In today's Flog, we take a walk down memory lane and try to answer "why should we consider homesteading?"...

This story is from the weekly series This Life We Live that we made in early 2020, just as we were all going into the pandemic. It was a confusing time, but also an incredibly enlightening one in other ways, at least it was for us here at our farm. I share some of why living a more self-sustainable life mattered to my wife Joey and why it still matters to me... how we met one of my mentors Joel Salatin and visited Polyface, his farm in Virginia... and on the way, we attend the Homesteaders of America conference and got to meet many of the people who have become personal friends and who'll are speaking at our event on June 3 and 4.

But mostly it captures a shift in our lives that has been happening for the last ten years or so. From a life of complete consumerism, to becoming more conscious and intentional about the food we eat and the choices we make...
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We're half-way through our 30-day FLOG countdown to the festival (sharing a new one daily, as best we can)… as we share our journey preparing our first Homestead Festival on June 3rd and 4th here at our farm. We hope you'll join us.

You can check out the full schedule, lineup, and get your festival passes at https://www.thehomesteadfestival.com/

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The Homestead Festival, a first-of-its-kind outdoor event, will make its debut on June 3-4, 2022 at Rory Feek's 100-acre historic farm in Columbia, Tennessee. Combining music and meaning, the two-day affair features musical performances, including headliner Kevin Costner & Modern West, as well as masterclass lectures by prominent homesteading community leaders such as Dr. Temple Grandin, Joel Salatin, Justin Rhodes, and many others.

In addition to Costner and his band making a rare stop on their Tales From Yellowstone 2 tour, the musical lineup on the main stage also includes The Isaacs, Jimmy Fortune, and the Brotherly Love project (Bradley Walker, Mike Rogers, Jimmy Fortune, and Ben Isaacs), as well as other bands on a smaller stage.

“We are all, of course, over-the-moon excited to have Mr. Costner and his band coming to join us for the event. But the truth is, we are just as excited to have all the incredible performers and speakers that are taking the time from their busy lives to come to Tennessee and share their knowledge and skills with individuals and families who too will be coming from all over to take part in this special weekend,” says GRAMMY-winning artist and New York Times best-selling author Rory Feek.

“The format for that Friday and Saturday will be homesteading classes and lectures throughout the day and music on the main stage in the evenings as the sun sets,” Rory continues. “Multiple tents here on the grounds will host simultaneous speakers sharing their vast experience of learning to be more self-sustaining and living closer to the land, which I think are very important things that aren’t being passed down to future generations the way they used to be, especially with the struggles we are all facing in the world today. People are interested in learning the skills and information that can help them provide for their families in these challenging times and also add meaning and joy to their lives.”

Homesteading lectures and classes at the festival will vary from growing and preserving your own food, to keeping bees or baby chicks, to home birth and home-schooling. Attendees will also be able to explore and shop at the Homestead Marketplace, featuring over 100 vendors, skilled artisans, local food trucks, and a demonstration area showcasing a variety of homesteading arts and crafts like woodworkers, blacksmiths, gardening experts, flower farmers, artists, and many more.

HISTORY OF THE HOMESTEAD FESTIVAL:

From 2008 to 2013, Rory Feek and his wife Joey held their annual Bib & Buckle Fest, where thousands of fans from all over attended outdoor concerts on the front lawn of their historic farm. This will be the first time Rory has brought outdoor music to his homestead since then.

Since Joey’s passing in 2016, Rory has expanded the farm adding more rotational-grazed pastures for cows and chickens, a one-room schoolhouse with a barnyard and livestock, multiple gardens, a greenhouse, and continued to host concerts on the farm in his 300-seat venue known as Homestead Hall. All of this is in an effort to be more sustainable for his large extended family who live, work, and teach on the farm.

For more information, visit https://www.thehomesteadfestival.com/ and follow the festival on Facebook and Instagram with the links below.
Facebook:   / thehomesteadfestival  
Instagram:   / thehomesteadfestival