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There are two types of people moving to homesteads this year. The first runs at it with their face first willing to get knocked down, bloodied, and sucking for air. The other is a person who is stuck in analysis paralysis. Both are destined for failure because they fail to plan. 

Planning your homestead can be scary, putting pen to paper to start those first steps. This is a break down of how we plan our homestead and how this plan can benefit you!

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Our family homestead is going through BIG changes in egg layer chickens, cornish cross meat chickens, and maybe even quail? 2025 is quickly approaching and if we are going to turn this homestead into a homestead business we need to make changes to what we are doing. Let us discuss the changes coming to our homestead together. This is a podcast style conversation discussing the good and bads of 2024 and how we plan on turning it around in 2025.

00:00 Introduction and Overview 
01:04 Reflecting on 2024: Chicken Farming Insights 
02:36 The Value of Raising Your Own Chickens 
05:05 Secondary Uses of Chickens 
08:20 Convenience of Canning and Preservative-Free Living 
0:28 Future Plans: Outdoor Smoker Project 

Chef Jon (Jonathan) Boyd is a national television chef personality with a passion for farm to table cuisine. His passion for "farm fresh" led him to a path to grow the best ingredients. On his homestead in Crystal Springs, MS, Jonathan gives a behind the scenes look into the world of homestead along with cooking videos created to inspire and create a more sustainable lifestyle. Join our email behind the scenes email filled with conversations with other homesteaders, exclusive content about our farm and kitchen, and offers from our business partners at: https://www.homesteadingchef.com/ #farmstead #familyfarm #homesteading #homestead #homesteadmistakes #homesteaddreams #homesteadplanning #food #sustainable #homesteadingchannel #homesteadingforbeginners #podcast #homesteadingpodcast #podcasting #sustainablefarming #sustainableliving https://www.homesteadingchef.com/

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Homesteading is FRUSTRATING sometimes. It seems everything is about growing bigger and bigger on your homestead, meanwhile you are burning like a candle on both ends. It may be time to downsize your homestead! You heard me right, DOWNSIZE YOUR HOMESTEAD! I have learned through experience that less is more and when i downsize my farm and focus i have double if not triple the production from my homestead. We are discussing downsizing our operations to best benefit us and why it might be a great idea for you. Animal Health, Land Regeneration, and Season of Life are just 3 (of many more) why we are down sizing. Take a deep dive with us as we discuss our decision to downsize the homestead to maximize the quality of production from our homestead.

00:00 Introduction to Downsizing the Homestead
00:32 Meet Jonathan Boyd: The Homesteading Chef
01:26 Why Downsizing is Essential for Animal Health
02:17 Improving Genetics for Better Livestock
05:11 Managing Land and Pasture Health
07:18 Balancing Homesteading with Life's Seasons
09:05 The Surprising Success of a Smaller Garden
12:40 Practical Steps to Downsizing
14:12 Explore More: Homestead Tours and Cooking Videos

Chef Jon (Jonathan) Boyd is a national television chef personality with a passion for farm to table cuisine. His passion for "farm fresh" led him to a path to grow the best ingredients. On his homestead in Crystal Springs, MS, Jonathan gives a behind the scenes look into the world of homestead along with cooking videos created to inspire and create a more sustainable lifestyle. Join our email behind the scenes email filled with conversations with other homesteaders, exclusive content about our farm and kitchen, and offers from our business partners at:

https://www.homesteadingchef.com/

#farmstead #familyfarm #homesteading #homestead #homesteadmistakes #homesteaddreams #homesteadplanning #food #sustainable #homesteadingchannel #homesteadingforbeginners #podcast #homesteadingpodcast #podcasting #sustainablefarming #sustainableliving #hellskitchen

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Identifying the perfect Livestock Guardian dog for your family homestead can be very difficult. All puppies are cute and adorable, but how do you pick out the monsters from the future homestead saviors? This episode is to help you identify key features while picking out your future livestock guardian angel.

https://www.homesteadingchef.com/

00:00 Starting Our Homestead Journey 
00:24 Puppies: The Ultimate Solution 
00:40 Breeding and Raising Puppies 
01:30 Selecting the Best Puppies 
05:41 Training and Socializing Puppies 
06:28 Join Our Community 
07:36 Conclusion and Farewell 

Chef Jon (Jonathan) Boyd is a national television chef personality with a passion for farm to table cuisine. His passion for "farm fresh" led him to a path to grow the best ingredients. On his homestead in Crystal Springs, MS, Jonathan gives a behind the scenes look into the world of homestead along with cooking videos created to inspire and create a more sustainable lifestyle. Join our email behind the scenes email filled with conversations with other homesteaders, exclusive content about our farm and kitchen, and offers from our business partners at: https://www.homesteadingchef.com/ #farmstead #familyfarm #homesteading #homestead #homesteadmistakes #homesteaddreams #homesteadplanning #food #sustainable #homesteadingchannel #homesteadingforbeginners #podcast #homesteadingpodcast #podcasting #sustainablefarming #sustainableliving #livestockguardiandog #greatpyrenees #puppies #puppiesofinstagram #homesteadpuppies #lgds #livestockdogs #livestock #greatpyrenees #farming https://www.homesteadingchef.com/

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Pastured Pigs have been a dream of ours for many years as we began our homesteading journey. Our family homestead now hosts 10 pigs. 4 Berkshire, 2 Guinea Hogs, and 6 Kune Kunes. It has been a journey, but I recognize that this might not be for everyone. Listen in as I discuss why pigs might not be for you. This was recorded while doing chores and working on the homestead. So have fun and enjoy the sounds of the homestead.

#homesteading #pasturedpork #pastured Pigs

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https://www.homesteadingchef.com/

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I'm excited to have a special guest/co host on our podcast. She brings a lot of experience and something new to the table. She is my beautiful wife Maryeve. Together we talk about the top 5 things we did wrong when we began homesteading nearly a decade ago (and the mistakes we continue to make)

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In this pocast , I'll share the secrets about pastured pork that I wish I knew earlier. If you're into homesteading or looking to learn more about pastured pork, this video is for you! Raising pastured pigs can be very risky. Homesteaders often have to learn the hard way on on how raise pigs. Listen in and deep dive into what I have learned from having pastured pigs on the homestead. #homesteadingchannel #homesteading #homesteadersofamerica #homesteaders #homesteadersofinstagram #pasturedpork #pasturedpigs #farmtotable #farmtofork #growyourfood #pigs #pigsofyoutube #pigstagram #pastures #chef

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Looking to earn some money while homesteading? Check out my top 5 homestead businesses for success and profits! These ideas are perfect for anyone looking to make money while living a self-sufficient lifestyle.

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Ever wondered what would happen in a worse case scenario in our country? Where would you eat, how would you provide? This episode breaks down the 5 essential skills for surviving through a worst case scenario. 

This is a break from the norm, but fun to put on the tin foil hat and have fun on the homestead after witnessing the AT&T outages. 

Make sure to leave your comments  below on what essential skills you think would be necessary to survive on your homestead in toughest of times. 

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Growing lamb on the homestead can be very difficult if we are not considering a few points on our homesteads. It seems like everything on the planet kills baby lambs. Bobcats, coyotes, stray dogs, ant beds, etc it feels can kill a baby lamb. Essentially in the first 6 months, an infininte amount of probabilities could kill a baby lamb. So how do we deter death, and make lambing a successful, maybe even profitable part of our homestead. 

We need to consider 5 Thoughts when raising lambs to be successful. 

1st is their diet. Their diet drastically changes during the ewe's 150 day gestation period and continuing on until that lamb is weened from its mom.This past summer we experienced a devastating drought that sun burned the fields eliminated much of their year's supply of in-pasture hay. We are relying on expensive hay and grain to maintain their diet. It is not ideal but necessary to keep nutrient rich diets. 

2nd- Be Prepared! Have all of your supplies ready to go for lambing season. Livestock bottles, iodine, sanitized sheers in case you need to cut an umbilical cord, gloves, and colostrum are important to have around. It is not uncommon to have a ewe who either cannot produce the milk required to sustain that baby (normally in my experience a first time mom) or the mom entirely rejects the baby. We our 50+ lambs we have birthed here on our homestead in the last 3 years, we have had 3 rejected baby lambs that needed to be bottle fed for their first 12 weeks. I wish it were less than that, but it has kept us always prepared because it has happened in the past. All three were either part of twins or triplets born where one sibling was accepted and the other not as lucky. We, as dominion managers of the homestead, have to be there to pick up the slack. In all three cases it resulted in a healthy sheep that was either butchered for meat supply, or healthy to be a mothering ewe in the pasture now. 

3rd- Protection and Monitoring. We have to be extra on our toes during lambing season. My ewes, or mother sheep, typically give birth between the 145-150th day, but it is almost always on the beginning of a cold snap. I cannot count how many times I have had to get baby lambs out of an icy, snowy field that the mom left behind. If it were not for my guardian dogs who watch my flocks, I would have been very disappointed. Marla, our main alpha lady our main pasture is the first line of defense versus predators, and even themselves. She managed to lick the newborn lamb clean, and lay with it to keep it warm, when we arrived she went crazy until we went and saw her out in the field. It was an amazing experience and awe struck moment in my homesteading life that my livestock dog was that "on the job." We have to be monitoring listening to their sounds and their bodies. We should be noticing changes in the milk bags and nipples as well as sounds in their voice. It is the first signs of lambing season is upon us.

5th- A lambing area  is crucial if you have multiple ewes or mixed livestock inside of your barn. Our barn has mixed animals in there. I have the livestock dogs, goats, sheep, and the occasional stray cow that finds their way into the barn. If not careful, a baby lamb could easily be trampled during feeding time. Having a safe area where they can mother their child, eat, and have clean water is crucial in the first few weeks. During the day I typically allow the mom and the babies to be in the pasture knowing that Marla, Saki, Tofu, and Sushi have them protected in the pasture. In the barn area though it is important we are protecting them for larger animals. 

#animals, #lambingseason #lambs #ewes #homesteading #homesteaders #homesteadersofamerica #homesteadersofinstagram #farming #farmtotable

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Lambing season is one of my favorite times on the homestead. It is exciting to see new life pop up around the homestead. 

It is not always rainbows and sunshine however. These are 5 things we should know about growing lamb on our homestead, in particular during lambing season. 

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Attention all homesteaders! In this video, we'll reveal YouTube's conspiracy against homesteading channels. From shadow banning to suppressing audience reach, we'll discuss what homesteaders need to know to survive and thrive on YouTube. Watch now to protect your channel and your community! The past several weeks I have seen several of my favorite YouTube creators post content that accuses YouTube of doing the worst imaginable for a content creator. There is a big bad word that travels throughout the content creator world and creates eye rolling, huff and puffs, and down foul attitude. It is a word called Shadow Banning. i have seen several creators place their numbers up on their screen to show their numbers have fallen. The problem is, respectively, we have not been fully honest about our content. My title included ; ) but my goal is to prove a point. That content creators are using YouTube "Algorithm" as an excuse for our lack of content substance. Do understand YouTube you really need to replace the word "Algorithm" with the word "Audience". Are we posting content that our audience wants to see. Many of these same creators are posting click bate titles based of daily news and quick emotions rather than content that provides information and substance to the viewer. This tactic works in the short gain bringing in customers based off of emotional decisions to click, however, the customer begins to learn a pattern with the content and chooses to disengage from the content. People are tired of politics influencing their daily lives. The constant bombardment of war, lying politicians, and failed policies has made has numb to the issues we have, instead we chose to look else where for content. How do we we fix our homesteading algorithm? Do not disengage with those who are trying to bring fresh content each week. It is not easy to create content, edit, post, and update each week. It is the grind of a second full time job. We should watch content that has substance to learn. If there is something you want to see more of make sure you leave it in the comment section below. We are here to be a community. My goal in this conversation is not to tear down any other creators but also tell the truth on how content is shared on YouTube. #homesteading #homesteadersofamerica #foodie #homesteaders #youtube #contentcreator #shadowbanning #shadowbanned #sheep #chicken #farming #farmtotable #youtubecreator

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Are you like me, trying to overcome the struggles of lambing season? Lets hang together as we chat about the secrets and surprises this year has brought to our homestead. It is my favorite time of year on the homestead, LAMBING SEASON. This is the time of year where we birth our next year's red meat supply on the homestead. This year is very different than most years however. This past summer (Summer 2023) we had a crazy drought that affected most of the deep south, middle Mississippi in particular. We went a record 18 weeks of no rain on the homestead. What happened is a complete burn and depletion of our natural hay supply. Most years, we have plenty of land (12 acres) to supply extra natural hay in the field to supply our ewes, goats, and 2 cows. This year was much different. Much of that grass was sun scorched and what was remaining was eaten by the animals, leaving us with a HUGE elephant in the room. How do we feed our livestock? There were options we could take to solve immediately a few months ago. We could have butchered down our entire supply of livestock, cows and sheep, which would have pulled almost all animals off the pasture to give relieve that area of the homestead. This sounds great, and as much as I love lamb, this is a dangerous idea in many ways. 1.) what happens during a power outage and my supply could spoil 2.) which is the scariest I was not sure where they were in the gestation period. My ewes are with my ram, Fabio, year round. He is very gentle and the only ram I have had that has not bothered all the other animals in the pasture, but because of this, I was not 100% sure on when the ewes gestational period started. It takes 145-150 days for them to give birth, which gives a lot of room for error and I was uncormfortable even early on to make a decision to butcher thinking I could open one up theoretically and find a fetus, YUCK! Our next option was to sell what we had, which is probably the smartest answer, however I have invested in these ewes for over a year and relying on a healthy birthing season to fill my freezers for next year. Without this I could go without red meat from the farm for a whole year This is a tough proposition. Not to mention for many of these ewes I have put in at least a year of bottle feeding, protecting, throwing hay, and filling waters. I am INVESTED in these ewes. Even $250 a ewe could not draw me to sell my supply. Instead I have opted for the most expensive route which is to wait on the lambing season and hold on for an early spring. Green grass is beginning to pop through and though there is most likely a cold snap in the future, most of those days are behind us in mid February is Mississippi. Our heard has looked rough this year, normally a bunch of fat lards this year they have to be resourceful and eat the bits they do not prefer, and I have had to feed them more dry feed and hay to get them through this time. I am looking forward to pay off of fresh lamb on my plate next year. #homesteading #farmtotable #homesteadersofamerica #homesteaders #chef #homesteadingchef #homesteadersofyoutube #contentcreator #farming #farmtofork #sustainableliving #family #vlog

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Start Homesteading NOW? Is it that simple? Lets talk about 5 reasons to start TODAY!!! It is a crazy new world we live in with threat behind the scenes each day that could send our world into chaos, or so it seems. What if I said it did not have to be that way? That we could begin steps now to be prepared to have a healthy successful life that did not involve government or others helping. This is a longer podcast style episode dedicated t why you should start homesteading. Ultimately i believe there are 5 reasons why should start homesteading RIGHT NOW. I know there are a few that will surprise you. #5 is being PREPARED. Yes this is one is important but is not the most important. Our world seems seems destined for another major conflict. We in the US are not accustomed to hard times. We have become spoiled with the readily available foods and commodities we are used to, but what if they were not available? Being prepared allowed me to thrive in the Covid years and have food security that gave tremendous relief of pressure compared to friends around me that relied on the comforts of modern society. What happens when you cant afford to go out for dinner, the stores are out of food and your pantry is empty. That reality is a lot closer than one might think. #4 Community. There is a community of others around us ready to grow with us. When we deep dive into our communities of like minded homesteaders we have an unlimited potential to thrive in a personal and business lives. Imagine having people around you dedicated to helping educate and work with you to see you succeed. There is a lot of that regardless of homesteading in the city or in a suburban area. It can be done! #3 Cost Savings. Cost savings might be a laughable concept when it comes to homesteading but now out of the questions. There are many ways we can ease the burden of costs on the homestead. Homesteading allows us to grow nutritional food for our bodies. Homesteading can save you money but it will take effort. Not everyone achieves this. I'm currently not achieving this but getting back on track. #2 Health Benefits. Your first round of medicine you take each day is what you consume. Those nutrients provide the frameworks of health within your body. The modern food supply lacks nutrition and the ability to sustain on a long healthy life. Instead growing locally grown meats and vegetables can provide a nutrient dense food supply. #1 LIFESTYLE. This is my favorite part of homesteading. When you are working day to day in the rat race of life, you become a zombie to your surroundings. Your day becomes much like the Millennium Falcon passing through light speed. The stars, or in our case, the small details of life, pass by us and we do not recognize the smallest moments of God's beauty that is placed before us. The Creator, as I like to call him, left a blueprint for a life that is gratifying, fulfilling, and you ultimately you feel grounded to Earth. You see all of the small details like blooming flowers, utters filling in, and other details The Creator leaves behind that shows he created a perfect planet, it is up to our dominion to grow upon that and grow in his reflection Remember homesteading IS for everyone no matter where you live. You can homestead on a 20th floor apartment, you can grow in the homeowners association led subdivisions of the suburban landscape. From house mom to middle aged child, homesteading can be for you and you will greatly feel the positive benefits in your life. #homesteading #homesteading101 #homesteadersofamerica #homesteading #homesteader #farming #sheepfarming #sheep #pigs #pigsofyoutube #donkey #smalltownlife #smallyoutuber #podcast #farmtotable #farmtofork #chefhomesteader #homesteadingchef

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We as homesteaders have a bad habit of thinking projects will be easy. That was my mentality when I purchased pasture pigs for our homestead. I had a chance to meet  @TheMacs1 , a local homesteader family of 8 , just like us, who are on a homestead journey. These pigs have been a blessing on our farm and have been a great tool to create new earth and flat area, however it has not been rainbows and sunshine. Each week has its own blessings, and yes curses. What have I gotten myself into? I want you to learn from my mistakes with lessons I wish I knew before I bought pigs for my homestead. Leave your thoughts and comments down below. No one person's experience is exactly the same, but i feel these are all universal truths. Make sure to hit the like and subscribe button for fresh content each week. #homesteading #foodie #homestead #homesteadersofamerica #homesteaddreams #homesteadingchef #homesteadingadventure #homesteadingchannel #homesteadingforbeginners #homesteadinglife #homesteading101 #pigs #pigsinablanket

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