Abundance Plus

Feeding Chickens

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Justin Rhodes on Youtube

Taking my little boys off grid overnight in a treehouse—rain or shine. With Mom and Lily away at pony finals and the teens doing their own thing, it’s the perfect chance for a real adventure: no phones, no normal house comforts, and no electricity the way we’re used to it. How do you cook, clean dishes, bathe, keep food cold, and have fun after dark when you’re off grid? We explore this incredible treehouse property and figure it out as we go. What starts as a family overnight turns into a mystery: where does the running water come from, how is the fridge powered, and how does the whole system work? In this episode, you’ll see: • A rainy-day tour of the treehouse, outdoor kitchen, cooking nook, bathhouse, sauna, cold plunge, and surrounding property • How the off-grid fridge runs on solar power and batteries • A closer look at the water system: spring-fed cold water, a pump, a storage tank, rainwater collection, and a propane-powered water heater • Cooking supper under shelter when the rain changes our original grilling plans, including burgers made from our own recently harvested steer with garden tomatoes, pickles, and lettuce • Learning to conserve water while washing dishes and cleaning up with just a small dish caddy • Wood-fired sauna time, a cold plunge, and an honest look at why camping with little kids is more adventure than rest • The unexpected discoveries that make us rethink what off-grid living can really look like Come along as we slow down, get wet, cook outside, solve problems, and make memories with the boys in a one-of-a-kind off-grid treehouse. Book your stay: https://ravenrockmountain.com/
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Spent 24 Hours Off Grid With My Boys. Here's How It Actually Works

Justin Rhodes 21 hours ago

Scrolling gives you cheap dopamine hits that feel good for a second and leave you unsatisfied. This one was different. I walked into an overgrown mess and walked out to a clean, tidy garden. I physically worked for it. Sweat, effort, the whole deal. That kind of dopamine hits different. It’s deeper, longer-lasting, and it actually sticks. And if I’m honest, there was another layer to it… My wife was overwhelmed by the garden. So I snuck out and took care of it for her. That added something extra. Not just the satisfaction of finishing the job, but the feeling of lightening her load. That one lands deeper. That’s one of the bigger reasons we homestead. Growing tomatoes or keeping a garden often isn’t the cheapest or most efficient way to get food. But we’re not doing it just to save money. We’re doing it because the work itself pays us back in ways scrolling never will. Visible progress and having a sense of self responsibility. I mean, we need something to do, right? This gives us a reason to get outside and use our bodies. And sometimes the chance to quietly minister to the people we love.
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Cheap Dopamine Hits

Justin Rhodes August 11, 2026 8:00 pm

Watch the uncensored version on Abundance Plus: https://abundanceplus.com 2 million turkeys died from bird flu in 2025 alone, and 25 million since 2022 — yet our family raised 20 turkeys through a full season and harvested every single one without a single loss. In this video, we show you exactly how we did it, from choosing the right breed and hatchery to brooding, pasturing, harvesting, and preserving. We start with picking Broad Breasted turkeys (the “Cornish Cross of the turkey world”) from McMurray Hatchery, ordering them unvaccinated, and timing delivery around your last frost date so they can move to pasture safely. Turkeys aren’t just for Thanksgiving anymore — many families, including ours, eat one a month. In this episode you’ll see: • Full brooder setup: space requirements (about three turkeys per square foot), safe heat sources like Premier One hover brooders, redundancy tricks with heat lamps, and a custom wire-mesh “dirt trap” feeder to keep things clean • Why turkeys need longer brooding time than chickens (4-6 weeks) due to their more fragile early stage, plus grit and mineral-rich creek sand for proper digestion • Moving turkeys to pasture in a simple, roofless-but-shaded mobile shelter inspired by Joel Salatin’s “gobbler” design, scaled down for a homestead-sized flock • Step-by-step pasture rotation using electric poultry netting, moving water and feed first, hopping the energizer every other move for efficiency, and handling escapes calmly • Practical tips learned over 20 years of raising poultry, showing how small efficiency tweaks add up when managing animals sustainably on real homestead ground If you want a proven, bird-flu-resilient system for raising your own pastured turkeys from chick to harvest, this episode gives you the complete blueprint we use every year.
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Bird Flu Killed 2 Million Turkeys | How I Raised (+ Butchered) My Own

Justin Rhodes August 10, 2026 4:00 pm

The dryer broke down, so we do what any permaculture list would do. 1. We have redundancy: We look to the greenhouse to hang up some clothes for drying. 2. Now we're multitasking: starting our veggies in a greenhouse and drying our clothes. With this, we don't have to remember to get them down before it rains, and the added heat is a nice bonus for drying the clothes quicker.
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Greenhouse turned Clothes Dryer

Justin Rhodes August 7, 2026 7:58 pm

So we did what any culture does when the world becomes too complicated for a child to understand. We invented an artificial version of childhood to fit the artificial version of the world. School for artificial learning. Sports for artificial physical challenge. Video games for artificial adventure. Social media for artificial community. Jobs for artificial work that has almost nothing to do with anything primal. It’s no longer we long for something real… a sunrise, bare feet on the ground, dirty hands and care for an animal. Seems progress may be taking us further and further away from the solution.
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We've Invented an Artificial Childhood

Justin Rhodes August 6, 2026 2:57 pm

I say my wife is a magician... All she has to do is just dream and say things and they happen. But I reckon It's the least I can do since she has given birth to all five of my children. But seriously, can a woman ever have enough plants?
YouTube Video VVVPU0dFb2tRUWNkQVZGdUxfQXE4ZGxnLlp4Sll0dDVEM2gw

My wife is a magician

Justin Rhodes August 4, 2026 6:07 pm

In this video, Justin shows how we raise one year’s worth of chicken in just 58–60 days—from ordering jumbo Cornish Cross “C monsters,” to brooding, moving them on pasture, rotating nets and coops, and finally butchering them ourselves. We start with planning: how to calculate how many birds you need (for example, 100 chickens if you eat two per week) and why you should order 10–25% extra to account for losses and lean into permaculture’s “return of abundance.” Then we cover why Cornish Cross are the “chainsaws of the homestead,” producing 4–5‑pound birds in two months compared to the time and animals needed for similar beef or pork. You’ll see: • When to order chicks from McMurray Hatchery (timed to your last frost date) and why we request no vaccinations for birds raised outside on grass with sun and space • Brooder setup: square‑foot requirements, deep pine‑shavings “carbonaceous diapers,” organic New Country Organics chick starter, and safe heat options like a Premier hover brooder instead of risky heat lamps • Scaling feeders and waters as birds grow, building microbial‑rich deep bedding by adding shavings daily, and monitoring smell, feed, and water so chicks thrive • Transition to field: sizing and using a meat‑chicken coop inside electric netting, spreading feed and water to distribute manure, and daily moves that lead to lush, green regrowth in their wake • How we hop the energizer every other move, use a four‑point checklist (food, water, shelter, security) after each rotation, and prepare for butchering at the eight‑week mark with scalding and processing gear first thing in the morning If you want a clear, step‑by‑step blueprint for raising a year’s worth of pasture chickens quickly, efficiently, and in a way that’s good for your land, this episode lays out the full system you can copy or adapt on your own homestead The Chicken Tender Handbook: https://chickentenderbook.com Abundance Plus: https://abundanceplus.com New Country Organic: https://www.newcountryorganics.com
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Chicken Is $8lb. We Raised a Year’s Worth in 60 Days

Justin Rhodes August 2, 2026 4:00 pm

The Kid Who Asked “When Will I Ever Use This” Was the Smartest One in the Room You were told to sit down and do the work. You asked it in math class. Every kid did. When are we ever gonna need this in real life? We got in trouble for asking, told to sit down and do the work. Turns out we were right. The teacher would fumble for an answer. My wife’s teacher went so far as to say, “You may need this someday, and you won’t have a calculator.” Turns out we always have a calculator on us now. And so what if we didn’t. ”Two trains leave stations 30 miles apart, traveling toward each other, one at 60 mph, one at 40 mph. How long until they meet?” Nobody remembers the answer. Nobody needed to. We knew it was senseless. But we couldn’t or wouldn’t do anything about it. We were kids when we wondered, and we were basically told not to question it. So we stopped. You that you were on to something. You questioned it, and you happened to be right. So what do you do with that? What do you do with every other question you have about the way things are supposed to be done? Most of us feel stuck in a system we can’t escape. Think about it… What if the teacher had said, “You’re right, let’s do something more productive.” They couldn’t. They were stuck too. You were right about the math. That means you are probably right about some of the things you’re questioning right now. What if, instead of figuring out when the trains would meet, you put your energy into something that actually matters? Like figuring out why that second train is 33% slower, and how to make it better. You didn’t need a calculator. You needed permission to say the system was wrong. And since no one is ever gonna give that to you, you’ll have to take it. You still have questions. The pressure to fall in line is real, and it’s intense. But you have more power now than you did back then. Power to change things. Power to opt out. So what’s the math problem you’re still doing that you don’t need to? You were right to wonder. Don’t stop now.
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What You Learn In School Is Useless

Justin Rhodes August 1, 2026 6:23 pm

The two little gardeners hard at work gathering the beans for winter.
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Green Bean Aisle on the Homestead

Justin Rhodes July 30, 2026 6:39 pm

I appreciate The Beautiful One’s Beauty (and practicality) in the garden. Trellising the pumpkins is not only beautiful it gets the pumpkins off the ground and takes up unlimited vertical space instead of limited horizontal space.
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The Beautiful Ones Garden

Justin Rhodes July 29, 2026 7:11 pm

I appreciate The Beautiful One’s Beauty (and practicality) in the garden. Trellising the pumpkins is not only beautiful it gets the pumpkins off the ground and takes up unlimited vertical space instead of limited horizontal space.
YouTube Video VVVPU0dFb2tRUWNkQVZGdUxfQXE4ZGxnLmxnSUZGQURlMDRJ

The Beautiful Ones Garden

Justin Rhodes July 29, 2026 7:03 pm

If I was looking for an easier life I would have quit homesteading long ago. Questioning the norms of society have led me to homesteading and many other questions including questioning homesteading itself and certainly how I practice it. Is the easiest way always the best way? No, sometimes it’s better to get the exercise and pull the cart, even though you could have drove. And besides, it’s much cheaper to maintain a gorilla cart than a side by side :)
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If I was looking for an easier life I would have quit homesteading long ago

Justin Rhodes July 28, 2026 6:49 pm

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