Very thoughtful vid Zac. Your so right about the various peoples of the past and their religious practices regarding planting, rain and harvest. I have the great opportunity to visit the Hopi people in Arizona from time to time. My sister is Hopi. ( Long story) to this day many of their dances and ceremonies are centered on bringing Rain for their crops. They have been able to carve a lifestyle out of the desert 🌵 with no irrigation and not much rain for centuries. They grow peaches, cotton, corn and beans. Truly incredible

Great tip about the animals who are laying down are getting enough food. I never thought of that, and it's a great indicator for us from now on. And, we totally agree with you about homesteading in extreme climates. We were homesteading in Phoenix, Arizona before moving to the Missouri Ozarks. We had a serious realization that if the water was turned off, we would be dead. Hence, moved to the Ozarks. Great info, Zac!

@Anamericanhomestead

7 жыл бұрын

Yeah, they are up all day, they are not getting enough food. Glad to hear you made that realization about the weather.

sorry i went to the website but it cost im a poor man on a fixed income im on disobility but i follow your channel i live in the country but all i can manage is chickens from a wheelchair thank you and your family somuch

@afroddy

4 жыл бұрын

Be blessed!

Most good farmers, both current and of old, can tell weather better than any weather app by the sky, atmosphere and their animals, among other things.

Looks like lots of white clover in your pastures, maybe time to add some bees to the homestead??

@Anamericanhomestead

7 жыл бұрын

Thinking about it!

Three sheep names: Tasty, Delicious and Barby Q

We started quite a bit from seed this year and we have had great success! Indiana weather is treating us well this year. I totally understand how you feel about just dropping them in the ground, it's like here you go babies good luck! Nice video, I look forward to the summer.

"Think of yourself as a grass farmer first" loosely quoted...Joel Salatin says the exact same thing. Anytime you find yourself agreeing with him, you're probably doing it right! :)

As a native Floridian, it is difficult to grow anything and I agree with the air conditioning comment. I want to do only heritage breeds and heirloom crops. I live in the north end of Miami where the beach is about ten miles away via highway and my air conditioner went out. I'm boiling alive, man. my grandparents moved here in the 70s after living in Mexico/Belize most of their lives. I have an aunt who frequents Belize and says the weather is totally different for being closer to the equator. FL heat is nothing like Central and South America. Its because Florida is actually not a "tropical" climate like people think of as the Caribbean; its more closely related to the SE Asia/Thai monsoon climates. If you grow or homestead in FL you can't do American/European anything it HAS to be Asian for any real success 3/4s the year and the last 1/4 you better pray to your god(s) and ancestors that they make it. I tried a traditional summer garden in our spring (planted in February) and only the watermelon will survive this heat as the cantalope gave up growing a long time ago. I'm looking to move to Oregon in the next few years to seriously homestead :) - jacob

That's what's great about this video it has timeliness!

Something worth considering is that food does not have names, pets do.

always love your video. wish I could do patron. personally.... we don't name livestock.... makes a emotional attachment... couldn't ask my kids if they thought George was tasty...... they'd never trust what they ate ever again... lol

@jimcrawford5301

7 жыл бұрын

just naming the breeders, not the meat

Such good advise on the heritage bleeds... especially for beginners. We've made some of the same mistakes buying "commercial/production" animals expecting them to adapt to a grass-fed diet. Enjoy the content and topics here... keep the good work!

Just some advice that perhaps you were unaware of could help as a natural wormer for all animals is DE=Diatamaceous Earth!

Great video. Really like your paddocks, trying to our barn finished so we can get ours put in.

Thanks for the reminder. I was heading towards commercial breeds when I originally wanted heritage. Makes me stop and think though...

thank you for all the great video!

Excellent info thanks.

The best way I know of to get rig of Gofers, ground Squirrels and such is a flexible metal pipe hooked up to an exhaust pipe of an engine and gas them out. As the exhaust will fill every chamber, when they die below ground it also puts the smell of death there, which will keep others away or from coming back.

Very good video and good thinking.

FYI I am 56 years old and was born in Orlando. My mother is turning 80 and she grew up in Florida. People did live in Florida over 50 years ago and we did it without air conditioning.

@Anamericanhomestead

7 жыл бұрын

I'm not saying that no humans existed in Florida 50-60 years ago. That is ridiculous. I lived in Florida for almost 4 years. The invention of AC, numerous insecticides invented after WW2 preceded the population explosion in the mainland of Florida. Coast land living is much different than living in the interior. Before 1950, living inland in most of Florida was an extreme rarity. I'm not making this up. That is a fact. You take away all the modern conveniences today like clean water, insecticides and electricity and people will leave Florida in mass. Do you think places like Vegas will still be on the map post SHTF? Nope.

@pattiripley7599

7 жыл бұрын

my siblings and i were kids in Florida with no air conditioning. never thought anything of it. My sister spent the entire summer at home one year in a body cast. didn't get out of cast till the week school started. back when school started first week of Sept. We also didn't have tv until I was in high school. family played board games and cards at night together. We loved it. I'd still rather live like that.

@NanaTrece9444

7 жыл бұрын

I agree that the spraying increased the number of people in Florida. However in the Orlando timeline you see over 52,000 people living in Orlando in 1950. While that is nothing compared to cities like NY, Los Angeles and such it still shows that it wasn't a rare occurrence of people living in the middle of Florida. Orlando really boomed when Disney came into the area. I agree with Patti life was much better in those days. I actually rode my bike to school. You wouldn't do that today. Having said all this I am still grateful for things like computers. It makes channels like yours possible. Thanks for all you and your family do in putting this together.

@Anamericanhomestead

7 жыл бұрын

When I lived there, the joke was that before WW2 you couldn't even get life insurance because of the disease and malaria outbreaks. I'll stand by my statements that Florida wasn't a place most people wanted to inhabit before the invention of the AC. If you took away the grid today, people would leave en mass.

@christinearmington

5 жыл бұрын

I’m 5 generations Florida. Folk make do, drink ice tea, sit on the porch and sweat. Then jump in the lake! Fortunately my people were Unionists.

The better the soil the harsher the laws on living off grid for the most part come to think of it actually. Imagine that!

Gr8 advice.

Hey Zac, what are the approximate dimensions of your paddocks and what type fencing and post spacing do you have? We're planning to follow your lead on sheep. Thanks!!!

My name choices: Shirley, Goodness and Mercy!

Hey Zach great info

I know it's waaay too late for the naming thing, but you didn't by chance name them Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednigo did you? My spelling may be off on those, but I think you'll get my drift.....

Zach, you always have a unique way of looking at things and you're easy to understand, thank you!!! Names for sheep ... hmmm I've always liked the name Jacob, so that's my pick for the male. May he have many kids. lol As for the females Deborah and Eve would be my suggestions. Thank you for sharing so much of your life with people like myself, I've wanted to do some of how you live, but after viewing you, I want to do so much more. Any chance this Winter you'll do something with deer leather??? Like gloves

Excellent advice Zac! Thank you! How large are your paddocks?

Yeah, hair sheep!!! We have had Black Belly Barbados. So easy to raise!!! The best thing is that the meat is like venison and beef, a red meat that in a stew, nobody would know was not beef.

Did you consider the fact that people who raise heritage breeds of any type of livestock are very likely using husbandry methods that are not those of the commercial growers? Not many commercial growers manage their grazing areas in a regenerative manner.

What's the difference between A/C in Florida or in Tenn, Miss, Louisiana etc? Not to mention dehumidifiers.

Have you thought of rotating some of your chickens through the pastures like Joe Salatin? He says he has much less problems with pests because the chickens eat them. They also kick around the droppings to spread them around instead clumps.

@Anamericanhomestead

7 жыл бұрын

The pests that we deal with are microscopic. Barber pole worms. Chickens won't help those and other internal parasites. Chickens do however keep a lot of insects down...but we let them free range...we don't keep them in portable tractor cages like Salatin. Because we let them free range around the houses, we have less crawling insects in the houses.

nice to see sheep back in the homestead

When do you shave the sheep and what do you do with their excess wool?

Lucy Ethel Fred

lol. wellll. Florida is much more than a paved over swamp. The natural world is much more than meets the eye of a temporary college student or a Disney fan. Love y'all and your channel though.

@Anamericanhomestead

7 жыл бұрын

I think it's a great place to visit, but I couldn't live there. I love being in the woods too much and in those woods, I'm not the top of the food chain like I am here.

Figured since your sheep are LaCroix breed, you should probably just name the male one LaCroix.... don't really have anything for the "lady" sheep. ;-) I know I'm not a Patron, but that's my suggestion anyway. ;-) Good lookin' pastures this year bro.... homestead is lookin' great.... hope to get up there sometime soon to check out your spread. Shalom. ;-)

it is what we are going to be going back to

Native Americans lived in Florida and Arizona. But they were nomads, and moved. It's our settled living conditions that require us to build infrastructure in those areas. We've all forgotten how to live with the environment - some environments require impermanent living, others (like your homestead) have environments that invite settled infrastructure. We all need to get back to living in harmony with the environment (and if we dont like it, we should all relocate!).

Curly, Larry, and Maureen

Wow...Ps 23:2 makes more sense to me now. God fills us up and satisfies. :)

Billy, Nanny, and Kid.

How about A01, A02, and A03. Next season, start with "B"

Nice video, how much land do you have?

would like a more in depth view on the breeds of animals you have

You have to name one Shawn!

I'm not a patron but if someone doesn't nominate Miranda Lambert as a name I'll be pretty sad.

I might have been broom corn they look some alike

Jack Tripper: Janet Wood Chrissy Snow for the sheep names.... threes company lol

@WinsomeWinslet

7 жыл бұрын

j Sullivan Lol! 😂😂😂

What breed of sheep are they

Yeah, twins and triplets, and sometimes two births a year. Hair sheep forage more than regular sheep, more like goats.

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner...names?

Maybe that's why I rest throughout the day...getting enough food!😝TexasMom

I hear a turkey in the background

Thank you for this info. We have Katadhin Sheep, they are shedding now and look horrible lol What do you plant grass wise for them? I'm wanting them all grass fed but they are acting starving all the time and I'm supplementing with a custom made pellet.

@Anamericanhomestead

7 жыл бұрын

Try Alphalfa pellets, they are almost always non-GMO and still counts as grass fed! :)

@Anamericanhomestead

7 жыл бұрын

It's a mix or bermuda, fescue and lespedeza

@Anamericanhomestead

7 жыл бұрын

But there is some clover mixed in as well

@WhimsicalWonderFarm

7 жыл бұрын

I give then Chaffhaye (fermented alfalfa) is that good enough or do you recommend alfalfa pellets as well? Do you lay seed in your paddock? Or is it just whatever is growing? Thanks so much for the help.

@WhimsicalWonderFarm

7 жыл бұрын

Haha ok. Thank you

Jack, Janet, and Chrissy ;)

I knew a lot of grass farmers in high school .... they're in jail now ;) :D lol

@quiltinggrammy9813

7 жыл бұрын

ROTF

I lived in Florida for 22 years and OMG he is not lying! Florida sucks for so many reasons (besides the horrible people)!!!!

Who you dont get emu ostriches and some goose?

Interesting video. You animals look very content :)

@Lcab-bh3wx

5 жыл бұрын

Name the sheep Anny. Lielly. Joann

To make my longer comment short without you having to go through all that: anyplace with more heat than grass or trees needs to be given back to its Natives who eeked a living and its wildlife. i firmly believe australia should never have been discovered. - jacob

Have you ever heard of a guy named Gabe Brown, Ray Archuleta. They both talk about regenerative farming in which they never till the soil. They talk about how tilling destroys the land and it's ability to sustain life thus making farming impossible after a period of time. Since learning about Gabe and Ray I cringe every time I see a tilled field.

@aycacachi

7 жыл бұрын

that applicable only if you are always cultivating the land , else whatever you put there without tilling won't give you much yield

@planetbob4709

7 жыл бұрын

I am guessing you obviously did not look up Gabe Brown or Ray Archuleta. If you had you would understand that tilling destroys soil life which plants require in order to flourish. As Gabe brown would say "Do you want to sign the front or the back of a check" More organic content in your soil will: Increase soil life. Compact less. Increase water retention Infiltrate water faster, Decrease erosion. Increase yield. Tilling will: Decrease organic matter in your soil. Reduce water infiltration. Compact more. Decrease soil life by up to 30% per pass. Decrease water retention. Increase erosion Decrease yield. Tillage yields a net decrease every time it is done. No till and cover cropping yields a net increase the more it is done.

@aycacachi

7 жыл бұрын

Frank Johnson i don't have to look it up i studied enough agriculture and you haven't read what i wrote , I'll explain further more if you are not working the land and cultivating all the year long it won't affect the soil (negatively) but if you are cultivating one culture a year and that culture for example last for 3 months (meaning you have 9 months not planted) the soil will start to become solid and hard (especially at high temperatures and low moisture) which will result in a little problem for the next plantation which is the root system ability to develop in the soil so again , not tilling is a good thing but you have to keep the land busy at least if you are not planting something just raise grass and keep cutting it as the mulch does help the soil too

Name one lamb chops

Name one Lambert.

bipity, bopity, and boo?

lamb chops

Name them alberto,muchacho,and watto

NAMES BREAKFAST LUNCH DINNER LOL

Don't name your food!!

Umm, pagans weren't just around 1000 years ago. We're still here. Also, we didn't make up our Gods. As for rain dances. I think there are probably native Americans that still do that. Anyway, love the videos. Keep up the good work

@gatorbyte5254

5 жыл бұрын

Bradford Footman *gods, little ‘g’

I mean, all gods are made up, not just the pagan ones. 😉 Sorry, as a pagan myself, that bit stands out to me.

whats wrong with the beard :))

go ahead and preach. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Yes, some will hate you for preaching. But Jesus said that's to be expected. Others preach what they believe... global warming... feminism... Don't let them be louder than you. Your message is far more important than theirs.

Are you really raise the meat animals on your farm with only grass 100% of the time

@Anamericanhomestead

7 жыл бұрын

We try. We did some grain in the winter. With this new breed, we will move to alfalfa pellets and not use any grain.

@jasonpatrick7258

7 жыл бұрын

I just was wondering because I been raising animals from a young kid and my whole family has also and we had to give them at least corn if not a combination of feed

@Greenwashedhipppie

7 жыл бұрын

Jason Patrick I raise hair sheep on only grass and hay. The key is plenty of grass and hay. I do feed a mineral tub in the fall. I also lamb much latter than most people, so I have plenty of grass when the lambs drop. over winter I feed 8 adult sheep, and now have 9 lambs. I also use chickens and now muscovy ducks on the same pasture. This greatly helps with parasites. I have not wormed in years.

@jasonpatrick7258

7 жыл бұрын

Can you do cows and pigs the same

@Greenwashedhipppie

7 жыл бұрын

Jason Patrick Cow yes. Pigs, yes if you want to chance having parasites eat a human brain. Swine that have access to pasture will eat rodents and contract parasites that will eat the brain of anyone that eats that swine. Also if pasture swine ever has access to a nursing cow it will ripe out the utter, eat lambs, eat chickens ect. Swine wreak pasture turning it over making next to useless for other animals. If you look up feed conversation rates of farm animals its all based on grain. Pigs are not going to gain weight on grass like a ruminant. Yes, you could make money peddling "pasture" pork to people. You could also peddle crack. Pasture pork is red meat, not white like pigs raised inside pig hell factories . Moving it may be hard, because people are brain washed by the pork the other white meat jingle. I grew up with pigs, and its a stupid amount of work. Pigs are none native to the USA and have no roll in ecology. If it where up to me all pigs be driven into the sea. Thats the long logical answer. The short answer is the Father in Heaven said swine is an abomination to consume.

In the Bible the SUN is GOD.

@Anamericanhomestead

7 жыл бұрын

What Bible are you reading?? Chapter and verse please.

@thisguyrighthere3647

7 жыл бұрын

The SUN God was perverted into "Son of God." Moderate research shows countless astrological references. Constantine took various books, literature, scripture and belief systems that were important to the unconfirmed masses ("Pagan" Gods- sun, moon etc); altered, added and omitted information, put them together in one book and called it The Bible....Word of God.

The better the soil the harsher the laws on living off grid for the most part come to think of it actually. Imagine that!