encouragement.
We began by touring the vendors. They had a mainstage in this area with speakers. I was distracted but I discovered that my daughter was inspired by one of the speakers, when later in the day she congratulated the lady on a job well done. Just when you think kids aren't paying attention, they can surprise you!
The vendors were friendly and helpful. We discussed freeze-drying and tried some samples. We met a gentleman that shared his knowledge and self-saved seeds with us. I am excited to try his Orange Dulce Peppers as he suggested that they make great Cowboy Candy. One daughter purchased a fairy hairpiece and another waited in a long line to get her face painted.
There was a section for classes directed towards kids. Our kids attended the Kid-Preneurs discussion on how to start a farm business and a Worm Farm demonstration where my son was sent home with worms to add to our collection. They had a Knot Tying demonstration that my daughter reminded us about a little too late.
During one of the kid's presentations, I attended part of an introduction on herbs to grow at home. Unfortunately, I was interrupted by a fussy baby and left this one early. The hubby observed portions of a chicken and rabbit processing workshop and discovered that even with a carrier, the dead weight of a sleeping baby can become very uncomfortable.
Our family joined up later and listened to a presentation by Jill Ragan about how she manages a farm on small acreage. I am excited to try her tip on decapitating her tomato starts for increased production. Here's her video on the topic:
The next presenter, Billy Bond, discussed ways to protect your homestead. He talked about the importance of fencing and multiple layers of deterrence to protect your animals from predators. He gave some good advice in the way that only he can deliver. He is a good speaker and isn't afraid to tell it how it is.
The hubby and kids took a break to get some food while I attended a lecture on Herbal Dental Care. It was presented by Suzanne Shires from Simple Homestead Living. She has published a book that I found very easy to read. The layout is intuitive, and I purchased one for my own library: Wild Herb Gardening - Simple Homestead Living . She also has a set of game cards to help you learn and identify plants in the wild. It is on my homeschooling wishlist for next year.
The line for the food was very long and the hubby and kids became distracted. We eventually purchased food and took it to the next presentation. The one thing that I would state was a disappointment in this event was the lack of food options. We had snacks in the car, they had local restaurants serving BBQ and coffee along with a concession stand but the demand was higher than they could accommodate.
The next presentation was one by Joel Salatin. He discussed the importance of efficiency (among other things). I focused on this point as this is an area that we need to improve on our property. I made several notes and am excited to implement some of his suggestions. He is a visionary and with the help of his family and friends has been able to turn his farm into a place for learning and inspiration for others that want to work together with their land.
There were so many wonderful presentations that it was unavoidable that some of them would happen at the same time. The hubby left me to take notes from Mr. Salatin's speech as he attended a discussion about homestead dairy cows. He described it as a funny story of how one family obtained dairy cows and their list of mistakes. The hubby has used this speech of warning to prove his point about ensuring that our fences are escape-proof before moving on to this adventure. I'm hesitant to admit that he may be right, but instead of avoiding dairy, we will simply put this idea off for a future project.
As the day progressed, the attention span of our youngest kids started to wane. We chose to spend some time wandering the booths again. The men in the family purchased T-shirts and I bought a rice knife and some comfrey root cuttings from Perma Pastures Farm. We had the opportunity to discuss fencing options with the representative from Premier 1 and have a clearer understanding of what option we want to use with our next project.
We made it to the end of Jason Contreras' presentation about homesteading with meat chickens. It wasn't a topic that we were interested in pursuing at this time, but I have found his videos to be very informative and helpful. We chose to build a chicken brooder based roughly off of this video:
The hubby took the girls outside to enjoy the sunshine while the boys and I enjoyed the presentation about permaculture design by William Bond. He is an impressive young man with permaculture knowledge gained from working with the best in this area. He helped me to understand why my comfrey cuttings did not grow. I was planting them in potting soil. He explained that "it is as if the comfrey needs something to do, or fix, in order to grow". I will definitely plant my new cuttings in less-than-ideal soil. Mr. Bond can explain the topics in a clear and understandable manner. I hope that he continues to pursue methods to educate others. He currently runs a podcast with his father: Permaculture PIMPcast - YouTube .
The last speaker of our day was Justin Rhodes. Our family enjoys watching the exploits of the Rhodes family on TV as they remind us of our own adventures. They operate a video subscription service called Abundance Plus that we have a subscription. It contains a wealth of knowledge about all things homesteading. Think of it as a mix of Netflix and YouTube for homesteaders but without all of the woke propaganda and fear-inducing clickbait. Here is the only link for which I will receive a benefit:
https://abundanceplus.com/?referral_code=DBgccacFBcgiHg
For anyone that signs up for this platform using this link, we will receive a month free added to our current subscription.
We purchased the all-access tickets because we wanted to absorb as much information as possible from this event. There were also tickets available that did not include certain speakers that were VERY reasonably priced. It offered an option for everyone to participate in what interested them. I was impressed with this event and am glad that we took the time for this mini-vacation adventure as a family.
Here are some links to the people mentioned above:
(13) Faith Family Homestead | Facebook
Asheville Sustainable Landscaping (ideallyeco.com)
Whispering Willow Farm - YouTube