How do you get an excavator stuck?
Oh, my dad.
Get the cable.
Clint, get a hold of this thing.
We're going for it.
Try to turn the tracks.
Not looking good, not looking good.
We're running out of daylight.
So this mistake could be really, really costly.
I ain't moving it at all.
We gotta get a bigger wrecker.
The biggest problem on this homestead is living
on top of a mountain.
You're nowhere near the water source.
These homesteaders are at war with coyotes.
The sheep were getting picked off, even during the day.
They're newbies.
Did you bite off more than you can chew?
I truly believe we were meant to be here.
Would you ever consider moving down to the water source?
- No. - That's crazy.
We're gonna have to get creative.
And this is an incredible amount of work.
This is the worst day on any homestead ever.
This is important for us to make this work.
The future of your homestead
is at the bottom of the mountain.
I hate to be the one that breaks it to you
It's springtime in the Appalachian Mountains
of West Virginia.
A region steeped in history, the unforgiving forests,
deep cave systems, and abandoned coal mines
made it a safe haven for bootleggers and moonshiners
during the 1920s Prohibition Era.
This led to a homesteading boom in the hills, where early
settlers transformed raw land into productive farms
using the resources for building and fuel.
Now, nearly 100 years later,
the Raneys respond to a desperate call from a young family
whose 89-acre mountaintop homestead
is in a losing battle against Appalachian extremes.
- I'm Paul. - And I'm Stephanie.
And this is our homestead in western West Virginia
with our five children.
Two years ago, we purchased this property,
sight unseen.
When we first saw it, we got really scared
'cause all we did was look up and we're like,
we bought a mountain.
We moved a year later.
It took a lot of work, but it is
the most beautiful thing.
We have 360 views all the way around where we decided
to start putting the animals, the house site.
We're calling it a barn-dominium-container-style
home that we're building from the ground up here ourselves.
Our number one goal is to live farm-to-table.
So we know exactly what is going into the animals
and what they're eating, and that they're eating healthy.
So then, in turn, we're eating healthy as well.
But Mother Nature literally tried to kill us
in every single season that we've been here.
We had a drought. We had a tornado.
I did have a greenhouse, but Hurricane Helene lifted up
out of the stakes, twisted into a pretzel, and ended up across
the road in the woods. - And then, worst winter in,
I believe they said 15 years,
the coldest temperatures.
It was a very hard year.
But the danger that's really given us nightmares
are the coyotes.
Coyotes were coming up on our hill, even during the day.
Paul took Jaslynne, my daughter, for a walk, and that's when
they found one of our lambs.
Something had ripped the guts out and drug it down off of
our hill, and we've been losing animals ever since.
But we haven't had much time to kinda navigate because all
we've been doing is sourcing water.
For me to grab water, I hop in the truck
with a 275-gallon tank.
I drive roughly about four miles.
I pump the water out of the stream into the tank,
and then I drive another four miles all the way back up.
The process is roughly three hours, and I do this every
single day, 365 days a year.
We are spending all of our time hauling water,
moving water, providing water to our animals.
With all the challenges of living on top of a mountain,
with five kids to take care of, something has to change.
There's no plan B.
We have to figure out a way to make this work.
Raneys, we really need your help.
This is our lifelong dream.
Like, we've been planning and working for this for over
16 years, but we have had challenges that we did not
expect here, for sure.
Wind, tornadoes, the worst drought in probably
40, 50 years. - Our stream dried up.
How many acres do you guys have?
Eighty-nine.
So if you've got 90 acres, why be clear up here where
there's wind and extreme weather, etcetera?
Just this setting and being up here, this is everything
we dreamt and wanted.
I was born in Portugal, and I came here
when I was seven.
I was raised on a property that was off-grid, no power,
no running water, with a lot of animals.
I like living off-grid, so this was always my dream.
Paul and I met when we were kids in middle school,
and we dated on and off throughout the years,
and when we got back together, it was like,
"OK, when's the wedding?"
Initially, we moved to Pennsylvania,
but our business was still in New Jersey, so Paul was coming
home once or twice a week and staying there
for the duration.
I actually started raising chickens in my garage.
We had chickens for eggs.
We raised meat birds and processed them ourselves.
The children actually grew up helping with that as well.
Stephanie and Paul continued to find small ways to homestead
in everyday life
until a medical diagnosis changed everything.
When my oldest son was four, almost five, he had an abrupt
onset of symptoms from PANDAS or PANS,
which is a neuro-inflammatory disease.
What could I control, right?
That's kind of where my brain was.
And if it's not the medical stuff itself,
it's definitely our food.
Overall, since moving here, it's helped the kids in
a variety of ways, but definitely
with their health.
Being outdoors and just having this space has been nothing
but positive for them.
This has to work, not just for us and all the years planning
up to this, but for our children
and for their health.
It's all or nothing.
We don't have a different life to go back to.
This is our life now, and it has to work.
So you've been here for a year.
- Mm-hmm. - How many animals do you have?
Over 300 animals.
Wow.
Chickens, turkeys, ducks, sheep, dogs,
horses, cows, geese,
emus, and pigs.
We've never encountered a homesteader that started out
and got over 300 livestock. - Yes.
We're a big family.
It's a lot, so taking that into consideration.
What livestock is having the biggest problem?
- The sheep. - The sheep?
- The sheep, uh... - Really?
The sheep have been getting picked off by coyotes,
even during the day.
So coyotes have been a major problem.
How many coyotes are out here, do you think?
There's definitely more than 30 coming
from different directions.
We've eliminated about 10 at this point here.
So that bus that you see sitting there is
our hunting camp.
And our bait pile is directly down the hill.
Our neighbor hangs a deer carcass during deer season
every year, and she's got a heater and her little camp
set up with her rifle on the stand.
And as they come in, she takes them right out.
And so we kinda set up something similar to that.
- Did she ever win the fight? - No, they just keep coming.
And have you ever thought that you might be bringing
the coyotes in more than you're actually, warding them off?
I don't think we'll ever eliminate as many as there are
in this area.
Well, I'm gonna tell you, you're not gonna eliminate
all of them. It's just not gonna work.
Coyotes are opportunists.
If you have livestock that is easily picked off,
they're gonna use your homestead as a food source
over and over again.
But the biggest problem is this homestead
is on top of a mountain.
They're very susceptible to predatory animals around the perimeter.
And they're not gonna solve by shooting these coyotes every
time they come in because they're never gonna stop.
How far is it from the house up on top to wherever we're going,
where the water is? - About roughly four miles.
I just did something that I've never done
on a homestead ever before.
I drove for four miles, and we were still
on their property.
This is where I get the water from.
OK.
All right.
- What are we looking at here? - We pump it right from here.
- Oh, that water looks great. - Yes.
- Now, did this ever go dry? - Yes.
- Three months, four months? - That's a long time.
Yeah.
So how often are you getting water?
Every single day.
Like today, you're gonna have to get water.
I already did it early this morning.
So then, where did you get your water when this dried up?
The neighbors helped me out with their wells.
Huge. Hats off.
Paul has been working nonstop for the past year,
hauling water-- that takes a lot of time.
That means the rest of their homestead doesn't get any
attention because they've chosen a severe place
to grow food, to raise animals, and survive and thrive
as a homesteader.
Not a small task.
Let's talk garden.
The soil looks like very rocky, heavy clay.
Lots of clay because of a lot of work
that had to be done here for us to even get up here.
So not the best ground to be working with.
These homesteaders, they're newbies.
They've been here for about a year and they have a lot
to show for their time here.
But to actually be successful homesteaders,
there's so many boxes to check.
And when it comes to gardening and growing food,
I wanna know where they're at.
These raised beds came in later.
Um, this was after the season had ended.
Topsoil was spread here,
even though it doesn't look like...
there was any.
How are you watering this garden?
So we are hauling water from the stream,
down at the bottom of our property.
So you have a stream on your homestead?
- Correct. - It's just you're nowhere near
the water source.
- Right. - Does this wind ever stop?
Uh, every day, we get some-- some of this.
- Yeah, yeah. - So every day it's windy 'cause you're at the top
of this mountain, that's, like, the... - Yeah.
There's nothing blocking it, yeah.
It's the invisible killer for plants
'cause it just sucks all the moisture right out of 'em.
With this amount of animals, do you have time in the day
for a greenhouse and a garden?
- I will make time in the day. - You'll make time?
I'm a 110% person, all in.
Like, I want to be able to grow produce for the kids
and for us. - And how are the kids doing?
They-- -- they love it here.
Tristen, who still struggles a little bit medically,
he's kinda up and down. And Julia...
- How old is he? - He's-- he just turned 14.
And what are the health concerns?
Basically, it's a neuro-inflammatory disease,
where the body attacks the brain,
and it causes inflammation.
But he hasn't had a major flare-up since we've been here.
- And you-- you know. you're a mom . - Mm-hmm.
You put whatever you can into your kid.
Mm-hmm.
And that's what's most important, so, um.
Yeah. It was a journey.
But we made it. We're here, and so this is
important for us to make this work.
If you're a parent, you don't care about anything
else except for your children.
The whole world revolves around the health and happiness
of your child.
So to hear that there are some health concerns and that
this lifestyle can only help, like I get it.
I understand it.
To be able to create something for her and the children,
like clearly that's really important.
And this is like, a make-it-or-break-it homestead.
Hear that wind?
Between the two homesteaders, it takes them an entire day
just to water the homestead. And that day is every day.
- That's right. - I mean, it's brutal.
So I went on a field trip.
Four miles later, we were at the bottom of this property.
- Four miles later. - It's crazy.
Right now, these homesteaders are at war with coyotes.
There's casualties on both sides.
It's a complete free-for-all. Nothing is safe.
And the only way they're dealing with those coyotes is
by shooting 'em.
They either have not enough defense,
too many animals, or both.
We need to get rid of some of the livestock.
It needs to go get slaughtered.
I wanna know if we can get these homesteaders
to move to the bottom.
Well, we will-- not gonna know the answer to any
of that unless we ask him face-to-face.
Face-to-face.
Well, we're excited to be in West Virginia.
Found this beautiful big family on top of a mountain.
One thing we were talking about,
why wouldn't you have built down there by that stream?
Why not have built the homestead there?
When I pictured our homestead for over 16 years,
I pictured looking out and seeing like a beautiful view.
So that's huge.
Would you ever consider moving this operation down
to the water source?
Next to that stream that we're pumping water from?
Anywhere closer to the water. Anywhere.
No.
You can answer however you wanna answer,
but really, take time to think about the future
and the longevity and big plans.
And everything we wanna do here is going to require water.
Will you think on it tonight? It is so important.
It deserves a little more than three seconds to think on.
And the other thing is...
...there's a lot of animals here.
Would it be easier if you scaled back on the number
of animals here, based on the obvious challenge it is
to keep everything fed, and more importantly,
watered up here, it's something to think about.
We'll honor any of your decisions within reason.
See you in the morning.
Get some rest, thank you.
Yeah, get some sleep.
2 All right, you guys.
- Good morning. - Good morning.
- How are you guys? - Good.
- How are you? - Nice seeing you both.
So we gotta hit the ground running.
- Yeah. - Did you have a chance
to slow down a little bit, stop hauling water
and feeding 300 animals, and discuss the, uh,
two questions that we were posing last night?
- We did. - Yeah.
All right, let's start with the first one.
Is it a possibility? You would relocate?
No.
Our vision over 16 years was to be up high.
We need to be able to make the homestead dream
work from here.
I truly believe we were meant to be here.
I think they're on the wrong path.
That said, I will not abandon this homestead because
five kids, 300 animals need help.
We have to figure it out.
Second question we posed last night, obviously, was,
is it gonna help you guys if you scale back on some
of the animals? We got 300 or so.
Actually, we've been talking about increasing some numbers
in some areas. - That's crazy.
Everything that we're talking about right now is more water,
something you don't have.
You're talking about bringing more animals out here,
and you don't have enough space, but you're still going
full steam ahead,
putting more animals in a space that is not big enough.
This isn't your average homestead
with an average solution.
Did you bite off more than you can chew?
Absolutely.
Hearing you say you wanna bring more here blows my mind,
'cause I don't know how that's possible.
This is an incredible amount of work
we're gonna have to get creative.
We're gonna have to make some really hard decisions,
and you're gonna be the one making it.
I'm gonna present you with options, and it's gonna be
your decision, and it's not gonna be easy.
There's no easy solution for this homestead.
Paul and I came from a place where we didn't have help.
We started working when we were really young,
and we kinda just chipped away at it.
We've sacrificed so much to get to this point.
It's hard even to have a thought of giving up on that dream.
I don't think the garden should be up here.
- Being on the mountaintop with all of the challenges - Mm-hmm.
and the obstacles, the high wind, the no water,
this soil that's been stripped, or at the bottom of the mountain.
- How far is that? - It's 50 acres away.
We should look around at some options.
Here we go.
Is this typical when you're like, hey, let's head to
the bottom of the homestead? You hop in the four-wheeler?
- Or the side-by-side? - Yeah.
- It's never on foot. - It's never on foot.
Yeah.
You have to drive all the way to the bottom portion
of the property, hit the county road, come all the way down.
This is farther than I think I could've ever imagined.
I don't think I really understood
what this was gonna look like.
Yeah.
Oh, my dad. Hee-yoo.
I cannot believe how big this mountain is.
Where are you guys headed, by the way?
We're trying to look for a future garden,
orchard, greenhouse zone.
Is it just me, or is there water running right here?
There is water running right here.
We're gonna nose around to see where it's coming from.
Does that run year-round?
Even through the drought, it was wet here.
I might nose around here with an excavator.
- Is that OK? - Absolutely.
- You sure? - Yeah.
All right-- it's steeper than your cow's face,
so I have to get on the mountain.
I might come over here where it's a little more accessible
and work my way over here. Is that OK?
- Yeah. - OK, we're on the move.
Bye.
There's water in this ditch. Where's it coming from?
I don't care what state I'm in. I believe in ferns.
Because look at this.
Right here, look at this.
These guys need lots of water.
And they also need it year-round.
There's water here.
The problem is it's so steep.
So steep.
I see some ferns, and I see some black dirt.
In fact, I see muck.
Fairly confident there's water here.
I'll go get my excavator, come back,
and I'll dig down, and hopefully strike water.
I just merely walked the excavator down there
and tried to get from the main road up onto the side
of the mountain, and the entire mountain
was nothing but sludge.
Uh-oh.
Where a spring, not very productive,
but water has been seeping since the beginning of time.
I'm sliding.
We've got a problem.
All right, so I got myself a problem here.
I got-- I got an excavator that's stuck.
So you can clearly see that we've got a problem.
And the problem is we have too much water in the ground,
in the soil-- look at this.
That's the good news.
The bad news is, I've got a stuck excavator.
That's pretty steep.
I don't wanna tip it over.
This is when you make the wrong decision,
and a bad situation gets worse.
- This is the bottom? - This is the bottom.
Oh, my gosh, Stephanie.
There's flat ground, and there's water.
The stream is here.
During the summer, during the drought,
this ran completely dry.
If this runs down the mountainside,
where is the head of this? Is this a spring?
I don't know.
That's a significant amount of water.
We're all on a search to find water.
My dad's in the excavator. Me and Stephanie are on foot.
There's potential, and I'm seeing it
with my own eyes, which is super exciting.
It's just gonna take a little more investigating.
Oh, there's water everywhere.
Where is this water coming from?
I think this is coming from the cave
that we've got over here. - What?
- So there's water in this cave? - In that cave.
- In the back. - In the back.
- Like a pool, like a pond. - Mm-hmm, like a holding area.
Like a holding tank.
I don't know how big it is, though.
Look at the moisture on the rocks.
- Yeah, there's water in there. - You have water here.
There's springs, there's like this water cave lake.
Well, this is huge, and it's not at the top, right?
It's not at the top.
I feel like the future of your homestead
is at the bottom of the mountain.
I hate to be the one that breaks it to you.
- Let's get out of here. - OK.
And let's figure out what the plan's gonna be.
The fact that there's water on this homestead,
that is amazing.
But the fact that these homesteaders chose to move
as far as possible away from the water source,
they've created their own worst nightmare.
There has to be compromise.
There is a push and pull, but at the end of the day,
it's never gonna be perfectly what you want.
Marty, Marty, copy, copy.
So I have water over here.
At least one spring for sure, if not two.
- Excavator stuck. - Yeah, so that's not good.
Do you need me to come in the skid steer?
Uh, OK, we'll talk soon.
OK.
Not good. Dad!
Let's talk.
We need you to get out of your comfort zone
and make a decision.
I don't know if I agree with this decision,
I just don't see how this is doable.
So after looking at this whole operation,
we're gonna abort the whole thing.
2
Watch out! Got a truck going through it.
Big truck's going on this side.
I was fairly confident that I would strike water.
We started to scratch our way into that
to look for that spring,
but it's not quite enough water.
But it is enough water to seep out of the ground
and make a soup bowl of muck.
- Marty Raney, what's your name? - Tyler McClellan.
- Tyler, that's Misty. That's Matt. - Hey.
This is turning out to be
the worst first day on any homestead.
We can't pull ourselves forward.
- Not enough power to track and pull forward. - OK.
- We're kinda suctioned in. - Yeah.
Probably use both trucks, and then we'll hook
both cables into that tree right there.
So you wanna hang a block on it?
- Yeah, yeah. - Get a purchase?
- OK. - Yeah.
Here he comes. Look out, everybody.
He's coming all the way through.
Watch out, watch out, watch out.
Clint, get a hold of this thing.
We're probably gonna have more pulling power
than we need.
And the big question now is, is that tree gonna hold?
We're anchoring the truck itself to a tree down below.
So now we have two anchors, which are trees,
a lot of rigging, two different trucks, full steam ahead.
- Are we ready to pull? - Let's try it.
- Amen. - I think you'll be all right.
Amen. We're going for it.
Who's watching that tree?
If it starts to move, we're gonna abort.
All right, guys, he's goin' start winching.
All right, here goes nothin'.
All right, this side turn.
There you go. Try to keep both of them goin'.
There he goes. He's moving.
- He's moving. - He moved like one inch.
How's the tree look?
Tree's moving. Tree!
- Whoo, stop. - Tree!
Stop! Stop!
Whoo! Run!
Tree!
I don't know what broke.
What broke?
The chain broke down there,
and a piece of the chain flew up there.
New plan, plan B, plan A was a bust.
Well, I don't know.
We ain't got a whole lot of options here.
That's the biggest tree we got there.
Is there a world in which we can try to pull it that way?
What do you think?
Is it something we wanna try to pull sideways, or anything?
Hook onto the blade, see if we can spin it.
- We can try that. - OK.
We're cutting it loose!
Bring it back! Bring it back!
Yeah, that's a heavy chain. It got thrown 50 feet.
We rely heavily on excavators to get our work done on
the homesteads we rescue.
Right now, it doesn't look good,
and there is a ton of work to do.
We are losing lots of time that we don't have a lot of.
Hey-- -- you guys, look out!
All right, just hold it right there,
and I'll just pull that around. - It's moving.
Whoa, it's moving.
Yoo-hoo!
All right, now try to lift up a little bit.
Hold up! Hup!
Not looking good, not looking good.
I can't believe that don't pick it up.
We're probably gonna abort, but let's try one last pull.
Well, I'm gonna have to hook on that upper side
to bring it on around.
Everything is going wrong.
And we're running out of daylight.
All right.
Watch out, please.
All right, try to tram it.
There you go. Keep it moving.
He's moving.
That's a lot of movement.
Coming out!
It's driving!
That's awesome.
Yoo!
You're out.
Yoo! Whoo, whoo, whoo!
On a scale of one to ten, that was, like, a 45.
Uh, the fact that nobody's injured
and we're all still alive is a win.
Thanks, everyone. Appreciate it.
- Hi. - Hi.
After a rough start to the Simoes' rescue,
Stephanie and Paul introduce Marty and Misty
to the youngest members of the homestead.
Misty, Marty, I wanted you to meet the kids.
- Is this everybody? - This is everybody.
- This is the fam? - Say hi.
- Hi. - Austin.
Oh, is this the everybody?
- Jaslynne. - Jaslynne, nice to meet you.
That's such a good name.
- Ryder. - Ryder?
- Yeah. - Amazing name.
Tristen.
Now, I wanna tell you kids something.
Your dad, from the day I met him, when I asked,
"Who did all the work up here?" He never once said, "I did."
But he said, "Well, we did it with the kids."
That meant a lot to me because obviously,
you guys are helping your parents out.
I mean, you like this lifestyle?
Would you rather live in the city?
Rather live here.
Growing up in Portugal, I still remember hearing a bell
outside and it would be a cow pulling a wagon to get milk,
eggs, bread.
I've always wanted my kids to learn this lifestyle,
and I like how they're learning how to do just basically about everything,
take care of animals, running machines.
It's amazing, and I love it.
Such a pleasure to meet you guys all.
It seems like you guys do a lot of chores here.
We had four kids, so I get it.
I'm getting a flashback of when Misty was young and Matt was
young, and how they were pretty happy kids too.
When I look at this family of seven,
I'm reminded of little stories
of how our family has had good times
and hard times, and that this dream isn't just for me.
It's posterity. It's for my kids.
It's for my grandkids.
Thank you for making this introduction, and guess what?
I'm sure we can find some chores to do together.
- Let's go. - OK, let's go.
Lovely, lovely, lovely, lovely family.
Now it's a party.
Come on in here.
Yesterday, I was fairly confident that I would strike
water, find a spring.
But it's not quite enough water, and now we've gotta
come up with another plan.
How you doing? Paul.
So, when I was looking at this building on the homestead,
their future home, I looked at the size of that roof
and realized there was no gutters, and it had immense
potential to collect water.
So right now, there's a huge storm predicted for this part
of West Virginia.
If it rains, it's possible that we could catch
over 2,000 gallons of water in the next 48 hours.
Stay tuned.
At the base of the mountain...
- Hey. - Hi.
...Misty clears out a shipping container for use as
a possible greenhouse
while waiting for an answer on the garden's location.
How'd the conversation go?
Oh .
So Paul's initial reaction is...
"It's a long way away to kind of keep eyes on it."
OK, so you want the garden on top of the mountain?
Somewhere.
But is there water there?
There's water from our tank there
that we're currently hauling, so.
I don't know.
Yeah, yeah, that's where we're at right now.
I don't know if I agree with this decision,
but ultimately, this is your homestead, and it is up
to you and Paul, and I will respect that.
I just, in this moment, don't see how this is doable.
2
So you want the garden on top of the mountain?
Somewhere.
Stephanie wants to move the greenhouse, the gardens
to the top.
It will be really hard to give these homesteaders a fighting
chance when it comes to growing food.
But after meeting all the kids, I realized the importance
of this lifestyle, feeding them a certain diet,
living a certain way.
This is the point of this whole homesteading dream.
So I'm gonna try and work as hard as possible
for this family because, you know, they need it.
I love the fact that there's grass growing.
This hasn't been stripped.
And then the proximity to the house, you have the sun,
you have the soil, but that question mark of water
is still very concerning. - Yeah.
But I think we're at a full commit, and here we go.
OK.
We're at the tippy top of the mountain.
It's super windy, and there's still no water,
which means there's not a guaranteed garden.
I'm gonna have the shipping container
cleared out down below...
- Empty shipping container! - Ohh.
...because that's the only structure that's wind resistant
on this homestead.
So I wanna do something I've never done before
that is gonna be very difficult.
I wanna turn this shipping container into a greenhouse.
Whoa.
- They heat up when they need to heat up. - They do.
They cool down when they need to cool down.
I think it's gonna be amazing, but it's not gonna
be easy. - I think that's so cool.
To build a gust-proof greenhouse,
Misty and Stephanie will first cut several holes
in the shipping container while maintaining the structural
support needed for it to survive a trip
up the mountainside.
Then, after moving the container to its final
resting place, they will paint the structure black to maximize
heat collection in the winter and install sliding windows
to allow for heat dissipation in the summer.
Finally, they will build several raised garden beds
filled with nutrient-rich top soil to house plants started
in the greenhouse.
The idea of taking a ready-made structure with
the shipping container and just transforming it into
a greenhouse is a must, because at this point,
we've lost so much time, and I need a head start when it
comes to a structure.
Yoo!
- Hey, guys. - Hi.
How you guys doing?
Later that day, Marty gathers everyone at the bottom of
the homestead to reveal his plan to make up
for lost time.
I thought that I was gonna climb up that bank and hit--
strike water.
We have to have another option.
We now have rain catchment off of the roof, perfect for
the animals, the gardens, etcetera, up there.
But in a place that is prone to drought, we needed to develop
a year-round drinking water system for the homesteaders.
After seeing the struggle and the craziness,
we just ramped up what we're gonna do for you.
- Oh, wow. - Oh, my gosh.
- Water well drilling. - Oh, my gosh.
- That is awesome.
So first Timothy, and that's second Timothy.
Oh, my gosh. Thank you.
These are your new best friends.
And I know in Alaska on mountaintops, you can go
900 feet down and be dry.
What's gonna happen here, do you think?
I would say right here we're probably looking around
75 to 100 feet.
Because we're down in this valley?
- Down in the valley. - OK.
If we were on top of the ridge,
you're probably looking 500 or 600 feet.
So what's that gonna mean for you if we strike water?
Oh my gosh.
It's gonna change our entire homestead, our entire life.
Having a well, we're getting clean water from a mountain.
So this is gonna be the first time in
this homestead, you're gonna have clean water, right?
Maybe.
- And it's not a guarantee. - Not a guarantee.
Are you gonna hunt the coyotes?
Are you gonna bark at the coyotes?
On the other side of the homestead, by the sheep...
Hey, I'm just petting the dogs.
- You caught me petting the dogs. - This is Jaslynne, my daughter.
- Nice to meet you. - Ryder.
Ryder, good to meet you guys.
And so you help out with chores, and building projects?
- Yeah. - Are you hard workers?
- Yes. - Yeah.
That's music to my ears 'cause I need help.
Come with me. We got a project to do.
Let's get to work.
This homestead has a coyote problem because right now,
these sheep are out in the open 24-7 waiting to get picked off.
When do you see these coyotes most often?
- Nighttime. - Right?
You live in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.
You're not gonna stop every coyote.
No.
But we gotta make sure the livestock that are in
the most danger have a place to go where a coyote
cannot get them.
We can use this existing wall that has already been built
by your dad, put a roof over here, and make it a place where
you can lock up all the sheep.
I think that's where we should start first.
What do you think about this plan?
- I think it's a very good plan. - I like it.
Matt's multi-pronged approach to coyote protection requires
three separate phases.
First, he will expand and reinforce the existing
sheep pen, enclosing it to house the more valuable
and vulnerable mid-sized livestock,
such as the sheep and rams.
Then, he will clear brush around the entire living space
perimeter, extending sight lines and pushing back
coyote camouflage, which will discourage
predator encroachment.
And finally, if he can convince the homesteaders, Matt will
reduce the number of animals attracting coyotes by bringing
several loads to the butcher for processing.
Hold this tape measure here. I'm gonna go down long.
I'm excited to help protect the animals from the coyotes
and everything else that could potentially be a threat.
OK, we're about 26 feet. OK, let it down.
I think Matt's plan to make it safer for the sheep
to go in at night is going to be a big help.
Push!
At the bottom of the homestead...
I can't see one dang thing.
...Misty and Marty start hauling the shipping container
greenhouse up the mountain.
Whoa! This is wild.
Misty came to me and said, "Hey, Dad, let's move
"a 20-foot long, over 5,000-pound container
"up a hill that steep with an excavator in the front
and a skid steer behind."
Wow, this is super rowdy.
Dad, can you stop for a second?
I don't wanna be stuck at the top at the worst part
in the dark.
But whatever you're doing is perfect.
Oh, my God. I'm so stressed out right now.
We've got a few more hills that are pretty steep to go up.
We've only made it a fraction of the way so far.
This is gonna get interesting.
There's just no way. I'd be...
I-- there's no way.
OK, I'm spinning!
What's happening?
I did. Here we go.
Oh, no.
So what happened now, young lady, is we just threw
the track on this.
Uh, we're a long ways from the top, right?
Oh, yeah.
This isn't even the steepest of incline.
- It gets a lot worse. - Steeper than this up there?
- Oh, yeah. - OK.
Now we're broke down. It's getting dark.
We don't have the right wrench to get the Zerk fitting out
to begin the process of getting the track back on.
Let's talk.
So after looking at this whole operation,
I think we're gonna abort the whole thing.
Let's count our blessings and let's cut our losses.
I'm just like in shock. Two days gone.
Don't remind me.
Listen, it just shouts loud and clearly when you live
on the top of a mountain,
it's tough.
2
All right,
good morning, good morning.
After the first rain since installing
the catchment system...
Didn't really rain that much, did it?
No.
...Marty and Paul check to see
how much water they've collected.
Yeah, that's a decent amount.
That's probably a good--
Where's my mark? Where's the numbers?
I'm guessing somewhere around 800 gallons.
I think.
With the amount of rain that we got last night,
800 gallons of water is mind-blowing.
All the animals and us, the usage,
that probably takes care of about
two to three days of water.
Could you use two to three days without hauling water?
- Oh, yeah, 100% - All right, get a little more rain
and that's gonna read 2,100 gallons.
For the first time in the one year they've been on
this property, we might start solving the problem
of a water shortage.
We've got a few days left.
We're coming close to checking the box on water,
and now we have a new problem on this homestead.
When you move in here,
we have to figure out a way to get rid of this water.
Gray water, right? And sewer water.
We're running out of time.
- How are you guys? - Good.
What we're doing right now is,
we're checking in with you guys, right? - Mm-hmm.
- Halfway through our stay here, it has not been easy. - Mm-mm.
With all the hiccups with the excavator,
half the time went like that.
At this moment, every single one of us is like,
what's top priority? Or we're not gonna finish.
- OK. - And I'm gonna leave
you with nothing. - Yeah.
I think the biggest problem is how you're raising
your livestock, and your coyote problem would be way less
if you weren't as free-for-all with your livestock.
- Yeah. - I think that while we're here,
we should get rid of some of the animals that need to go.
I'll leave that up to you.
If you're ready to do it and you want to,
I think this is your man.
OK.
So we're gonna do that to help with the numbers.
Then I'll feel like I've actually helped you guys
with your coyote problem, OK? - Cool.
All right, so.
I think we've come to a point right now,
now that we're collecting water, at your future home,
which you say you're gonna move into soon.
So now, how do you feel about
taking that structure I'm looking at right there,
dragging it over there, and introducing the plumbing
into that on the backside?
We could stub the plumbing in there, and that could be
the bathroom for the family. It could be whatever you want.
It seems like it almost fits with your plan.
Ugh.
I don't know, um.
I'm OK with it. I think it'll be nice and easy.
OK.
I'll translate.
No.
Well, I'm not comfortable
asking a homesteader 10 times a question,
trying to get my answer.
But I'm trying to fish for the big picture, the plan,
all the stuff you've dreamed about written down on napkins.
- Yeah. - And we have--
It's not that.
There's a pattern on this homestead.
The homesteaders talk us through a problem they've had.
We say we're gonna start right now, and then they back away.
What's it doing there right now?
- Are people living in there? - It's-- it's storage.
That's not a good enough excuse for me.
I need them to understand that homesteading is about
how to innovate, how to be resourceful,
and based on what you said, you needed,
here's how we can fix it to best benefit you.
How about this?
Talk about it and give me a-- please give me an answer
in an hour. - OK.
- Is that enough time? - Yeah.
OK, we need you to get out of your comfort zone
and make a decision other than one that is tunnel vision.
- OK, talk to you in an hour. - Yeah, let's go.
- All right, thank you both. - Thank you.
Let's go.
You're nuts.
OK, talk me through what you think with this cabin. Like, what?
- Just put it back there. - Just put it behind?
I'll hook up the sewer and that's it.
We have been waiting to get to this point for,
at this point, 16 years.
I just think...
I don't know, it's really hard to share control,
but it has to work.
While awaiting a decision...
OK, here we go.
...Matt and the twins frame the new sheep barn.
All right, one more.
I'm really impressed with Ryder and Jaslynne.
Right now, they're helping me put on a roof
to the new addition to the barn.
Good job.
But they're also doing chores
to water the animals,
feed the animals, check for chicken eggs.
They got a lot on their plate.
But we're gonna get the work done,
and we're getting it done quick.
Perfect.
The animals are really important, so it really
helps that Matt's helping us to keep them safe.
How you doing? Look what I found down over
the side of the bank. - Oh.
Did the wind blow here last night?
- Yes, it did. - Yes, it did.
It did? All right, so.
I am sorry to put you on the spot, truly,
but just trying to figure out how we're going to help you
not only put in a septic, but actually, be able to use it.
The Raneys coming in to help us,
it's definitely something that is out of our comfort zone,
but we are making progress.
Let's just say we never met, which is probably something
you're wishing.
You tell me the plan for going to the bathroom over there.
We would've just dragged the camper over there
to use the camper as the bathroom.
You wanna drag the camper over instead?
- No, I think that the cabin is a better idea. - Why?
- Yes. - Yeah.
Stephanie is realizing that things happen fast out here,
constantly making adjustments, decisions, and it's not about
controlling everything.
It's about working with the homestead for survival.
And sometimes you gotta let go.
So here's the plan. Correct me if I'm wrong.
We're gonna move that building, I'm looking at right
there with the red roof.
And then we'll introduce a sewer pipe into it.
And you'll have a flushing toilet before we leave.
Yes.
OK, guys. The well driller had news.
I said, is it good or bad?
He goes, he's not gonna tell me.
Oh, no.
2
Family!
At the top of the homestead,
Marty delivers on Misty's promise.
What's happening?
- Oh, get out. - Oh, the shipping container.
The same guy that got the excavator out,
we called him back.
He's like, "Man, what's with you?"
He probably thinks I'm a complete loser, and I am.
Let's get it off the truck.
When it comes to moving buildings,
it seems like we've turned a page.
Misty!
The excavator is fixed and now we have successfully
delivered that same CONNEX from
point A to point B, and we can get back on track.
Yay!
I gotta take over, so I can get to work.
Come on, girl!
Having the greenhouse at the top of the property is
super helpful because we can keep eyes on it,
mainly, you know, for the deer and the wildlife
to stay out of it.
And growing our food, it just ensures us that we know exactly
what went into it, that it wasn't sprayed with anything,
and that's something really important to us.
And having the garden and the greenhouse close
to the house just makes sense.
- All right, what do you think? - It's up by the house!
- We did it! - We made it to the house!
Oh, my gosh. It's up here.
- It's close to the house. Let's get to work. - Yes.
This thing needs to be painted. We need to cut more skylights.
We need to cut more windows. We need to put in a door.
We've got our work cut out for us, so let's go.
- I'm excited. - You ready?
- I'm ready. - OK, let me get rid of the ex,
and let's get to work. - Awesome.
When you try to rescue a homestead in one week,
it's so hard.
Getting stuck and losing a day,
throwing a track and losing a day.
Like, these are days lost
you'll never get back.
And in this moment, the whole homestead
and the whole future is at the top.
Pretty epic.
But with just three days left, that's the time we have
to rescue this homestead.
And I'm telling you right now, it's gonna get wild.
This looks amazing.
So good. We're getting there.
I'm trying to recruit as many people as I can
'cause I really need help.
The idea is to paint this thing black so we can have as much
collection when it comes to warmth, and heat and sun.
So are you ready to paint?
- Yeah. - Yeah?
Are you-- do you like the color black?
- Yeah. - You brought the right guy.
Let's go.
I am in awe of Tristen.
Tristen painted pretty much the whole
shipping container by himself.
What do you think of all this, Tristen?
Pretty cool.
And I came in and got some high stuff on a ladder.
I'm just wowed by him.
He has a good attitude, he's hardworking,
and he's fun to be around, and that's all that matters.
Well, we're getting closer.
Throwing in the rest of the windows,
hopefully tomorrow.
It's windy, so hopefully it dries fast
because rain is on the way.
I feel like this is really taking shape, right?
Yeah.
On the backside of the homestead,
Matt, Jaslynne, and Ryder charge ahead
on the coyote-proof sheep and ram barn.
I'm glad we got the gutters on because it's been raining
a little bit, and we already have over 200 gallons filled up
just from the rain.
We pretty much got this thing licked, right?
Yeah.
But I don't see any sheep in there.
- No. - Should we put the sheep
in there? - Yeah.
OK, let's get some sheep in here.
You ready to wrestle this ram in there?
Nope.
Come on out.
He's got one. Go, go, go.
Making the barn 50% bigger and making a pen outside
of that barn is a good start for the sheep.
Get 'em in there.
But the more barn space we add to this homestead,
it's gonna solve a lot more problems in the future
because these homesteaders need as many safe places as they
can get with all the livestock that they have.
All right.
Whoo! We did it!
- Does this look like a secure place for the rams? - Yes.
- Yeah. - This is more than enough
space for the rams. What's missing?
The ewes.
OK, including the lambs and the ewes, we'll have all
the sheep inside. - Yeah.
But we don't have a pen area outside for the rams.
- Yeah. - Follow me.
We got a new place for the rams to pasture out in the day,
new sleeping spot for the sheep at night.
These changes will make a big difference on the homestead.
So now we have to take trees down,
but I know we can put 'em to use.
We have to create these level garden beds.
We do have the skid steers, so any trees that come down,
we'll try and pull 'em up here, buck 'em up,
and then we will level the ground with logs.
- Yeah. - Do our best to create
this garden down the ridge, and I think now is the time.
That sounds like a great plan.
With a few days left, nothing's even close to being finished.
I have to finish this greenhouse, put in the garden,
and be able to put in a fence and maybe even a wind block.
These gusts of wind are so sketchy, they've blown windows
down that I was gonna use for the greenhouse
that are now broke.
So I've seen what they're up against.
I'm realizing the importance with this particular family
of fresh produce, clean meat, clean water.
Full steam ahead. We gotta get this done.
2
Hello.
Good morning.
Day six on the Simoes' 89-acre West Virginian homestead...
I keep thinking about what you said about wastewater.
What do you do with that water? How do you get rid of it?
...with sign-off to move the storage shed and turn it
into a bathhouse...
Untie this thing.
...Marty calls in a favor that will make it both
functional and sanitary.
Gosh the septic going in,
it's just gonna be a game-changer for our family.
Is that good? Thank you.
So, here's the deal. This brush pile.
Just down the ridge line, Matt moves into stage two of
his plan to save the vulnerable livestock on the homestead.
Having a pile like this right on the edge of your fence
for your new pasture area, that's not a safe idea when
it comes to predators and your livestock.
There's a lot of unsafe areas where coyotes are able to hide
and get close to this livestock,
so I'm just gonna go to town with the excavator
and start getting rid of this brush pile.
Get it pushed way down there so that we don't have this natural
cover for the coyotes to come right up to the edge of the new
pasture fence that we're gonna put in here.
Yeah.
Now that the sheep have a safe area to go indoors,
we need to worry about the outside.
We need to clear out more space, get rid of the brush,
get rid of the smaller trees to stop the coyotes from being
conditioned to using this homestead
as a drive-through for food.
Just watch me as I go down the hill, and if anything bad
happens, call for help. - OK.
Go over by that stump.
I hope nothing bad happens.
Uh, yeah, I know.
That is very scary.
Mmm.
It's really dangerous because the hillside goes,
like, straight down, and it's kinda scary.
Hopefully the excavator won't flip or tip over.
As soon as I pushed that debris down the hill,
I was pretty much sliding.
I have one last trick to get myself back up there.
OK.
This is where we get the bucket involved.
That's actually really scary.
Yeah.
- Oh, oy! - There you go!
Yeah! Yes!
Whoo-hoo!
All right.
OK, that was steep, but we did it.
Did you think I was gonna make it?
- Um. - We had some doubts.
- About 30% - Yeah.
30%?
- Yes. - We had a few doubts.
All right, Jaslynne and Ryder, as crazy as that was one time,
I'm gonna do that 10 more times.
- Yeah, that's-- - OK.
That's a little scary.
Uh, I'm the excavator king.
Yeah, but, like, it's so scary.
- Anything could happen. - I'm king of excavator.
The first pass took a little bit longer, but now that I have
a road up here, we have enough of an infrastructure here now
where we can clear out a ton more a lot quicker.
Let's keep going.
- Good job. - Slay.
- Misty! - Hi!
I have to introduce you to this amazing community
that I've been telling you all about.
Yeah! How's it going?
I'll take all the help I can get.
Hi, Misty.
I've never been so excited to see people on a homestead.
We have our work cut out for us.
Let's try to put in a garden in an afternoon.
- Ready? - Yeah.
Let's go.
I think the first thing we do is figure out what
this footprint looks like and start driving some T posts
10 feet apart.
In this moment, we have to focus on top priorities,
and that's food, shelter, water.
We are not focusing on the wish list.
And with just 24 hours left, that's all we can do.
We have all these neighbors that have showed up
for Paul and Stephanie.
We're gonna try to do the impossible, which is finish
this greenhouse, put in the garden, put in some
fencing, run some water lines in an afternoon.
But hopefully by the end of today, we're standing
in Stephanie's new garden.
I have a little homestead hack for you.
- You ready? - I'm ready.
We've got a couple buckets full of water,
have some burlap sacks.
All we need is fresh manure, not pig.
So sheep, goat, cow, horse, let's scoop some up.
- OK. - OK, I'm gonna grab a bucket.
You're gonna grab some manure.
I didn't that there could be more surprises after everything
thrown at us this week.
But today, Misty had one last surprise.
If you use pig manure for what we're about to do,
it would have to be aged or composted.
Hey, thanks, guys. You just helped us so much.
So we're gonna make manure tea.
And unlike compost, which people can struggle with
sometimes, this manure tea is gonna be organic fertilizer
in a matter of days. - That's awesome.
So it's one part manure, fresh manure
is the key word, 10 parts
water.
And in a matter of days, you're gonna have all
the organic fertilizer you could ever need
for that garden. - Yes.
That's awesome.
The manure tea that's going to fertilize all of our plants is
also going to make it super easy.
It's like one extra-step in our process of what we do
in our day already, because we're mucking stalls, right?
And you're just gonna strain all the manure out.
So we just have to separate the poop and we'll be able
to use it for a thriving garden. Super excited.
- So pull this off. - Yep.
Good. There's your manure tea.
- Does it look good? - It does look good.
And in a matter of days, you can have fresh, organic
fertilizer, and it's easy, as easy as pie. - I love it.
As easy as poo.
2
How heavy do you think they are?
Probably around 250, 300, somewhere around there.
- So easy to move. - Yeah.
It's the final day of the rescue.
And at the pig pen, Paul and Stephanie have agreed
to another practical decision to process some
of their livestock.
How do you think this is gonna go?
It's either gonna go good or bad.
Or horribly wrong.
You know what? We're all smart.
We're all tough.
We're gonna give it everything got.
Hopefully we get lucky. So let's go.
Come on.
Employing a nose-to-tail butchering technique to utilize
every aspect of the animal,
one 300-pound pig can yield roughly 150 pounds
of edible meat, including ham, bacon, pork loin,
and ribs, among other cuts.
While the fat can be turned into lard, intestines into
sausage casings, and the bones even providing a main
ingredient in glue.
All in all, feeding a family of seven for several weeks.
Come on, come on, come on.
These homesteaders have a lot of livestock.
There are three pigs that are three months past due
to go out to market.
And I think it'd be amazing if we started doing something
with the pigs that they should've done a long time ago.
Go, go, go, go, go.
We're gonna have to see if we can get 'em
into a tighter chute is gonna be the key.
OK? If you can get the pig to come
into this corner and come down
this chute, you might get him to go in the trailer.
It might work.
Yeah, let's see if we can get one to come around that corner.
- Nope, go that way. - Oh, nope, nope, nope, nope.
Right now, we're gonna be sending a couple pigs to
the butcher, so it's amazing. That will help us out a lot.
Whoa.
Yeah, he's just gonna run right past us.
Tristen, can you hand me that feed?
My kids help me out a lot, and it's a dream come true that
they're actually helping the homestead.
Get behind those pigs.
Come on.
- There you go. - Get over there, buddy.
Oh, and they're both going.
Oh, that would be perfect.
Being able to homestead with my kids is so deeply rewarding,
and I'm glad Paul has experienced the same
thing with his family.
Come on, come on, come on.
When you have kids that are dedicated to homesteading,
everything else is gonna fall into place.
- Close it, close it, close it. - Uh, yes.
That's good.
That's it, whoo.
- There you go. - All right, whoo.
High five.
Well, that was fun.
I felt like I was at the rodeo for a second there.
Paul, are you happy that you finally got the animals
in the trailer? - Yes, yes.
And you're getting them off the property.
It's amazing.
This is a win for the homestead, 'cause this needed to happen.
Let's not waste any time.
This is the first load of animals leaving the homestead,
but this is just the beginning. - Thank you.
Thanks, Doug.
Hey. OK, guys.
Later that day, on the Simoes' homestead...
The well driller had news.
...Marty gathers the family for an update on the search
for clean, dependable drinking water.
I said, "Is it good or bad?"
He goes, he's not gonna tell me.
- Oh, no. - Oh, no.
Get in, get in.
If they can get this family, good, clean,
safe drinking water...
Whoo.
...they realize that there's hope in this homestead dream.
Good, bad, or otherwise, here it comes.
- Yeah. - What is it?
Oh, my God!
- We got water. - Ah!
You guys ready to taste it?
Yeah, the cleanest of mountain water, oh.
Yeah.
What do you think?
It's incredible.
Clean water, clean mountain water.
It's amazing.
Now we have water from the gutters.
We also have a well, a sustainable amount of water
that I don't have to worry about ever again.
- Would you drink out of the creek? - No, not without filtering.
- Would you drink out of that black thing up there-- - No.
where you, all your water go?
- Yes or no? - No.
I wouldn't either.
But you might not ever have to, based on this, right?
- Yeah. - That is a life-changing thing.
Being able to take that fresh, clean water directly out
of the mountain, we know that it's clean.
It hasn't been contaminated. It's coming from 90 feet down.
It's going to make all the other pieces
fall into place
for the overall health of our family and our goals
for our homestead.
This is the way we like to end the day.
Not stuck on the side of the mountain, and not
broke down on this side of the mountain.
So this might be everything turning around here.
- Yes. - And for many
homesteaders, that's a miracle.
It's like you've said before, it's better than gold.
- This is beautiful. - You like it?
- It's awesome. - That makes me really happy
because we really were able to
just pick up where your husband left off and we turned it into
like a fortress where the sheep could be safe.
The rams have been inside there for a while.
- Should we let them out? - Yeah, let's do that.
- OK, ready? - Yep.
- There we go. - OK.
Oh, hey.
This barn is split up into two sections,
and the backside is just for the rams.
So the mamas with their babies can be calm and relaxed
and just raise them up. It's perfect.
Absolutely. And safe.
The biggest part to making the sheep safe was having
a barn that predators couldn't get in at night.
- Yep. - That is done.
But we went above and beyond. Follow me.
When you look over the edge here, doesn't it look
a lot clearer? - It does.
I mean, you can see all the way to the bottom.
- Yeah. - That is important because now
you can look down and you can see.
A coyote is gonna come across here.
You're never gonna stop coyotes from coming
on this property. - Mm-hmm.
But they're gonna be way less likely to come out
into open areas.
Removing all those massive piles of debris and trees,
you now have a clear area where you can extend the pasture
for the horses and livestock in the future.
A week ago, the Simoes were under siege on all fronts
by vicious coyotes, brought in by the smell of a rotting
bait pile and driven closer to the home
by the family's excessive livestock.
Now, with the introduction of a reinforced sheep barn,
the most vulnerable animals are protected from dusk till dawn,
while surrounding brush piles have been cleared,
pushing coyote territory back to a safer distance.
Finally, as the Simoes family continues reducing the number
of animals on the homestead, coyote incursions will also
diminish, creating a safer place for man and animal alike.
I'm really excited about your guys' future.
Hopefully, we're getting to a point now where you are
living in harmony with the natural habitat
of the coyotes.
But before Matt can claim mission accomplished,
he has one more project for Stephanie to approve.
Ever since I set foot on this homestead,
something hasn't smelled right.
Mm-hmm.
And so I just wanted to make one last request
that we get rid of the bait pile once and for all.
- OK, does that make sense? - Yeah.
Yeah, no. I-- I think...
2 I'm no entomologist, but you can't build one thing
on a homestead and not be worried about insects.
There's a lot of ants here infiltrating...
What's that thing right there?
...everything in their path.
Millions of bugs that I've never seen before.
Holy!
It's on your neck!
It's on your neck. It's in your coat.
Holy!
- Is it on me? - It's like a big giant beetle.
It was on his neck.
All right.
I wanna see what this is all about.
- I planted that beetle in there. - Was it a beetle?
I can take a beetle.
I don't care what these kids are doing.
Misty and Matt should be worried about bugs.
I get it, Dad. I get it.
2 It's the last day, but we're-- this is, like, zero hour,
and this excavator is gonna go away.
And so I just wanted to make one last request, that we get
rid of the bait pile once and for all, OK?
- Does that make sense? - Yeah, yeah.
No, I-- I think...
it does make sense.
Now that Matt has created a safe space for our sheep,
I don't have to worry about coyotes.
And I'm more than willing to be done with our bait pile,
Getting Stephanie over her vendetta,
and ending the war with the coyotes, that's where real
growth takes place.
- Hi! - Hi!
On the other side of the homestead...
Welcome to the garden party.
...Misty pulls the kids aside for the finishing touches
on the gust-proof greenhouse and garden.
This is where you guys come in.
I have this crazy box of fun.
There's windmills, there's windsocks,
there's wind chimes.
Can you guys help me put everything together
and hang it? - Yeah.
One thing I know about kids is the more fun you make
something, the more likely they are to get involved.
- Oh, they spin! - They spin!
I wanna create, like, this garden party.
Wind chimes, windsocks, windmills.
And hopefully it deters deer, but attracts kids.
Nice. Good job.
Go, go, go. Yeah!
I know we're on the right path.
And I think the importance of what we've done here and what
we've been trying to do this whole time is for the kids.
It's for their ultimate health, and it's for their future.
Yoo! Look at him go!
Oh, that's so pretty.
- Do we love it? - Look at it, guys.
I think it already feels like our space.
I can't wait until we have thriving plants growing there
to produce fresh produce for our family.
- Really excited about it. - OK, garden party's complete.
We're deterring deers and attracting kids.
- We're done. - Awesome.
You ready to get out of the wind?
- Oh, wow. - It's like really warm.
- It's so big in here. - So, what do you think?
- It is awesome. - Like it?
Misty did an amazing job with the greenhouse.
It is super warm in there.
I don't think I'm going to need any special, like, lights
or grow lights or anything like that to use to start seeds.
I can't wait to get all the plants started
in the ground, get some more fruit trees and berry bushes
and really extend it down the ridge.
So I'm really excited to just keep that project going.
I love this garden so much.
Yes.
When you combine the structure with some of the tips,
you'll be able to grow a hardy plant that can survive
out here. - This turned out so beautiful.
I didn't expect it to, kinda have the, you know, step effect
that it does. It's-- it's awesome. - Yeah.
I actually have a little surprise for you.
Go ahead and flip that switch.
- Oh, my gosh, there's water. - There's water.
So you are not hauling water to this garden
or greenhouse ever.
This comes from the catchment tank.
There's 800 gallons in there. You have the well below.
You have two water sources, and that guarantees an endless
supply of water no matter what. - I'm so happy.
I'm so happy.
I think it's like, what else do we need to do?
That's it.
One week ago, the Simoes' garden was non-existent,
as too much wind, too little water,
and a nutrient-depleted soil
made it impossible to grow the natural produce needed for
the children's health concerns.
Now, with the introduction of the gust-proof greenhouse
and several raised garden beds topped with nutrient-rich soil,
Stephanie and the rest of the family will be able to grow
enough produce to feed the whole family.
This is going to really help us to be able to move forward
with this project. - Yeah.
- Not having to haul it. - Yeah.
- And extend it. - And extend it.
- I'm so excited. I'm so excited. - Yay, thank you.
So it's really sad, but now we have to find
everybody and say goodbye. It's so terrible.
Yeah. I'm gonna miss you guys.
I'm gonna miss you too.
All right, sir. Let's fire it up.
The well is amazing.
We're getting clean water from a mountain.
The well produces around 900 gallons per hour.
And to me, I believe it's the best kind of water you could have.
You might have this thing overflowing if we get an inch
and a half of rain or two. - Yeah.
You can see the line heading there, it's gravity
to the garden, it's also gravity to the barn. - Yeah.
And it's already plumbed in.
So if you go over to the emus, or the horses, or the cows,
you got water at all those locations. - Yep.
- Right? - Yep.
- Makes life easier. - Notice those stairs we built.
- That's amazing. - Are they cool?
- You like 'em? - Yeah, that's really cool.
And the back of this building is...
Have a seat.
Gotta start doing this a lot.
Seven days ago, the Simoes' homesteading dream
was running dry, as the unique challenges combined with
missing infrastructure, excessive livestock,
and extreme swings in weather, overwhelmed the family.
Now, the homestead has two reliable water sources,
with rain catchment easing the burden on the garden
and livestock, and a well delivering dependable
drinking water, even in the worst of droughts.
And with the new septic tank and bathroom structure,
the family has a sanitary and sustainable way to
eliminate waste, bringing them one step closer to moving into
their forever home.
Well, did it go by fast?
- Yeah. - It was a crazy week.
After everything I've seen happen here,
working with Jaslynne and Ryder,
I now believe it's not gonna be an uphill battle anymore.
Stephanie, I'm gonna miss you.
Like, you are such a sweet, vibrant,
hardworking human being. You're a really good mom.
You really care about your kids,
and you're doing everything for your kids,
and that resonated with me the whole time.
My time working with you is such a pleasure.
You're such a beautiful person inside and out.
- Thank you. - The Raneys are leaving,
and I see the changes done to the homestead, and I 100%
appreciate everything they've done for us, 'cause we've
never had help our whole entire life, so it's amazing,
and it's definitely pushed us forward.
I appreciate you guys so much.
It's amazing what you guys have done for us.
On that note, young lady.
Oh .
- Oh, my goodness! - Thank you.
- It was good manners. - Thank you.
And hopefully that fits you.
That fits beautifully. You look great.
- Thanks for everything. - Thanks, thanks.
- Bye, everybody. - Bring it in, kids.
Everyone knows that song, "Almost heaven, West Virginia."
- All right, guys. - Thank you so much.
- See you later. - Yoo!
This family of seven has a lot of plans
for their homestead dream.
And I wanna believe they're a little bit closer to heaven,
right here in West Virginia.
Since the Raneys left, things have been super busy.
The greenhouse is doing excellent,
and we're getting a surplus of food.
We recently processed our first sheep.
We actually made lamb burgers with greens from our garden.
The water catchment has been going really good
with the amount of rain we've been getting.
It's been keeping the tank pretty full.
The kids are doing great. Spring projects are underway.
We have been moving things into the house
and we're actually sleeping in there now.
It's amazing.
Couldn't have asked for a better spring.