Happy Labor Day ‘23.

We watch YouTube homesteaders. I think some are on Carole’s prayer list. Watching someone build a house having heard them say they knew nothing about construction and have no inherent skills is interesting to me. A resource we didn’t have was how to do everything–just ask Google.

Homesteading families who recapture land for production stimulates. Joel Salatin is a good resource no matter what your vocation. One of the families that uses Salatin’s teachings is The Justin Rhodes family in North Carolina. Their homestead is a family operation. The “ownership” the kids display is remarkable. I wondered if they resented early morning chores. It appears they respect their parents, see value in their work and are assets to the family farm. Their knowledge of animals and what needs to be done next captured my attention. If those kids were to incorporate and go public, I would invest in them and know the ROI would be huge.

My consulting career may not be working out—consulting and commenting on all things political, all things baseball and TV commercials. So, I’ve been wondering how my life would be different today if I had grown up on a homestead. What would I have learned from the labor and skills on a farm? During the Farm Crisis of the ’80s, a proverb spread widely: “Willing the family farm to your kids is called child abuse.” I published a magazine article titled, “Until and unless you have manure on your boots.”  A County Agent in South Georgia told me the best resource for the bankrupt or foreclosed  farmer is someone who has been through it–“someone with manure on their boots.”

Justin Rhodes interviewed a homesteader on the video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-75_YgTDKQ

He didn’t know anything about chickens. He had no farm experience, yet…. But the vocation he left–he was a CPA. The expertise he learned as a CPA gave him skills to run a business—be an entrepreneur. Whether you manage a car wash or sing professionally, you need to know what makes business work.

Two other YouTubers I learn stuff by watching: Cole the Cornstar. His labor grows out of working with his family near Gladbrook, Iowa. Cole The Cornstar – YouTube. And his education at University of Northern Iowa. Both resources depend on the other. Another YouTube mentor is Red Poppy Ranch. “Red Poppy” is about one man’s labor, his imagination and philosophy. He tells meaningful stories about his heritage, planned destiny and trends. In the intro YouTube video, this rancher in Idaho lists all the skills one needs.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCORtBvRVwy8s4vAvwWJ_A3A

That chicken rancher story started me questioning what inherent skills or knowledge did he and his brothers possess? It was certainly more than the difference between debit and credit and balance sheets. As I consider a new career or side hustle, I’m calculating what I’ve learned in my former “lives” that can be generalized. Surely, like Caleb, there is another mountain waiting for me to develop. Some side hustle that can benefit from my work experience.

This is not narcissistic. On this Labor Day weekend, I’m thinking about you. What pieces of knowledge your past work experience have given you unique perspectives, abilities, perceptions, and manure on your boots?

Thanks for your sweat and forehead rubbing and midnight pacing.

©2023 D. Dean Benton—Wonderer, Meanderer, Ponderer, Consultant, Kitty litter monitor.