The Farm Hand’s Companion Show

Episode 1 – Homesteading a Small Farm From the Beginning

It all starts here:  Pa Mac begins to develop a small, traditional farm from an undeveloped tract of land in the hills of Arkansas.

Episode 2 – Clearing Land for Farming or Homesteading

Pa Mac clears more land for farming & gardening, showing some differences between clearing land today and what many settlers of the 1800s dealt with.

Episode 3 – Using the Trees on Your Small Farm

While demonstrating how to match various characteristics of different trees to their best uses, Pa Mac prepares to build on his new small farm.

Episode 4 – Old-fashioned Pole Barn for the Small Farm, Pt 1

As construction begins on his new workshop, Pa Mac demonstrates how to begin building a pole barn-type structure. A great video for showing the ins and outs of building a barn.

Episode 5 – Homemade Lumber for the Small Farm or Homestead

In need of lumber to continue building his pole barn workshop, Pa Mac tries a simple method for turning trees on his property into boards.

Episode 6 – Old-fashioned Pole Barn for the Small Farm, Pt 2

After having made homemade lumber using a chainsaw mill, progress continues on the new workshop as Pa Mac demonstrates how he constructs the framework for his pole barn type structure.

Episode 7 – Planting Heirloom Apple Trees on the Small Farm

Pa Mac makes things fruitful on his new small farm by planting some apple trees while demonstrating the beauty, value, and historic significance of the multifaceted American apple.

Episode 8 – Old-fashioned Pole Barn, Pt 3 – Stone Floor

Pa Mac considers what kind of floor he’s gonna be walking on in his new workshop.

Episode 9 – Old-fashioned Pole Barn, Pt 4 – Framing the Roof

Using homemade lumber made with a chainsaw mill, the skeletal structure of the roof goes up in Pa Mac’s old-fashioned pole barn workshop.

Episode 10 – Building a Small Log Chicken House

Pa Mac quickly builds a small log chicken house from materials on hand.

Episode 11 – Old-fashioned Pole Barn, Pt 5 – Roof & Walls

Pa Mac lays down a tin roof and puts up some rough-sawn lumber on his new, old-fashioned pole barn workshop.

Episode 12 – Building an Old-fashioned Pole Barn, Pt 6

It’s finally time for Pa Mac to add the finishing touches to his new workshop, hang his tools up, and settle into this old-fashioned pole barn.

Episode 13 – Gardens, Truck Patches, and Fields

Pa Mac explores the differences between gardens, truck patches, and fields—giving historical perspective along the way—while presenting some of the handicaps he’ll be overcoming with his own farm and garden.

Episode 14 – Building an Old-fashioned Log Chicken House, Part 1

Pa Mac begins a series on building an old-fashioned log chicken house from materials found on the homestead and starts by laying a stone foundation for the primitive structure.

Episode 15 – Preparing Land for Cultivation with Hand Tools, Pigs, and Plows

Pa Mac begins to develop some garden spots, showing not only how to clear land and prepare the dirt with simple tools (and livestock like hogs), but how to make the soil more fertile at the same time while plowing and preparing the soil with draft animals, tractors, or tillers.

Episode 16 – The Vegetable Garden

Pa Mac demonstrates the basic ins and outs of growing a vegetable garden, including laying off rows, planting, and cultivating the garden plot using all types of methods.

Episode 17 – Building an Old-fashioned Log Chicken House, Part 2 – Walls & Roof

Pa Mac continues his series on building a larger old-fashioned log chicken house by demonstrating several types of common log notches, as well as how to make rafters out of peeled pine poles.

Episode 18 – Preparations for Making Old-fashioned Wood Shingles

Pa Mac demonstrates how to fashion many of the tools needed for making wood shingles, and how to obtain the raw materials to perform this simple, old time, self-sufficient, and sustainable skill.

Episode 19 – Making Old-fashioned Wood Shingles

Pa Mac demonstrates how to make wood shingles (otherwise known as wood shakes) for roofing material to go on his new log chicken house.

Episode 20 – Roofing with Old-fashioned Wood Shakes

Pa Mac demonstrates how to install a wood shingle roof on his new log chicken house.

Episode 21 – Build an Old-fashioned Fence for the Garden

Pa Mac shows how to build a practical and eye-pleasing paling garden fence, using the natural materials around him.

Episode 22 – Making Pasture out of Forest

Pa Mac demonstrates simple, timeless, and inexpensive methods and tools to clear land and turn forest into pasture for the small farm or homestead.

Episode 23 – Building Old-fashioned Fences

Pa Mac shows how to build several different styles of old-time fences for the small farm that are both practical and beautiful.

Episode 24 – Old-fashioned Doors and Horseshoe Hinges

Pa Mac shows how to build and install old-fashioned wood doors for farm and homestead outbuildings.

Episode 25 – Building Old-fashioned Chicken Nests and Roosts

Pa Mac shows how to build and install old-fashioned nest boxes and a roost for his new log chicken house.

Episode 26 – Chicken Yard Fencing & Protecting Chickens

Pa Mac explains a few secrets he’s learned over the years for keeping chickens and poultry safe from predators

Episode 27 – Building an Old-fashioned Log Chicken House

Pa Mac summarizes and concludes the series on building an old-fashioned log chicken house.

Episode 28 – Making Sorghum Molasses (An Overview)

Pa Mac gives a brief overview of the southern tradition and history of raising, pressing, and cooking sorghum molasses on the small farm or homestead.

Episode 29 – Horse-drawn Sorghum Mill Restoration

Pa Mac shows how he and some friends rebuilt an early 20th century Goldens’ New Model #3 sorghum mill.

Episode 30 – Sorghum Molasses – Pressing and Cooking

Pa Mac demonstrates making sorghum molasses—from stripping and cutting the stalks, to saving the seed, to pressing the stalks with his newly restored Goldens’ New Model #3 sorghum mill, and finally cooking the raw cane juice into molasses.

Episode 31 – Building a Simple Shed

Pa Mac begins a short series on building a “tiny” barn for the small farm or homestead.

Episode 32 – Building a Tiny Barn

Pa Mac demonstrates how to build a “tiny” barn for the small farm or homestead.

Episode 33 – Building a Tiny Milking Barn

Pa Mac shows the tiny milking barn he built and outfitted for milking his cow.

Episode 34 – The Milk Cow, Part 1

Pa Mac gives a brief overview of the milk cow, its place in the history of the small farm or homestead in the southern United States, and its many benefits to the small farm today.

Episode 35 – The Milk Cow, Part 2

Pa Mac explains the day-to-day management of a dairy cow, and how the calf can be raised right alongside the lactating cow, actually making the milking chore a much simpler affair than that found in a commercial dairy.

Episode 36 – The Milk Cow, Part 3

Pa Mac goes out to the milking barn and demonstrates how to milk a dairy cow. From separating the cow and calf the evening before, to final filtering of the product, you’ll see how producing your own milk doesn’t have to be complicated.

Episode 37 – Farming and Failure

Pa Mac not only gives an update to the progress of some apple trees he planted a few years ago, but describes his own perspective of how to handle disappointments that inevitably come when farming.

Episode 38 – Old-fashioned Haymaking with Hand Tools, Part 1 (Overview)

Pa Mac gives a broad overview of the old-fashioned method for making hay using hand tools like the scythe, hay rakes, and pitchforks.

Episode 39 – Old-fashioned Haymaking, Part 2 (The Tools)

Pa Mac describes and demonstrates the old-fashioned tools used for making hay on the subsistence farm of yesteryear, and how these tools can still be used to great advantage on the permaculture homestead or small farm today.

Episode 40 – Old-fashioned Haymaking, Part 3 (The Process)

Pa Mac describes and demonstrates the general daily process for making hay by hand on the subsistence small farm or homestead.

Episode 41 – The Hog of the American Farm Past

How was hog raising 100 years ago different from modern commercial hog farms today? Pa Mac explains.

Episode 42 – The Hog of the Modern Homestead

With no more open range for livestock in the United States, hogs must be raised in confinement, and confinement for swine can be messy. How can the hog be kept well on the new modern homestead? Pa Mac explains hog raising on his small farm in this edition of The Farm Hand’s Companion Show.

Episode 43 – Training and Farrowing Pen for Hogs

The most challenging aspect of raising hogs on the small farm or homestead is keeping them contained, which is why it’s so critical to devise and build the perfect pen for teaching pigs to respect the electrical pulse. Pa Mac shows how.