30 Years Homesteading in Europe – Farming, Self-Sufficiency, Freedom

my bean cop is a joy I don’t want to be
dependent on a system and a chain this
ground Stony so this is the neighborhood
the idea is that you get a bit of straw
and then you can you can do all sorts of
Japes and tricks I can’t see how you’re
going to get a bread more authentic than
this in the western world it’s good
M when I was 20 I just felt like a
complete alien on the earth you know
this is all your work yeah this is what
nobody gets to
see when I was young I used to walk this
walk every day it’s beautiful look this
was Ry so the rice is are my bread but I
also get my roof maybe there might be
one or two people learning but it’s not
as fast as the older people dying and
the knowledge being lost s you
completely starts basically the Lor stop
on the road how long would you last well
I’d go all the way wouldn’t I that’s the
[Music]
idea good morning guys here in the
beautiful country side of Britney France
and today we’re meeting up with a man
who lives far out in those Hills mostly
removed from the modern world he grows
his own food and lives in a
self-sufficient way I know that’s a
dream for many to eat what comes from
their land to be removed from society to
some degree So today we’re going to get
it inside look of what that lifestyle is
like let’s do this
[Music]
how long have you lived out here 30
years 30 years yeah and I came here when
I was seven so it’s my 30th year here I
was born in York so it was the north of
England in York okay uh which way so I
haven’t even thought about our there’s a
lot to see so this is against the deer
that was about five or six years ago we
got the garden just nice and then the
deer decided they wanted to eat it all
so we had a seven deer living uh just on
our land it was crazy so Samuel I got
the umbrella for the camera but I’m
guessing you don’t walk around with this
nobody you’ll see why not because N9
days out of 10 is too much wind for an
umbrella and on top of that you’re going
to see all these trees you’re going to
have that that Ry ripped a Pieces by the
end but
uh so okay so your parents moved out
here just to get away from it all yeah
more or less I think we never had any
money we always went out of money on the
mortgage of the house we had in the UK
yeah my mom like traveling changes of
scenery we came on a holiday and we
thought yeah why not and sold the house
bought a caravan and we spent all the
money we had whil looking for a house so
we ended up by just buying a ruin when I
was 20 I just felt like a complete alien
on the earth you know felt weird I
needed like some Appliance some
technology everything seemed so
synthetic you know why do you know I
needed shoes I need clothes I was living
on a bit of land I wasn’t part of it I
think that’s when the uh the farming
adventur started it was an an idea of
trying to become wild you know the lack
of information that I had when I was
young I was told about how destructive a
human being was it took me a long time
to realize and to prove to myself a
human being can just live similar to an
animal on a bit of land can work the
land it can have a whole ecosystem you
know which lives thanks to the human
being in a harmonious way is there any
good purpose for having ants out here uh
I don’t know but nature does it so it’s
got to be good but it it’s part of soil
regeneration I think
this soil was like terrible it irates
the soil right to me everything nature
does is good but uh sometimes it takes a
while as a human being to see the good
benefits I think nature can be very kind
when it likes you but it can be very
horrible when it doesn’t like you if you
haven’t like work the soil if it doesn’t
love you you’ve got thorns in you if you
come to a new area you can have thorns
and you can just get yourself ripped to
pieces right I mean for me I like to
things like farming is you know it’s
love that’s what it is it’s love and uh
so when you look at your soil you’re
pretty happy with what you’re seeing
this is this is still terrible this
field was just a catastrophe it was
farmed with big machines all the organic
matter is just taken out I think that’s
the thing about modern farming in my
opinion because basically the concept is
hydroponic you don’t want to living soil
you want to soil that sort of neutral
and then you can add what you want you
can’t necessarily call it bad farming
cuz it’s it’s what they want I mean I
don’t add anything I’ve got zero uh
entrance I’ve got zero zero fertilizer
zero fertilizer nothing comes in I’ve
cut the grass I pile it up and it
composts into the soil and okay so we’re
going to come into the crop zone now so
these are all of your Fields yeah yeah
the thing is I’ve got a a really tiny
Farm it’s like 6 Acres but I’ve got 35
Fields although I’m the smallest farmer
in my in my Village I’m the biggest if
you just count Fields I’m actually the
biggest cuz I’ve got 35 Fields so do you
feel more French or more British I’ve
never felt British I definitely don’t
feel French I feel rural I like I like
the countryside I think if I as soon as
I go into a town it makes me feel deeply
depressed I I think particularly in the
evening if you see a town in the evening
with all those lights you can’t live
there it’s crazy it’s like a it’s like
one of these industrial uh Pig sheds or
something you know you’ve got a nice
hard surface so it doesn’t get muddy
you’ve got all the sort of animals in
there stomping around and everything has
to be brought in all the Poo has to be
taken out it’s like yeah you go into a
pig shed and it’s you know you feel at
home maybe some pigs do but not
me but no I feel rural other said I’m
not a big traveler but if you find
yourself you know if I go at sometimes
you just find yourself in a some Village
Cafe and the person’s staring at you and
it’s just basic and you yes this is you
know this is home this is home I feel
comfortable with I’m just going to get
my home I feel comfortable with this but
uh no I think it’s basically I’m happy
to be in my geographical zone I’m I’m a
Kel really I’m a
kelt my grandparents on my dad’s side
were Welsh who lives out here where
there are a few structures that I saw
when I came up here my dad and my sister
and me we five my mom died seven years
ago okay and I’ve got one sister who’s
moved to London you’re not married no do
you want to be married it’s not priority
number one okay I explain to every girl
I meet that my first loves my land but a
good second
place no but I think uh you know it’s
good you don’t jeopardize what’s good
but anyway this was right so that’s our
main cereal crop I kind of figured that
every civilization is based on a grain
today you know you can have a big
vegetable garden everybody says they
you’re self-sufficient veg is good in
the summer but actually where do you get
your grain from you know when I started
doing it I realized that nobody in my
area at least can actually raise a grain
crop from A to Z by hand so you’re the
only guy doing this out here that’s that
I claim I like to say I like to say I’m
the only uh person self-sufficient on
grain in the Western World I say it just
in the Hope someone’s going to
contradict me but so far they
haven’t okay I’m sure this video will
have someone contradicting I really hope
it does in the comments below we got to
we got to break your clim get in touch
know get in touch because the thing
about it is if I’m wrong get in touch
because what’s tragic is when you’re the
only one doing it there’s so little
information around every so often I
can’t find information anywhere you know
I’m the only one I know that’s doing it
this radical with no petrol this is the
main tool this is the plow it’s called a
hoe in Africa they do it hoe farming and
I’m the tractor that’s what I explain to
it I’m the tractor this is my plow that
I wanted to grow my own uh cereal and
grain crop they said oh you can’t do it
you don’t have the energy to grow
yourself your own food you need to have
a horse you need to have a horse to do
the plowing you can’t prepare the ground
yourself but
logically that’s kind of weird the human
being like the only animal that can’t do
its own work for itself has to have a
Slave
has to enslave some poor animal into
doing its work for
it and uh this ground Stony yeah a lot
of rocks in there huh I know but it’s
specifically this field this field is
called Stony field my idea was that I
wanted to uh I should have the energy to
be able to feed
myself and so my petrol my fuel is uh is
basically the bread that’s the idea you
know I’m working the land to grow some
rye I eat the bread I’ve got my energy
to the land and so it’s a completely
short you know micro
cycle like I’m planting a tree and my
grandchildren’s generation is going to
chop it down and going to have a house
something to live
for hazelnuts this one’s got a hole in
it but
uh this one got all the first ones have
got holes but uh I’m a I’m a Nut King
these are basically have all got I
planted them special for uh big nut
varieties we’ll stash it there in the
thatch shed your oh wow that’s cool the
thatch shed this is where we’re having
lunch you know this is called The
Village
Square you just so you know the name but
basically this is where we have a fire
in Winter we have a fire here every
evening we don’t work hard you see we
only do the garden in the afternoon you
you don’t work hard really don’t
farming’s too easy this is what people
don’t understand the problem with
farming is it’s too easy
and I think maybe you know we’ have all
been happier as Hunter gather us but the
farmer is just so easy and you make huge
reserves and you’ve got too much spare
time and so then you you go and fight
your neighbor and stuff like that and uh
and if you’re just having to get your
food every day you don’t have time do
you to uh fight the other human
beings how do you get along with your
neighbors I actually get on well with my
farming Neighbors The Neighbors I get on
best with are my farming neighbors
strangely you know we’ve got they’ve got
Farms like 200 200 Acres not the same
style of farming as me but what do they
think of your style skepticism at first
but I think uh a lot of mutual respect I
think they the a certain bond between
people that like to uh you know get wet
in the rain you guys all have wet feet
yeah I don’t have wet feet I’ve got what
do you what are you what are you doing
here you put the straw in you put yeah
the thing about clogs are you because
they’re wood they don’t they’re not
Supple you know like so they always make
them bigger than what your foot is so
I’m 43 this is a 44 size clog can you
show us what’s going on here okay and uh
and basically you need to uh I mean I’ve
got six socks but the idea is that you
get a bit of straw this is perfect you
this is per the thing is I’ve got some
rubber boots and I’ve got some other
shoes but I’m really getting converted
to clogs because I get chill blades on
my feet in the winter and rubber boots
are just the worst cuz your feet can’t
breathe and your feet get cold in them
but I mean I keep adding the store all
the time but the idea is you shove in a
bit there and you put in your foot and
then you can can do all sorts of jpes
and tricks you know the idea is that you
can even climb a tree with it it’s like
all shoes you just have to get used to
it you know so I grow the Rye do the
rice and my bread and the best straw for
thatching is rice straw so I you know I
get I get my uh bread and I get a roof
and that’s what they say you know modern
farming is more efficient than tradition
farming and but it’s not necessarily
true because in modern farming you have
to get the tin for the roof or the Slate
for the roof from elsewhere and I get
the roof from my field so you’ve got to
add that you know obviously my Harvest
is less the Harvest of grain is less
than what they’d get in a conventional
field but I also get my
roof the Greek philosopher does used to
walk through the market of Athens with a
lantern in daytime saying I’m looking
for an honest man to me I’m doing the
same thing I’m looking for an honest man
did you find him I definitely am I’m
hoping to find one in your video that’s
why you’re here this is tools like old
spaces it clutters up but uh that’s a
traditional clog making uh that’s how
you’re making your clogs yeah but these
one that I haven’t made I’m still
learning how to make them but i’ make a
few every year but that’s yeah to hollow
the clog how many clog makers do you
think are left in France
oo very very very very few in Britany in
AR I think there were two maybe it’s
just some really old men traditional
clog makers it’s just dead it’s just do
you feel like in in Britany a lot of
this older culture is going away or are
the Traditions being passed on and the
young people are carrying on some of
it things just dying like I think the
stories the same everywhere it maybe
there might be one or two people
learning younger people but it’s not as
fast as the older people dying and the
knowledge being lost I mean you can try
and get fake hope you know by focusing
on one or two younger people but the
overall picture is just all going in One
Direction in my opinion and it’s off the
edge of the cliff are the young people
all moving to the cities
here yeah I mean at the same time there
were young people moving to the
countryside okay but the people moving
to the countryside have their jobs
online like me right they can work some
of them yeah with the uh remote
working that’s been a big thing but
others uh no money no job and just got
fed up with it and trying you know
trying to make something work I mean the
way you live is inexpensive but is it
pretty inexpensive to live out here
relatively presumably particularly the
property but it still takes money that’s
is people have this sort of idea idea of
uh you could living on no money a lot of
people when they see me they want to
plaster this on me as a concept Sam
lives with no money but it’s just
completely fake it’s not true nobody you
can’t I I don’t really you know you
can’t really live with no money
practically and I don’t want to because
you know you got to be part of uh what’s
going on you know in my opinion I want
to uh carry my voice loud and high
across the world you know to show
there’s another uh I’ve started doing
books about how we Farm maybe it’s not
actually a problem the money but it’s
just I think it’s it’s a problem that
we’ve become dependent I felt dependent
on the food industry on the energy
industry and I wasn’t necessarily in
agreement with every element of it you
know okay so wouldn’t it be fair to say
that we’re dependent on resources and
money is just a way of getting exactly
efficient way to get those resources is
using money yeah and but the resources
it’s false dependence this is what I you
know I felt I felt like a stranger and I
couldn’t live without petrol and plastic
and uh other human being I hadn’t been
made oh with the other human being I’m
dependent on food I need to eat or I’m
dead it’s with petrol it’s not that’s
not the case I don’t want to be
dependent on uh on a system and a chain
that I think is uh destructive to the
planet but also to human beings I think
we are actually nature it’s not just bad
for the bees and nature and uh it’s
actually bad for
us so two years ago when we arrived my
dad built a modern house with electric
and running water and uh you see in a
building like this if you put a book in
it it gets damp a computer it would
destroy a computer in like a few months
it would get too damp I think you’ve got
to be practical you need a modern space
even though I find modern space is ugly
and I think when I got to be about six
we had these two ruins that someone sold
us for like few hundred I think you can
see you’ve just got clay you know no
cement just clay mortar yeah just rocks
basically Walks from the fields mud
basically is the mortar and wood and
slate on the roof that was the building
traditionally would have been thatch
it’s just completely in harmony this
idea that just kept booing me of as a
human being why do I need to build
myself this huge Fortress against nature
of concrete and uh you go and buy all
these products that basically destroys
the fertility of the soil but as a human
being what do you live on you live
thanks to the fertility of the
soil I didn’t know anything about
traditional building or anything so I
tried to do this we took it down and
built it back up the same side you made
this yeah we did the whole thing slate
roof with a skylight that is cool I took
it down I built it back up and I kind of
felt that I built it up less good than
what I’d taken down that other house was
in a Pursuit really of doing something
that was more genuinely
ecological this is my seed production oh
yeah I’m drying out all my seeds so all
from the property yeah except the
parsnip barley or naked barley that is
or new broad beans rocket arula so every
day all the food you’re eating comes
from your property or are you taking
anything from the surrounding
area thing as I live with my sister and
my dad I’m probably the most fanatical
if I was living by myself the answer
would be yeah you know people like
different things is good I think a bit
of flexibility is good I’m too I’m too
extreme I’m too radical it normalizes me
that’s my uh amaranth it was a grain of
the aexs you’ll see it in the garden
it’s a great
plan do you think small farms are under
a threat in France
you’ve got Farms that are like 200 Acres
300 acres all the pressures on them
getting you know bigger like this guy
out here he doesn’t even know if he’s
going to be able to pass it on to his
son you know I think there’s a really
big change going on where the Family
Farm is just disappearing really really
fast so the bigger conglomerates the
bigger Farms are just buying up the
smaller it hasn’t really it hasn’t
really happened here but they’re talking
about it corpor then by the Chinese it’s
just all being kept afloat by government
money that’s the problem the French
Farms just lose money okay and the and
the government just keeps them AF flat
but at the same time you’ve got these we
call them Neo rurals and people coming
from the town who want to live on the
land my neighbor here he just sells milk
and he sells it to uh the co-op and they
just mix it with all the other milk and
some of it goes as baby formula in China
they’ve got a a factory 15 minutes away
so it’s not at all local you know and
then NE rurals who are from the town
they have these small farms a few cows a
few chickens and they go and they do the
local markets okay so the local markets
are booming really with like local small
scale producers oh great that’s cool so
that’s where I got my butter from that’s
where I got my cheese you know it’s a
network it’s a nice
Network so this is the neighborhood yeah
just can’t with this to the black bre
now
that one
yeah there
you when they come off with that little
you know that it’s uh they got a green
bottom I say you’ve got to make you know
look at the bottom of your black brain
if it’s green then it’s
good in our village we’ve got three
different uh families so that’s uh the
neighbor and that’s another
neighbor when I was young you know I
used to walk this walk every day me and
my sisters before I started did farming
and uh just every year you just see uh
less people bigger Fields nobody’s out
here less trees exactly less
trees less hedge R so there were kids
back here in the day not kids but they
were they were uh old retired Farmers
but uh still doing a bit of work now
it’s just machines you know it just to
me it’s just a landscape I can see to
some people it’s still quite idilic the
fields are quite small got hedge RS but
in 30 years it’s just less uh to me it’s
just less loved you know it’s got less
people loving
it so this was the Old Town Center or
Hamlet as you say it’s a yeah it was a
hamlet yes used to be several Farms here
in a new home that’s yeah that’s a new
home yeah finally starting to move a bit
the whole thing but this was uh used to
be 60 or 70 people I believe a lot of
houses if you go into the brambles into
the under gr you find a lot more
buildings 60 to 70 people living back
here yeah cuz the families were big you
know the fames that eight or n kids so
these were all separate Apartments yeah
each house is it and you have to count
the chimneys really and this is a cool
structure that’s nice yeah this is a
traditional architecture it stones from
the fields yeah the lovely buildings
someone’s living here now there’s a
skylight open yeah it’s the second home
they come back once or twice a year
Samuel do you feel like you’re missing
out on anything like when you’re 80
you’re going to be on the same plot of
land that’s the plan yeah you said push
push you a little so that was a little
that was a little pushy question I want
to push a little pushy question you sure
you’re doing the right thing Samuel you
sure you’re on the right plan on the
right trajectory I think I think these
are questions you should ask yourself
all the time when I do you Nick and I
it’s kind of weird because I don’t know
I just kind of feel I’m approaching 40
and when you get to be 40 but even at 35
you halfway to 70 you know I don’t know
when you’re 20 you’ve got this mystical
idea of how you’re going to make it all
right you know everything’s like you
don’t know how and you get to be 37 or
something you think you know I’ve had
half my life I could almost work out how
many sorts of cans of beans I was going
to consume now for the rest of my life I
could work it out you know that’s
depressing you know I don’t but you know
how many you know how many bags of R I’m
going to going to have for the rest of
my life because you you’ve got you’ve
gone halfway I don’t know I just got you
know happened to me recently with the
the age thing I’m actually starting to
feel uh you I see people who are 20 I’m
actually starting to feel older I’ve
always been the little one in the house
you know I think I’ve always this idea
of being the little one but uh haven’t
got kids but I’ve you know I’ve moved up
a generation you know people are looking
at
me you know hoping for some inspiration
for some guidance like I looked at
people older than me hoping I was going
to uh get some ideas you know what the
hell to do within
life that’s the oven I built this uh my
third
attempt I built two ovens before but
they just I couldn’t get the air to
circulate right and so the uh put the
dough in and it just stayed as dough
then finally I just measured my
neighbor’s oven takes an hour and a half
to 2 hours to heat and 45 minutes to
cook the bread I do it every 2 3 weeks
but I I freeze some of my bread because
I don’t want to do it every week so if
all the supply chain stopped things
stopped Society stops Society Society
completely stops basically the Lor stop
on the road the Lor stop the electricity
stops H the internet stopped I’m
freaking out in my head but I’m I’m
doing okay yeah how long would you last
well I’d go all the way wouldn’t I
that’s the idea it’d be a gamble because
I think that I need other people but
poten
if everything stopped a few people might
think Samuel’s got an idea some people
though they’ I think they’re planning on
coming and robbing my stores when it
stops a few people have mentioned that
what do you mean well they just say well
it’s good to know where you’ve got your
R stored Sam and your potatoes I’ll come
and get some if everything
stops right that is a reality I think
most people don’t like it like there’s
this sort of this romantic notion of
like I can self- sustain right and I’m
totally on my own and the world stops
I’m good out here but you’re right once
that happens you got the goods and
someone else doesn’t exactly they’re
coming for you and then and then you
think well what I’m lacking is a gun and
and some ammunition you know to shoot
the people that are trying to steal my
stores but you’re never going to survive
a loan and so what you’ve got to do is
share in my opinion the plan is share
what I’ve got you have to be close with
all of your neighbors yeah the community
has to be very tight but but yeah this
is my uh my Next Step you know I just
feel too vulnerable even though I get on
with my neighbors to me I want you know
together you know together we’ll
survive that was all last night’s rain
impressive this is the potatoes and
guess what’s under here something I do
to All American YouTubers I bury them I
make a little Mound oh cool so I got to
join no it’s my potato crop all the
potato are there and I’ve covered it
with straw and Earth so I’ve got enough
potato there to last me until
uh up to May next year you know I’ve got
uh 10 months of potatoes or
something this is the vegetable garden
oh nice this is a fine sight what we’re
going to do we’re going to get a
cucumber for lunch it’s actually been a
really hard year been really cold and
really damp this is good this is this is
really nice stuff
this is
Sal so growing up out here did you go to
the local school or no home school I was
at home school yeah look around the
school but teacher scared me teacher
scared you why she took because she took
me in her arms and said in English I
will not eat you little
boy I burst into teeth and that was it
okay so you never went to school here in
France NOP I didn’t learn French until
uh didn’t interest me I I learned when I
think we’re now 16 or something do you
speak perfect French I speak yeah I
speak good french but with a with a
funny
accent so what do you think of French
culture I think it’s dead I think all
culture is dead I think the soil is dead
culture comes from living in an area and
cultivating the ground and that’s what
gives you differences now we make a big
fuss about culture and preserving
culture but when the soil’s dead it’s
like a tree that’s got no roots I think
we should just face it you know
culture’s dead if we can’t go back the
soil so what do you mean by that because
I’m traveling through Britney and I’m
seeing many farms that have Nic looking
crops it’s just growing with it’s
growing with with fertilizer if you stop
the fertilizer you’re just seeing gas
Pizza to me it’s just you know the
fertilizer comes from the gas you know
everything we see our clothes are made
from Petrol our house is basically are
made from synthetic
materials and our food is just grown
their thanks to the petrochemical
industry so we’re at roughly 8 billion
people in the world right how do you
expect the world to feed itself without
fertilizer well at the moment the world
doesn’t want to feed itself without
petrochemicals right so I’m not you know
I’m not here to impose anything on
anybody I don’t want to feed myself on
petrochemicals and I found a
solution this is a beach Roo par snip
cages spinach parsley what is this
amaran it’s beautiful look you know it’s
like quino but little okay so that’s a
grain that’s a grain and I’m kind of
tring it smells good you’re not smelling
I think you’re smelling coriander okay
oh
yeah oh that smells so good that smells
so good yeah that’s cilantro you
noed smells so good out here and uh uh
and if you like eating blue then uh bdge
flowers though uh I love blue
flowers anything blue is good not a lot
of food is blue and can you see the
plant behind uh-huh that’s quinoa see
we’re going on a a gouret trip is that a
poppy yeah what else you got going on
out
here people like to make jokes of me
when they see all my poppy
but for lunch we’re going to try
something really good fun and we’re
going to try grilling corn in it sheath
on the
fire this is really good you just stick
this in the fire and it’ll cook without
burning and I’m we’re just going to do
one or two just do a little
extra for our
meal this is how we fertilize the the
gardeners with all this stuff so you
don’t use cow dong haven’t got cows
people AR to talk about vegan farming
vegan farming Technically when you don’t
use manure but how did the gr I you how
did the grass get into the uh end up in
the soil it’s lots of little bacteria
eating it and you know spewing it out
and so it’s not vegan it’s just lots of
little animals rather than one big
one the same process it just takes
longer I’d have lost all my credibility
people hadn’t seen leaks in my
garden leak soup in winter it’s been a
Celtic fuel since prehistoric times
in Britany they’ve got a Celtic language
which is called Braton traditionally a
100 years ago they didn’t speak French
in Britany they spoke Breton and it’s
distinctly different it’s not a Latin
language it’s a Celtic language very
it’s almost identical to Cornish very
similar to Welsh Britany has been
attached to France for several hundred
years so is a long history of being a
region of France but uh 100 years ago
hardly anything French came in we’re
real Backwater basically Britany if you
look at the map with the dead end it’s
the peninsula sticking out nobody went
through it so basically nobody bothered
us and so a lot of the old traditions so
how is Britany perceived by other French
people outside of the region what is it
looked at are you guys like the
hillbillies out here yeah it’s actually
one of the regions of France that people
move to the most okay because it’s got a
positive now it’s got a positive
identity it’s still France but it’s
actually got a lot of it’s got a lot
more
culture this is like really old you can
see this well is really old it’s just
made with four stones and you can see
the way that Stone’s been worn away
there in Winter the waser runs over it
but it’s like how old do you think this
is it’s hard to tell I think a lot of
stuff here does date back before the
Romans know it’s like cuz you’ve got the
megalithic culture of of the men here
and the doll men’s which goes like six
or 7,000 years ago and I think that a
lot of the banks and the sunken Pathways
actually date back to that era you’ve
got Stone Henge you’ve got a lot of
stone stuff in Great Britain but the
biggest concentration is in southern
Britany in carac and they’ve got rows
the alignment they got rows of thousands
of Stones all the top 10 tallest Stones
more or less of all in britainy and he’s
got the most stones that was obviously
the the center of the megalithic culture
you know I was a big fan of uh before I
got into farming I got had to visit
every single standing Stone in Britany
but I think I lik them because it was
just an idea of uh another reality no
one knows why they built them but you
know it’s completely forgotten the
Romans just wiped out all the uh you
know tribes so nobody knows so there’s
something mysterious and to me they’re
beautiful you know I’m always in search
of
beauty this is a cider shed they all the
me this is my
swallows I’ve got some babies in there
this is what nobody gets to
see oh that’s the cider yeah this is the
cider that’s what I’m there okay that’s
empty it’s all almost empty I’m making
cider probably next month but uh that’s
empty see this one’s where we’re
drinking this one’s full do you drink a
lot of cider I like to drink it while
I’m working I find it goes right goes
really well with uh manual work do you
get like a nice gentle little buzz I
don’t drink to get drunk I drink to uh
hydrate but on Spring water’s got a bad
reputation because of all the nitrates
in it and uh so I just reckon that cider
is filtered water it’s filtered by The
Apple Tree the tree takes up the water
puts it in the Apple the Apple drops
down you crush the Apple you uh get the
juice you stick it in the barrel it’s
100% apple juice and sugar goes off so
it’s even better for you cuz it’s too
sugary otherwise just a really really
what’s the alcohol content about the
same as beer five or six it’s not strong
you can have uh have about a ler a day
you know
easy okay so this is where your father
and sister lives yeah and I live here
part time half and half you know hello
hello oh this is great A Bit of luxury I
cooked something nice yeah cooked this a
nice tart oh it smells so good like
strawberry jam yes there you oh this is
beautiful your fireplace I built it all
did your father build this place or it
came all it he built it all of it yeah
by himself yes what do you think people
don’t understand about this lifestyle I
think that
people have been told lots of things by
their education which aren’t true like
what
like people in the past had a really bad
time and obviously really bad things did
happen in the past and people did die or
loads of bad things but you don’t convey
when you say that the fact that it’s
just really really nice to have fresh
air and you could that you can see they
really quickly fresh air but actually
it’s a huge huge thing or to hear birds
singing and all these people we think of
in the past were the plague and the
Middle Ages and everything they were
having so much nature around them birds
and fresh air and pure water and
particularly in the countryside yeah if
you’re out of the Cities obviously they
had the plague in the towns and stuff
they hardly anywh within the town back
but it’s interesting in Britany because
it’s one of the areas of Europe where
they modernized and industrialized the
last there used to be lots of Americans
who used to come here and they used to
write articles and journals and books
about
it back in the like beginning of the
1900s because it was so so incredibly
oldfashioned and people would be doing
things which like it was like the Middle
Ages I mean even now today in Britany
you can meet like some in a 70s and they
would have looked after the cows and the
fields and they were young or they’ been
born in a house with a dirt
floor it’s really surprising they look
completely modern and yet for them
they’re like oh yeah we didn’t I was
born in a hospital I was born in like
one of these they call like you clo like
box beds used to have in Scotland as
well with like mhm wooden doors open and
close on them if you don’t have money
and you’re in the countryside you’re not
necessarily poor you can have masses and
masses of stuff to you grow more stuff
than you ever imagine you could have in
the town and that’s what people used to
know the peasants were the rich ones and
the rich people always trying to get you
know the aristocrats are trying to get
that stuff off them all the time that’s
where the wealth all comes from is the
land but it’s like people don’t tell you
that you’re actually in the town you’re
completely reliant on them on the system
for
everything well we’re all relying on our
food source yeah and clothes you st
thinking about clothes it’s just a whole
area of complete
madness Okay so do you feel like you
have more freedom just by being close to
your food
uh yeah a bit but I mean if you just
start really thinking and thinking about
things you know that anything could
happen any minute like drones or nuclear
explosions or I don’t I wouldn’t say I
felt particularly
cocky but I think it’s more
like dayto day it’s nice to have your
own things to eat cuz it’s so so nice
more than anything else it’s a pleasure
to prepare them and pick them it’s more
just like trying to have a good time
every day I think
really what do you think about the
direction the world is going
in that’s a wide question question I
think we should be very worried about
the
children I think the children are are
not in a good State and not being looked
after
properly how so they’re not getting
enough adult in healthy adult input I
think and so if you as a child if you
don’t have healthy adult input you can’t
develop properly I mean I was lucky
because I my parents made a lot of time
with me and you just need it you
need people talk a lot about it’s good
for children to play together and that
is nice but it’s also very very special
to them to spend time with adults and
also older children I mean I got a lot
artive spending time with my little
brother and sister I didn’t go to school
and it was because I did go to school
till I was nine and then I left and it
was a huge thing at the beginning it was
so boring playing with little children
everything they did it was just like
they couldn’t do anything they were
really little they couldn’t do anything
was so boring playing with in comparison
to my friendss So-Cal friends at school
but then after a bit I thought oh the
whole Dynamic here because they’re
looking up to me and I can help them do
stuff cuz I was the youngest one in my
school so it was like I was a bit stupid
something I was like really
important and but it was just really fun
having to look after some little
children and people don’t talk about
that that much you think that’s missing
now I really do I really
do I think Human Society even doing very
well and I think the world itself is
fantastic but humans are doing silly
things to all the
time and human beings aren’t a lot of
them aren’t in a very good way how do
you think that
changes how do you think that could
change it’s a good
question I guess it would have to be
down to people thinking for themselves a
bit more
maybe I’m trying to get it boiled once
it’s boiled 10 minutes and then good the
basic started getting it
boiled but yeah the meal plan is boed
potatoes well it’s still is walnuts to
start off with bread and cheese and
butter
cucumber soz we got to you know the idea
that you have a drink and then you you
can cheer and everything and uh it’s
social I never tasted this I don’t know
if it needs watering down or what but
yeah thanks for getting me the juice
since I don’t drink booze you can be the
first to try yeah I’m going to put
myself some more Sider
cuz so that’s
the cheers cheers cheers cheers
mate drink oh yeah
W that’s nice what inspired you to pack
up from your country I see where Samuel
got it from but I like to think of it
more being like a United States of
Europe so it’s more like moving from
Washington to Oregon or something like
that okay not everybody likes to see it
that way so when you came here it was
super inexpensive still is really still
is still is it’s 4,000 a hectare but
you’re not allowed to live on it you
can’t build a house on it you have to
take a pre-existing home yeah yeah
okay that’s why it’s so inexpensive yeah
you can’t
yeah is it hard to live this lifestyle
in this country in this country
basically the French
identity is being a small scale
farmer that is the ultimate French
identity okay and therefore everybody in
theory supports everyone that’s doing it
when the farmers even though they’ve
moved a long way
from what we’re doing they’ve got big
tractors and big
machines when they go on the news and
say life isn’t fair we’re not being paid
enough they just get 100% support more
or less from the French population
because France sees itself as a farming
Nation even though it’s only actually
2% apparently people that make their
living through farming now it was
only 70 years ago go and it was probably
70% so with the small farms that go the
culture goes with it to some degree fair
to say or fair to say when we moved here
there were the Farms there were a few
Farms that were very
small and the farmers were speaking
Breton they weren’t really French
speakers and that was only 30 years ago
only 30 years ago they were just on the
edge of retirement I think it’s just the
nature of the modern
world is that most cultures are being
sort of leveled having one one
culture everybody’s got the same
smartphones people have got the same
apps on the
smartphones that’s the culture isn’t
it this is just the best
bread from the garden yeah you’re never
going to get you not I can’t see how
you’re going to get a bread more
authentic than this in the western world
the grain is grained by hand 100% you
know harvested by hand it threshed by
hand a little bit of nuclear energy for
Milling the flour and uh cooked in a
bread oven so this is natural butter
from the village correct yeah and cheese
yeah all local cheese with seaweed with
seaweed M okay it’s really good you know
you come to France you’re not going to
have a lot of wine but you could have a
lot of cheese oh yeah wine in France
wine and cheese
okay that’s good
mhm got six amas to radicalize py so
that was my that’s my ambition you know
I had a lot of stuff but you’re going to
radicalize me I just hoping to yeah
radical you that I think real freedom I
think freedom I I just can’t I can’t see
how you can really get it unless you got
a bit of land you know and obviously
you’ve got the rules in place in the
country
but when you’ve got your own bit of
landed you know you don’t really need to
listen to all the stuff that’s going on
do you because you’ve got everything you
need is this a normal occurrence you’re
eating like this with a pie at the end
every time a YouTuber
come I hardly ever make PES this is why
I have to work hard to get YouTubers to
come all right strawberry right
good that’s very
good where do you get the sugar from
shop okay we used to have bees and of
honey but they just died you’ve got to
do a few things so people don’t think
you’re so radical and obsessive and bang
sugar is one of
them I’m going to bore you I’m going to
talk about my tools but then at least
I’ve done it at least I’ve done it you
feel like you have to don’t you to me
that’s what interesting i’ I’d just be
ashamed if you’d come all the way and
you would uh you know filmed it and I
hadn’t talked to you about the thing I
thought was interesting I was waiting
for you to ask me you haven’t asked me
you asked me if there anything I’m
interested in I’m going to talk about it
but I kind of get this feeling when I’m
talking to people about get it I I’ve
just been saving the best for last I
really want to know what your tools are
like yeah but think in a more convincing
way p a second chance I love
tools it’s not the tool that’s
interested is what the tool can do is
what’s interesting but this is uh the
sickle Bill hook wrong it looks like a
sickle but it if you felt it it’s heavy
it’s twice are you going to try are you
going to try it on me is that what
you’re
doing it would go through too easy it
wouldn’t be worth it but now I’ll show
you a sickle and you’ll see the
difference I mean it’s similar shape but
this is really light no I going to give
it you to try you know just to feel how
light it was but uh I wasn’t going to
try it on you okay so can I okay give a
whack yeah but it’s a left-handed sickle
but yeah don’t get my flowers but get
give a whack here there you go
press and this can feel it is B don’t
give a whack don’t give a whack it’s
just for wood okay but what but I’ll
give a whack thickle is it’s basically
for cutting brambles Brushwood grass
this stuff you looking messy and the
idea is you hold the vegetation with the
fork stick and you get to it oh that’s
nice so yeah you can see it’s a that’s
uh really ancient tool and this is my
got it for my 16th birthday and it’s
still the same handle getting worn but
the uh the blade still
good that’s the winter activity making
the baskets yeah basket making just for
carrying stuff around here
yeah this is actually
NS that that’s Freedom imagine how many
calories you got in those nuts that’s
right for people who don’t know what R
is that’s
right I like people but I don’t like
going out because I don’t like the world
I go into so the long-term plan is the
world to come to me so I don’t need to
go out that would be my ideal world I
stay at home the world comes to me like
you if I have people coming around I
probably won’t go out in couple of weeks
courses here sometimes right yeah um
that’s the latest uh project it’s latest
project because I think it’s a logical
follow one but up till now I haven’t
really felt have had it’s easy to say
you do a course but you got nothing to
teach I believe in free courses I
believe in free teaching okay you want
people to come I want people to come but
I want I don’t want them to pay I think
it should be free I’m going to leave
that link down below here guys Samuel’s
free
yeah they might not always be free
though I’m guessing they’re always going
to be free always going to be free but
careful what you wish for no they’ve got
no but they’ve got to be free cuz uh for
me it’s a family you if I teach people
it’s my family it’s not about money it’s
about love and it’s like time that I’m
investing in people for a future and
that’s that that’s the idea and it’ be
the same project if I had my kids I
wouldn’t make them pay me if I wouldn’t
make my wife pay me it would be it would
be love and that’s why but it’s not
obviously it’s free but you’ve got to be
interested don’t be dead weight not just
curious because uh we haven’t got time
to waste we’ve got uh we’ got a future
to make you know
okay this is the office it’s a mess and
uh there you go that’s technology just
going to print out some books
upstairs some books yeah some books
because we do books cuz the IDE of just
having a garden to feed myself it
doesn’t really inspire me it wouldn’t
inspire me to go out there and uh just
my stomach isn’t enough to motivate me
you know I just like to St aart you know
and cause mischief and I I call it
causing Mischief other people could say
you know you’re inspiring people or
whatever but I don’t know if I’m
inspiring if I’m just causing Mischief
but the idea is that I do boook uh my
dad and my sister we do books to exp
explaining how we work cuz it’s quite
radical you know the fact we’re feeding
our El we’re not selling it we’re
working by hand you print the book
ourselves and we make it up ourselves
it’s like I like to col the product of
the Fall you print it here yeah I have
to open up the file and then I’m going
to start printing take off my hat
because I’m
indoors and here we go 21st century ho
farming yeah an antidote to
globalization
so this is a book you know this is a
finished
book and uh you have artwork in there
yeah because uh my dad writes and I draw
so it’s kind of combination of the two
that’s my character clearing of ground
that’s my tools exactly yeah my dad
likes to write I’m anti- text I learned
to read and write late you know I’m
waging an anti- wish and word campaign
Crusade so I just try and draw with the
minimum amount of writing so yeah we’ve
got about uh five books the rest of them
are in French at the moment we’ve sold
almost all our books in
[Music]
French so you hand make all of your
books you sell yeah the thing is the
idea I’m sort of selling parts of myself
I think that’s what’s interesting today
you’ve got a lot of books that are just
uh really nicely printed quite
commercial
looking and uh I think when I buy a book
I’m interested in the person you know
it’s I think people are interested in
people you’re not just interested in an
idea necessarily you’re interested in
people and I want people to know that
there’s there somebody real behind the
book and if they like it then they can
come and uh learn more you know find out
more about what we’re doing and that’s
the
uh there you go oh that’s so cool we
also got an English language used letter
the subsistence Gardener that’s free
that’s uh on the website cool comes out
every month cool that links Below in
this video too I’m going to leave that
there is this your Journal yeah that is
so cool that’s last month we doing this
you you can see basically we’ve got uh
okay so you have advertisers in there
and that’s for local Craftsmen and women
you know it’s local crafts a lot of it’s
in English though all in English yeah so
there are enough English speakers out
here where that works yeah it’s a niche
business but we print
2,000 now we used to do
4,000 a month seeing that we’ve been
doing it for years and years it’s
everybody if you go into an a house a
British person they’ve all got a it’s a
bit of a Bible you know and that’s my
collection I did a car boot sale we
stopped with Co but that’s where I got
my tools from I love your artwork this
is all your work yeah wow it’s
beautiful if people ask me what I do you
know for me I am a farmer it’s like it
it’s just my hobby but I am a farmer
because it’s who I am but I’m not making
a fantasy that I can make a bubble and I
don’t need money obviously I need money
okay so the graphic designing selling
books and your newsletter is how you
make your money that’s yeah exactly
graphic design for myself and my dad you
know I don’t tend to do it for other
people occasionally I’m not good at
working for other people when I do it
for them they don’t like it and when I
do it for myself they love it you know
that’s what I want to advise people is
don’t try and make your money from the
land the land is love enjoy it we don’t
try and make your money from it but you
need some money so find another way you
know and uh there a thousand you know
there a thousand things that need to be
done but uh at the moment the main thing
is the magazine and then the books so
someone would want to buy this if they
want to get in is this sort of a howto
book yeah but more than anything else it
Mo I want to motivate people I think
everybody finds their own way everyone’s
living in their own place but it gives a
reason why it’s a logical thing to do is
have a garden why it is an antidote to
globalization can you ship to the United
States yeah there’s a great shipping
rate from France okay so any of you out
there that want this very cool looking
book and to get closer to Samuel’s World
link down below right faring H
farming.com ho dasf faring Doom exactly
okay anything else you want to say and
yeah information on there how you know
where we are how to get the book the
newsletter what I want to say it’s just
been a fantastic uh experience you know
was uh my first visit from an American
YouTuber thank you and so I’m just uh
and no I’m just going to see what what
we’re going to go back from it you know
but I was excit excited about this for a
month so it’s been great no this has
been cool thank you for bringing us into
your world it’s something I admire and
respect very much and I think a lot of
my viewers out here do too all right
guys thanks for coming on that Journey
see you next time see you next time when
Pet’s back here to see the progress
that’s right until the next one
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