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Hey you guys and welcome to this week's Edition of The Pantry chat Food For Thought this week we're talking about Something that I know is really uh you Know near and dear to a lot of your Hearts and that is getting started with Homesteading I know a lot of people Right now are really starting to look at Whether it's home cooking or gardening Or raising some of their own food or More of a DIY lifestyle whatever it is Whatever angle you're taking on it There's a lot of people really jumping In and looking at that right now so I have asked Jessica salads from Roots And refuge to join us today because this Is a topic that is Um very dear to her and that she gets to Share with a lot of people which I just Think is amazing that you're like Ushering people into this lifestyle and So much fun so thank you for joining us Jess thanks for coming on well thank you So much for having me it's such an honor To be here chatting with you in your Pantry your beautiful Pantry Um it is definitely a passion of mine I Like to say that I like to open the Garden gate for people Um and and truly the introduction into The homesteading life I I want people to Know that there's a seat at this table For them Yeah it's really true no matter where

You're at or what you're doing and I Think we're going to dive into that a Little bit today but um there is Something for you here and it is Gratifying and it's real and it is Uh such a healthy thing to be part of in A time of the world world history that We feel like there's a lot of things out Of our control right yeah this is Actually a lot that's still in our Control and grasping that hanging on to That and doing something with it is Um good for us in a lot of different Aspects not the least of which is the Health side and like you know uh health And having our food supply but also the Mental health side I think is a huge Plus right now in the world so um we're Gonna Dive Right into all of this but Start off at the place we should always Start off right like tell us how you got Started have you always lived this way Or was this something that you had to Kind of like jump into now Um definitely have not always lived this Way I always point back to my childhood I grew up in Um Suburban America Um I was an 80s kid you know like just The very typical Millennial childhood in The suburbs of Middle America and Um I I didn't have access to local food I didn't know anything about that my mom Was a gardener more a hobby Gardener and

She did more ornamentals Um and I lived in I grew up in Arkansas Which is called the Natural State so Definitely like outdoorsy type lifestyle I didn't grow up in a city or anything Like that but I didn't really have my Eyes open to the need for food to change This broken system that we're so Dependent on I didn't know how broken it Was until my son Asher was born in 2007. And he had a a milk protein allergy and I had to start reading labels in order To nurse him without it causing him pain And that was hugely Awakening now all Through that Suburban childhood I loved The idea of a farm it was a very Romantic notion for me I loved horses I Loved animals but it was never actually About the food it was about the Romanticism of the farm but then in my Early 20s when my son needed me to wake Up to this then it became about the food And it's like The force of a mother who's protecting Protecting her child met the force of a Childhood dream and it sort of just Exploded we moved on to our first Homestead in 2014 Um it was four acres on a foreclosure House a small property no infrastructure We had no experience whatsoever with any Of this stuff all I had was what I Learned by reading every book in the Library reading every blog of course

Back then that kind of predated YouTube Thanks babe Um that kind of predated YouTube and I Had learned everything I could and then We had this property and we just dove in To becoming homesteaders And that's how it starts for a lot of us I mean that like Echoes my story so much That we knew nothing we had these little Experiences that like you know Josh had Lived on a cattle ranch and grew up Riding horses I grew up riding horses And we both had some experience with Somebody in our life gardening but aside From that it wasn't like you know in the Kitchen with Mom and Grandma learning How to pressure can or any of these Things that there's a lot of trial and Error so I I love that part of the story Because Sometimes we really feel like if we Don't come from this long history and if We don't have this backdrop behind us It's almost impossible to get started But I think both you and I are living Proof that no you can get somewhere yeah In a reasonable amount of time if you Have that force of Desire behind you Like you said you know the mom desire to Take care of a child and uh you know a Lot of our story is kind of wrapped up In some of those things too and so You can do it even if you do nothing Right now this is doable so that's just

Really exciting I think that's why I'm so passionate About encouraging the new Homesteader Because I remember when we moved on to Our first property a neighbor came down And he you know he was a I guess you could say kind of cynical Older gentleman that grew up farming and That had retired out into this country And here area rural area and we had Bought this four acres and we're there Like we're gonna start a farm we're Going to grow food and he made some Comment about oh well yeah every young Five-acre farmer is coming along and Trying to do something and he told us he Said you'll never succeed at this it's Harder than you think and it won't work For you he's like you can't raise Chickens out here they get killed you Can't grow a garden the bugs eat it up And he said all this stuff and I Remember being so massively discouraged Because I'm I'm looking at this man and His you know late 70s and I'm thinking Tell me everything you know and equip me You know like teach me and you know Obviously doesn't represent the Generation he doesn't represent a Population this is one individual that Might have had some negative experiences But I remember like reaching for the Mentorship that I expected to be there And receiving honestly a ton of

Discouragement feeling silly that we Called ourselves farmers and feeling Silly that I could imagine four acres Being a farm and feeling silly and what It took was I raised the chickens and we Did have predators but we learned how to Protect against them and they didn't die And I raised the garden and I didn't use The Seven Dust I you know I did it Organically and it didn't die and I we Did all the things he said we wouldn't Be able to do and his reverse it wasn't Wasn't encouragement it was Discouragement but it actually had us The opposite effect of maybe what he Intended it just took a long time in the Determination to not give up for his Negativity to actually fuel me being Like hey you thought I couldn't do this But we did and we did it well and we Were successful at it but I don't want People to have to overcome something Like that I want when they reach for Mentorship I want them to find something In me that says no you can do this Absolutely you can yeah I just love of That Excuse me because I was in the same spot And people around us laughed at us they Thought we were crazy we just remember All of the eye rolls and all of the you Know Uh there they are with their hobby that They're doing you know and at that point

We were feeding our family yeah from our Garden actually doing it and so we Started to get a little bit more Confidence and a little bit more Confidence but there was a point where I Remember sitting on the rocking chair on The porch with Josh And crying and just like where are these Women who have lived this lifestyle who Can tell me how to integrate raising my Food with raising a family and doing it Gracefully and well while not like Getting into the scramble where I have No time for Community or no time for Anything else and they just weren't There they weren't there and so really Josh was like you may be that person to The Next Generation and that's for me That's what fueled me is that feeling of Like there was nobody there and I needed Answers and I couldn't get them and so A lot of what you're doing you know Reading the books and reading more books And reading the older books and yeah Things that I'm like no this is not the Direction that I'm going you know and Listening to everything I could like Absorbing everything I could but a lot Of trial and error like we spent so much Time making mistakes because we didn't Have good education we didn't have any Good information out there and like you Said this kind of predated YouTube YouTube was not what it is now so you

Could just go out there and blogs were So Um it was kind of like the cowboy world Still on the internet if you could get Anything it was it was really like I Have no idea if this person even knows What they're talking about Um so yeah that it's it's a new era and Hopefully there's a lot of support for The new people but I just love what You're doing Um To you what does the term homesteading Mean because I know it can mean a lot of Things to a lot of people yeah so I feel Like homesteading is actually just an Approach to our relationship with the Earth around us Um I think that it brings in mindful Consumption I think it brings in Simplicity I think it brings in Appreciation for the beauty that Surrounds you Um it really to me when you say I'm Going to become a homesteader what You're doing is you are entering into a Conscious relationship with the Living Earth with your family with your home With your legacy Um I cannot separate homesteading from Legacy Um and and that is why to me Even though like right now we're living In you know

Unprecedented times really like we're Living in a world that in our you know Recent history you can't really find Anything like what's been happening in This earth Um it's fascinating to me but I don't Feel scared I don't feel afraid I Um I joke that I'm not a survivalist I Love thriving I love doing you know I Want my life to be as Rich today as I Plan on it being a hundred years from Now Um because I'm thinking Legacy and Homesteading to me is just marrying Legacy and I want all of my decisions to Have Legacy in mind and that's the Clothes that I choose to wear you know Thrifting and being Frugal and how I'm Saving and that I'm not leaving Mountains of debt for my children and That I'm not using the Earth up in Irresponsible ways and that I'm caring For things mindfully and the beautiful Thing about that when you see Homesteading not as a goal that has to Be reached or a certain set of things That you have to have or check boxes Checked off the list but rather a Mindset it really challenges people Because I think that you can actually Develop that Homesteader mindset in an Apartment in a duplex while you're Waiting I always say turn your waiting Room into a classroom because wherever

You are if your heart is to be a Homesteader you can begin the the Actions of a homestead or wherever you Are Absolutely and I I think that it's so Important to do that and not to get into This waiting and then because honestly You know we were blessed to start with Our journey in an apartment that's where We were a second story there was no yard We had this balcony so we grew a few Little like tomatoes and yeah babies too And it was just this there's a very Small experience But I learned so much in that place just Even in the kitchen I really started Honing the kitchen skills and some of The organization skills that you need And then we moved up to this little House with this little backyard and you Know we maxed out our ability there but Again we learned we learned we learned So by the time we moved on to five acres We we maybe were entirely ready for five Acres we still had a lot to learn but we Were way more ready than if we had just Lived the city life in our apartment and Then kind of didn't make the mindset Shift until we hit the acreage we would Not have been ready for five acres yeah I don't I don't I think we would have Buried ourselves really quickly by Making a lot of Um not Intelligent Decisions and then

Had to chase those around for a long Time to get them corrected by the time We were moving forward so so yeah I love That like you can Homestead right where You're at wherever that is Absolutely and you started in an Apartment too I did it was I was in an Apartment when my eyes were kind of Awakened to the problems with the food System and I started for me it was I Started shopping at farmers markets and I started learning to cook from scratch That was kind of the the go for me Um had a couple plants on the balcony And then moved to a neighborhood Um I was in a situation that I didn't Have permission to put Gardens in the Yard I could only Garden in containers But I started foraging wild blackberries On some friends property again more Cooking from scratch Um started collecting cast iron from Garage sales for 25 cents a pan that was Covered in Orange rust and went home and Learned how to to salvage that and make It new and learned how to Thrift well And um clothed my family cheaply and buy Things cheaply and what I learned is I Mean like my whole house is odds and Ends hodgepodge secondhand stuff and That's Frugal for one which makes a Lifestyle possible Um whenever you don't need a lot Whenever you don't need as much money

But I learned I love it I love that Lifestyle I love things that come with The story I love homegrown food that's Locally sourced we sit down at the table And we tell the story of our dinner and We say this this cut of meat we're Eating is from that old spot pig that we Butchered last March and this is that And these cabbages were grown out in the High tunnel and I traded for these Blueberries from so and so and we talk About that stuff because I love a story And Um I think in that process again just Like you had I waited and I wish I had Done more I look back and I think oh I Can see all the opportunities I had that I was blind to but had we waited to get Started at all I don't think that I Would have adapted the richness that our Our life has now because of those Principles that we learned early on yeah I think you're absolutely right Um so this kind of ties right into the Next question that I was thinking of for You here and that is what do you love About homesteading the most and why Should somebody even consider getting Started yeah that's a great question Uh well we have to eat that's like a Really big thing that when everybody When people talk about this it's just we All have that in common we can disagree On a lot of things but every single one

Of us has to eat And truly if you take all the romance Away and all the Legacy and all of the The wooing of the stories and all the Things that have so much value to me uh You have to eat and I think if nothing Else Pretending like the current system is Fail proof it's just foolish it's not Wise now you could go deeper in that you Have to eat food that fuels you well I Mean we are looking at just Unprecedented sickness in our bodies and Problems from the amount of toxicity in Our lives and I'm I'm just cannot Champion enough a lifestyle that gives You real food that gives you exercise Like you mentioned earlier that honestly Is very grounding for your mental health Um I just I look at the culture that we Have been given With Um the the the just the way that we do Things I'm like man we're getting Scammed you know like this is just such A big scam our our lifestyle is making Us sick we're working our lives away to Pay for the medicine Um to hopefully make us better we're Eating food that doesn't fuel our body Well we're separate from our families And our marriages are failing and our Families are failing because of the the Scam of a lifestyle that we are being

Told is normal and I just want to like Shout from the rooftops that's not Normal that is not normal we were not Created to live like this we were Created to thrive and to be healthy and To have Legacy and I see the Homesteading lifestyle is a gateway into A life that we were intended for Uh yeah that it's amazing to me when you Start fixing a few pieces of the puzzle It all starts to like start snapping Together and you see this lifestyle Emerge that you kind of you know look And go wow my children are much more Capable than the average child they're Much more self-assured they're much more Responsible yeah they're healthy they're You know our relationships are blooming Because we're working together all the Time there's no like pretending that Things are okay if they're not we can Work these things out we have to find The common ground to be able to deal With chores and responsibilities and all Of those things and it's like just Starting to add these pieces and getting Back to maybe a little bit more of an Agrarian mindset even if it's not Actually you know 20 acres and you're Out farming all day but just this Agrarian mindset that starts simplifying Pieces of life And focusing on the relationships Focusing on the the basics of things

That really matter I mean for me that Boils down to like food really good food Family and faith and Friends yes you Know and you start putting those back Together and all of a sudden Things start changing and things start Looking brighter and they look better Because you start getting those Priorities lined up a little bit better And saying no to the things that just Really are distracting us for the Important things I agree entirely it's It's interesting the side effects that Have come to me in the homesteading life And sometimes a new one will pop up that I didn't even really realize because I And I think you can probably relate to This even though this was just like the Dream at one point this is just my Normal life now like I actually Sometimes hear the rooster crowing and Feel like really oh that's so beautiful But most of the time I've heard it so Much I don't hear it you know like most Of the time I'm just going through my Day-to-day I'm so thankful for it I'm Deeply rooted in it but I've I've become Accustomed to it and I'm thankful for That I like that but sometimes something Will happen and I'll go oh Man homesteading did that for me I Didn't even realize recently I was Talking with some friends and they were Talking about having trouble sleeping

They're like well I just don't sleep Very well I wake up all night and you Know I was scrolling social media at Three this morning and all these Different things and I was like can't Relate bro like I've I'm dead at night I'm so tired like I mean I got up before The sun I've been up all day I'm tired I Go to sleep I sleep like the dead you Know and that and I realized that wasn't Always the case for me Um I used to have trouble sleeping I Used to scroll social media in the Middle of the night Um and now I I'm my rhythms are more in Line you know my body's more in line my Mind is more at rest at night I'm tired And I rest well and I realize like this Lifestyle this Farm did that for me I Didn't even go after that but that was a Result and whereas had I continued in The lifestyle I'd been I mean would I be On sleep medication by now would I have You know ended up in that place But I I like to note those little things That come up and again it goes back to Like what you said when when you have This order in place sometimes you'll Realize that other things kind of fall Into place that you didn't realize Um And that that's been my experience for Sure yeah yeah it's kind of like I mean It really mirrors our physical health

When you start putting the right things In your body all of a sudden you start Seeing things that are getting fixed That you may not have even recognized as A problem yes you're like oh I don't Hurt when I wake up or oh you know my Nails got harder and they're like oh you Know or whatever it is it's this Realization that there's something that Is deeply missing in our modern culture In the fast fast fast the go the stuff I Mean it's all stuff stuff stuff and I I Know I can fall into it I know you know It's as ingrained in me as it is in Everybody else And but that's so empty those are those Empty calories it's like eating this Yeah when you need a good solid homemade Meal you know and when you start Changing that and getting that nutrition Into you Um not just into you know physically but Yeah mind and into your soul everything Starts to change and it just kind of it Is a bit of a slippery slope right like Yeah you don't stop with making Sourdough bread I'm sorry Bread and you need the homemade butter Yup Absolutely I know there's so many people And a lot of people listening right now Who are sold they're like I'm just Waiting for my moment to dive in but Maybe their family's not on board maybe

A spouse isn't on board were you guys Always lined up for doing this or was it Mostly you it was me it was it was my Big dream now my husband Um really liked me and then and so we we Joke now Um recently I came in I asked him if he Liked my outfit hey is this this look And he's like I'd flirt with you I said You don't even know how to flirt you Know we've been married so long you Don't know how to flirt and he looked at Me he goes I got a farm like that's All right well it worked for me before Because when we were dating I said this Is my dream this is what I want and he Said I'll do that for you like Um and he he did he did he bought you Know we we've been married for four Years when we found the land we bought The land but it was it started as Something he was giving me so that we Got four acres and you know I got three Chickens and I built some raised garden Beds and he was appeasing me with what I Wanted but it was my stuff it was my Chickens my chores my garden beds And then Um along the way I the food convinced Him Um he had gone through a myriad of Health issues he's medically retired Marine and Um you know he had a lot of pain and

Eating good food like you said he it Alleviated pain And it started to show him areas that he Could have Improvement in the way that His his quality of life and so the next Thing I knew he was the one that was Ordering more chickens and he was the One that was kind of growing things and It has long since surpassed what I could Handle I mean like the herd of cows out There that was Jeremiah's doing the Horses that was Jeremiah's doing it and What we learned is that there was Actually some of that dream in him too But he had given up on dreaming like he Had given up he he didn't ever think That horses would be possible and I Think that he focused on making my dream Come true and somewhere along the way it Kind of awakened it in him Oh that's really special do you have any Advice for people who are facing that Same circumstance and they're kind of Like they're they want to do it husband Maybe not so he he sounded like amenable To the idea but there are a lot of Husbands out there that are like nope We're not doing that I think one thing That we have to remember just in Relationships period is that you can't Ever control anybody else on a good day I can control myself and on a bad day I Can't even do that well like so for me If I have a passion and something that I

Really want to do I'm going to get into It to the scale that I can take Responsibility for so in the beginning Whenever he was saying well you can have Chickens but you know like he really Wasn't sold he wasn't even sold that I Was going to take care of him I got Three I didn't get ten I didn't get 15 I Got three because it was like this is What I know for sure that I can take Responsibility for and I can take care Of myself and as for a long time I was a Stay-at-home mom I did not have my own Income I completely understand The position as a woman and this may be The case there may be men with wives That aren't on board but as a woman Really being in a situation where I'm Not the breadwinner you know like where I don't have a lot of I don't want to I'm going to say the word Freedom that's Not really exactly what the right word But I didn't have a lot of luxury and my Own resources to make my own decisions That were separate for my husband I Really needed his agreement on the Things that I was doing Um and and I think that when you are Passionate about something and when you Take responsibility for the decisions That you make then you have within your Power to let it be successful and I Think success convinces people Um where maybe Vision casting and ideas

And excitement don't and it was the Three chickens you know like we got the Eggs and and whenever you get the few Eggs is when oh this is better and then You get more chickens and you know you Have the small garden and you take good Care of it and yes you may be dreaming Of a 10 000 square foot garden and yes You may need your spouse's approval to Spend more than 40 bucks to put Gardening in so what do you start with Can you start with a four by four raised Bed garden because I hustled man I Bought stuff at thrift stores and sold It I did what I could to get a little Bit of extra money to do these passion Projects and what I found is is when I Poured myself into them passionately and They were successful it was the success Of that passion that was more convincing Than anything else I had ever been able To bring to the table Yeah absolutely and I I think you know We could probably do an entire Pantry Chat just on this and call it like how To Homestead and stay married yeah Yeah even whether it's a fun thing or You know some some couples work with a Lot more freedom between them and They're each doing their thing about Each or bringing in the income so they Feel a lot of equality in that Um you know one way or another This affects a spouse yes that they're

You know you can't just go on vacation You can't just run out the door and do This through that it actually affects People and so looking how do we Bloom With our ideas inside right where we are You know yeah so cliche Bloom where You're planted but it's that instead of Taking the nagging or the I wish you Would or why won't you or the I really Need you to help me figure out okay what Can I do without the help or without Exactly you know without the permission Or without the whatever and how do I Make that so phenomenally good that Nobody can deny the fact that this is Fun nominal and we want more of this Um so I think I think that's really wise And really I think that's the key the bloom where You're planted thing and I think we get Sick of hearing that because what it Tells us is hey you don't have an excuse And you're not going to be able to get Where you want to go until you do what You can where you are and that's a Bummer but Um it truly in relationships I think if Our goal is to seek understanding Instead of agreement Um we'll have more peace period that's Just like that is something that we live By I don't have to agree with my husband I don't have to agree with what my Husband wants to do but I can try to

Understand why he's doing what he's Doing and that's going to get us so much Further than the argument of agreement And so he didn't really agree with me on The value of growing our food he didn't Really agree with me that it was Something that we should spend our money On he didn't really agree with me But I think he understood that it was a Passion for me and he was accommodating To that degree but I he really began to Understand the value when I just did What I could where I was yeah um and now I mean he's sold but people are always Like well you have such a supportive Husband and you have such a and but now I mean and also I mean there is the Factor to take into consideration we're Content creators this is our whole job Both of us you know I mean you can look At us now and go he's on board well Honey he's paid you know like I mean This is this is our job we're both we're Both doing this as a passion and as a Love it really is the greatest Passion Of Our Lives now but I don't think it's Fair to look where you are which is Where we were 15 years ago or 10 years Ago in our journey and compare it to Where we are now where there's a lot of Perks to this for us That make it look like well my my life Doesn't look like that well it doesn't Because but if you looked at where we

Were 10 years ago I think you would Probably see it wasn't always like this Yeah yeah I think that's so true and it You know There's always an excuse isn't there There's always somebody that's better or Something that's better or you know Whatever it is it's easy to fall back on The excuses and when you say look no More excuses I'm just gonna do what I Can right here right now I'm going to Stop the excuse side of it I think That's you know that's where that rubber Meets the road and that's where you Start getting successful is like you're Taking your resources you're changing Your attitude and you're putting those Together that's where you're gonna get The results that get other people Excited about it because you're going to Be excited about it yeah you're going to Stop carrying around the dragging the Weight of oh if only I had five acres or If only I was out of debt or if only I Didn't have to work or The list is so long it could go on Forever but I do want to Circle back Around because you said something that I Think is so key and I'm I'm gonna be Like really bold here and just call it Out as it is if you're one of the people Who emails me and says how do I get my Husband on board Like can I just tell you please go call

The marriage counselor right now because Your attitude how do I make my spouse do Anything You've got problems that have nothing to Do with what you're eating or how you're Homesteading like go take care of the Foundational stuff get it worked out Between the two of you And then do what you can do and maybe You can encourage him to see you know What what's exciting about it and why he Might want to participate if that's what He decides that's a that's a key word is The want because like when It takes a lot of vulnerability to Submit your dream to another individual But you're married like when you have Chosen in partnership with a person We're choosing the hard task of being Vulnerable with them and yes submitting Our dream and our goals and our greatest Desires and our biggest fears and just Bearing that all to another person and The thing is it was hard for me for a Long time to submit this dream and to And by submit I mean like hand it over I'm handing over my dream my husband Saying this is the most wild dream of my Life I want this more than anything and For years he looked at it said yeah yeah We'll do that someday you know like and I had to stop and be like no he really Loves me and I just don't think he Understands how much I want this and so

Again it comes back to me well do I Believe in this dream am I even doing Everything for my dream that I'm capable Of doing why do I expect him to do Something for it if I'm not willing to Do something for it what can I do so I Learned to season the cast iron to forge The blackberries to Thrift the clothes And what happens is you cannot convince Somebody else to believe in your dream More than you're willing to and so when We're thinking how can I make my spouse Make my dream you make your dream come True are you even willing to do that And yeah and eventually I think what Happens is is your spouse looks at it And goes whoa this is really important To her and I love her and I want to Honor her and I want to be lavish to her And So then whenever he shows up and He's helping you build a garden bed and You then Express you can tell your Spouse how much their actions mean to You can't make them do anything but at That point you go I can't tell you how Much it means to me that you got behind Me and helped me with this thank you This makes me feel so loved we we call It kindergartner language sometimes we Just gotta spell it out free and clear Kids will say anything today is the best Day ever the way you held my hand and Pushed me on the swing made me feel so Good we don't do that as adults but we

Should sometimes we need to just say hey The way you showed up for my dream today Even though it's not yours made me feel Really good and that's not making them Do anything but that's equipping them on How to love you well we have to be Willing to do that I love it and uh not we're not we're not Picking on you guys let me just say for You males that are out there this is Just both uh you know where our Experience lies as wives because I do Know that there are lots of cases where The guys are very gung-ho yeah and Really ready to jump in and their spouse Is like not interested don't want to do That I'm when can I get my nails done Next you know and maybe I shouldn't pick On that either because We won't look at my nails [Laughter] So if there was somebody who's sitting Here and they're listening to us and They're like kind of on the fence about Really diving into the homesteading Lifestyle maybe they dabbled a little What would you tell them is it worth it In the long run I mean what what big Heads up would you give them what would You say I would say that It's absolutely worth it it is hard Um I I think that another thing in our I

Call it you know our scam of a culture I Don't know it's kind of a harsh thing to Say but like I think that we have been So trained to avoid discomfort and Failure at all costs And I think that when you decide to Homestead and you decide to enter into a Relationship with the living world Around you and and your legacy and how You're going to Steward your family and The Earth around you and the animals in It and all of that Um there's just guaranteed failure and Discomfort and pain Um and I would just encourage people Right now no matter what stage of Homesteading you're in don't skirt the Failure and the discomfort and the pain In your life because like you cannot Experience the mountaintops without Experiencing those things Um and I would say that is probably the Greatest lesson I have learned in Jumping into homesteading Is that There's no great pleasure and joy that Does not also have some pain and Discomfort and sacrifice as a Counterpart and of course when you go Back to Faith you know that's so evident In the gospel I mean like there are so Many different things that I see Mirrored and homesteading and I think a Lot of people come out of a very

Comfortable culture and a comfortable Way of living it's all about comfort and Entertainment and feeling good Um but I would say that once you immerse Yourself in the real of the homesteading Life and you Embrace that discomfort and You push yourself further than you Thought you could be pushed and you you Go through pain and you keep going and You keep choosing to go back Um then you learn what real pleasure and Satisfaction and joy and being deeply Moved by something not just entertained By it and what happens is you look back At what used to satisfy you and you Realize how absolutely cheap it was Um and so yeah I think that my biggest Like piece of advice for people is like Don't give up whatever you do it is Worth it Don't give up just keep going when it's Hard when you know where there's Livestock there's dead stock your Gardens it might get eaten by bugs it Might you might have massive failures But I promise you the greatest joy of Your life is on the other side of those Things Yeah that those are very wise words Spoken there and I think they tie right Into one of the things that I like to Say a lot about homesteading and that is There's a difference between simple and Easy yes you infuse the two yeah and you

Know people talk about oh the simple Lifestyle the simple life right oh it is Very simple homesteading is a very Simple life there is so much like you Can look at it and that is a seed I'm Going to put it in the ground it's going To grow I'm going to harvest it I'm Going to eat it and it's going to bring Health in life like that is simple we Can understand that we can grasp that on A deep soul level Nothing about that is easy there is a Lot of hard work involved and just like You're saying there's a lot of Disappointment there's a lot of Frustration Um and yes there is a lot of dead Livestock wrapped up in all of this as Much as nobody wants to say this it does Happen you know We're just not faced with death in our Modern culture we way to the hospital And off to the retirement home and so You don't see it so we have this really Uh skewed perspective of life and death And and uh you know ratios of life and Death I don't even know how to express That quite well but when you get in the Homestead boy you are smack confronted With it and there's no getting around it And so there's this pushing through to Get to the simple I guess yeah looking Through the hard to get to the simple And um and so yeah I just love that this

Is so encouraging I hope you guys are Feeling as encouraged as I am in this Because it's just this fresh look even If you've been homesteading for a long Time you know a lot of us need these Moments of like That's right that's why I'm doing this Yeah so easy to get caught up in the Scramble of the day that you know and And there's a lot to be done yeah There's a lot a lot of doing But to look at that moment you know and Just say take that moment and say this Is this is worth it this is absolutely Worth it and look at how far we've come So anyways that is wonderful Um I definitely want to give a shout out To your new book yes and that is the First time Homesteader so I know we've Actually uh we Dove really deep into a Couple of different topics here that Kind of wanders away from even the first Time Homesteader but if you are in that Position and you are looking to dive in Even deeper maybe step up a little bit Do a little bit more this is a really Great book it covers all sorts of Amazing different homesteading projects Here and different aspects of Homesteading from gardening to raising Livestock to Kitchen skills to living Frugally like a lot of stuff in here so I'd really recommend you guys to grab This book

And even if you feel like your seasoned Homesteader grab it and give it to Somebody in your life that might be Right on the edge and like talking about It but needs a little help to take that Leap because they're not so sure yeah um So yeah this has been wonderful I've Really enjoyed taking a look at you and Jessica where can people find you if They're not following you already yep so Uh we are roots and refuge Farm we have Our website rootsandrefuge.com which Kind of is a diving point to anywhere Else we're on YouTube and Instagram Um have written a couple of books most Recently the first time Homesteader but If you type roots and refuge into Google You'll find us over there That is great if you have not checked Them out make sure you go over and do That they've got a lot of really fun Videos thank you so go watch those I Love you bring in a lot more Vlog style Than we usually do so if you are into The storytelling side of it and like Like watching the families working Together I love seeing that yes I Haven't quite cracked the code on Actually doing videos In my life but But I do love getting to watch them so Go check those out and make sure you say Hi and that you uh you met Jessica over Here

Um so thank you so much for taking your Time today and helping to encourage so Many people thank you so much for having Me it was a joy to chat with you We'll see you guys soon goodbye