90-ACRE HOMESTEAD TOUR in Upstate New York - Ep. 005 

We filmed this back in October 2020, soon after we got onto the land. Though we really didn't feel like filming that day because we had quite a bit of work to do and wanted to take advantage of the relatively "good" weather-in hindsight, we're so glad we did because soon after-it snowed. And then it snowed some more. And then it snowed again. And again. And again. And as I write this, it's still snowing. We almost forget what this place looks like. And we're so eager for a thaw so that we can experience another season. Spring! Imagine!

Double fence layers work like a charm. Deer do not like to jump into enclosed spaces where they feel trapped. Because of this, a double fence can be an effective tool to prevent deer damage in the garden. Surround the exterior of your yard or garden with a four- to five-foot tall picket fence, then erect a second fence of the same height about five feet inside of the first one. The inner fence layer can be made of boxwire, chicken wire, wire lines, or another less expensive material, if you want to save some money. Deer have lousy depth perception and won’t try to jump over both fences at once.

I’m involved in a 2500 acre land preserve here in California. Our main goal is native habitat restoration. When we remove trees and shrubs, due to disease or the plant being a non native, invasive species, we always leave the trunks and stumps to decompose back into the earth and to provide habitat for species that only nest in dead woods. 🌿

I love seeing Sander interacting while you film! And he asks so many questions that I find I would have asked myself! While you're walking us through, Ill be thinking something which he ends up asking you! It works out so nicely! Loved this tour! Bless those little birds using plant tags to build their nests 💜 so sweet!

I don’t know you guys personally, but I am so proud of your attitude towards your piece of heaven. We really need to stop planting invasive plants and plant native ones that support the native wildlife around you.

I love how you think about the pollution, the invasive species and how the animals will react to it! I wish I can visit youuuu!😄

The Teasel has great healing properties. What a lifelong project. Summer Rayne...your ability to know all these plant species amazes me. I can barely remember common names. Such an exciting vision for you all. Our earth needs more stewards like you all. Blessings 🎆

Goats will eat nearly anything. You can absolutely hire goats to clear brush and bramble. If you want to clean up undergrowth and turn up soil in the process (say for planting a vegetable garden) get pigs. They do a fabulous job.

Rose bushes produce rose hips! You can make tea, oil, rose water. So many uses for rose hips!

Wow so much beautiful land. I love your vision and plans. Very exiting to observe your journey... can’t wait for more videos. Your Flock is beautiful and peaceful.

You said you all are up for the challenge to take on this property -- I'm 60 and would take it on because of my passion for beauty, restoration and good old fashioned work. I see that in the three of you! We've been on our 7 acre farm in Wisconsin for nearly 14 years and have plenty to do but I wont regret going on this journey with my high-school sweetheart and, now, our 5 granddaughters. Can't wait to build our geothermal greenhouse and would guess you will build one too. Best wishes on your journey!

Such a peaceful place. Imagen sitting in a boat out on the lake just listening to nature and enjoying the moment. You guys have a lot of work in front of you but this might be the best thing you guys have ever invested in. I´m so happy for you guys. That place is heaven on earth! ❤️

LIVING THE DREAM! This is so exciting, congrats to you guys!

I think the native meadow concept that you have come up with is genius. One suggestion that I have for you guys is to plant up the pond area with some native plants, such as creeping iris and water lilies. There are also some very beautiful wetland grasses and flowers that you could plant along the edge of the pond. In addition, I think it would be interesting if you channeled the rainwater from the top of your roof into a rain garden. On a side note, I think there are a number of ways you could approach preparing the meadow for planting. One of the methods I've seen my local Arboretum and Botanical Garden use was a controlled burn method. They mowed the perimeter of where they were burning so that the fire would not spread and let the meadow burn to the ground. This not only replenished the soil with nutrients from the ash of the fire but also made it easier for native plants they introduced to get established.

I swear the gardener that owned my place before imported EVERY invasive plant available in the 70s. 😂

Love this tour of the lawn and around the structures! I really hope you guys do tours in every season so we can see how the landscape changes and updates what you guys decide to do over time ✨

Definitely start creating a permaculture food forest!

I love hearing all your thoughts of taking care and improving that property . Can’t wait to see it all thriving under your stewardship 🌿

I dream of a Howl's Moving Castle type meadow... with a sea of spring flowers.

Fix the drainage on that meadow plot that is a good thing to start with . It’s somewhat started ,so fix it start container gardening, make money invest into it and keep making more improvements , hire people to help as your garden center makes u money. Add adventures into that forest. Like botanical walks , hikes etc. conservation center, a botanical garden. With 90 acres you could do all of this but first you must make that land work for you and those tile drainage is a good place to start. Propagate and sell those BARBERRYS. They are so expensive to purchase . You have good bones here for sure. I believe you will make it happen congrats to you. Hard work is good for your soul! I always say “gardening is my prozac “ many blessings ! By the way chickens are awesome PS a bird sanctuary would be amazing!

You guys got so much knowledge on the ecosystem & plant. Love to learn during watching the video. 👍👍👍

You have chosen a fabulous and beautiful landscape there. In England, we would call your ponds 'lakes'! It is so cheering that you are going to reintroduce native species more in keeping with the area. With the gravelly meadow, it looks like that would be the most labour intensive to rectify as, apart from invasive species, the surface terrain is so uneven. I wonder what the natural curve of that land would be? It may also be useful to get a geophys survey to establish exactly where all the drainage channels are and what else sits below the surface. Personally, I would strip it back section by section into manageable chunks, get the gravel removed, and start a replant 🌿🌱🌸

So beautiful...I would have endless projects working with all this space and lose myself in all of the nature this property has to offer. So, so "fresh." Really happy for you; I can see how fulfilled you are feeling by the way you present your property with Sander. You're "The Bomb!"

I hope you keep the lawn. Your friends could enjoy it, nap on blankets, look at the stars at night,& friends who come to visit for house parties could set up tents on the lawn! It might not be the type of grass like they have on golf courses requiring intensive feeding programs & the use of toxic chemicals & daily maintenance. The previous owner might've had the smarts to use a more manageable grass species.

So beautiful congratulations .I cannot wait for this come to picture

Summer and Sander....this was so inspiring and boy do I have more than a green thumb. I'm completely green with envy, lol. Enjoy your paradise, I have faith you will steward it well.

all the beautiful birds you were feeding. Gorgeous!!!! My husband laughs at how excited I get from the birds in my tree, he doesn't get nearly as excited. Super amazing property and great video Summer and Sander!!!

What a wonderful place to live! That lake and the forest, wow!

My thoughts, FWIW: It's easy to build a movable chicken coop. Plenty of RU-vid homesteaders build them in a few hours. They don't require heated housing, just protection from predators. I've seen several who build what they call Chick-Shaws, I think coined by Justin Rhodes, or maybe a Polyface Farm concept. Either way, it's a simple carpentry project. They're built on wheels, have nesting areas, easily accessible egg laying boxes, fresh water, & like a rickshaw, there are 2 side boards which attach to a bar so a person can step in, grab the bar, easily lift the thing up & roll it to wherever you like. Some use lightweight electric fences to protect the chickens. You just turn the solar powered fence off, lift the stakes, gather the fence & relocate it. Roll the Hen house into position within the newly fenced in area, leave them fresh water daily, give them organic feed & let them forage on the wild stuff you want to cultivate for a meadow. A group of maybe a dozen chickens & roosters, & maybe a couple guard geese will just about remove everything in a few days, then you roll them to the next area. In a month's time they could clear enough area to plant your veggies, & leave the soil fertilized. You'll also have a dozen or more eggs per day. You can roll it around to different areas every few days so the chickens can eat the vegetation, scratch for insects & leave their droppings behind - which are way too messy for that nice office! They do fine in the sun & fresh air. At night they go in to sleep & you latch their door until morning.

It looks beautiful! I can see the excitement in you both! It’s like an artist with a canvas, so much fun! Congratulations!

A small Forsythia hedge would look nice. Also I would plant a few echinacea and some native milkweed for butterfly! The place looks amazing

Sander to do list remove honeysuckle and roses. Repair dear fencing. Clearing snow. Renovating office into chicken bed and breakfast. Removing ill trees. Etc etc etc...

An idea for the meadow could be a controlled burn. It can help put nutrients back in the soil. They do the a lot here in the midwest

What a vision. Love it.Thanks so much for telling us all your beautiful ideas. Can't wait to see it all come together in time. :))

this video got me all inspired. i had to stop in the middle and go out and do a walk about around my own property.

I am so happy you decided to take us on your journey. You certainly are an inspiration to all and are incredibly knowledgeable. I look forward to all the videos that are yet to come!🌈Best wishes on your journey and thank you for giving back to Mother Earth!😊

Your excitement showing us all around is so sweet and I can’t wait to see what it all looks like in spring!! Chickens & wifi! 😂

I feel you on the low level meadow in place of lawns. I’m against the regular lawns. For people whom like green and low level lawn looking areas consider clover and google benefits as it has many. You don’t need to cut many types as they stay low (or cut 2x yr) and if you have a dog when they pee it doesn’t create yellow spots. Very pollinator friendly! 🐝 Love the land you all have! 🍀 Okay back to the videos as I have a few Flocks to catch up on. 💚

I can't wait to see what you guys do with this property! So exciting!

Amazing & so exciting can’t wait to see your vision develop, how wonderful ❤️❤️❤️

Agree with getting rid of the turf grass. I'm in the process of getting rid of a large (~1/2 acre) lawn in front of our house and replacing it with prairie plants. It's a 1+ year commitment to prepping the ground before seeding and then it's another 2-3 years for the plants to establish themselves from seeds. Definitely worth it though, especially for feeding the local pollinators and birds, as well as habitat for mammals.

Glad you filmed the before so when the after comes you will see all the effort made and feel even more satisfaction.its going to be many projects but one project at a time and looking at priorities will get you there.I am looking forward to the journey with you.so let's begin!

Roses give fruit > rose hip is especially helpful for birds in the winter > bright red so easy for them to spot in the landscape

Absolutely beautiful ....congratulations so happy for you all and excited to see the new chicken :)

This is so awesome. What a journey. Been watching you a long time and so proud of you! You guys can start those volunteer working vacations that a lot of non profits set up. I know I would drive up from VA to help The Flock!

Love the property...yes the pond is beautiful!

I really like your plan for the lawn for it to become a more biodiverse space! I don't know if this concept is something you do in the US, but in Germany there are many traditional orchards grow few old or regional varieties of fruit trees scattered on a low nutrient meadow (which is a process, as you need to remove the mown biomass each time). They are mown 2-3 times a year so it's a very low maintanace but high diversity ecosystem that you can even get some food from. One of my favorite concepts :)

Thanks for sharing your wonderful property. I just wanted to mention that many of the cultivated barberry are not invasive. They are also great for birds, have wonderful medicinal properties and the berries are actually edible. The bees and other pollinators flock to the tiny flowers in the spring. I have a hedge of this and it is so alive all year long with birds and insects. It also keeps the deer out who come to nibble at it a bit and then move on. I feel for your issues with the multi flora roses. I will caution you with all the 'cutting' of them. It makes them grow more. They really need to be dug out completely with an excavator and burned to really get ahead of them. However, after doing this on my own property they were less and now my sheep eat them as any new sprouts come up so they don't take hold. Good luck and congratulations on your new journey.

Tom Biebighauser builds amazing wetlands and loves investigating old drainage and bringing back wetted landscapes. I built a couple wetlands with him and he is amazing. Even just his books are an amazing resource if you cant grab some of the amazing mans time!

Have you seen the national botanical garden exterior native plants garden in DC? I think they did a phenomenal job using only plants native to America

Birds and other animals eat the rose hips plus you can make tea. They are a good source if vitamin C.

Your comments about lawns alone is enough for me to subscribe. I'm so sick of them and don't even get me started on golf courses..

Sander amd his honeysuckle episode. Lol bonfired.

I sure wish you all luck with your land, lives and dreams! Keep on keeping on. Just taking care of all the invasives you have there will keep you busy. Every seed of those Barberries are potential new invasive plants as they drop to the ground! And every seed of the honeysuckle the same and that Miscanthus must be taken out by the roots with a tractor! and oh those invasive multiflora roses, I'm doing the same on my 1 acre of property and making my native habitat. It is consuming in a good way as your project will certainly be!

I guess we all have a different mental picture of a "Komestead". For me it is herb and vegetable gardens, greenhouses, hay for a cow or two, definitely chickens and maybe some goats for cheese, syrup making from tapping Maples, Blueberries, Blackberries, grapes, a wood lot, etc. I guess a Self Reliant form of homestead. Are these some of the things you will pursue as well? I must say I am surprised that a Horticulturalist would have planted so many invasive species. You do have your work cut out for you there for sure. It is a beautiful piece of land and I look forward to seeing you guys transform it.

I’m so happy for you and your friends! It’s a wonderful find and investment. Just beautiful, and a dream come true. Best wishes in your new venture!

FINALLY A TOUR! Thanks summer!

Wow I crying this is so exciting can't wait to see what u y'all choose

I’m looking forward to the development of this property and to see your visions all come together. What a huge undertaking you have got yourself into however, I know the vision will become a reality. Can’t wait for chickens.

Cant wait to see the progress.

Welding gloves for clearing brambles: genius.

Definitely get some ruminates on that meadow land. If nothing else, let them manage the "mowing" while you focus on the stuff closer to the house. In the meantime they will also be improving the soil (make sure you're at least familiar with rotational grazing / mob grazing rather than just turning them loose on the whole thing at once. Look up Joel Salatin in Virginia for example). While it may take a bit of learning and daily work to move the sheep etc, [maybe make that part of the agreement of someone using the land, they can use it, but they have to do the daily moving as well]. Let the animals be co-laborers. Not to mention, a ruminate grazing does much more than mowing. The tearing, pulling, oral enzymes not to mention excretions are much more than a simple mower does. And, if you follow the ruminate with fowl about 3 days later (depending on the ruminate), the fowl can help control flies via eating grubs, they spread any "patties" around doing yet more work for you, and depositing their own special offerings on the land.

“Think this is enough space for one chicken?” Lmao

I have honeysuckle on my property which I try to control with regular pruning. I'm certain it's a bird poop gift as well as some other perennials which showed up that I didn't plant. I do know that cardinals love to eat the honeysuckle berries. I can't recall seeing it active with bees when in bloom so it must not appeal to them.

Aw loved the footage of the bird coming out of the tree Saunders...Coming together slow but full of potential the lands in good hands. Thanks for your time and for sharing

Wow did the prior owner (horticulturist) plant and maintain that whole forest?? I wonder how much of it he personally planted! Very cool! Can't wait to see what y'all do! 🌿❤🐛🦋

i think you should have a tour in spring. the property would be stunning!

Just a thought on your meadow, perhaps a nearby neighbor would cut and bale it for free for the hay, or in your economy perhaps half the hay, this works in NE Missouri. Even if the quality looks poor, it will still have value, but give the hay away if you must just to get it mowed, until you figure out how to pay for all the services you are going to want to do.

I loved the tour, it’s such a beauty place. The chicken is going to have a mansion AND WiFi haha 😂 I like the interaction between the both of you, and I can totally envision all the changes that guy guys want to make. I will definitely be following you guys on this journey.

I am in the planting phase on my property and I took the approach to only plant native species with exceptions for species edible for humans and/or are nitrogen fixers (like Japanese silverberry and the Kamchatkan honeysuckle). We have native Rosa canina here and I know how difficult it is to get rid of it if it grows to a certain size. I love your videos.

Might i recommend that if you have some marginal rocky crop land (the type that junipers and some early successionals grow in), lilacs do very well in this environment. At least they do here in South eastern Ontario. In the spring the flowers are incredible, and they don't require much beyond the occasional pruning. Just a thought for you, but I'm confident you've got everything covered. I'm so excited for all of you! With respect to your tile drainage field, I know there are a few geoscientists and environmental students at Cornell that are working on solutions to this legacy infrastructure.

FYI if you have chickens they eat the roses. Its a treat for them.

Lots of winter interest in the landscape! Beautiful property!

Ready for the journey!

Green Ninebark is native....the purple is cultivated. You would be crazy to use that space for chickens. A coop is so easy to build....why waste this clean space for chickens....it would serve good as a future studio.

The area you want for low meadow (maybe creeping thyme, wormwood, white flowering clover, etc.) looks to also be where your septic might be located from the white cap - don't drive any heavy machinery or vehicles over that area if that is the case, it could damage the septic.

beautiful land, I live in the Finger Lakes almost every view is beautiful (I only love it three seasons and wish I could get away in the winter) ...personally, I would get volunteers to dig up the black plastic drains at least the bits above ground it might fill up with silt anyway since I don't see a filter sock around it...you can have the mower set higher so it does not hit any that is only at the surface...I would plant wildflowers underneath low growing fruit or nut trees and bushes...also chickens like to have other chickens around and I would not house them in that room, you might not have the same resale value after the chicken poo eats through the floor and pecks the walls, you could build a simple lean-to coop for them with the outside wall as one of their walls

So so love that you are going to bring back PawPaws!

I wonder if controlled burn-offs would work for your meadow to prevent it turning into forest? Fire was used extensively for land management by Indigenous peoples in Australia and I've heard it was used in the South West of the USA as well, but maybe this was also practiced in your area? The book 'Fire Country' by Victor Steffensen discusses this practice from an Australian perspective... Even if it doesn't work for your property it might still be interesting to learn about! :)

👁️ am so happy and excited for you Summer! & think about all the people you will inspire along the way. 🌱💚✌🏻

Ooh a lovely fruit and veg patch lovely. If it where up to me I'd have it all planted up haha.

Wonderful property and a lot of work! congratulations... it is beautiful! And i must say that it is better to let plants grow before taking them out too quickly! Many many birds need bushes like rosa multiflora and other wild roses, berberis vulgaris and the „wild“ homeysuckle to build their nest inbetween their twigs and to have their fruit in winter; greetings from Austria!

Love the vision! Can't wait to see the result in bloom

I'm so excited for all of your plans. Looking forward seeing everything change! 😍

So many great plans. I'm genuinely excited for you and also learning alot from this. I'm pretty proud of myself for recognizing that red dogwood, I work in the Horticulture department at my local zoo and and I know exactly what you mean when you're talking about non native "exotic" plants. In the landscape we work with theres such a variety, its beautiful but a lot of it isnt native. Also besides Chickens, are there any other animals you plan to raise? Just be careful because chickens will really tear up an area 😅. You probably know that though.

PLEASE allow me to make a few more comments : you are on the rite track as far as using sheep or goats to help manage the water shed ( meadow) IF the biomass is 60% forbs, 40% grass use goats, if 40 % forbs, 60% grass use sheep. If 50% of each use goats. Sheep are grazes, goats are browsers, that is to say, as a correlation to plants it is like growing your blueberries in alkali soils, they we live BUT you are not going to be satisfied with the results. Also to gain satisfactory results, please employ MOB GRAZING, that is to say lots of animals on a SMALL area. Allow the goats to eat 2/3rds of the biomass LEAVE 1/3 THIS MEANS MOVING THE GOATS EVERY 2 DAYS. Yes you will have a goat herder and 3 border collie dogs there, till they move across the 8 acre meadow. And yes, to pay for the service they provide. Also they will have lite weight net fencing they will use to contain the animals on each plot. ALSO speaking about goats, they will provide the same service on the rose and honey they ABSOLUTELY love these plants, the shepherd can erect a fence around a small area of honey suckle or rose the GOATS, will strip leaves AND SMALL BRANCHES, allowing you to come in right behind them and uproot the honey suckle or rose, making it SAFER for eyes and skin. They can move firm plot to plot, muck faster than, humans can, and as I say easier and safer for y'all. Expect, 2 years to erratic the rise. And another thing I would like to make you aware of, GROWING PLANTS IN NATURE AND WITH NATURE, IS N O T, LIKE GROWING IN POTS... IN NATURE AND WITH NATURE YOU DO NOT GROW GROW PLANTS..... YOU GROW SOIL BIOLOGY, LET ME SAY THAT AGAIN, YOU GRIW SOIL BIOLOGY. HEALTH SOIL BIOLOGY IS THE ROOT OF HAPPY PLANTS, no pun intended. Well just maybe... Using the goats to assist in controlling the honey and rose also supply nutritional foods for the microbes, in the manure. Thank for your time.

🌓 Wow, this was so refreshing and I love how we are all learning together, I love that this decision was made for you and your families, it seemed that it takes a certain thing or a series of things for people to make changes that will not only benefit themselves but also the people they love, the environment, the community, the world. And it takes mature individuals to come together and say, let’s make a difference, a bigger difference to impact a place with meaningful and purposeful creativity. Whatever that may be for each individual. It seems for so many creative juices begin to be a necessity of what to do and how to make it work, because we can see, the world has turned upside down but, within the all of that, people took chances on journeys that would probably would never step to the unknown and for many, beautiful situations birth because of the pandemic and it has made all of us look at life completely different, but in a good way, and we hope in a more respectful way. Not to take for granted even the small things and appreciate every little thing so much more. I appreciate this moment, and I thank you all. I get so encouraged and motivated when I see your videos. Question: Are you getting a P.O. Box? I would love to send some things to you all. Well just let me know what you think. Blessings to you and your families. Oh by the way, I think your chicken by far is the most bougie chicken with its own apartment, I have ever seen, Lol🤣🤣 hilarious 🤣🤣

Beautiful place! So amazing you have so much to work with, too. The meadows, forest, lawn, etc. I am excited to see what you all do. Lots of work but how exciting!

Oh you have a bit of heaven there. There's a lot to learn even about a fish pond and conservation I see peonies in different colors wherever you want and meadow flowers on a meadow which big and little bees and butterfys love. Does someone have beekeeper knowledge? Any room for an apple orchard? If that doesn't get a forest deer to fly! What was there a long long time ago? Who used it as their home or hunting grounds then? Do migratory birds use the pond? Will you build a fenced in area to protect the chickens from predatory birds but still allow them to be 'free?' Do any paths exist from the 1850s? Just curious about the historical info.

Looks like you have your work cut out for you! Looking forward to watching the transformation unfold.

Yes, love the natives, my old house I owned my whole front yard was planted in natives, loved it, and loved the wildlife❤🌱❤🍃🤗

Yes! it makes me sad everytime we mow our front yard because we are cutting not just grass, but dandelions and a ton of other things that the pollinators love!

I love the idea of the pollinator lawn. Thats what I want for my back yard too

Welcome to Upstate NY and congratulations on this property! Cant wait to see what you do with it.

The big open area they cleared for their nursery would be a great area to put a nice 24,000sq ft greenhouse. Connect that to a few outdoor areas to grow native nursery stock of plants you collect seed and cuttings of on the property and other local parks to bring back native diversity in areas you remove invasive species. See if you can get involved with the Finger Lakes Native Plant Society. Take advantage of the tile drainage. One of the biggest things to manage and change the species on that kind of scale is going to be out growing what's already there. Rolling Chicken Tractors???

We had a blue spruce on our land and unfortunately had to chop it down too! They're so cool! Wish we could have kept it.

Beautiful land you have! 👍

its a really awesome place and I wish you all the best of luck and may all your future dreams come true much love yvette

Thanks for the videos, they are really inspiring, interesting and fun to watch!

I love your new channel! Hope to see more videos here