Farm Dreams (2023) s01e01 Episode Script
Homestead Reborn
1
INDY: If you've ever
dreamed of owning a farm,
come with me.
MAN: Things are living
and things are growing on the rooftop!
I'm Indy Officinalis,
I'm a farmer who loves
helping other farmers.
My passion for
farming started in my teens.
Working on a
homestead in North Carolina and
led me to urban farming in L.A.
I've worked on farms
from coast to coast,
but farming is hard work.
MAN: We planted about
ten variety of fruit trees and
they all died.
INDY: So, I'm traveling the
country to offer some hope.
Hi
WOMAN: Indy!
WOMAN 2: Oh, my gosh, Indy!
INDY: Join me as I transform
farms on rooftops,
in backyards, wharehouses
This is insane!
And even out on the ocean.
Farm rescue on a boat ♪
Along the way, we'll
get tips from some of my
expert farmer friends.
WOMAN: It's so awesome!
(high-pitched squealing)
Today I'm driving through the
Columbia River Gorge of
South West Washington.
I've come here to transfrom
the ten-acre homestead of
Grace and Will Lyons.
They've lived on the property
for two years and bought their
land from their neighbors.
Now Will and Grace and
trying to restore the farm
to its former glory.
With a new baby on the way and
Grace's health at risk,
it's important that I
help make their farm go from
struggling new venture
to thriving success.
GRACE: Hey!
WILL: How's it going?
INDY: So excited to
finally meet you both.
That was the most beautiful
drive I've ever taken.
WILL: Yeah, we ordered a
little snow up for you.
INDY: I appreciate it,
I appreciate it.
Looks like you're
farming for two.
GRACE: Yeah farming for two.
INDY: How far along are we?
GRACE: 36 weeks.
INDY: Wow.
Your chickens are
having some breakfast.
WILL: Yeah, that's the pig feed.
We're about to go do chores
if you wanna come help us.
INDY: Yes.
So excited to see everything.
WILL: Get outta here birdies.
Alright, this way.
Lead the way chicken.
INDY: Grace and Will's farm
definitely has potential,
but they're only beginning
their homesteading journey.
WILL: We've had this
property for two years.
GRACE: We're still
learning along the way.
WILL: Been a steep
learning curve at times.
GRACE: C'mon over here guys.
Let me feed you food.
INDY: The pigs decide
to have their uprising.
WILL: Come here pigs.
GRACE: Yep, shake a bucket,
they come runnin'.
INDY: My farm beginnings
also started on a homestead.
I worked on a homestead in
North Carolina for a number of
years and I learned so much.
I was constantly learning
from my mistakes.
I used to live with this
really terrible pig that
would charge you.
GRACE: Oh no.
(laughs).
INDY: So any time you'd
go out in the field,
I would always take a metal
trashcan lid and just kind of
use it to shield myself.
GRACE: Oh 100%.
We're swappin'
swine stories, Will.
INDY: How many pigs do
you guys have total?
WILL: We have six pigs.
GRACE: Actually one of
our pigs is pregnant.
I think we're gonna be
due around the same time.
So, she's like me, we've got
that pregnant waddle goin' on.
(laughs).
Will's been on the road for the
last ten years working and part
of settling down and starting
a family was keeping Will home.
WILL: The thought of losing a
large chunk of income is scary,
but being an absent
father is even worse.
GRACE: I was diagnosed with an
autoimmune disease six years
ago and it changed the
way that I saw food and
the way that I
lived essentially.
Having a homestead and growing
our own food became a mission
of mine to be able to
continue with good health.
I'm currently in remission
and I'm planning to keep
it that way.
INDY: So you guys
are homesteaders.
Is the idea to just kind of
try to keep everything as local
here to the farm as possible?
GRACE: Yeah, I mean our goal
here is to try to be as most
self-sustaining as possible.
INDY: Mm-hm.
When we think about
a closed system farm,
that's a farm that doesn't rely
heavily on outside resources.
Each element of the farm
contributes to the whole and
nothing is wasted.
In order to homestead,
you have to plan ahead,
especially in the winter
so that you know exactly when
to breed the animals,
when to plant seeds
and when to harvest.
Homesteading has come to
be known as a lifestyle of
self-sufficiency, but
the term is linked to a
painful part of America's past.
The Homestead Act of 1862
accelerated Western settlements,
granting American citizens
free land on which
to build and farm, and in
turn pushing indigenous people
off of their homeland.
It's important as homesteaders
for us to acknowledge that past
and move forward in a way
where we're growing food not
just for the betterment
of the planet,
but also for the
betterment of people.
WILL: We feel really
blessed on having what we have
and I feel an
obligation to keep this
little piece of land
alive and do whatever I can
for any of my neighbors
that wanna do the same.
This ground has had animals
on it for a long time and
they just kinda need
to be revitalized.
But I don't currently have
enough animals maybe to graze
all of this ground.
GRACE: One step at a time, man.
WILL: Yeah, I gotta go bigger!
(laughs).
INDY: There's a lot of
history on this land,
but you guys are creating
your own little family here,
starting your own history and
so as much as farming is an experiment,
this is kind of an experiment
that you can't afford to fail.
WILL: Everybody tells us
like it's not gonna work.
GRACE: Yeah, we
get a lotta that.
INDY: Really?
GRACE: People
telling us we're crazy,
"What are you thinking?"
INDY: Yeah, farming really is
all about the audacity to hope
and you guys seem
pretty audacious.
(laughs).
WILL: In some way I guess it feels a
little bit like a calling.
GRACE: You gotta believe that
it's gonna work out, you know.
INDY: Ten acres might
seem small for a farm,
but the Lyons have a lot
of pasture to graze.
And once the snow is gone the
ground will be covered in more
weeds that need
to be controlled.
Will wants healthy soil so that
he can eventually use that land
to grow more crops.
WILL: A lotta people
romanticize about movin' out
into the country,
gettin' some animals and
it is incredibly rewarding,
but it is also an
incredible amount of work.
Since we didn't buy a farm
that was in operation with
plans in place and
livestock and systems,
we've kind of been creating
this thing from the ground up
and that's not a terribly
efficient way to do things.
GRACE: It's so rewarding
building these relationships
with the animals
that we have here.
INDY: Which came first,
the pigs, the chickens or the cows?
GRACE: The cow came first.
INDY: Oh really?
GRACE: Will woke up
one morning and was like,
"Grace, I found a cow,"
and I was like,
"What? What do
you mean, a cow?"
Like, what are you thinking?
WILL: And I'm kind
of like one of those people that
goes all-in on
things I think.
GRACE: And he was like,
"No, the cow is really
like the start of the farm,
like this is how
we're gonna get started."
Will got a trailer, we went,
we met Trudy, we fell in love.
INDY: Aw.
GRACE: Brought her
home and once we were,
at that point we were like,
okay, I guess
we're goin' for this.
INDY: And you guys really
started from the bottom up,
starting with livestock
actually makes a lot more sense
because you're building your
soil before you even put a
single seed into the ground.
Pretty genius.
WILL: I don't know about that.
GRACE: Well don't tell him that,
oh my gosh.
(laughs).
WILL: See?
She thinks I'm a genius.
GRACE: Uh-huh. Sure genius.
INDY: Cows and other livestock that
feed on the land have so much to offer.
In addition to providing milk,
their manure adds nutrients to the
soil and makes the land healthier
and more fertile
for crop growth.
She's a lap dog.
GRACE: She loves you Will.
INDY: She really is a lap dog.
WILL: You gonna help me move this thing
over and then we can unroll it, I guess.
INDY: Yeah, definitely.
Later cows.
WILL: Later cows.
INDY: I'd love to
see the chickens.
GRACE: Oh these girls
are gonna be excited.
Hi ladies.
So all of these guys are layers,
all these gals.
INDY: Where are the chickens
normally hanging out?
WILL: The way our
chickens are currently,
they're in a coop right
next to our house and they
wreak havoc on everything.
Our food garden,
our flower gardens,
we have no way to control 'em,
they kinda run our lives.
GRACE: So last spring we
built this fence around the
garden to keep the chickens out.
INDY: Mm-hm.
GRACE: 'Cause the first year
when the chickens discovered
the garden it was game over.
INDY: It seems like the
chickens are the antagonists
to the farm.
WILL: The chickens,
I love 'em, but.
INDY: These chickens
are running rampant,
but they could be put to much
better use if Will and Grace
could just control them.
So how do you envision this
garden space looking this year?
What are the goals
for the garden?
GRACE: I think it'd be really
amazing to try to make some
baby food this year.
INDY: Oh great.
GRACE: Just because we have
such a short growing season
as you can tell.
Like, you know, we can
get snow up until April.
I haven't been able to like
really grow a second season,
like the fall harvest, I
haven't figured that one out.
How to start it
and when to start it.
It's like, I'm not a
master gardener by any means
but I wanna figure it out.
My biggest concern is if we
don't have our homestead and
farm up and running and
all the systems in place,
everything is gonna
completely fall to the wayside
when this baby comes.
INDY: The goal for the Lyons
is to have a full functioning
homestead and for both of
them to be able to stay at
home full time.
I think for that to work
there's a few areas that need
to be tightened up.
Winter is the best time
for me to get them set out
for springtime planting.
To do that I need to help
them figure out how to manage
the chickens effectively,
put all of that
underused pasture to use and
maximize the potential
for their garden.
With Grace's autoimmune
disease and a baby on the way,
all of this needs to be stress
free for the new parents to be.
I've got a few farms friends in
mind that I think can help and
I have some ideas about how to
repurpose some of this stuff
I've seen lying around the farm.
But their baby will
be here any day now,
so the clock is ticking.
Thank you guys for
an awesome day.
This was so much fun,
I have so many ideas.
GRACE: We're really excited.
WILL: Yeah, we're
excited for that.
We need ideas.
INDY: Awesome.
Alright, I'll see you guys soon.
GRACE: Awesome.
We'll see you,
thanks for coming out.
INDY: Yeah, take care.
WILL: See ya.
INDY: In every homestead
and on every farm,
you kind of start
out as a beginner,
but having a
community of farmers,
people you can talk to and
rely on as a network gives
you a little bit
more confidence.
It makes you realize that
you're not in this alone.
INDY: Hey.
MELISSA: Hi! Come on!
You made it!
INDY: So good to see you.
MELISSA: Girl, it's freezing,
let's go inside and warm up.
INDY: So cold.
MELISSA: Yes, yes.
INDY: I'm in
Rockport, Washington,
visiting fifth generation
homesteader Melissa Norris.
Melissa is an expert at
gardening and preserving food
for her family.
I'm hoping I can get some
inspiration for how to better
plan out the Lyon's
growing season and make
their homestead prosper.
How long have you been here?
MELISSA: So we've been here in
this house, on this property,
since 2006, but this is
property that my grandparents
bought in about the 1950s,
it's not their original
homestead when they
first came out here.
So, a long time.
INDY: I feel like most people
don't really, you know,
have this desire to follow
in their family's footsteps,
but you continued to want
to farm and homestead.
MELISSA: Yeah.
We like dove in head first
and really embraced the
homesteading movement and
producing our own food.
INDY: So that's why I wanted to
get your advice on how we can
help our my friend Grace
and her husband, Will.
Just to kind of get their farm
into a place where they aren't
expending all of their energy
and they're still enjoying some
of the perks of
being a homestead.
MELISSA: Yeah.
INDY: So Grace, she actually
has an autoimmune disease and
realized that if she didn't make
some kind of change through her diet,
that she wasn't going
to be around for her child and
for her family.
And now she's pregnant and with
her pregnancy and with her child coming,
she wants to keep
up her good health.
And as you know, a baby can.
MELISSA: A baby
changes everything.
INDY: Yes, yeah, baby
changes everything.
I know that for them it would
be incredible to be able to
extend their growing seasons.
MELISSA: You don't have to have
a bunch of expensive equipment
in order to seed start indoors.
Like, I do spring crops, like
the cooler weather crops which
actually have seed started now.
And then we do the main summer
garden and then I'm also
planting at the end of
summer for the fall garden.
So it means that you have
produce almost throughout the
year coming on.
INDY: It's like when you're thinking about
extending your growing season,
you're also extending
your harvesting season.
So you have to do something
with that extra produce.
Canning, fermentation and
freeze drying are important
ways to preserve
crops from the garden.
MELISSA: I have to say this
is one of my favorite spots.
INDY: So Melissa not only grows an
abundance of food in her garden,
she's able to store
it in various ways,
made to last year round.
That's amazing.
So you're kind of able
to plan meals for your
entire year just by what you
can in the summer?
MELISSA: Yeah.
INDY: That's incredible.
Being able to make it stretch
throughout the year I think is key,
especially when
you have a family.
I would love to know what
you're putting into your soil
to make such amazing
looking produce.
I wanna see your garden.
MELISSA: Yeah, let's go.
INDY: Yeah, awesome.
I realized from my time on the
homestead that being a part of
where you source your food is
one of the greatest things you
can do with your time and I
had so much more respect for
just a single tomato,
because I knew how much time,
how much care and how
much love I was putting into
all of my plants.
This soil feels great.
It's like so spongy.
MELISSA: Thank you.
We've been working really
hard on the soil health,
so it's so nice when someone
sees and appreciates that.
INDY: It's the off season
for Melissa's garden,
but I can tell she knows
all of the tricks to get the
most out of her soil.
MELISSA: This is
the berry patch.
So our autumn
bearing raspberries,
they start producing
fruit August, September,
October until we get
our really hard frost.
Then these ones start in
June for the raspberries.
So I have fresh raspberries
coming on all the way from
June through October.
INDY: So you're having berries
pretty much all year long.
MELISSA: Pretty
much all year long.
INDY: That's amazing.
I feel like that's the
key to homesteading.
Yeah.
Melissa has this gardening
thing down to a science.
She knows exactly how to
get berries all year long by
planting different species.
I can also see how rich
all her garden soil is,
but none of it would be
possible without fertilizer.
And for that, she
needs her chickens.
MELISSA: Oh the chickens
are excited to see us coming
because I have not let
them out yet for today.
Hi chicks.
Is there somebody new?
(laughs).
INDY: As soon as I walk
over to the chicken coop,
I realize it's unlike
any I've ever seen.
I love that you have this
chicken tractor on wheels.
MELISSA: The wheels are great.
So this is just nice because it
gives us both the protection of
the chicken tractor and
directing where I want the
manure for our pasture health,
but then I can also let 'em out.
So these were like off an old
broken-down riding lawnmower
that didn't work anymore.
So as long as the bearings are
good, like grab those wheels,
there are so many things you
can do with them on a homestead.
INDY: That's so great and then
it keeps it in that closed
system feeling where you're
just able to upcycle things that
you already have so you
can bring your chickens all
over the homestead.
They till things up with their
feet and then they add in their
chicken poop that, as
we noticed is so great.
Could I see this thing moving?
I wanna see it in action.
MELISSA: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
An ATV is a homesteader's
best friend.
INDY: Awesome.
This mobile chicken coop idea
could be a game-changer for
Will and Grace.
Wow, that's so perfect.
That makes moving your
chickens around so much easier.
It's so cool.
I love it.
No wonder Melissa's
crops are so abundant,
she can put the chickens
right where she wants them
to nurture the soil.
MELISSA: I always like to
make sure that I've got enough
manure for the springtime
planting and we're actually
seed starting those.
INDY: I love seed starting.
WILL: You love seed starting.
Well, yeah, let's
go check 'em out.
INDY: Melissa's homestead
runs like clockwork,
with everything perfectly
connected in a closed loop.
To best understand
how this all happens,
I went to see
where it all begins.
Oh wow.
INDY: It's warm in here.
MELISSA: Yes.
INDY: I love this.
MELISSA: So here are
all of the seed babies.
INDY: Oh, baby seedlets.
Melissa can show me the
best ways for Grace and Will
to get their garden
started indoors.
It's so simple.
Grow lights, a bit
of soil and seeds grown
in various containers.
What do you have growing?
MELISSA: Predominantly
all of these are the
cool weather crops.
INDY: Okay.
MELISSA: So I've
got Columbia cabbage,
Chinese cabbage which is great.
And then I've got early
broccoli over here,
cauliflower and some kale.
INDY: I know that you're
using full spectrum lights.
Could someone start these just
like in their windowsill at
home or could you use
just a regular light bulb that
you already have?
What do you recommend?
MELISSA: Yeah, I don't
recommend the windowsills
because we're starting
the seeds still in winter and
we don't have full
daylight hours yet.
INDY: Okay.
MELISSA: And you can get
just like regular shop lights.
You just really wanna
make sure that they are as
full spectrum as possible.
INDY: So you have some starting
trays but it looks like someone
could just use their empty
salad containers and pretty
much achieve the same concept.
MELISSA: These work really
nice when you're seed starting,
because once you've
gotten your soil moist and
then you've got
your seeds in there,
then you just close
this and it creates the
perfect greenhouse effect.
INDY: That makes so much sense.
When you're taking these little seeds
and you're watering them consistently,
then you become
really invested in their future.
MELISSA: Yeah.
INDY: I would love to have
Grace and Will start seeds at
this time of year too.
MELISSA: So I actually
have some carrot seed
INDY: Oh, my gosh!
MELISSA: And some
bean seed that we can send
to get them started.
We'll just put
some from each jar.
So there is carrot
seed for them.
INDY: Oh my gosh, thank you,
they are going to love these.
This will be perfect.
I think starting with carrots
is one of the most rewarding
veggies that you can grow.
MELISSA: Carrots pureed
up are a great baby food,
because they have a little bit
of natural sweetness to them,
but they're not as
sweet as a fruit.
And then these are
some of the black bean.
So these are an heirloom bean,
so it feels really,
really special to be able
to have this history with
these heirloom seeds.
INDY: It reminds me a lot of
one of the reasons that I got
into farming because when you
think about all of the cultures
that have passed on the
seeds of their heritage,
no matter the hardship that
wherever they were going they
were going to plant seeds.
They were going to
plant the future,
they were going
to put down roots.
MELISSA: I am very excited
to be able to pass that
on to another family.
INDY: Thank you so much for
sharing your homestead with me.
This was beautiful.
Everything is working
in such perfect harmony.
MELISSA: I'm so
glad I could help.
INDY: I think it's important
for us to go out and
communicate with one another
and teach people what we know.
That's really the
essence of farming,
the people behind it
helping one another.
Visiting Melissa has
been eye opening.
Finding ways to extend the
growing season to build a
homestead around renewable
and closed loop practices and,
best of all, to build
a mobile chicken coop.
I've learned a lot, but I still
have to figure out how to turn
the pasture at the
Lyon's farm into a healthy
field for planting.
That's a big task, so
my quest is not over.
I'm driving to the town of
Bellingham, Washington to meet
with Kay Clark and her
daughter-in-law Jordan.
Hey.
KAY: Hello.
INDY: Such a beautiful drive.
They've been running
their family homestead
Portage View Farm for 15 years.
JORDAN: We've got chores
to do, animals to feed, so.
INDY: I'm game.
JORDAN: Let's do it.
INDY: They strive for
self-sufficiency by growing
a lot of their own food
and raising their own meat.
KAY: This is a greenhouse
my husband built for me and
I call it my tomato house.
INDY: What varieties
of tomatoes?
KAY: Well, we grow
cherry and beefsteak, Romas.
You wanna go in?
INDY: Yeah, let's do it.
KAY: Okay.
Oh it's so toasty in here.
KAY: Isn't it nice?
INDY: I love it. I love it.
So your husband built this.
Did he come up with the plans?
KAY: Yes, he made this plan,
but these are all reclaimed
timbers from big pallets.
INDY: So this is a greenhouse
design that you could use from
reclaimed materials and
then just a few new things.
Wow.
JORDAN: And it just like adds
to the homestead essence.
(laughs).
INDY: Jordan and Kay are
super cool and they have a
really well working homestead.
Building a greenhouse is
an even more ambitious way
to extend the growing season
and help plants thrive in an
indoor setting
even when it's cold.
KAY: Alright, let's
go feed some animals.
INDY: Oh yay.
KAY: C'mon, nanny, c'mon!
Oh hi.
You want some food?
INDY: Oh yeah.
(laughs).
You're the cutest
little goaties.
You know what I have?
What breed of goats are these?
KAY: So these are are
Nigerian dwarf goats.
We can milk 'em.
INDY: Oh amazing.
KAY: And you can breed them
and sell 'em so it's kind of
you know being self-sustainable.
INDY: So are you
throwing their manure
straight into your compost?
KAY: Straight in.
INDY: Yeah.
KAY: Yeah, so every
time we clean a barn it goes
on the compost pile.
INDY: It's like Melissa said,
making the most out of manure
is a clever way to
double the productivity of
your farm animals.
Kay and Jordan get milk
and cheese from their goats,
but then it occurs to me.
Do you use these to graze?
KAY: When we had our big goats,
our Boer goats
they do a better job,
like bigger goats.
INDY: Okay.
KAY: And you need quite a few.
INDY: Maybe a different
type of goat would come in
handy as a way for the Lyon's
farm to graze their pastures.
So do you feel like you can
pretty much take care of these
goats here on your own
or do they require any kind
of extra care?
KAY: Pretty much and
my suggestion is try to
get a mentor.
INDY: Yeah, farmers
helping farmers.
KAY: Yes.
INDY: I love it.
I'm in love with these adorable
goats and they really could be
a key piece of the puzzle in
helping the Lyon's family farm.
I have so much to
tell Will and Grace.
But first Kay and Jordan said they have
one more surprise for me in the barn.
Oh. Oh my god.
(laughs).
KAY: Now this is a sight to see.
INDY: Oh my gosh.
KAY: Okay, this is a girl.
INDY: There's always
time for baby goats.
JORDAN: Aren't they so little?
INDY: They're like puppies! Ah.
How old are they?
KAY: Three days old.
INDY: So obviously these
baby goats are adorable,
but maybe on Grace and Will's
homestead I should look for
something a little bigger
that can eat more and like you
mentioned having some
sort of goat mentor,
just finding someone local
to them that can kind of teach
them the ways of the
goat would be really helpful.
KAY: Yes.
JORDAN: What about
Mary in Goldendale?
We could connect them and
she'd be a great guide into
getting goats and kind of learning the
different breeds and figuring
out which goat would
be best for them.
INDY: Wow.
Having some person like
your friend Mary who I could
introduce them to
would be great.
For the beginner homesteader
having a low maintenance
animal is key.
Goats are incredibly adorable,
but they also serve a purpose.
Goats can make the perfect
addition to any homestead that
has extra room that
they need grazed and wants a
cute cuddly companion.
This has been so much fun.
KAY: Yes, thank you for coming.
INDY: Of course,
thanks for having me.
I've gotten some invaluable
tips and a few big surprises
from these other farms.
For Will and Grace homesteading
is a new way of life and the
goal is to keep their
family together.
If I can help them make
these improvements,
Will can leave behind his life
on the road and stay home with
his family and Grace
can maintain her health.
I really hope they're
open to these changes.
WILL: Oh hey, Indy.
INDY: Hey.
GRACE: Oh Indy, hi.
INDY: I have something so exciting for
you guys in the barn.
WILL: Oh really? In our barn?
INDY: Yeah.
INDY: Yeah, throw on
your jackets and let's go
check it out.
GRACE: Okay.
WILL: Alright.
GRACE: Yeah, let's do it.
To the barn.
INDY: It's awesome.
WILL: Lead the way, you
got your jacket there Gracie.
GRACE: Yeah, it takes me a
minute to zip it but I got it.
WILL: Tighter every day.
(laughs).
GRACE: It really does
feel tighter today.
WILL: Hi pigs.
What have you seen?
INDY: Don't tell 'em
anything, pigs.
(laughs).
You guys are gonna love this.
Stay right there.
Stay right there.
WILL: Okay.
GRACE: Okay.
WILL: What's going on?
GRACE: I don't know.
WILL: I can't see in there.
GRACE: What is this?
WILL: I don't know.
Look, Gracie.
GRACE: Oh my gosh.
WILL: That's a goat.
GRACE: What?
Are you serious?
INDY: Yes. Yes.
WILL: She got my goat.
GRACE: Hi.
WILL: Hi goat. Hi goat.
GRACE: There's more?
INDY: There's more.
WILL: Sorry goats.
Need to mellow.
Hi goats.
GRACE: Amazing.
INDY: And this is
my friend, Mary.
She's a local goat farmer.
WILL: Hi Mary. Really good to meet you.
MARY: Hi. Good to meet you.
GRACE: Hi Mary,
nice to meet you.
MARY: Congratulations
on your Kikos.
(laughs).
GRACE: Thank you,
they're Kiko goats.
WILL: I have been researching
Kiko goats a little bit.
MARY: The advantage of the Kikos is that they
are really low maintenance,
you know, they're really
bred for managing on pasture
without any extra input.
INDY: These goats are gonna
be working for you guys.
WILL: Yeah, I know,
that's great.
INDY: They're just
what you guys need.
They're gonna graze and
they're gonna turn that fodder
straight into fertilizer.
Using manure as fertilizer
is a great way to recycle the
homestead resources
and add valuable nutrients
back into the soil.
WILL: We have a lot of
chicory around here.
MARY: Oh they love that.
INDY: Grazing livestock
feed on grass, plants,
brush and sometimes
tree branches.
When the animals complete their
digestion the nitrogen from their manure,
a key component of fertilizer
goes right back into the soil.
They're pretty much
gonna produce pellet gold
for you guys.
Some people put it straight
into the garden but we can
throw it into your compost
pile and start making some of.
WILL: It's drier, right.
INDY: Yeah, it's a lot drier.
Compost piles produce naturally
occurring micro organisms
that break down the
waste and produce heat.
The high temperatures prevent
parasite eggs from hatching in
the fertilizer and reduces
the problem of weed seeds from
animals that feed off the brush.
So what do you guys think?
Do you like the goats?
WILL: What do you think?
GRACE: I think
it's a great idea.
WILL: You think
it's a good idea?
GRACE: Yeah.
WILL: You like goats?
GRACE: Oh yeah.
WILL: Okay, yeah, she's in.
I was kind of resistant at
first because they seem like
a lotta work.
You know, sometimes you
just need a little extra help
to jump off the ledge.
She's gonna fit right in.
She's got my style already.
INDY: She's already
made herself at home.
GRACE: In we go, yeah.
WILL: Here you go, yeah.
Thanks, Mary.
Thank you so much.
MARY: If you need anything
at all, you have my email.
WILL: I'll be in touch.
MARY: Just give me a call.
GRACE: Thanks, Mary.
INDY: These goats could really
be the key to revitalizing all
that pasture and now
Will and Grace have a
nearby goat mentor, Mary.
But goats tend to do whatever
they want so getting them to
fulfill their new role is
another thing all together.
GRACE: I actually might
go inside and warm up for
a little bit.
WILL: Okay.
INDY: Sounds good.
GRACE: Awesome.
WILL: Yeah.
INDY: I actually have
another surprise for you.
WILL: Another one?
INDY: Yeah.
I just have a question about
something in the bone yard.
WILL: Okay.
INDY: Yeah.
Melissa said to always take advantage of
spare wheels with good bearings.
Last time I was here Will
pointed out an area of the farm
he called the bone yard,
that's full of unused equipment.
There's something I remember
seeing there that I think could
really come in handy.
The friend's farm
that I was at,
they had a great
portable chicken coop.
WILL: Uh-huh.
INDY: What do you think
about turning this trailer into
a mobile chicken coop?
WILL: Ah, that's a good idea.
INDY: Yeah. I mean
it's a great way that you can
get your chickens
out into the parts of your farm
that you actually
want them in instead of
hoppin' around
and hanging out wherever.
WILL: Yeah.
INDY: Chickens have these
amazing little feet that have
claws on them that are perfect
for tilling your land for you.
So if you put chickens into
a movable chicken coop,
you can control what areas
of your land that they till.
WILL: This is a good idea.
It'll be a good size,
you could probably fit a lot
of birds in here.
INDY: Definitely. Definitely.
And then does that truck work?
Maybe we could
WILL: Sometimes.
INDY: Alright, maybe we
could hitch the trailer up and
just bring it over to
the lumber that I got.
WILL: You're a
mover and a shaker.
INDY: Yeah.
WILL: Alright, yeah.
There we go.
Cross your fingers!
(ignition sputters)
She's old.
(ignition sputters)
(engine starts)
INDY: Hey.
WILL: Yeah. Yah.
INDY: Sounds good.
WILL: There we go.
INDY: We can construct
something based on the
chicken tractor I
saw at Melissa's farm,
but sturdier for the winter.
I've never built one before,
but homesteading is all
about improvising innovation and
making use of the
resources at hand.
I was thinking we could
take some of that wood and
start building out the framing
for the mobile chicken coop.
we're gonna staple down
some mesh to the bottom
so that we can have the
poop just coming straight out
of the chicken coop.
a lot less work for you
and a lot more fertilizer
for the garden.
WILL: Okay.
So it can just go on the ground.
INDY: Yeah.
Sweet, you wanna help me get
some of this wood unloaded?
WILL: I would love to.
I don't really know
where these are gonna go.
So, let's just, uh,
yeah, just
I don't really know.
You know, some people are
like really ambitious and
able to build a lot of stuff.
INDY: Right.
GREG: Hey Will, how's it goin'?
WILL: Greg just
lives up the road,
I'm sure he was curious about
what's going on down here.
What's happening Greg?
My neighbor Greg has a
real knack for stopping by.
He loves to just
hang out and talk.
He helps me out a lot.
GREG: What are you guys doing?
WILL: We're gonna build a
chicken coop on this trailer.
GREG: Well, alright,
do you guys have a plan?
INDY: We have a lose plan,
we have a loose plan,
but we could use your expertize
if you're willing to help.
GREG: What are you thinkin'?
WILL: Indy's
seen this in action.
INDY: So we're thinking of
just framing out the bottom
with some of these
pieces of wood.
We have some plywood for
the sides and we can build
a house shaped shelter
for the chickens,
sturdy enough to withstand
the brutal winters.
GREG: And then cover it
with plastic or tarp?
INDY: Yeah tarp, yeah, exactly.
Yeah, we'd love your help.
GREG: You're gonna
need somethin' to put your,
to screw your panels on.
WILL: Yeah.
GREG: And we also
need to make boxes.
Well, again once you get
something going there you could
do somethin' like this.
WILL: Yeah, exactly.
INDY: Oh that looks nice.
GREG: On the end build
yourself a deck comin' across.
WILL: Uh-huh.
GREG: Your boxes here.
WILL: It's been such a blessing
to kind of move in somewhere
and have built-in neighbors
that have become family.
INDY: A plan is kind of
coming together and well,
Greg kind of has a plan
coming together for this.
GREG: I think we can
make it all work.
INDY: Will's neighbor Greg
has lived and worked on a farm
for decades and has a
wealth of experience and
knowledge to pass on.
He's better equipped
than I am to help Will build
the chicken coop.
I'll leave them to it.
Besides, I can't wait to
share with Grace the gifts
from Melissa's homestead.
I brought a few seeds
from my friend's farm.
So I thought that these would
all be perfect for extending
your growing season.
GRACE: Oh that's excellent.
INDY: Timing is everything,
especially when it comes to
extending the life of a garden.
For an early harvest
seeding can start indoors
while it's still cold out.
Melissa's seeds will go
directly into the Lyon's garden
but we're going to start some
cooler weather crops right now.
Having a garden can help
Grace maintain a healthy diet
and try to keep her
autoimmune disease at bay.
Since you have lights
and water and soil,
we can just start these right
here at your kitchen table.
GRACE: Amazing.
INDY: Yeah, I don't
think that growing your own food
has to be this big
complicated thing.
You don't have to have
acres and acres of land,
all you need is soil,
some kind of container and the
desire to grow your own food.
GREG: We need a big magnet
to pick up the debris.
WILL: Or a bucket.
GREG: In the old days
when you had big old speakers
in your car.
WILL: Oh yeah.
GREG: And then those
speakers get all blown out.
WILL: What kinda music
were you listenin' to that was
blowin' your speakers out, Greg?
GREG: Back then?
WILL: Yeah.
GREG: Probably a little Hendrix.
(laughs).
INDY: Do you have
the pre-baby jitters?
I mean this is your first kid.
GRACE: I'm not feeling
too nervous yet.
I'm sure that once he gets here I'm gonna
have a whole different
a whole different
set of emotions.
But right now I'm feelin'
pretty good about it.
As scary as it is to kind of go against the
norm of having that steady job,
having security,
financial security.
I've got a lot of faith in
Will and a lot of faith in us.
INDY: That's beautiful.
I have so much faith
in your farm too.
GRACE: Thanks.
WILL: Hi. Pretty good.
GRACE: How'd it go?
Greg and I were just out
there, you know, workin'.
(laughs).
You know how Greg and I work.
GRACE: Yeah, sometimes
it's more play than work.
WILL: What are you guys doin'?
GRACE: We've been planting.
WILL: Great.
INDY: So we've been talking about
extending your growing season.
WILL: Yeah.
INDY: I have another surprise.
So this is a gift from Jordan
and Kay at Portage View Farms.
Plans for a greenhouse.
WILL: Ooh.
Nice.
GRACE: Oh my gosh.
WILL: You've got good friends.
INDY: Well, they're
your friends now too.
WILL: Good friends. Cool.
GRACE: Oh amazing.
I've been wanting a
greenhouse since we came here.
INDY: I've done my best to set
up Will and Grace for success.
The rest is up to them.
With the baby
coming any day now,
bigger projects like the
greenhouse might have to wait.
Hopefully Greg was able to help
Will get a head start on that
mobile coop.
without that the chickens
will continue to wreak havoc.
The goats should improve
the pasture for new crops.
They already have
a fenced in area,
but they're also a huge
added responsibility.
That's a lot of kids to take care of on
top of their own child,
but Grace's health and
their livelihood is at stake.
GRACE: There's gonna be a lot
goin' on when you come back.
INDY: There's gonna be babies,
there's gonna be
goats out in the pasture.
I'm going to come back in a
couple of months and I hope to
see the Lyon's
homestead flourishing.
Whether our changes will work
out or not, time will tell.
INDY: It's been over two months
since I visited Grace and Will
and I'm excited and nervous
about what I'm going to see
when I visit their homestead.
A lot is riding on them being able to make
a living off their land,
including Grace's health.
I left them with some
helpful resources,
but their first child was well
on its way and as homesteader
Melissa said, a baby
changes everything.
Oh my gosh!
GRACE: Hi Indy.
INDY: Hi. Who is this?
GRACE: This is Andrew.
INDY: Hi Andrew.
You're so cute.
And hi guys, it's
so good to see you.
WILL: Hi, good to see you.
GRACE: It's so good
to see you too.
INDY: This is beautiful.
It's so warm.
How old is he now?
GRACE: He's nine weeks.
INDY: What?
And then the pigs were
pregnant too last time.
WILL: Uh-huh, yeah,
we got piglets also.
Life is blooming around here.
INDY: A lot's changed since I
visited Will and Grace a few
months ago and it's
not just the weather.
GRACE: Hi piglets.
INDY: They now have
quite a full house.
WILL: We have a
nine week old son,
we've got five piglets,
goats, 30 chickens,
two cows, three cats and a dog.
GRACE: It's been a very,
very exciting fun spring.
INDY: So far so good.
Baby Andrew is beautiful.
The piglets are
thriving and healthy,
but what about
those troublemakers?
There's one chicken where
are the rest of the chickens?
I feel like they were
everywhere last time I was here.
GRACE: Well we've got
a surprise for you.
WILL: Well here you go.
INDY: Oh my gosh,
this is awesome.
GRACE: The chickens are
in their chicken tractor.
INDY: No, way.
GRACE: Yeah.
WILL: Can't miss it.
INDY: This is luxurious.
WILL: It's actually
a chicken mansion.
INDY: Yeah.
(laughs).
GRACE: Before Indy showed up,
our chickens were
a little chaotic.
They were in my gardens,
they were in my flower beds,
they were on my front porch.
INDY: It's working out.
WILL: Yeah.
INDY: The mobile
chicken coop went
above and beyond expectations.
Now the chickens movement
can be guided for maximum
impact on the farm.
WILL: So I found this thing,
you pop this up and
their eggs come out.
This door is an old door I had,
the roosting bars
are an old metal frame
that a friend gave me.
I got this chicken wire
that you got for me and
put that down and the
chickens can walk on it.
You know, it's got
plastic coated so it doesn't
cut their feet up.
INDY: Right.
WILL: And all the
poop goes through.
We're really excited about it.
You know, this is
gonna help us a lot.
INDY: Will is taking me out
on a trip to the pasture with
the coop so the chickens
can till more of the land.
Nice little vacation
for the chickens.
WILL: Yeah.
(laughs).
INDY: But then I notice
something in the distance that
I wasn't quite expecting.
It looks like you
have a lot more goats than
I remember bringing.
WILL: I do.
You kinda opened the
floodgates on goats.
I got 18 more goats
INDY: Wow. That's amazing.
WILL: Since you were here last.
Yeah.
As long as we've lived here
I've been kinda hell bent on
this cow idea.
Since Indy showed up and
brought us a couple of goats
what I've realized is that the
goats and sheep are probably a
better fit for our program.
You know, already seeing the
benefits that they're providing
to me right now kinda
reaffirms that decision.
These goats kinda came about
because the ones I got from
you, people heard about it
and then they started sayin',
"Hey, can you bring your goats
over to eat my blackberries."
INDY: Oh wow.
Will isn't just using the
goats on his own land.
He's lending them out
to other farms that need
to help reduce their brush.
It helps the land and
helps prevent fires.
Now you're a traveling goat guy.
It's also a great way for
the Lyons to supplement their
income and make a living off
the farm so Will can stay home.
They look happy,
they look healthy.
WILL: Yeah.
INDY: And most importantly they're
clearing this field for you.
WILL: And soon they'll be
doin' a good job for a lot of
other people around here too.
INDY: Yeah.
Should we check on
Grace and Andrew?
WILL: Yeah, let's
go check on them.
INDY: Grace had really
hoped to extend her growing
season this year.
having fresh vegetables
from the garden is an essential
element to keeping up her
health and she wanted to make
her own baby food.
GRACE: He is actually a really
great little garden buddy.
INDY: Aw.
WILL: He can be out here in the stroller
and just kinda rockin' him,
once he goes to sleep
you can work for a little bit.
GRACE: The spring
has been so cold.
INDY: Even with
a brand new baby,
Grace managed to
stick with the plan,
brave the cold
and get her garden started
as early as possible.
Wow, so you're not past
your last frost date yet?
GRACE: No.
I mean we are normally,
but this has been such
an unusually cold.
WILL: Yeah, we had
frost last night.
INDY: Wow, so you have all your cold
hardy stuff out here.
Is that rainbow chard?
GRACE: Yeah, so we've got
some chard here and then some
lettuces, peas and spinach.
The good thing about eating
all this stuff and because I am
breastfeeding
eating leafy greens,
'cause if I eat those he
gets all that nutrient.
INDY: Exactly. That's so true.
GRACE: Also, if I did purée
some dark leafy greens with
some pear and apple or
banana and then canned that,
then he could have some
good baby food for when he
is ready for it.
INDY: I'm like really
impressed that you've made
time to be out here at all.
GRACE: We're tryin',
and that's part of the
learning curve of this.
Indy's been a huge change for
us and I'm really excited that
we had the opportunity to
meet her and she came here and
gave us the opportunity to grow.
INDY: This has been awesome,
thank you for
bringing me into the farm and
I'm really impressed
with what you guys have done
since I've been done.
GRACE: Aw, thanks.
WILL: Thanks for coming.
INDY: I'm really in awe of
their commitment to take care
of the land and in
growing their own food.
And one of the biggest rewards
of getting to know them is
knowing that in the future
Andrew will be doing the same
work that they're doing.
I just hope that they have some
time to share some of their
experience with other folks,
so that everyone knows that
homesteading still has an
important role in our community.
Captioned by
Cotter Media Group.
INDY: If you've ever
dreamed of owning a farm,
come with me.
MAN: Things are living
and things are growing on the rooftop!
I'm Indy Officinalis,
I'm a farmer who loves
helping other farmers.
My passion for
farming started in my teens.
Working on a
homestead in North Carolina and
led me to urban farming in L.A.
I've worked on farms
from coast to coast,
but farming is hard work.
MAN: We planted about
ten variety of fruit trees and
they all died.
INDY: So, I'm traveling the
country to offer some hope.
Hi
WOMAN: Indy!
WOMAN 2: Oh, my gosh, Indy!
INDY: Join me as I transform
farms on rooftops,
in backyards, wharehouses
This is insane!
And even out on the ocean.
Farm rescue on a boat ♪
Along the way, we'll
get tips from some of my
expert farmer friends.
WOMAN: It's so awesome!
(high-pitched squealing)
Today I'm driving through the
Columbia River Gorge of
South West Washington.
I've come here to transfrom
the ten-acre homestead of
Grace and Will Lyons.
They've lived on the property
for two years and bought their
land from their neighbors.
Now Will and Grace and
trying to restore the farm
to its former glory.
With a new baby on the way and
Grace's health at risk,
it's important that I
help make their farm go from
struggling new venture
to thriving success.
GRACE: Hey!
WILL: How's it going?
INDY: So excited to
finally meet you both.
That was the most beautiful
drive I've ever taken.
WILL: Yeah, we ordered a
little snow up for you.
INDY: I appreciate it,
I appreciate it.
Looks like you're
farming for two.
GRACE: Yeah farming for two.
INDY: How far along are we?
GRACE: 36 weeks.
INDY: Wow.
Your chickens are
having some breakfast.
WILL: Yeah, that's the pig feed.
We're about to go do chores
if you wanna come help us.
INDY: Yes.
So excited to see everything.
WILL: Get outta here birdies.
Alright, this way.
Lead the way chicken.
INDY: Grace and Will's farm
definitely has potential,
but they're only beginning
their homesteading journey.
WILL: We've had this
property for two years.
GRACE: We're still
learning along the way.
WILL: Been a steep
learning curve at times.
GRACE: C'mon over here guys.
Let me feed you food.
INDY: The pigs decide
to have their uprising.
WILL: Come here pigs.
GRACE: Yep, shake a bucket,
they come runnin'.
INDY: My farm beginnings
also started on a homestead.
I worked on a homestead in
North Carolina for a number of
years and I learned so much.
I was constantly learning
from my mistakes.
I used to live with this
really terrible pig that
would charge you.
GRACE: Oh no.
(laughs).
INDY: So any time you'd
go out in the field,
I would always take a metal
trashcan lid and just kind of
use it to shield myself.
GRACE: Oh 100%.
We're swappin'
swine stories, Will.
INDY: How many pigs do
you guys have total?
WILL: We have six pigs.
GRACE: Actually one of
our pigs is pregnant.
I think we're gonna be
due around the same time.
So, she's like me, we've got
that pregnant waddle goin' on.
(laughs).
Will's been on the road for the
last ten years working and part
of settling down and starting
a family was keeping Will home.
WILL: The thought of losing a
large chunk of income is scary,
but being an absent
father is even worse.
GRACE: I was diagnosed with an
autoimmune disease six years
ago and it changed the
way that I saw food and
the way that I
lived essentially.
Having a homestead and growing
our own food became a mission
of mine to be able to
continue with good health.
I'm currently in remission
and I'm planning to keep
it that way.
INDY: So you guys
are homesteaders.
Is the idea to just kind of
try to keep everything as local
here to the farm as possible?
GRACE: Yeah, I mean our goal
here is to try to be as most
self-sustaining as possible.
INDY: Mm-hm.
When we think about
a closed system farm,
that's a farm that doesn't rely
heavily on outside resources.
Each element of the farm
contributes to the whole and
nothing is wasted.
In order to homestead,
you have to plan ahead,
especially in the winter
so that you know exactly when
to breed the animals,
when to plant seeds
and when to harvest.
Homesteading has come to
be known as a lifestyle of
self-sufficiency, but
the term is linked to a
painful part of America's past.
The Homestead Act of 1862
accelerated Western settlements,
granting American citizens
free land on which
to build and farm, and in
turn pushing indigenous people
off of their homeland.
It's important as homesteaders
for us to acknowledge that past
and move forward in a way
where we're growing food not
just for the betterment
of the planet,
but also for the
betterment of people.
WILL: We feel really
blessed on having what we have
and I feel an
obligation to keep this
little piece of land
alive and do whatever I can
for any of my neighbors
that wanna do the same.
This ground has had animals
on it for a long time and
they just kinda need
to be revitalized.
But I don't currently have
enough animals maybe to graze
all of this ground.
GRACE: One step at a time, man.
WILL: Yeah, I gotta go bigger!
(laughs).
INDY: There's a lot of
history on this land,
but you guys are creating
your own little family here,
starting your own history and
so as much as farming is an experiment,
this is kind of an experiment
that you can't afford to fail.
WILL: Everybody tells us
like it's not gonna work.
GRACE: Yeah, we
get a lotta that.
INDY: Really?
GRACE: People
telling us we're crazy,
"What are you thinking?"
INDY: Yeah, farming really is
all about the audacity to hope
and you guys seem
pretty audacious.
(laughs).
WILL: In some way I guess it feels a
little bit like a calling.
GRACE: You gotta believe that
it's gonna work out, you know.
INDY: Ten acres might
seem small for a farm,
but the Lyons have a lot
of pasture to graze.
And once the snow is gone the
ground will be covered in more
weeds that need
to be controlled.
Will wants healthy soil so that
he can eventually use that land
to grow more crops.
WILL: A lotta people
romanticize about movin' out
into the country,
gettin' some animals and
it is incredibly rewarding,
but it is also an
incredible amount of work.
Since we didn't buy a farm
that was in operation with
plans in place and
livestock and systems,
we've kind of been creating
this thing from the ground up
and that's not a terribly
efficient way to do things.
GRACE: It's so rewarding
building these relationships
with the animals
that we have here.
INDY: Which came first,
the pigs, the chickens or the cows?
GRACE: The cow came first.
INDY: Oh really?
GRACE: Will woke up
one morning and was like,
"Grace, I found a cow,"
and I was like,
"What? What do
you mean, a cow?"
Like, what are you thinking?
WILL: And I'm kind
of like one of those people that
goes all-in on
things I think.
GRACE: And he was like,
"No, the cow is really
like the start of the farm,
like this is how
we're gonna get started."
Will got a trailer, we went,
we met Trudy, we fell in love.
INDY: Aw.
GRACE: Brought her
home and once we were,
at that point we were like,
okay, I guess
we're goin' for this.
INDY: And you guys really
started from the bottom up,
starting with livestock
actually makes a lot more sense
because you're building your
soil before you even put a
single seed into the ground.
Pretty genius.
WILL: I don't know about that.
GRACE: Well don't tell him that,
oh my gosh.
(laughs).
WILL: See?
She thinks I'm a genius.
GRACE: Uh-huh. Sure genius.
INDY: Cows and other livestock that
feed on the land have so much to offer.
In addition to providing milk,
their manure adds nutrients to the
soil and makes the land healthier
and more fertile
for crop growth.
She's a lap dog.
GRACE: She loves you Will.
INDY: She really is a lap dog.
WILL: You gonna help me move this thing
over and then we can unroll it, I guess.
INDY: Yeah, definitely.
Later cows.
WILL: Later cows.
INDY: I'd love to
see the chickens.
GRACE: Oh these girls
are gonna be excited.
Hi ladies.
So all of these guys are layers,
all these gals.
INDY: Where are the chickens
normally hanging out?
WILL: The way our
chickens are currently,
they're in a coop right
next to our house and they
wreak havoc on everything.
Our food garden,
our flower gardens,
we have no way to control 'em,
they kinda run our lives.
GRACE: So last spring we
built this fence around the
garden to keep the chickens out.
INDY: Mm-hm.
GRACE: 'Cause the first year
when the chickens discovered
the garden it was game over.
INDY: It seems like the
chickens are the antagonists
to the farm.
WILL: The chickens,
I love 'em, but.
INDY: These chickens
are running rampant,
but they could be put to much
better use if Will and Grace
could just control them.
So how do you envision this
garden space looking this year?
What are the goals
for the garden?
GRACE: I think it'd be really
amazing to try to make some
baby food this year.
INDY: Oh great.
GRACE: Just because we have
such a short growing season
as you can tell.
Like, you know, we can
get snow up until April.
I haven't been able to like
really grow a second season,
like the fall harvest, I
haven't figured that one out.
How to start it
and when to start it.
It's like, I'm not a
master gardener by any means
but I wanna figure it out.
My biggest concern is if we
don't have our homestead and
farm up and running and
all the systems in place,
everything is gonna
completely fall to the wayside
when this baby comes.
INDY: The goal for the Lyons
is to have a full functioning
homestead and for both of
them to be able to stay at
home full time.
I think for that to work
there's a few areas that need
to be tightened up.
Winter is the best time
for me to get them set out
for springtime planting.
To do that I need to help
them figure out how to manage
the chickens effectively,
put all of that
underused pasture to use and
maximize the potential
for their garden.
With Grace's autoimmune
disease and a baby on the way,
all of this needs to be stress
free for the new parents to be.
I've got a few farms friends in
mind that I think can help and
I have some ideas about how to
repurpose some of this stuff
I've seen lying around the farm.
But their baby will
be here any day now,
so the clock is ticking.
Thank you guys for
an awesome day.
This was so much fun,
I have so many ideas.
GRACE: We're really excited.
WILL: Yeah, we're
excited for that.
We need ideas.
INDY: Awesome.
Alright, I'll see you guys soon.
GRACE: Awesome.
We'll see you,
thanks for coming out.
INDY: Yeah, take care.
WILL: See ya.
INDY: In every homestead
and on every farm,
you kind of start
out as a beginner,
but having a
community of farmers,
people you can talk to and
rely on as a network gives
you a little bit
more confidence.
It makes you realize that
you're not in this alone.
INDY: Hey.
MELISSA: Hi! Come on!
You made it!
INDY: So good to see you.
MELISSA: Girl, it's freezing,
let's go inside and warm up.
INDY: So cold.
MELISSA: Yes, yes.
INDY: I'm in
Rockport, Washington,
visiting fifth generation
homesteader Melissa Norris.
Melissa is an expert at
gardening and preserving food
for her family.
I'm hoping I can get some
inspiration for how to better
plan out the Lyon's
growing season and make
their homestead prosper.
How long have you been here?
MELISSA: So we've been here in
this house, on this property,
since 2006, but this is
property that my grandparents
bought in about the 1950s,
it's not their original
homestead when they
first came out here.
So, a long time.
INDY: I feel like most people
don't really, you know,
have this desire to follow
in their family's footsteps,
but you continued to want
to farm and homestead.
MELISSA: Yeah.
We like dove in head first
and really embraced the
homesteading movement and
producing our own food.
INDY: So that's why I wanted to
get your advice on how we can
help our my friend Grace
and her husband, Will.
Just to kind of get their farm
into a place where they aren't
expending all of their energy
and they're still enjoying some
of the perks of
being a homestead.
MELISSA: Yeah.
INDY: So Grace, she actually
has an autoimmune disease and
realized that if she didn't make
some kind of change through her diet,
that she wasn't going
to be around for her child and
for her family.
And now she's pregnant and with
her pregnancy and with her child coming,
she wants to keep
up her good health.
And as you know, a baby can.
MELISSA: A baby
changes everything.
INDY: Yes, yeah, baby
changes everything.
I know that for them it would
be incredible to be able to
extend their growing seasons.
MELISSA: You don't have to have
a bunch of expensive equipment
in order to seed start indoors.
Like, I do spring crops, like
the cooler weather crops which
actually have seed started now.
And then we do the main summer
garden and then I'm also
planting at the end of
summer for the fall garden.
So it means that you have
produce almost throughout the
year coming on.
INDY: It's like when you're thinking about
extending your growing season,
you're also extending
your harvesting season.
So you have to do something
with that extra produce.
Canning, fermentation and
freeze drying are important
ways to preserve
crops from the garden.
MELISSA: I have to say this
is one of my favorite spots.
INDY: So Melissa not only grows an
abundance of food in her garden,
she's able to store
it in various ways,
made to last year round.
That's amazing.
So you're kind of able
to plan meals for your
entire year just by what you
can in the summer?
MELISSA: Yeah.
INDY: That's incredible.
Being able to make it stretch
throughout the year I think is key,
especially when
you have a family.
I would love to know what
you're putting into your soil
to make such amazing
looking produce.
I wanna see your garden.
MELISSA: Yeah, let's go.
INDY: Yeah, awesome.
I realized from my time on the
homestead that being a part of
where you source your food is
one of the greatest things you
can do with your time and I
had so much more respect for
just a single tomato,
because I knew how much time,
how much care and how
much love I was putting into
all of my plants.
This soil feels great.
It's like so spongy.
MELISSA: Thank you.
We've been working really
hard on the soil health,
so it's so nice when someone
sees and appreciates that.
INDY: It's the off season
for Melissa's garden,
but I can tell she knows
all of the tricks to get the
most out of her soil.
MELISSA: This is
the berry patch.
So our autumn
bearing raspberries,
they start producing
fruit August, September,
October until we get
our really hard frost.
Then these ones start in
June for the raspberries.
So I have fresh raspberries
coming on all the way from
June through October.
INDY: So you're having berries
pretty much all year long.
MELISSA: Pretty
much all year long.
INDY: That's amazing.
I feel like that's the
key to homesteading.
Yeah.
Melissa has this gardening
thing down to a science.
She knows exactly how to
get berries all year long by
planting different species.
I can also see how rich
all her garden soil is,
but none of it would be
possible without fertilizer.
And for that, she
needs her chickens.
MELISSA: Oh the chickens
are excited to see us coming
because I have not let
them out yet for today.
Hi chicks.
Is there somebody new?
(laughs).
INDY: As soon as I walk
over to the chicken coop,
I realize it's unlike
any I've ever seen.
I love that you have this
chicken tractor on wheels.
MELISSA: The wheels are great.
So this is just nice because it
gives us both the protection of
the chicken tractor and
directing where I want the
manure for our pasture health,
but then I can also let 'em out.
So these were like off an old
broken-down riding lawnmower
that didn't work anymore.
So as long as the bearings are
good, like grab those wheels,
there are so many things you
can do with them on a homestead.
INDY: That's so great and then
it keeps it in that closed
system feeling where you're
just able to upcycle things that
you already have so you
can bring your chickens all
over the homestead.
They till things up with their
feet and then they add in their
chicken poop that, as
we noticed is so great.
Could I see this thing moving?
I wanna see it in action.
MELISSA: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
An ATV is a homesteader's
best friend.
INDY: Awesome.
This mobile chicken coop idea
could be a game-changer for
Will and Grace.
Wow, that's so perfect.
That makes moving your
chickens around so much easier.
It's so cool.
I love it.
No wonder Melissa's
crops are so abundant,
she can put the chickens
right where she wants them
to nurture the soil.
MELISSA: I always like to
make sure that I've got enough
manure for the springtime
planting and we're actually
seed starting those.
INDY: I love seed starting.
WILL: You love seed starting.
Well, yeah, let's
go check 'em out.
INDY: Melissa's homestead
runs like clockwork,
with everything perfectly
connected in a closed loop.
To best understand
how this all happens,
I went to see
where it all begins.
Oh wow.
INDY: It's warm in here.
MELISSA: Yes.
INDY: I love this.
MELISSA: So here are
all of the seed babies.
INDY: Oh, baby seedlets.
Melissa can show me the
best ways for Grace and Will
to get their garden
started indoors.
It's so simple.
Grow lights, a bit
of soil and seeds grown
in various containers.
What do you have growing?
MELISSA: Predominantly
all of these are the
cool weather crops.
INDY: Okay.
MELISSA: So I've
got Columbia cabbage,
Chinese cabbage which is great.
And then I've got early
broccoli over here,
cauliflower and some kale.
INDY: I know that you're
using full spectrum lights.
Could someone start these just
like in their windowsill at
home or could you use
just a regular light bulb that
you already have?
What do you recommend?
MELISSA: Yeah, I don't
recommend the windowsills
because we're starting
the seeds still in winter and
we don't have full
daylight hours yet.
INDY: Okay.
MELISSA: And you can get
just like regular shop lights.
You just really wanna
make sure that they are as
full spectrum as possible.
INDY: So you have some starting
trays but it looks like someone
could just use their empty
salad containers and pretty
much achieve the same concept.
MELISSA: These work really
nice when you're seed starting,
because once you've
gotten your soil moist and
then you've got
your seeds in there,
then you just close
this and it creates the
perfect greenhouse effect.
INDY: That makes so much sense.
When you're taking these little seeds
and you're watering them consistently,
then you become
really invested in their future.
MELISSA: Yeah.
INDY: I would love to have
Grace and Will start seeds at
this time of year too.
MELISSA: So I actually
have some carrot seed
INDY: Oh, my gosh!
MELISSA: And some
bean seed that we can send
to get them started.
We'll just put
some from each jar.
So there is carrot
seed for them.
INDY: Oh my gosh, thank you,
they are going to love these.
This will be perfect.
I think starting with carrots
is one of the most rewarding
veggies that you can grow.
MELISSA: Carrots pureed
up are a great baby food,
because they have a little bit
of natural sweetness to them,
but they're not as
sweet as a fruit.
And then these are
some of the black bean.
So these are an heirloom bean,
so it feels really,
really special to be able
to have this history with
these heirloom seeds.
INDY: It reminds me a lot of
one of the reasons that I got
into farming because when you
think about all of the cultures
that have passed on the
seeds of their heritage,
no matter the hardship that
wherever they were going they
were going to plant seeds.
They were going to
plant the future,
they were going
to put down roots.
MELISSA: I am very excited
to be able to pass that
on to another family.
INDY: Thank you so much for
sharing your homestead with me.
This was beautiful.
Everything is working
in such perfect harmony.
MELISSA: I'm so
glad I could help.
INDY: I think it's important
for us to go out and
communicate with one another
and teach people what we know.
That's really the
essence of farming,
the people behind it
helping one another.
Visiting Melissa has
been eye opening.
Finding ways to extend the
growing season to build a
homestead around renewable
and closed loop practices and,
best of all, to build
a mobile chicken coop.
I've learned a lot, but I still
have to figure out how to turn
the pasture at the
Lyon's farm into a healthy
field for planting.
That's a big task, so
my quest is not over.
I'm driving to the town of
Bellingham, Washington to meet
with Kay Clark and her
daughter-in-law Jordan.
Hey.
KAY: Hello.
INDY: Such a beautiful drive.
They've been running
their family homestead
Portage View Farm for 15 years.
JORDAN: We've got chores
to do, animals to feed, so.
INDY: I'm game.
JORDAN: Let's do it.
INDY: They strive for
self-sufficiency by growing
a lot of their own food
and raising their own meat.
KAY: This is a greenhouse
my husband built for me and
I call it my tomato house.
INDY: What varieties
of tomatoes?
KAY: Well, we grow
cherry and beefsteak, Romas.
You wanna go in?
INDY: Yeah, let's do it.
KAY: Okay.
Oh it's so toasty in here.
KAY: Isn't it nice?
INDY: I love it. I love it.
So your husband built this.
Did he come up with the plans?
KAY: Yes, he made this plan,
but these are all reclaimed
timbers from big pallets.
INDY: So this is a greenhouse
design that you could use from
reclaimed materials and
then just a few new things.
Wow.
JORDAN: And it just like adds
to the homestead essence.
(laughs).
INDY: Jordan and Kay are
super cool and they have a
really well working homestead.
Building a greenhouse is
an even more ambitious way
to extend the growing season
and help plants thrive in an
indoor setting
even when it's cold.
KAY: Alright, let's
go feed some animals.
INDY: Oh yay.
KAY: C'mon, nanny, c'mon!
Oh hi.
You want some food?
INDY: Oh yeah.
(laughs).
You're the cutest
little goaties.
You know what I have?
What breed of goats are these?
KAY: So these are are
Nigerian dwarf goats.
We can milk 'em.
INDY: Oh amazing.
KAY: And you can breed them
and sell 'em so it's kind of
you know being self-sustainable.
INDY: So are you
throwing their manure
straight into your compost?
KAY: Straight in.
INDY: Yeah.
KAY: Yeah, so every
time we clean a barn it goes
on the compost pile.
INDY: It's like Melissa said,
making the most out of manure
is a clever way to
double the productivity of
your farm animals.
Kay and Jordan get milk
and cheese from their goats,
but then it occurs to me.
Do you use these to graze?
KAY: When we had our big goats,
our Boer goats
they do a better job,
like bigger goats.
INDY: Okay.
KAY: And you need quite a few.
INDY: Maybe a different
type of goat would come in
handy as a way for the Lyon's
farm to graze their pastures.
So do you feel like you can
pretty much take care of these
goats here on your own
or do they require any kind
of extra care?
KAY: Pretty much and
my suggestion is try to
get a mentor.
INDY: Yeah, farmers
helping farmers.
KAY: Yes.
INDY: I love it.
I'm in love with these adorable
goats and they really could be
a key piece of the puzzle in
helping the Lyon's family farm.
I have so much to
tell Will and Grace.
But first Kay and Jordan said they have
one more surprise for me in the barn.
Oh. Oh my god.
(laughs).
KAY: Now this is a sight to see.
INDY: Oh my gosh.
KAY: Okay, this is a girl.
INDY: There's always
time for baby goats.
JORDAN: Aren't they so little?
INDY: They're like puppies! Ah.
How old are they?
KAY: Three days old.
INDY: So obviously these
baby goats are adorable,
but maybe on Grace and Will's
homestead I should look for
something a little bigger
that can eat more and like you
mentioned having some
sort of goat mentor,
just finding someone local
to them that can kind of teach
them the ways of the
goat would be really helpful.
KAY: Yes.
JORDAN: What about
Mary in Goldendale?
We could connect them and
she'd be a great guide into
getting goats and kind of learning the
different breeds and figuring
out which goat would
be best for them.
INDY: Wow.
Having some person like
your friend Mary who I could
introduce them to
would be great.
For the beginner homesteader
having a low maintenance
animal is key.
Goats are incredibly adorable,
but they also serve a purpose.
Goats can make the perfect
addition to any homestead that
has extra room that
they need grazed and wants a
cute cuddly companion.
This has been so much fun.
KAY: Yes, thank you for coming.
INDY: Of course,
thanks for having me.
I've gotten some invaluable
tips and a few big surprises
from these other farms.
For Will and Grace homesteading
is a new way of life and the
goal is to keep their
family together.
If I can help them make
these improvements,
Will can leave behind his life
on the road and stay home with
his family and Grace
can maintain her health.
I really hope they're
open to these changes.
WILL: Oh hey, Indy.
INDY: Hey.
GRACE: Oh Indy, hi.
INDY: I have something so exciting for
you guys in the barn.
WILL: Oh really? In our barn?
INDY: Yeah.
INDY: Yeah, throw on
your jackets and let's go
check it out.
GRACE: Okay.
WILL: Alright.
GRACE: Yeah, let's do it.
To the barn.
INDY: It's awesome.
WILL: Lead the way, you
got your jacket there Gracie.
GRACE: Yeah, it takes me a
minute to zip it but I got it.
WILL: Tighter every day.
(laughs).
GRACE: It really does
feel tighter today.
WILL: Hi pigs.
What have you seen?
INDY: Don't tell 'em
anything, pigs.
(laughs).
You guys are gonna love this.
Stay right there.
Stay right there.
WILL: Okay.
GRACE: Okay.
WILL: What's going on?
GRACE: I don't know.
WILL: I can't see in there.
GRACE: What is this?
WILL: I don't know.
Look, Gracie.
GRACE: Oh my gosh.
WILL: That's a goat.
GRACE: What?
Are you serious?
INDY: Yes. Yes.
WILL: She got my goat.
GRACE: Hi.
WILL: Hi goat. Hi goat.
GRACE: There's more?
INDY: There's more.
WILL: Sorry goats.
Need to mellow.
Hi goats.
GRACE: Amazing.
INDY: And this is
my friend, Mary.
She's a local goat farmer.
WILL: Hi Mary. Really good to meet you.
MARY: Hi. Good to meet you.
GRACE: Hi Mary,
nice to meet you.
MARY: Congratulations
on your Kikos.
(laughs).
GRACE: Thank you,
they're Kiko goats.
WILL: I have been researching
Kiko goats a little bit.
MARY: The advantage of the Kikos is that they
are really low maintenance,
you know, they're really
bred for managing on pasture
without any extra input.
INDY: These goats are gonna
be working for you guys.
WILL: Yeah, I know,
that's great.
INDY: They're just
what you guys need.
They're gonna graze and
they're gonna turn that fodder
straight into fertilizer.
Using manure as fertilizer
is a great way to recycle the
homestead resources
and add valuable nutrients
back into the soil.
WILL: We have a lot of
chicory around here.
MARY: Oh they love that.
INDY: Grazing livestock
feed on grass, plants,
brush and sometimes
tree branches.
When the animals complete their
digestion the nitrogen from their manure,
a key component of fertilizer
goes right back into the soil.
They're pretty much
gonna produce pellet gold
for you guys.
Some people put it straight
into the garden but we can
throw it into your compost
pile and start making some of.
WILL: It's drier, right.
INDY: Yeah, it's a lot drier.
Compost piles produce naturally
occurring micro organisms
that break down the
waste and produce heat.
The high temperatures prevent
parasite eggs from hatching in
the fertilizer and reduces
the problem of weed seeds from
animals that feed off the brush.
So what do you guys think?
Do you like the goats?
WILL: What do you think?
GRACE: I think
it's a great idea.
WILL: You think
it's a good idea?
GRACE: Yeah.
WILL: You like goats?
GRACE: Oh yeah.
WILL: Okay, yeah, she's in.
I was kind of resistant at
first because they seem like
a lotta work.
You know, sometimes you
just need a little extra help
to jump off the ledge.
She's gonna fit right in.
She's got my style already.
INDY: She's already
made herself at home.
GRACE: In we go, yeah.
WILL: Here you go, yeah.
Thanks, Mary.
Thank you so much.
MARY: If you need anything
at all, you have my email.
WILL: I'll be in touch.
MARY: Just give me a call.
GRACE: Thanks, Mary.
INDY: These goats could really
be the key to revitalizing all
that pasture and now
Will and Grace have a
nearby goat mentor, Mary.
But goats tend to do whatever
they want so getting them to
fulfill their new role is
another thing all together.
GRACE: I actually might
go inside and warm up for
a little bit.
WILL: Okay.
INDY: Sounds good.
GRACE: Awesome.
WILL: Yeah.
INDY: I actually have
another surprise for you.
WILL: Another one?
INDY: Yeah.
I just have a question about
something in the bone yard.
WILL: Okay.
INDY: Yeah.
Melissa said to always take advantage of
spare wheels with good bearings.
Last time I was here Will
pointed out an area of the farm
he called the bone yard,
that's full of unused equipment.
There's something I remember
seeing there that I think could
really come in handy.
The friend's farm
that I was at,
they had a great
portable chicken coop.
WILL: Uh-huh.
INDY: What do you think
about turning this trailer into
a mobile chicken coop?
WILL: Ah, that's a good idea.
INDY: Yeah. I mean
it's a great way that you can
get your chickens
out into the parts of your farm
that you actually
want them in instead of
hoppin' around
and hanging out wherever.
WILL: Yeah.
INDY: Chickens have these
amazing little feet that have
claws on them that are perfect
for tilling your land for you.
So if you put chickens into
a movable chicken coop,
you can control what areas
of your land that they till.
WILL: This is a good idea.
It'll be a good size,
you could probably fit a lot
of birds in here.
INDY: Definitely. Definitely.
And then does that truck work?
Maybe we could
WILL: Sometimes.
INDY: Alright, maybe we
could hitch the trailer up and
just bring it over to
the lumber that I got.
WILL: You're a
mover and a shaker.
INDY: Yeah.
WILL: Alright, yeah.
There we go.
Cross your fingers!
(ignition sputters)
She's old.
(ignition sputters)
(engine starts)
INDY: Hey.
WILL: Yeah. Yah.
INDY: Sounds good.
WILL: There we go.
INDY: We can construct
something based on the
chicken tractor I
saw at Melissa's farm,
but sturdier for the winter.
I've never built one before,
but homesteading is all
about improvising innovation and
making use of the
resources at hand.
I was thinking we could
take some of that wood and
start building out the framing
for the mobile chicken coop.
we're gonna staple down
some mesh to the bottom
so that we can have the
poop just coming straight out
of the chicken coop.
a lot less work for you
and a lot more fertilizer
for the garden.
WILL: Okay.
So it can just go on the ground.
INDY: Yeah.
Sweet, you wanna help me get
some of this wood unloaded?
WILL: I would love to.
I don't really know
where these are gonna go.
So, let's just, uh,
yeah, just
I don't really know.
You know, some people are
like really ambitious and
able to build a lot of stuff.
INDY: Right.
GREG: Hey Will, how's it goin'?
WILL: Greg just
lives up the road,
I'm sure he was curious about
what's going on down here.
What's happening Greg?
My neighbor Greg has a
real knack for stopping by.
He loves to just
hang out and talk.
He helps me out a lot.
GREG: What are you guys doing?
WILL: We're gonna build a
chicken coop on this trailer.
GREG: Well, alright,
do you guys have a plan?
INDY: We have a lose plan,
we have a loose plan,
but we could use your expertize
if you're willing to help.
GREG: What are you thinkin'?
WILL: Indy's
seen this in action.
INDY: So we're thinking of
just framing out the bottom
with some of these
pieces of wood.
We have some plywood for
the sides and we can build
a house shaped shelter
for the chickens,
sturdy enough to withstand
the brutal winters.
GREG: And then cover it
with plastic or tarp?
INDY: Yeah tarp, yeah, exactly.
Yeah, we'd love your help.
GREG: You're gonna
need somethin' to put your,
to screw your panels on.
WILL: Yeah.
GREG: And we also
need to make boxes.
Well, again once you get
something going there you could
do somethin' like this.
WILL: Yeah, exactly.
INDY: Oh that looks nice.
GREG: On the end build
yourself a deck comin' across.
WILL: Uh-huh.
GREG: Your boxes here.
WILL: It's been such a blessing
to kind of move in somewhere
and have built-in neighbors
that have become family.
INDY: A plan is kind of
coming together and well,
Greg kind of has a plan
coming together for this.
GREG: I think we can
make it all work.
INDY: Will's neighbor Greg
has lived and worked on a farm
for decades and has a
wealth of experience and
knowledge to pass on.
He's better equipped
than I am to help Will build
the chicken coop.
I'll leave them to it.
Besides, I can't wait to
share with Grace the gifts
from Melissa's homestead.
I brought a few seeds
from my friend's farm.
So I thought that these would
all be perfect for extending
your growing season.
GRACE: Oh that's excellent.
INDY: Timing is everything,
especially when it comes to
extending the life of a garden.
For an early harvest
seeding can start indoors
while it's still cold out.
Melissa's seeds will go
directly into the Lyon's garden
but we're going to start some
cooler weather crops right now.
Having a garden can help
Grace maintain a healthy diet
and try to keep her
autoimmune disease at bay.
Since you have lights
and water and soil,
we can just start these right
here at your kitchen table.
GRACE: Amazing.
INDY: Yeah, I don't
think that growing your own food
has to be this big
complicated thing.
You don't have to have
acres and acres of land,
all you need is soil,
some kind of container and the
desire to grow your own food.
GREG: We need a big magnet
to pick up the debris.
WILL: Or a bucket.
GREG: In the old days
when you had big old speakers
in your car.
WILL: Oh yeah.
GREG: And then those
speakers get all blown out.
WILL: What kinda music
were you listenin' to that was
blowin' your speakers out, Greg?
GREG: Back then?
WILL: Yeah.
GREG: Probably a little Hendrix.
(laughs).
INDY: Do you have
the pre-baby jitters?
I mean this is your first kid.
GRACE: I'm not feeling
too nervous yet.
I'm sure that once he gets here I'm gonna
have a whole different
a whole different
set of emotions.
But right now I'm feelin'
pretty good about it.
As scary as it is to kind of go against the
norm of having that steady job,
having security,
financial security.
I've got a lot of faith in
Will and a lot of faith in us.
INDY: That's beautiful.
I have so much faith
in your farm too.
GRACE: Thanks.
WILL: Hi. Pretty good.
GRACE: How'd it go?
Greg and I were just out
there, you know, workin'.
(laughs).
You know how Greg and I work.
GRACE: Yeah, sometimes
it's more play than work.
WILL: What are you guys doin'?
GRACE: We've been planting.
WILL: Great.
INDY: So we've been talking about
extending your growing season.
WILL: Yeah.
INDY: I have another surprise.
So this is a gift from Jordan
and Kay at Portage View Farms.
Plans for a greenhouse.
WILL: Ooh.
Nice.
GRACE: Oh my gosh.
WILL: You've got good friends.
INDY: Well, they're
your friends now too.
WILL: Good friends. Cool.
GRACE: Oh amazing.
I've been wanting a
greenhouse since we came here.
INDY: I've done my best to set
up Will and Grace for success.
The rest is up to them.
With the baby
coming any day now,
bigger projects like the
greenhouse might have to wait.
Hopefully Greg was able to help
Will get a head start on that
mobile coop.
without that the chickens
will continue to wreak havoc.
The goats should improve
the pasture for new crops.
They already have
a fenced in area,
but they're also a huge
added responsibility.
That's a lot of kids to take care of on
top of their own child,
but Grace's health and
their livelihood is at stake.
GRACE: There's gonna be a lot
goin' on when you come back.
INDY: There's gonna be babies,
there's gonna be
goats out in the pasture.
I'm going to come back in a
couple of months and I hope to
see the Lyon's
homestead flourishing.
Whether our changes will work
out or not, time will tell.
INDY: It's been over two months
since I visited Grace and Will
and I'm excited and nervous
about what I'm going to see
when I visit their homestead.
A lot is riding on them being able to make
a living off their land,
including Grace's health.
I left them with some
helpful resources,
but their first child was well
on its way and as homesteader
Melissa said, a baby
changes everything.
Oh my gosh!
GRACE: Hi Indy.
INDY: Hi. Who is this?
GRACE: This is Andrew.
INDY: Hi Andrew.
You're so cute.
And hi guys, it's
so good to see you.
WILL: Hi, good to see you.
GRACE: It's so good
to see you too.
INDY: This is beautiful.
It's so warm.
How old is he now?
GRACE: He's nine weeks.
INDY: What?
And then the pigs were
pregnant too last time.
WILL: Uh-huh, yeah,
we got piglets also.
Life is blooming around here.
INDY: A lot's changed since I
visited Will and Grace a few
months ago and it's
not just the weather.
GRACE: Hi piglets.
INDY: They now have
quite a full house.
WILL: We have a
nine week old son,
we've got five piglets,
goats, 30 chickens,
two cows, three cats and a dog.
GRACE: It's been a very,
very exciting fun spring.
INDY: So far so good.
Baby Andrew is beautiful.
The piglets are
thriving and healthy,
but what about
those troublemakers?
There's one chicken where
are the rest of the chickens?
I feel like they were
everywhere last time I was here.
GRACE: Well we've got
a surprise for you.
WILL: Well here you go.
INDY: Oh my gosh,
this is awesome.
GRACE: The chickens are
in their chicken tractor.
INDY: No, way.
GRACE: Yeah.
WILL: Can't miss it.
INDY: This is luxurious.
WILL: It's actually
a chicken mansion.
INDY: Yeah.
(laughs).
GRACE: Before Indy showed up,
our chickens were
a little chaotic.
They were in my gardens,
they were in my flower beds,
they were on my front porch.
INDY: It's working out.
WILL: Yeah.
INDY: The mobile
chicken coop went
above and beyond expectations.
Now the chickens movement
can be guided for maximum
impact on the farm.
WILL: So I found this thing,
you pop this up and
their eggs come out.
This door is an old door I had,
the roosting bars
are an old metal frame
that a friend gave me.
I got this chicken wire
that you got for me and
put that down and the
chickens can walk on it.
You know, it's got
plastic coated so it doesn't
cut their feet up.
INDY: Right.
WILL: And all the
poop goes through.
We're really excited about it.
You know, this is
gonna help us a lot.
INDY: Will is taking me out
on a trip to the pasture with
the coop so the chickens
can till more of the land.
Nice little vacation
for the chickens.
WILL: Yeah.
(laughs).
INDY: But then I notice
something in the distance that
I wasn't quite expecting.
It looks like you
have a lot more goats than
I remember bringing.
WILL: I do.
You kinda opened the
floodgates on goats.
I got 18 more goats
INDY: Wow. That's amazing.
WILL: Since you were here last.
Yeah.
As long as we've lived here
I've been kinda hell bent on
this cow idea.
Since Indy showed up and
brought us a couple of goats
what I've realized is that the
goats and sheep are probably a
better fit for our program.
You know, already seeing the
benefits that they're providing
to me right now kinda
reaffirms that decision.
These goats kinda came about
because the ones I got from
you, people heard about it
and then they started sayin',
"Hey, can you bring your goats
over to eat my blackberries."
INDY: Oh wow.
Will isn't just using the
goats on his own land.
He's lending them out
to other farms that need
to help reduce their brush.
It helps the land and
helps prevent fires.
Now you're a traveling goat guy.
It's also a great way for
the Lyons to supplement their
income and make a living off
the farm so Will can stay home.
They look happy,
they look healthy.
WILL: Yeah.
INDY: And most importantly they're
clearing this field for you.
WILL: And soon they'll be
doin' a good job for a lot of
other people around here too.
INDY: Yeah.
Should we check on
Grace and Andrew?
WILL: Yeah, let's
go check on them.
INDY: Grace had really
hoped to extend her growing
season this year.
having fresh vegetables
from the garden is an essential
element to keeping up her
health and she wanted to make
her own baby food.
GRACE: He is actually a really
great little garden buddy.
INDY: Aw.
WILL: He can be out here in the stroller
and just kinda rockin' him,
once he goes to sleep
you can work for a little bit.
GRACE: The spring
has been so cold.
INDY: Even with
a brand new baby,
Grace managed to
stick with the plan,
brave the cold
and get her garden started
as early as possible.
Wow, so you're not past
your last frost date yet?
GRACE: No.
I mean we are normally,
but this has been such
an unusually cold.
WILL: Yeah, we had
frost last night.
INDY: Wow, so you have all your cold
hardy stuff out here.
Is that rainbow chard?
GRACE: Yeah, so we've got
some chard here and then some
lettuces, peas and spinach.
The good thing about eating
all this stuff and because I am
breastfeeding
eating leafy greens,
'cause if I eat those he
gets all that nutrient.
INDY: Exactly. That's so true.
GRACE: Also, if I did purée
some dark leafy greens with
some pear and apple or
banana and then canned that,
then he could have some
good baby food for when he
is ready for it.
INDY: I'm like really
impressed that you've made
time to be out here at all.
GRACE: We're tryin',
and that's part of the
learning curve of this.
Indy's been a huge change for
us and I'm really excited that
we had the opportunity to
meet her and she came here and
gave us the opportunity to grow.
INDY: This has been awesome,
thank you for
bringing me into the farm and
I'm really impressed
with what you guys have done
since I've been done.
GRACE: Aw, thanks.
WILL: Thanks for coming.
INDY: I'm really in awe of
their commitment to take care
of the land and in
growing their own food.
And one of the biggest rewards
of getting to know them is
knowing that in the future
Andrew will be doing the same
work that they're doing.
I just hope that they have some
time to share some of their
experience with other folks,
so that everyone knows that
homesteading still has an
important role in our community.
Captioned by
Cotter Media Group.