While I am trying to curtail my time of facebook (I was quite weak on Saturday about this!) and I stopped twitter all together, I am still watching videos on youtube. I just thought I'd share my favorites right now:
Fouch Family Off Grid - this one has been a constant favorite. I met Esther at the Homesteaders Conference. I read her book What Falls From the Sky. Wonderful read! The Fouch family is Esther, Nick and their three children. They moved out into the woods of Idaho to live in a yurt for 3 years while Nick built their home out of wood he milled from their own property. They are funny, smart, eloquent, gentle, loving, hardworking, principled, great-hearted people.
Art and Bri - this is the youtube channel from a small farm in the mountains of North Carolina. Art works as a nurse at a nearby hospital to help support their homesteading endeavors. They bought a ramshackle old farm and are trying to revive it. They have a cow, pigs, chickens, etc. They grow a big garden. They have 4 children and Bri is about to have their 5th any day now. They also are gentle, thoughtful, hardworking, and lots of fun to watch.
Homesteady - this homestead is up in Connecticut and the couple with their children (maybe only two or three?) are a hoot! They make really funny videos about lots of things going on. I think both work outside the homestead but they are also focused on making money from the homestead as well. They love their cow and pigs! Austin also does a podcast on the homesteading lifestyle. He just did a great series on making your own maple syrup. He's also experimenting with aquaponics which I find really interesting (mostly because I can see Rick kind of getting into that).
Bobblehead Homestead - Jeff somehow got $5000 to buy an old piece of property in the boonies of Arkansas. He lives in a gorgeous area but his property was not well treated which is why it was so cheap. He is living in the abandoned trailer home and slowly trying to revive the place. His dream to sell cut flowers to the local markets. Because as he says, even out in the country, high schools have proms and there are weddings and funerals, church services, etc that all want flowers. Most flowers in this country are foreign grown and shipped here, which if you think about it, is really silly. Jeff has Parkinson's disease but the world's best attitude. He takes care of some feral chickens and stray cats he befriended on his property. Again a gentle, hard working, joyful guy. He always gives a shout out for another you tube channel to check out, trying to help others get more viewers.
White House on the Hill - this couple in Missouri is the most generous couple. Their videos are mostly about other people's youtube channels or they post stuff to help other businesses. They recently did a video on comparing the prices and ordering process from three different popular seed companies. Their last video was an interview with another homestead, St. Fiacre's Farm in Oregon where they make artisan teas. WHOH also regularly does a top ten compilation on things like the best chicken breed or who has the funniest homesteading channel, that sort of thing. They are kind of ambassadors of good will, in my mind, to all the homesteading you tube community.
The Awesome Homestead - this is a young couple who are a hoot. They mostly just goof around on camera and make each other laugh. They moved from Oregon to Missouri and they love the country. I just like that they are doing this back to the land on a budget thing with gusto. They just had the one year anniversary of their homestead. They no longer have to drink creek water!
Off Grid with Doug and Stacy - This is the premier youtube homestead channel. These are the rock stars of the movement. And they do want it to be a movement. Their channel has a little bit of everything. It's encyclopedic in its breadth of content. I love Stacy's cooking videos but there is tons of information presented in this channel. Doug and Stacy are two nice, savvy, generous, enthusiastic people who are trying to help others on the road to self-sufficiency and health. These folks are also in Missouri. I had never given Missouri a thought before but apparently it is a great place to homestead. Idaho also seems to be a great state to homestead in as well.
And a couple homesteaders outside the U.S.A:
Little Mountain Ranch - I just started watching this channel. Chelsea is amazing! This is a little farm in British Columbia. She and her husband had two children and then adopted nine more, mostly special needs. They homeschool them too. Chelsea is the most down to earth mom and homesteader out there. She obviously loves her life full of children and animals and nature, even if it is tiring and busy!
The Swedish Homestead - this is another steady favorite, though Simeon has not been blogging as consistently lately. He and his family live on a compound with his parents and at least one other brother and his family. His parents are from Germany and bought the land when he was young. Simeon's wife is American. So he speaks German, Swedish and English all fluently. He is very into permaculture and Joel Salatin. He's a hardworking, enterprising farmer. He and his wife were mostly selling eggs and vegetables at the farmers market, but he has decided to go into the hatchery business and he's taking us along as he figures out the best hatching machines and business practices. It is a very interesting channel to watch.
The one thing I love about homesteaders is just how hardworking they are. Instead of watching them so much, I should try to emulate them and work harder myself!
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