I was able to buy some chestnuts seedlings from Grant around this time last year and I was NOT disappointed. I had about 5-6 trees die. I didn’t nurture them. I dug a wide hole, plopped them in, flagged them to save them from a mower and let them live/die as they were able.

The great thing is that I bought 10 trees and received well over what I actually bought. Perhaps it was just an over-abundance of stock but I love a place that over delivers what it promises. I plan on getting more trees very soon!

Thanks Grant!

I gotta admit that this show was completely overwhelming to me. I am just some suburbanite stuck in a double upside-down mortgage, in a state that allows the vendor to sue me for the difference of the auction and what I still owe (even years later) if I walk away from it, with no farming/homesteading experience whatsoever, no idea where to move in the country, no idea how to even begin looking where to move because I don’t have time/money/health to travel around, no ideas on how to bring enough value to people in a rural environment so as to get paid in low-populated areas (I’m a “techie” guy near a major city), no significant property to practice on now, no time to practice, no immediate family to help, no support from anyone else, little energy/health even left after long work-days to do anything more than just listen to a few podcasts, etc.

For example, I listen to a podcast like this with total professionals living the whole lifestyle…and it seems like a complete DREAM to me. Much like if I listened to a sci-fi podcast with astronauts talking about space-travel and a colony on mars and similar… it’s super interesting, enjoyable, and thought-provoking for me to listen to, but it’s not like I can realistically ever picture myself being in that same outer space, or on Mars, or anything even close to what they are talking about. Same feeling after a show like this. Very discouraging sometimes when it’s what I’d like to do, yet see NO path to it. I’m so envious of all you people with the resources and support to make it happen, and am legitimately happy for you. Helps keep my dreams alive, even if they really are probably just dreams.

Jack, I wish you’d do a show along these lines sometime…without coming down hard without some “just pull up your bootstraps” talk though. Real step-by-step lists of how to make the transition, a list of 100 specific ways a person can bring value in exchange for enough money income to survive in rural environments, etc. How do I actually get to Mars, and grow enough potatoes to live there? (reference to “The Martian” movie currently out now… *grin*)