Your voice is so calm and I enjoyed how you explained how you got started. Thnxx for sharing, this let me know that my decision to start a homestead isn't bizarre after all

Thank you for the transparency I am inspired to create my own homestead thank you for sharing

I literally do a 8 hour prison sentence everyday, Monday through Friday...for the last 21+ years. I totally understand this. I 'homestead where I am', which is the best I can do right now. Thank you for your videos and guidance, I get so much from watching and re-watching these videos. Homestead on!- Laurel Greene

We share a similar career story. It’s been a long journey with lots of bumps. We are now buying a 100 year old log home in just over an acre in East Tennessee. We’ve had chickens and will have them again. I’m excited. I thoroughly enjoy your videos. Thank you for sharing your journey. ❤️

I would definately sell the house, buy usable land with some kind of pond, stream,or water spring on it, build a small house that could easily be added onto and make the walls 2 ft deep filled with insulation.....(can heat a 2 story home with 1 space heater in 2 ft thick insulated walls) which would keep heating and cooling costs down. Solar for elctric, well and septic, and go from there. We were in a sim. Situation job wise. We decided to change our ways and life. We are totally debt free, live on 30 acres...not prefect acres...not all usable acres...but enough that is usable. We raise rabbits to sell and freeze,we raise quail to sell and freeze, chickens...for eggs,meat, we dont sell eggs for eating, but we invested in good incubators so we sell hatchlings, and sell fertile hatching eggs . We had turkeys but didnt see profitable reasons to kept raising them. We grow a big garden, can,dehydrate, and freeze veggies, we have blue berries,black berries,strawberry, and going to do some other berries this spring. We grow veggies for our animals to help keep feed costs down. Our front yard never got any use, and was just something else to mow, so we tilled it up and planted clover seed for the rabbits. It looks nice from the road and we cut our feed cost dramaticly. I just take an old feed sack to the front yard and grab handfuls of clover, until the bag is full, and feed it to the rabbits, takes no time at all to do it, but saves a fortune. Lol. We grow just enough hay to feed all of our animals but have room to grow more if we get more animals. We have fruit and nut trees. We plant a good amount of sunflowers every year for chicken feed. We have a worm bin, compost pile. Solar panels go on the house this spring and then we will be offgrid except for internet. It is a wonderful life. I enjoy all of it. It took time to get where we are ,we still dont have everything the way we want it, but its getting there. So it is do able. It took us 8 yrs on 1 income, with small spending budget on the homestead needs every month. And I mean small! I would just sit and think...wow what I could get done around here if I had $300 a month to spend! Lol. Things have turned around pretty good for us this past year and we are getting more done and turning a profit finally. Things that use to be just for our needs, are now bigger and making us some money. Can my hubby retire right now?....no not yet, but within the next few years, he should be able to. So hang in there, do what you can, when you can, learn where and how farmers/homesteaders around you make money from their land, and you will be just fine. Such a freeing lifestyle to take on!

Thank you for sharing your journey!

Thanks for sharing!

You have such a peaceful presence. Very pleasant to watch and listen to you. (that probably sounds quite creepy :D) Thanks for sharing all these experiences! I've been thinking about taking steps into exiting the rat race myself, and these really help.

Great video! thanks for sharing. Love the sound of your voice. So calming. I could have listened all day.

So good to learn your story and where you are now.

Wonderful video, thanks for sharing how you decided to start homesteading

I can trust a good open truthful soul. This is why I have shared this channel with many. I respect how far you all have come. Angel from The Bay

Thank you Jamie for sharing your story and having coffee with me . One of the thing's I want to do is plant a nice garden so my mom and dad can enjoy the fruit's of my labor ,lol :)

Thank you so much for sharing your story. Very touching, well phrased and inspiring!

I’ve missed seeing your videos. This one popped up and I had already seen it, but enjoyed it again. Hope all is well with you.

Yay! For being debt free! I'm soooo happy for you guys

one of the most inspirational video you have done!

Awesome to learn about you all journey. Thanks so much for sharing all that you all share. Me and my Family Appreciate you. ~The Harris Family

I think nothing is more lovely than house at back of property, entryway along left or right hand side, huge hedge all around front and along side of driveway enclosing garden. You don't see the front garden until you get to the end of driveway in front of house. This way you get both the privacy of a back garden with the grandeur of having a large front garden with a private view from the top of the garden back to your house. That's how I will design my property.

Congratulations of paying off your house! That's great. Sounds like you are doing things right with building self sufficiency and multiple income streams. Best of luck with everything!

Thank you for sharing and being so transparent :)

Excited to see your journey!

You inspire me

Good for you guys your canning videos are great. Soon I hope to move my family toward a homestead lifestyle.

Crazy what the world hands us. I do like your cost savings ideas like paper towels and cleaning stuff. Keep up the good work kiddo.

i miss those type of videos you used to make! this one is very inspirational!!!

Yes love this one good video guys keep it up

well done, thanks for sharing

Hi I just came across your video don't know how but I am glad I did, I learned a lot from your video, very informative. Thank you so much for sharing. Have an awesome day!

Could you do a version of this about your girls? Would love to see how they reacted to the changes and how they felt. I think a child’s perspective would be super informative!

love your videos learn so much thank you for sharing your new pink hair looks great on you

thank you

Your videos are golden! Thank you!

I love you guys!!! Sososososo much! I am a single mom getting ready to start. It wont look like yours as Im not sure I can all of this by myself! However I have learned sososo much from you guys!

Thanks for sharing, just subbed you.

I enjoyed hearing your story and look forward to future updates, when we got our first batch of chicks in the mail from Murry McMurray, they called and told me that my livestock had arrived so I went barreling down to the post office with my full size Dodge truck and they handed me a chirping donut box. Looking back, that event really changed our lives for the good, the chickens take you from backyard gardener to a hobby farm and hopefully much more. Thanks again for sharing your story........we love connecting with like minded people.

That was a great history of a life with its struggling times... in the end, being happy is what really matters. Now you got a nice husband and two blessed daughters. Thank you for sharing it.

Destined for greatness!!! Keep teaching and showing people how to live without relying on greedy society---people looking for the same way of living , will come!

gardening always has its ups and downs every season. I had a major squash bug and vine borer invasion that almost wiped out all my cucumbers, squash, and melons. I'm in for some major crop rotating this spring! lol! just don't get discouraged and keep trying new things! you'll figure out what grows best for you where you're at. :)

This is an awesome video. Very honest, very frank and encouraging. There are many of us like yourself who want to escape the proverbial rat-race but haven't made it yet. Best of luck and much success to you!

Congratulations on being debt free! You current and recent past experiences definitely resonate with me; thank you for the fantastic content!

Your awesome, wish you lived closer.

My family got started "homesteading" in 1728 when they came to Pennsylvania. There have been many branches of my family who have never left farming and/or ranching. We live on 640 acres (a section of land.) We produce most of our own food except a few staples like sugar, salt and some spices. We hunt for wild game and we can our own food. This "homesteading" or "prepping" craze is really funny to me. We just call it life. Farming and ranching is just life to me here in the panhandle of Texas.

Gets up to 120 here. Desert gardening is a trip.

You are a good (real) story teller. Angel from The Bay

Thank you for sharing. Could you do a tour video?

I love the honesty of your story, its not perfect, but you make the best with what you have. Very inspirational.

Hello jaime, thanks for your great videos, love to see them, bestwishes from switzerland, kay

You’re so fortunate to have your mortgage paid off. Can’t wait to hear the news about perhaps a new homestead. I️t was nice to hear about your childhood Jamie. I really like your channel.

very much appreciate your story mine is very similar . Much older than you but I will be going back to my roots in June and start homesteading in June.

Thanks for your honest and forthright explanation of your family journey. I've been the one in my family that has pushed the homesteading lifestyle and went through a similar self evaluating transformation (minus the earthquake experience) over the last two years. We too were in a housing development to start and just purchased our homestead 6 months ago. It's been a long journey so far and we have more to accomplish but it is such a sense of accomplishment. I hear that same sense in your voice Jamie and I love your videos. Your organized approach is inspiring and very helpful to me. Organization and getting my husband on board has been my challenge. It's better but still requires constant motivation and sound reasoning. Your organizational skill is helping me with that. Thank you. Keep the videos coming!

I had to come find your channel after your comment about you being from our beloved Allegheny Mountains on Instagram! Just subscribed. Glad to see your living the way you want. Congrats on the positive life changes. Take care.....Darryl, AML.

Good for you to have the guts and tenacity to embark on such an adventure. You learn as you go. Don't put yourself down. I believe that many more are envious of what you are endeavouring. You are on the right track. If I wore a hat I would tip it to you. Wish the best for you.

I appreciate you guys documenting your journey as it unfolds. It gives me hope that I can achieve the same thing one day. I am a few steps behind you finance-wise but I try to make every day count by either learning something new or doing something that gets me closer to my goal. Thank you for doing what you do and to keep your chin up. This whole process is a journey of discovery and we learn as we go along. You will eventually be able to move to your dream property and I can't wait to see what it looks like!

I am new to all of this whole homesteading idea. I have been trying to eliminate toxins, chemicals and plastics from our everyday environment at home and I’ve been learning to cook from scratch and just trying to live cleaner for the health of my family. I am a nurse and last year I was faced with the fact that I could lose my livelihood if I refused getting the covid vaccine. I started prepping a bit, grew my first garden last year I had 2 raised beds and enjoyed growing food so much that I am expanding it this coming year by a lot. I also have been buying farm fresh eggs for over a year from a friend with chickens and I decided during the pandemic I wanted to have a few of my own chickens and be egg secure. So I’ve been searching chickens 101 videos on UKposts and gardening and homesteading and came across your videos. We only have a half acre in our small town and we’re watching for the perfect property to come up so we can do even more. My journey has been attributed to part 1 getting healthier, part 2 pandemic/be more self sufficient, and part 3 prep for the worst in this crazy world right now and have a backup plan.

Best of luck to you.

It's like you are telling me my own story. We just purchased land and will be making the transition over the next several years. New Subscriber!

I really enjoy you sharing your knowledge. I truly do believe that knowledge is power. I grew up mostly in city living and I am doing everything I can to learn a new set of skills of being self sustainable. I have been learning to fish, grow food, make vermi compost from raising red wigglers. Vermi compost tea an ect...really anything I can to rely on myself and not so much the system. I appreciate your videos that you and your husband have been sharing. I'm looking forward to watching new ones. Thanks a lot and keep up the good work.

We love halls videos God Bless

Nice video... very inspirational.. Thanks for sharing..

This was very interesting and educational. I do understand what it feels like to be moving forward in your successful career and to have a train hit you. My career was Geriatric Care Management. I had gotten my undergraduate degree in psychology and my masters in Gerontology. It was my dream career. It was very important to me to help others and being married to the military my husband and I moved ever 3 years. I was able to get amazing jobs every where we lived, Montana, Los Angeles, Virginia, etc. Unfortunately when I was 43 I became gravely ill and it resulted in my becoming disabled with multiple chronic illnesses. Lupus was just one of them. My husband hung in there until 7 years ago and then divorced me after 21 years of marriage. I would love to be able to homestead but I don’t have the stamina to garden. I do own my home but it’s less than an acre. I would love to figure my way through this the way you have done. As you can probably guess my career was not as lucrative as yours was. I also didn’t ask for anything in the divorce as we have no children. It’s actually funny in a way because my first marriage at 17 ended when we found out that I couldn’t have children (he was 15 years older than me). Then my second marriage ended when I got sick. I suppose I could have quite a complex. Anyway, I didn’t mean to give you my life story. I am very impressed with the way you have handled your situation. I just stumbled onto your channel today and subscribed to it after watching the meat and root vegetable pie video and the paper towel video. I am always drawn to intelligent people. Luckily I had time to do a little binge watching. I don’t know if you make it a practice to respond to videos but please don’t feel like you have to. I think I am going to learn a lot from you. Sometime I will tell you my story about the first time I ever planted potato’s. Thanks again for sharing your experiences with us.

Just started watching your videos and have been enjoying the content. I too purchased my first batch of layer hens. With the money I was spending I quickly realized that my invest in time and money in getting started with raising hens was not going to be recouped dollar for dollar. However, the enjoyment I receive from learning how to raise chickens and learning about their behavior as well as being able to go to the store and totally walking by the egg section is worth every dollar invested. Good luck to you on your journey.

New subscriber here I can relate to your train of thought looking forward to seeing your journey unfold

It all adds up to STUFF you do not NEED.

Subbed.....all the way from Ireland...keep up the good (inspirational) work.

ThankYou,

I plant sweet potatoes in my front yard edging. It looks just like Ivy. If my growing season was longer I would plant in front peanuts. The front is also a good place to plant fruit trees and herbs. Very nice video. I just subbed. Thumbs up and good luck

Respect...

My self reliance!!!! thats for everyone now. Shawn James is Sooooo right.

I am a new sub. Awesome video and channel. My hubby and I are planning on homesteading so videos like this are so useful. Thanks!

Hi Jamie, great video. I'm a new subscriber. I'm enjoying your videos as I am also becoming a suburban homesteader and gardener. I look forward to learning along with you!

still binge watching your videos

Just keep your eyes open for the space you feel suits you......Im in NC also and we have a few acres on a ridge where we raised chickens, goats, guineas...... we are struggling now to return to our little home after some of life's changes and losses. Hope you find your dream acreage soon.

I can relate to how you felt about your work "jail."

I feel the same way about so many things.

When you are describing how you feel about the second job... It is like you are describing my current work life. The only reason that I have it is to pay off things, debts (student loans) and my rent. Our goal is homesteading so that I can stay home since I am the hombody that wants to stay home raising kids, crops and animals. I learned canning and all that stuff which is helpful saving money wise. I make my own home/ household cleaners and home body products... Trying to drive that down. My fiancee and I are in the position that you and your husband were in, we work for the same company on the similar paths in leadership with them and now they have been sold to a bigger company and found out that we may be the only part of the original company that they look like they are planning to keep all together. So we are watching what we do and everything going on to even be sure we are being kept or anything so we have eyes and ears open. This video helped me a lot in the knowledge that it can still all come together for a homestead

Hope you are doing well. I really like your video. I’m about to buy 5 acres. Not much into barn animals. But love chickens Swans Peacocks. That sort of thing.

I have a 1972 ranch home that has an acre that is in the suburbs. But, we want to move however I believe that we may buy the Acer next door and use it for goats and gardening.

you are a very likable lady. I'm so glad I found your channel. I don't have my home stead yet but I've been gardening for twenty years. I'm in the middle of the city but have six fruit trees, three beds and twelve totes which is enough to produce for my daughter and I for the year most years. this was a really bad year. I have beds which are full sun and others which are partial to full shade. spinach, Swiss chard, and kale all do well in the shady bed. I'm not sure if you can grow out front but I'd at least plant some fruit trees and Berry bushes. I also grow in totes with holes drilled in the bottom. zucchini and bush beans do well like this. my tomatoes like to be in the ground although I've grown them in totes too. try back to eden and make sure you are companion planting. bugs got at my broccoli and squirrels dug up my potatoes and ate all my corn this year oh and my dog pulled up my carrots. some years are better than others. this was a bad year but with deep mulch I was still able to produce enough vegetables to sustain us from early June until late November in Canada with our short growing season. oh and with gardening you never stop learning. sorry about the grammatical errors I'm doing this on my phone. I have a sick little girl playing a math game on my ipad.

I really enjoy watching your show I bet you I see you at least once a day sometimes two or three times a day and I've learned so much and I say when you're talking about your garden with only 6 hours of light it looks like behind you got a big backyards I have finally given up my backyard in the pursuit of more gardening so that I can grow my own phone and it worked out great sometimes it's hard to discard tradition and just go for it because we work so hard to have that Barbie doll life with the perfect house in the perfect yard I love the freedom of working on sustainability that I have gotten all of a sudden instead of having a conditional house in a yards I'm starting to change I have my sewing equipment back in my house and getting ready to start tanning and I have taken out my entire backyard which I work here is on to move my garden from a small fenced area where I don't get much light to the very center and I'm so excited my winter crops are in and growing

I said the same thing when we got chickens. "Im a farmer now". Thats so funny!

We live in the suburbs of a medium size city. Our place used to be much larger. Over the years (long before we moved here 38 years ago) all but 1 and 1/2 acres was sold off. Because this used to be a working farm we are the beneficiaries of previous owners foresight and efforts. We have many full grown fruit trees. We garden roughly 3000 sq ft . We have a sturdy barn, an old 60 ft long chicken coop remodeled into a shop. 3 years ago we added bee hives and watched in awe as fruit production soared. We still have room to plant much more. The reason I bring all this up is in reference to something you said in your talk...where I am is where I should be. As I look around me I see many opportunities to be the change I want to see in the world. Neighbors give us their leaves for our garden...we give them sweet corn and eggs. The world is a scary place but if we all bug out to the country who will be left to help make our neighborhoods good places? We are needed where we are.

Thanks Jamie for that talk i get where youre coming from.I to climed that ladder i owned 3 buisnesses and ran a construction co. for 26 years.Lost my wife 6 years ago then my own health.Now i have Wanda and we are a great pair.We both love homesteading and this life.Question do yall hold outside jobs? We dont we raise most of what we eat here.Just looking for like minded people.Thanks

Thanks for doing these videos! I really enjoy your style. I would love to see you grow some gourmet mushrooms or even some buttons!

Aw, such a heartfelt video. You echo what I have said to my husband..I won't be returning to my 'rat race' 9-5 job once my career break has ended (when little one starts school). In the 5 years that I have had off work, I have finally found myself and I do not want to return to my managerial position in an office....it'd be like a life sentence! Money is not everything, happiness starts from within - from that, great things occur. Thank you.x

This is my first visit to your channel. Listening to your corporate history is very similar to mine, with the exception that I have been in Hi-tech since 1972 - two countries. Your viewpoint is accurate and my hat is off to you seeking THE GOOD LIFE. I am also an Original Mother Earther of the 1970s and farmsteaded in tandem with an electronics career. Our rule of thumb was not to allow husband & wife to work at the same company for the very reasons that cost you both your jobs. But that said, it turned your heads toward the path you are on today. In your latest video, your family is seeking to move.What state do you reside? Jim & I live on our 4th generation family farm in NH. We just built a small home in the woods at the base of my brother-in-law's 350 acres working farm. I will follow your channel and wish you all the best. I am encouraged to see your generation emulating our struggles in the 70s! It is definitely WORTH IT :-))

Hi, I'm new here. I really enjoyed your story. Homesteading has been a dream for me for years. I can somewhat relate to your story. I quit my job to homeschool our kids, but my husband is still trapped in the rat race. Your channel is inspiring. We still have steps to take and one of them is convincing my husband we can do this! Lol!

The mindset change is so key I think, living off the land is so much different. I think giving up modern technology is the hardest for most people. I hope you are able to move out to the country soon.

Anything you learn from is success.

Well done on paying off the mortgage. Allows you to live well on very little money. All the best with gardening and all your projects.

Another thing you can do is use the front yard for all of your herbs and medicinal plants. I live on a small city plot (42' X 150') with a tiny front yard and I have all of my herbs and medicinal plants up there...and a Mexican Plum tree. Even if you have to remove some trees that block the light, it might be worth it. You could still use the wood from the trees for fuel or building materials. I took down a couple of trees simply so that I would have enough sunlight to grow food (and also because one of them was an invasive chinaberry tree) and made tree art as a token of my appreciation for the resources they provided and in return for their life-giving qualities if they had been alive. It's a hard decision but it might be worth it to you to be able to stay near a city on a wooded acre. I would love to be in that situation, especially as I get older and think about having access to health care facilities. Also, I am an INTJ (strongly introverted as well, like you) and I had to come to the acceptance that as much as I wanted to be on a larger property (we used to actually live on 5 gorgeous wooded acres about an hour outside Austin, TX and I loved it but the work to maintain it was a burden), I was probably not going to actually work a farm. It takes a lot of work and I simply don't have that much energy due to my Extroverted Sensing being my inferior function as well as Introverted intuition being my dominant function - if you are familiar with MBTI. But I digress. My point is that think long and hard before giving up your wooded suburban acreage. Love your videos! Thank you!

great channel

my homestead is 3.5 acres that I've been on for 30 years. I see the rest of you have caught up with me haha.

Thanks for the video. Very good story, very smart about cutting down expenses, thats what we do every year, cutting down expenses, and we dont buy stuff that we dont need. Most of the people dont realize that when they buy stuff, they are not really buying them with money, they are really buying them with the time of their life that they invested to make that money. Most people give up their freedom in exchange for all these stuff that they dont really need, million dollar house, brand new car, toys etc.

New subscriber, I understand wanting to work outside, I worked outside for 35 years and I loved it. It takes a few years to learn the ins and outs of gardening, you will get there just be patient. Good job on being debt free....

Loved this video. I laughed when you said you had a black thumb in gardening. I do, too. I keep telling my husband, " I don't know how we could ever be homesteaders. We can't even make this 8x8 garden work." At least I know I am not alone. But, you keep trying. We will too. :)

Catching up on videos. The Dirt series is a favorite.

I was in an identical situation with my IT job. I was well-paid to do nothing, but it was so stressful. I started an Etsy shop and finally quit, relying on my husband's income and insurance through his job. Our son had moved from MI to NC, so I was starting a new chapter. Six months later, our son was hit by a car while walking and broke his neck and his jaw. I had to close my Etsy shop for months while he recovered. I watched my savings dwindle while the credit cards got maxed out. We're also worried about my husband's job now because they had to pay over $250,000 out of the insurance plan for our son. I'm now obsessed with prepping. It's not always about major national catastrophes! Anything can happen.

Girl i feel you pain. Im right there now.....

I'm so thankful I found your channel this evening, one suggestion I would make for an added income would be worm farming, it costs very little to start and has many benefits like reducing your waste, feed them kitchen scraps, paper and cardboard. Their castings are the perfect fertilizer for your garden plus you can always sell them as bait (and sell the castings for fertilizer) They also don't require much work or space.