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Abundant Permaculture

Raise, Tend & Harvest Your Food to Feed Your Family Well

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Hello and welcome!

My name is Justin Rhodes

Some may know me as the crazy chicken ninja, but that’s not how my story started.

Many years ago, the Beautiful One (aka, my wife Rebekah) and I brought home four chickens and placed them in a vacant horse stall. Within the first hour, two of them literally “flew the coop” and were gone forever.

Doubts quickly set in at what we had gotten ourselves into.

With determination and massive (perhaps ungodly) amounts of effort, time and money, something surprising happened… I got really good at raising chickens for both meat and eggs.

Fast forward and our 140-acre farm has expanded to include cows (both meat and dairy), sheep, pigs, rabbits, turkeys, and countless other livestock, all with a steep learning curve of their own.

Join me on this homesteading journey and learn from my countless hours of research and “trial by fire.”

This life may not always look perfect, but it’s perfectly fitting for us, and we’re enjoying the journey.

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Justin Rhodes on Youtube

Saving money is good. Trading office hours for time working beside your kids is better. I built this walk-in cooler for about $3,500 instead of spending roughly $7,000 to buy one ready-made. Was it easy? No. It took time. It brought frustration. There were plenty of moments when buying the finished cooler would have been simpler. And I value both my time and my peace. But building it meant that $3,500 difference did not have to come from more time at a desk, more emails, more sales calls, or more office work. It came from work we could do here at home. The kids got to help build something real. We solved problems together. We made mistakes, learned skills, and ended up with a cooler that will serve the farm for years. Sometimes the cheapest option is not the best option. But sometimes doing it yourself costs less money, gives your family useful skills, and turns a necessary farm project into time together.
YouTube Video VVVPU0dFb2tRUWNkQVZGdUxfQXE4ZGxnLjhxb3lWMWRCMkx3

Saved 50% with a DIY walk in cooler

Justin Rhodes 18 hours ago

Get my FREE Designing Your Best Homestead EVER guide and start planning your own food-growing homestead: https://www.abundantpermaculture.com/design It’s time to get water to our neglected two-acre pasture before the cows arrive. After reclaiming this difficult piece of land, we now have to repair the gravity-fed water system that makes it usable. We trace leaks through damaged poly pipe, deal with high water pressure, patch breaks from fire and equipment damage, and hope we can get enough water flowing before the herd moves in. We also take a much-needed break for a daddy-daughter breakfast date—then get right back to the farm, because the clock is ticking. Can we get this pasture watered and ready in time? CHAPTERS 0:00 Tapping our neglected two-acre pasture 1:58 Checking the water catchment and tank 2:14 A daddy-daughter breakfast date 3:38 The trough is empty—another burst line 5:06 Gathering supplies for water-line repairs 6:28 Repairing crushed poly pipe 7:15 Preparing pasture and stockpiling grass 8:45 Searching for another break 9:22 Testing the repaired line 10:25 How long can we keep patching this line?
YouTube Video VVVPU0dFb2tRUWNkQVZGdUxfQXE4ZGxnLjN4OFBnYi1QQ0JR

Gravity Fed Water To 2 Acres of Land (w/o Pump or Well)

Justin Rhodes 23 hours ago

The tools everybody tells you to buy are not always the ones that will make your homestead easier. A few of the most common homestead tools may be costing you more money, more effort, and even more soil health than they are worth. Meanwhile, some of the best labor-saving tools are sitting unnoticed in the corner, in your pocket, or already on your phone. A broadfork can loosen and aerate a bed without the soil damage of repeated tilling. A tractor is useful, but for many small homesteads, the purchase, upkeep, storage, and depreciation do not pencil out. Renting or borrowing one for the few big jobs may be the better move. Everybody carries a knife, but a multitool gives you pliers, screwdrivers, scissors, multiple blades, and more without taking up much more space. The timer on your phone might be one of the most underused farm tools there is. I just used mine to make sure I remembered to turn off the greenhouse water. And yes, a T-post puller is a single-use tool. But if you have ever wrestled posts out of hard ground, you know why this one earns its place. Finally, I’ll take a Gorilla Cart over a wheelbarrow most days. It is easier to balance, easier to pull, and you can move it one-handed while carrying something else. The best tool is not always the most popular one. It is the one that makes the work lighter, faster, and more enjoyable.
YouTube Video VVVPU0dFb2tRUWNkQVZGdUxfQXE4ZGxnLmpHazBQdGVGcDhB

Overrated vs. Underrated Homestead Tools

Justin Rhodes September 20, 2026 5:05 pm

Get my FREE Designing Your Best Homestead EVER guide and start planning your own food-growing homestead: https://www.abundantpermaculture.com/design Today is Lily’s birthday, and we’re celebrating the homestead way—starting with pig chores, feeding kitchen scraps, and getting the pens ready for another day. Then it’s time for a homemade chocolate cake with vanilla frosting and gummy bears, a trip to the fair, homegrown tomato soup, birthday gifts, and a whole lot of family memories. From old footage of fair days gone by to thoughtful words around the table, this is one of those simple days that reminds us what all the hard work is for. Happy birthday, Lily! We’re thankful for the young woman you’re becoming—hardworking, kind, creative, determined, and always ready to give your best. CHAPTERS 0:00 Lily’s pig chores 3:56 Decorating Lily’s birthday cake 4:54 Our family tradition: going to the fair 6:40 Homegrown tomato soup and birthday dinner 7:21 Birthday gifts and favorite memories 10:36 Birthday encouragement from the family 16:00 Cake time
YouTube Video VVVPU0dFb2tRUWNkQVZGdUxfQXE4ZGxnLnFXanhWNmZLVHMw

Our Daughter Turns 15 Today. Here’s What She Can Do

Justin Rhodes September 20, 2026 4:00 pm

Your chickens do not need a complicated menu. Beyond the food strategies in this video, a few simple habits can make your flock healthier, more self-sufficient, and less expensive to tend. • Feed eggshells back to the flock. Dry them, crush them finely, and toss them into the run. Birds that need the extra calcium will seek them out, putting a resource your hens already produced back into the system. Fine crushing also helps keep hens from connecting the shells to intact eggs. • Offer grit, or as I call it, rooster teeth. Chickens do not have teeth, so grit stays in the gizzard and helps them grind whole grains, greens, insects, and other forage. If your birds eat much beyond finely milled commercial feed, make sure grit is available. • Keep fresh, clean water available at all times. Water intake directly affects digestion, health, and egg production, especially during hot weather or periods of high laying. • Put your flock to work in a compost corner. Chickens can scratch through kitchen trimmings, old bedding, leaves, and wood chips, turning and breaking down the pile while hunting for bugs. Over time, they help transform those materials into compost for the garden. The goal is not to make chicken tending more complicated. It is to build a flock that turns feed, waste, and overlooked spaces into eggs, fertility, pest control, and healthier soil.
YouTube Video VVVPU0dFb2tRUWNkQVZGdUxfQXE4ZGxnLllhUkowX2gzNzd3

You’re feeding your chickens wrong

Justin Rhodes September 19, 2026 6:43 pm

Get my FREE Designing Your Best Homestead EVER guide and start planning your own food-growing homestead: https://www.abundantpermaculture.com/design We’re reclaiming two forgotten acres across the creek before frost—and seeing whether this rough, steep, “nook and cranny” ground can become useful pasture again. Today, we assess the biggest challenges: access, crossing the creek with livestock, overgrowth, uneven terrain, and restoring a gravity-fed water system damaged by fire and flooding. We move the sheep tractor, trace the water line up the mountain, inspect the catchment tank, and find the leaks standing between us and putting this land back into rotation. Could these two acres provide free forage, reduce our hay needs, and eventually support an off-grid cabin rental? Let’s find out. RESOURCES MENTIONED Get my FREE Designing Your Best Homestead EVER guide: https://www.abundantpermaculture.com/design CHAPTERS 0:00 Can we reclaim these two unused acres? 1:08 Five problems with this forgotten land 2:08 Getting cows and sheep across the creek 4:37 Moving the sheep tractor from hurricane pasture 8:32 Tracing the gravity-fed water line 13:24 Reaching the water catchment tank 17:19 Finding the broken section 18:01 Progress, birthday plans, and tomorrow’s fair
YouTube Video VVVPU0dFb2tRUWNkQVZGdUxfQXE4ZGxnLjNTRkZYOTJ1czZB

2 Acres Gone Can We Get It Back Before Frost

Justin Rhodes September 19, 2026 4:33 pm

Get my FREE Designing Your Best Homestead EVER guide and start planning your own food-growing homestead: https://www.abundantpermaculture.com/design Can our 15-acre homestead grow enough food for our family of seven? Come walk the farm with me as we add up the estimated annual food production from our cows, sheep, chickens, turkeys, pigs, and gardens. But this permaculture farm tour is about more than pounds of food. The cows graze ahead of the chickens. The pigs turn bedding into compost for the garden. Garden leftovers feed the animals. Each part has a job beyond the food it gives us. We’ll walk through the pastures, fruit trees, crop garden, chicken compost systems, raised beds, and greenhouse. I’ll show you how they fit together, what we’re harvesting now, and what we’re still waiting to produce. These numbers are estimates of production potential, not a weighed annual harvest. They include future orchard and asparagus harvests, along with potential pork from piglets we sell rather than raise for our own freezer. RESOURCES MENTIONED Vego Garden raised beds: https://get.aspr.app/SH20lU Use offer code REBEKAHRHODES5 for 5% off. This is an affiliate link, which means I may earn a commission if you purchase through it. Premier 1 Supplies, our electric netting: https://www.premier1supplies.com/ New Country Organics, our feed sponsor: https://www.newcountryorganics.com/ Homestead Builds, my book of homestead building plans, including the Chickshaw and Prettyshaw: https://www.homesteadbuilds.com CHAPTERS 0:00 Can 15 acres feed our family of seven? 0:43 Cows: milk, beef, and pasture fertility 5:34 Sheep: grazing what the cows leave 7:57 Restoring our hurricane-damaged pasture 11:15 Meat chickens and turkeys 12:46 Farm pathways and fruit trees 16:37 Pigs, compost, and the crop garden 20:06 What we grow in 8,000 square feet 23:12 Chickens turning wood chips into compost 26:22 Our front yard chicken system 28:57 Raised beds and greenhouse 31:28 Asparagus and perennial food 33:51 Adding up the food 34:33 The family guesses our total
YouTube Video VVVPU0dFb2tRUWNkQVZGdUxfQXE4ZGxnLlN2Q1MwVngzcFlJ

Can 15 Acres Feed A Family of 7 Full Permaculture Farm Tour

Justin Rhodes September 18, 2026 3:13 pm

Today on the farm, we’re taking on another full day of homestead work—caring for the animals, making progress on seasonal projects, and figuring things out as we go. Life on a working farm is rarely predictable, but every challenge is a chance to learn, adapt, and build a more resilient homestead. Come along as our family puts in the work, celebrates the small wins, and keeps moving toward a more self-sufficient life. If you enjoy real-life homesteading, regenerative farming, animal care, and practical farm projects, make sure to subscribe and turn on notifications for more daily farm videos. 👇 What’s one project you’re working on this season? Let us know in the comments. #Homesteading #FarmLife #RegenerativeFarming #FamilyFarm #SelfSufficiency
YouTube Video VVVPU0dFb2tRUWNkQVZGdUxfQXE4ZGxnLmlJcFNmLTFoVG5F

I Cured This Squash Wrong, Now We Eat It First

Justin Rhodes September 17, 2026 4:00 pm

The people who come back for Saturday are the ones to keep. When I was a kid, friends would come over on Fridays to ride four-wheelers, build hay forts, and have fun. But Saturday was different. Saturday meant mending fences, cutting firewood, and delivering hay. Most friends came for Friday. Very few came back for Saturday. That taught me something: true friendship isn’t revealed in the good times. It’s revealed by who is willing to stay when there’s work to do. The same is true of a mission. Be about something. Have a vision. Invite people into it, even when it’s difficult, inconvenient, or requires sacrifice. Welcome everyone who joins you and treasure the people who come back. Those are the people you build a life with. Those are the people you go on mission with.
YouTube Video VVVPU0dFb2tRUWNkQVZGdUxfQXE4ZGxnLjd3aG5MM2dwMGh3

How to tell if you have a real friend

Justin Rhodes September 17, 2026 3:19 pm

YouTube Video VVVPU0dFb2tRUWNkQVZGdUxfQXE4ZGxnLjRvYnhhNjZoWldJ

Before and after weeding Vego beds

Justin Rhodes September 16, 2026 7:34 pm

Vego: https://get.aspr.app/SH20lU Use offer code **REBEKAHRHODES5** for **5% off**. *(Affiliate link)* Today on the homestead, we’re tackling the real work that keeps the farm moving forward—projects, problem-solving, animals, and plenty of lessons learned along the way. From the jobs that don’t go exactly as planned to the small wins that make the effort worthwhile, this is a behind-the-scenes look at building a more resilient farm and working with the land instead of against it. If you enjoy practical homesteading, regenerative agriculture, family farming, and learning as you go, subscribe and turn on notifications so you don’t miss the next episode. What’s one farm or garden project you’re working on right now? Let us know in the comments. #Homesteading #FarmLife #RegenerativeFarming #FamilyFarm #SelfSufficiency Sources
YouTube Video VVVPU0dFb2tRUWNkQVZGdUxfQXE4ZGxnLk1xaG1JVWJYVDFF

Where 100’s of Pounds of Potatoes Go Without a Root Cellar

Justin Rhodes September 16, 2026 4:00 pm

YouTube Video VVVPU0dFb2tRUWNkQVZGdUxfQXE4ZGxnLlRobFp5R09UOWxN

What to do with a sheep getting out

Justin Rhodes September 15, 2026 8:47 pm

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