WE BOUGHT AN ABANDONED PROPERTY THAT WE HAVEN’T EVEN SEEN 90% OF! 

For those wondering ...1 cuerda is equal to 0.971 acres, so you have a nice 8 acre lot, gonna miss the sailing but like you said, everyone should have a home base.

Some chicken advise: It has always been my experience that chickens are very territorial, but also very dumb. You have to introduce new chickens to your flock in the dead of night. You put the new chickens in at night when nobody can see, then when the sun comes up, the ding-dongs wake up and go about their day like nothing has changed. Also, don’t free range the new ones, along with the established ones, for a few days. Keep them all locked up for a few days so they can establish a pecking order, and to allow the new ones to make your coop home. There will be some fighting, but that’s the animal kingdom baby! Best of luck! 🐔

Nope, put in a fill pipe, you don't want anything getting into it because it becomes a mess to clean out once contamination starts. Once you determine it's going to be more permanent, add a filter system to get rid of microbial particles. That will serve as your pure clean drinking system. Huge Tip, later on put a T pipe in your water system to split it. 1 way for drinking and cooking, 2nd way will serve non-restricted water flow for laundry, toilet, shower and other things

You don't need the pump. Elevate the tank. Fill it up and gravity feed will give you all the pressure you need to feed the washer. Also set up a catcher and pull water only from the top to your holding tank. Sediment will settle in the catcher. No need to filter and carry from one to the other. Let gravity do the work.

You need a pressure switch and diaphragm pressure tank on the outlet line. The bigger the better but 2.5 to 5 gallon minimum. That way the pump can build up pressure switch off automatically and have water reserves that can accommodate the washing machines water requirements. Love Kristen and your adventurous spirit! Keep it up!

HOLY CRAP! Just realized you could have free year round electric. Get a Paddle wheel, and harness THAT FLOW!!! Forget cloudy day Solar Panel fail.

Chickens are easy to raise. Have about 8-10 hens for one rooster. A broody hen will sit for 21 days before the eggs hatch coming off her nest to eat and drink. Make sure to keep food and water available. When introducing new hens, keep them locked up for a good week to adjust to where they live. Then let them out to range and they should return to the coop at night. Make sure to have grit for them to eat to work their digestive system. I admire the two of you for the challenge you have undertaken. Don't forget to relax a little together.

I have had chickens for years. It is VERY common for the hen to slack off of her food and water while brooding. She will eat and drink when she wants to. The chicks will hatch (if fertile) in 21 to 25 days. She might stay on the nest even after the first chick hatches. She knows if the other eggs are fertile...she can hear them inside the shell. Give her all the time she needs to hatch them. Just let her teach you. She's got this. 😊

Matt, I live off grid. I collect rain water from the metal roof of my house. I used concrete blocks & built an elevated platform for my 300 gallon water tanks to sit on. This gives me some gravity pressure. If you elevate your tank and put some corrugated metal roofing above the tank it will fill your tanks easily. I have lids over my tanks with a screen covered hole that filters out debris and keeps bugs & such out. You are getting there brother. Keep up the good work. 🤗 Also a couple of goats will clear your land fast. Put them on a line to control the area they are clearing. Also pigs are great at clearing and turning over the land. They will do 95% of the work & as a result they make tasty bacon & chops. It's a win, win with pigs. 🐖

New chickens shouldn’t be free ranging right away. They should be kept secure for a couple weeks so they learn their new home and don’t take off. Also any big changes or shocks to a chicken flock might also encourage them to go into the trees at night instead of the coop. So keep that in mind. Source: other homesteaders.

My wife and I started homesteading about 1.5 years ago. We got chickens and when they went broody, we were worried about them not getting food and water. In our ignorance, we put food and water near the hen. Ants got in and when a chick would start to hatch out, the ants would get it. We lost several chicks that way even after removing food and water. We had to completely relocate the hens and the eggs. Hard lesson learned.

LoL, I love homesteading, there is always a solution that fixes multiple problems or concerns. Make another garden same size for corn only, super easy to grow, great for food, feed and you can harvest a few for re-seeding.

I love what you are doing….Longterm it makes sense….Cruise 3-5 months a year and live in the home 6-9 months a year…That’s a good balance

Good morning landlubbers and ranch hand Bear,I thought of names for the kittens Larry Curly and Mo 🤣

Your soil looks great! Let those worms stay in the soil, and give those little white grubs to the chickens. You don't want grubs in your garden, they are the bad guys.. So don't feel bad letting the chickens eat them. Y'all are working so hard and doing awesome! We're loving this new journey you're on. Can't wait for the next episode. Take care y'all!

You need to keep the lid on the cistern all the time. You get one mosquito lava in there and and your health goes out the window. Maybe think of dropping in a water sanitation chlorine pill once in a while. Dysentery and other tropical illnesses are not a good thing.

Most cisterns that I have seen used the roof of a building to collect the rain water and used gutters and downspouts to direct the water into the cistern.

You are right about the clearing land with your hand tools. DON’T BRING A DOZER OR BOBCAT. When you find the spot where you want to build then you can mark it and bring something that will tear up the ground. Great job!

Bit of friendly advice to you Matt. If I were you I would clear a small area around each tree by hand, label what they are, the one you want to keep and label those for removal. But then get a machine in to help clear the majority, 8 acres is a lot to clear by hand, especially when you have a workshop and a home to build as well. I was a hod carrier when I was young and loved hard work and was going to live forever in perfect health, but it catches up on you as the years go by. 2 discs removed from my lower back, 2 discs removed from my neck and currently waiting for 2 new knees and 1 ankle, its good advice bud, and I live in the UK so don't need health insurance but I guess out there you would. Love the channel and I enjoyed watching you rebuild the yacht and the new "build a homestead" as much, if not more than just the sailing.

Nice size property! Good for you. When adding new chickens to the flock, put the new comers in a separate cage within the hen house so they adopt the new surrounding as home. Maybe pen up Juicy for a few days so the new birds can claim their new territory. Those new chickens quickly left because they didn't make your place their home. They would have kicked Juicy's butt if they had had time to make your hill their new home. I've introduced new birds to my free range chickens for years. The new comers will always stick together and will not leave you if given time to adapt. The "ditches" between the rows are called furrows. You rows and furrows should be perpendicular to the fall of the land. (crossways) On top of your hill you will not have to worry about flooding. What you should worry about is soil erosion. Don't let the heavy rains to rush down your furrows carry all your precious topsoil with it, down to the bottom of your creek. You should even dam up the ends of your furrows to allow standing water to percolate down through the soil slowly to be used by your plants. (I think you have a pervious subsoil that will allow internal drainage? Hopefully?) Don't let the heavy rains steal your wonderful topsoil. (By the way, your soil has a beautiful color and tilth! And! those worms are a sure indication of fertility.) Protect that good looking soil. It looks very loamy! Don't worry about standing water. Worry about the eroding runoff from heavy rains. You can never recover the topsoil that is washed away. Start right. Stay right. Good Luck, man. Your ag science farm friend from louisiana....

Well done! It's not easy to change a channel's focus but you guys are pulling it off. It's just as entertaining as always and a nice interesting change for all of us. You both look like you're having a great time. What a beautiful property too.

I look forward to every Sunday to see where you kids are at on your journey. Love you two! 💙

Make sure you save all those brush clippings. Pile them up and save them. They may be the best organic fertilizer you will find. Put them around fruit trees or on veg patch and let them decompose. I use a battery powered hedge trimmer for small vines and young brush off fences and around my fruit trees. Does it fast with little effort. For woody branches a good pair of long handled lopping bypass shears is quicker and less effort than swinging a machete. I use a 5 gallon bucket in the garden to hold all my hand tools so I don’t lose them. Trim off the bottom half of the outside skirt of the lid so it does not lock itself on the bucket, take out the rubber seal. You can then use the bucket lid to keep water, sand etc out of the bucket, but it is still easy to take off. Use it for a chair while you work. Use it to store food and seeds, water plants. I call it my 5gal MPT, Multi purpose tool.

You know... when you two were on the boat I could take it or leave it. But now I'm interested in everything you do. Keep up the good work. And if you need advice just ask. I've been farming for the last 35 years. I built my own house, I know this stuff. Right now I'm raising sheep, but I've raised chickens as well. You're doing fine with the three you've got. She's just broodie. She'll live.

Congratulations on your new property. You two have come so far.😍

Changing the channel from sailing to homesteading....I think you guys may just pull it off. You're making a believer out of me. Good luck.

“Let me clear the story up a little bit better” followed by the perplex look on Matt’s face! Priceless lol!

I lived in Puerto Rico with my parents in the 1970s. I believe you're the first RU-vidrs to have a homesteading video series from Puerto Rico. looking forward to all the further episodes.

Love your farm ! Great to have gotten the info about the original owner Good luck and stay safe and happy.

Matt, if you raise your cistern in the air you will gain natural water pressure.

Guaba is like the apple in Europe and the USA for pastry and is delicious, Guaba marmalade with cheese pieces is a real treat. enjoy it. 🤗😃 Very happy for you both !!! I wouldn't mind if your videos were 1 hour long.

Don't feel bad. I have 9 roosters and 16 hens. 7 roosters have come from one hen that is always broody. Also, the white grub worms are great for your chickens. Not so much for your garden. Good luck with your property.

Y’all struck GOLD with farm family history connection ☕️ 🎉🚜

Great video. Nice to find fruit and coffee, and learning who the previous owner was. Love seeing the progress. You must be so excited. Looking forward to next week's video.

You guys are such nice people. It's hard not to like you. You are working hard (never did anyone harm) but appreciating all that's around you. Great!

Matt and Kristen I’m not gonna lie, I’m a little hooked on this new adventure of yours and can’t wait to watch more of the progress.

Have you guys thought of growing micro greens and selling them to the local waterfront resorts? Also later you can use the creek to set up a fresh water prawn grow tanks and supplement your income that way too!

You can add a pressure tank to your water setup to keep the pump from kicking on and off constantly if you're just using a little water. It will help the pump last longer. Also you need a bigger area to catch the water from than just the lid of your cistern. Maybe put a tarp "roof" over the building and drain it into the cistern, or a makeshift gutter from your awning.

You need to start a compost pile. By getting all the small limbs and leaves piled up throw in the worms in the pile and turn the pile once a week and by a couple months you should have some really good soil . Then shovel in the soil into you garden soil for better growth from your plants !

My garden was a jungle of ivy growing through the trees and bushes much like yours, although on a smaller scale. I found the best tool was a hand held petrol hedge trimmer (pole versions are also available for higher up areas) as it cut the ivy and twigs up to 3/4" and rubbed against thicker growth without damage. A hedge trimmer can go practically to ground level as long as it is oiled and excess soil is brushed off and tight up to stumps. Once the cuttings were raked out I was able to clear the thicker stuff with a hand saw and cordless reciprocating saw (SawzAll?) I save the chainsaw for stumps and trunks over 6". Don't forget that most chopped up vegetation can be put aside in suitable containers with the worms to become compost for next year's planting.

Hi both of you! We’re loving seeing you on dry land doing your thing!!! Is it possible you could do like a drone tour of the land so we can see it from the air-it’s difficult to work out where your land starts and ends and where it’s flat or steep! Xx

Yea thanks for another vi😊😊😊😊😊😊

hey mat, maybe someone has already said this but you fixed the problem before you had a problem "gravity" in england we put our fe tanks in the loft or build stollage for the tanks to go on, so build up a part of the roof put the tank on the roof and you can collect rain water and put a uv light on it to clean the water etc sorted no pumps needed.

So nice to see you Kristen and Puerto Rican Gallo ,LOvely convert those almost 9 acres in a Paradise ! The Chicken house is getting small or is my view ? Ideal place for Pineapple , Cocoa beans, it looks that you may create a natural pool at the creek ,if you have some kind of help ! Gravel work like the entrance to the property and from the RV, TO THE STORAGE AREA OR MOST COMMONLY USED AREAS FOR CARS OR WALKING , OTHERWISE ON A BIG STORM IT WILL CREATE WASH OUT CRACKS AND TROW YOUR EFFORTS OF SMOOTHING THE SOIL ON WASTE LAND . IF YOU HAVE A PICK UP , PUT SOME LOAD ON IT LIKE DIRT TO GET 1/2:TON ,OR APPROX 1.000 LBS AND RUN THE TRUCK BACK AND FORT TO COMPACT THE SOIL ! Hurricane season is here don't get cut off guard champ ! Make sure the chicken coop is secured to the ground !AND THE RV ANCHORED ALSO TO A FIRM LAND ! SORRY JUST IDEAS THAT MAY HELP YOU OR REMIND YOU ! YOU GUYS ARE DOING GREAT , DON' T BURN'T YOURSELVES ,TAKE PAUSES WRITE DOWN A SURVEY OF FRUITS AND LOCATION , OF KRISTEN AND MATT FARM !

Everything looks good, just be sure that you look up some laws on cutting down trees in PR. There are native trees that are protected 🫶🏻

Lmao, "It's Coming" ! priceless

So around 8 acres you can call yours. It's gonna be an honor watching my adopted niece and nephew continue to create your tropical masterpiece. Matt, can explain what tie you had to Puerto Rico that led you to this location as your new home? Thanks. See ya next week.

That chicken laying on her eggs will be fine. She will get up and eat/drink when she needs to. Also, when you get new chickens you have to give them a couple of days to acclimate/get used to each other before you stick them together or let the new ones free range. They have to establish the pecking order, so when you get some new ones leave them together in the pen for a couple of days before letting them out. They will fight a bit, but that's just them finding out who the boss is going to be and then they'll be fine.

As much as I loved to watch yoour sailing vids I find myself captivated by your transition to land. Best of luck with your garden, critters and such. Looking forward to you both building a suitable house on your beautifully lot and living the dream.

Planting a garden, whey to go!!making your land provide and sustain you is the objective of owning a farm or land! Thanks so much for the entertainment. It’s nice to see you guys moving forward. Thanks again until next time.❤

When you get into it you might want to try something like a chicken tractor setup - clear a bit, then pen the chickens over it and they will scratch and crap and clear up a lot of the small stuff for you (and get a good feed)

You guys have the modern day version of Green Acres going on there, for those of us who can remember that show. You guys are doing a good job reclaiming your land back from Mother Nature.

Congrats on all the great plants you're finding. Good job on taking your time and saving the good stuff. Very fun video. Thank you for sharing your adventure

I'd like to see you get a pressure washer and paint sprayer. Pressure wash the old house. Square up the top edge and corners with mortar or concrete. Maybe mortar the walls also. Then paint it all with paint sprayer. Get some new pressure treated lumber for the top edge and some new beams. And some new roof panels. Maybe $1000 to $2000 to make it look almost new. I know it's a lot of money for not much more use. But it's like having clean new clothes. It just makes you feel good. With it being your home and seeing it everyday, I think it's worth the money to feel good. It's not like you have twelve of them to do. But I guess the camper and land was expensive. And maybe you're saving to build a new home structure. I do hope you get more tools. I understand the need to clear by hand. But maybe a table saw, drill press, grinder/sharpener, vice, welder, compressor and more. Make the old house your work shop. Anyways, that's just what I'd like to see. Just one viewer's thoughts.

"Don't waste it all!" .Love it, You go girl.

Kristen's House of Koffee on the Hill. Perfect stop for the touritas.

It's well worth the effort of saving the trees you have, takes forever for them to mature and produce. You are gaining big-time to have that already on your patch of paradise. Beautiful landscape, going to enjoy watching your journey guys.👍❤

Pay attention to drainage yes in PR it rains alot.. you don't want to build or garden where it's gonna just wash away your hard work.... can't wait to see what you guys do... watching every week .... p.s. thank you for keeping the cats....

Matt, You so strong. Hercules, Hercules! Threw that Susteren over that wall like that. You so strong!

Grandpa just put the rain collection on a platform above the wall but not above the roof. The sink in the kitchen had water fed with gravity. Fun.

You're lucky with your chickens. I have 2 that just showed up and the hen lays the eggs and the rooster sits on the eggs.

Once you identify everything you want to keep, plants/trees, hire someone with a power drum mulcher to clear the rest down into the soil. If it isn't in the budget keep at as you are then rent a walk behind tiller to get the chunks mixed into the soil to promote decomposition. It also helps to have a plan as to what you want to have growing in order to inhibit everything else on the island trying to take over and establish itself in your clear, fertile land. You probably want to also install some sort of filter on your water system (for dirt/filth, not very $$) and learn about what it takes to produce safe, potable water.

I was skeptical about the change from sailing but absolutely loving this new adventure! Keep it up! But we need a new shirt design...

They make a carbide tipped circular saw blade for weed trimmers that will cut thru the vines without wrapping up, cut thru small brush, and doesn't sling the vegetation all over you! And is still works great on leafy vegetation. You can be surgical with it - your property is the perfect candidate!

That is way cool that you have established plants that would take you years to grow! Sounds like you did good! And yes, she is a Beast!

Love your new digs. You might find it easier to till the soil with a pointed shovel rather than a flat nosed shovel. Keep it sharp and it can cut through a lot of fines and toots in the soil.

FYI you don’t need a rooster for your hens to lay eggs. You only need one if you want chicks and to protect your hens. My hens usually lay in the morning so I let them out of the coop in the afternoon to free range and they go back in the coop when the sun goes down. Sunlight will help your hen to not be broody.

I'm thinking a little bit of "Green Acres" here now... hahaha.. Great job kids.

I'm most impressed with the sustainable living situation you are creating. That's what I look forward to the most with our plans of moving aboard our boat. Make my own power, water, catch fish when possible, and take more responsibility of my own trash. Less consumption and more reduce and reuse! Good job you guys; when you start a family, those kids will be brought up in the most amazing environment!

The sound of nature in the background ❤ and the views of the sky and that storm getting near spectacular! You guys amaze me👌🏻❤️

Matt, you can get a solid blade for the weedeater. It looks sorta like a circular saw blade. I'd get one made by the manufacturer of the weed eater made for your weed eater. It will do vines and small trees. Works really well. It's a good middle ground between the string or the chain saw.

You can do this…I think it’s exciting to always do new things--keeps you green and always adjusting to life…

Good morning you both can build a great homestead on that property like some Airbnb.

That’s a nice little spot.Congratulations

Hey Matt, as far as power tools for clearing the land try a shaft type weed eater with a saws blade for cutting the vines & unwanted saplings. Also for any tilling consider a Mantis Tiller. Small, powerful & ideal for your situation. 😎👋👋👍

I liked this episode because it was just the same thing you did on the boat. I do believe that when you’re making your garden, and you have fruit trees, you need to plant your garden near your orchard. But with that garden, y’all are going to eat well. Good luck

Let's go sailing !

Great work! You may want to construct a small water tower, or, at least, put a cistern on higher ground, in order to store water and provide some pressure, even if the pump is down. Also, the tool you are using to break up the ground is a pick-mattock, not a pickaxe. A pickaxe literally has a pick (spike) on one side of the head and an axe blade on the other. I blame a programmer (Notch) who misidentified a mining pick as a pickaxe in a very popular computer game about crafting mines. Many other software companies followed the lead and called everything vaguely pick shaped a "pickaxe". For example, Skyim ONLY has pick-mattocks in the game, yet the miners keep whining about swinging a pickaxe all day. Of course, the miners also keep going on about mining iron, no matter what kind of mine they are working. For an example of a real pickaxe, look at a Fireman's Axe.

I applaud your logic behind using the scythe, I think you’re correct. It’s hard work, but I think it’s the right approach for your land at this stage. Feels like you’re coming into yourself in a new way. Being a steward of the land can do that for you. Delighted for you man.

Hello from Washington state, I’m glad you guys have changed directions on your channel. Your sailing videos I really enjoyed but with so many youtube channels dedicated to sailing it was getting way overdone.

Making a lot of progress! Don't worry about feeding the worms to the chickens. it's the "Circle of Life"

Great, fun, video. You guys are a scream. Good luck with the land and animals . You look like you're having fun, and that's the main thing.

No-till farming (also known as zero tillage or direct drilling) is an agricultural technique for growing crops or pasture without disturbing the soil through tillage. No-till farming decreases the amount of soil erosion tillage causes in certain soils, especially in sandy and dry soils on sloping terrain.

I had to get off the big screen & come to my phone to write a comment. Me & my husband are new to yalls channel, love all that you are doing & it's so inspirational makes me want to pack up the husband & go do the same thing. I don't know y'all, but proud of y'all for doing the dam thing on your own. Keep up the hard work it's gonna pay off sooner or later 🎉❤ And the fact you guys got a creek, is amazing. Can't wait to see it all come together 🙌

🥰 you bring joy in our life ,love watching you guys.

I've been raising chickens for over 20 years and never had a broody hen die. She'll be fine. The runaways may come back or you may find them nearby. If you do, keep them penned up for a couple of weeks until they see that as home. You're going to need more hens if you plan to keep 2 roosters.

Another groovy video. Working hard and smart. Thinking everything through. Don't try to start to many projects all at once. Stay safe and stay groovy.

I love where this channel is going. You both seem to make everything fun.

Good morning

You should introduce new chickens to the coop at night when the others are sleeping, but I like watching you learn good luck

Impressive, you wrap your Teflon tape the correct way...🇨🇦🇨🇦🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏁🏁🎤

Fantastic Videos you two guys rock , all the best for the future look forward each week to your video release Jeff UK

I’ve watched a lot of your sailing videos and I loved them, but now you have me hooked on this homesteading stuff🤘🏻. I will be watching every episode, you have my support here from Utah.

Your chicken story hilariously funny you two are a riot. I'm so sorry about what happened with the hens they may come back God willing and Juicy will be fine you'll see lol 🙏

Most cisterns I am familiar with use the pump to lift the water to a secondary holding tank above the ceiling (in the attic) controlled by a float switch. All water is then gravity fed. The pump only kicke on as needed (and usually 12v)

Beautiful piece of land super excited for the both of you pretty amazing how much you have accomplished in such a short amount of time. How nice that now you know the history of the land and all the awesome trees you have. God Bless you both. ❤❤

Just be careful how you put the drainage in the garden. If you put the trenches up and down the slope you will be adding to the brown color of the water in the creek. Should try to keep the top soil where it is. Drain any water away that's coming from higher ground around the garden, not through it. Any rain that falls directly on the garden should seep into the soil. Thanks for the videos, love watching them.

So happy for you guys! Puerto Rico is beautiful and what you are doing with the land you will be happy. Grow some green bananas, plantains, yuca . I see you have some chicken. You are in the right path. God bless you. Thank you for sharing your progress with us. Boricua de Cabo Rojo

The roof tin should run across (not along) the supports for when there is a lot of rain. The roof should guide the rainwater to the cistern. FWIW you can find them (on-line) there are 2 good books on Rain Water Harvesting, one by the U of Hawaii and the other from Texas. A lot of good information and engineering already done on using the rain for drinking water. Chickens are easy, or as complex as you want. They can be done on the cheap, they can feed themselves but they do need protection and a place to call "home" with water & a nest box to lay the eggs. Good luck guys & have fun!

Love watching your new adventure! Wishing you the very best in everything you do. Love that you’re being careful about the fruit plants and trees. My significant other said he would just bulldoze it all down. That’s why we’re watching you on TV and not doing it ourselves 😂🎉❤