Justin Rhodes on Growing Food and Hard-Working, Problem-Solving Kids

“A happy family growing our own food and living the permaculture homestead dream.”

That’s how Justin Rhodes describes life. He and his wife Rebekah grow food and homestead with their four children, ages 1-8, not too far from us in western North Carolina. I had a chance to talk with Justin, aka the “permaculture chicken ninja master,” about growing food and kids.  I’m excited to share the interview and some of my favorite vlog episodes with you.

I first met Justin in high school, where we both ran track. He was one of the cool long distance runners. I ran the hurdles. Cool, sure. But not nearly as cool as those crazies who took off running for miles and miles. (My sister and brother are among the “crazies,” so I say that with complete fondness!)

Justin and I went different directions after high school and didn’t keep in touch. So when I saw a trailer for Permaculture Chickens, I wondered, “Could this ‘Justin Rhodes from Asheville’ be the Justin that I used to know?”

 

A little Googling and I realized yes! It was the same Justin.

He’d shaved his long hair, grown a beard, and donned a cap and apron. His quirky sense of humor had not changed at all.

I was thrilled to reconnect with Justin and Rebekah. I love the work they’re doing on their own farm and the way they raise their family. They are inspiring partners, gardeners, and parents.

This summer they documented 100 days of growing food. Tens of thousands of people tune in to see their latest adventures on their daily vlog on YouTube. They also share their knowledge through their Abundant Permaculture website (where you can also find information about their Permaculture Chickens film and 10-Hour Homestead Course).

Here’s our conversation:

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Amy: Justin, thanks for talking with me today! Let’s start with your garden. Can you tell us a little about what you grow?

Justin: I have two garden systems. Both incorporate chickens. One is the kitchen garden, which is closer to the house. It’s more for variety, good looks, and things that we go grab before meals.

Then, the crop garden is where we grow a handful of things that all come in at once. Pumpkins, potatoes, sweet potatoes, squashes, and tomatoes. We plant it and then we mostly leave it. Later, we come back and harvest it all at once.

Watch Justin and his family in action planting the fall garden in this video:

Why do you grow your own food?

We grow food because we’re health conscious. That’s where it all began. And we’re also frugal.

For us, eating healthy means a lot of meats, vegetables, and fruits–whole foods. But organics, those tend to be expensive in the store. They’re also the things you can grow most easily on the farm.

Growing food is something we can work on together as a family. And it gives us a bit of food security going down the road.

I want my kids to learn how to work hard, solve their own problems and grow their own food. They can apply those lessons to anything they want to do in life, whether they want to be a farmer or not.

Can you tell us about a success you’ve had in growing food with kids on your own farm?

Sure. Most recently, this morning actually, Jonah came up to me and he wants to do the chores. He wants to take over the chores.

He’s 8 years old and it’s the right age, if I can set it up right. Some things are slapped together, which is fine because I can handle it. But if I tweak those things, like a quick release hose connector so that he can get off the hose to get water for the animals, he could do the chores himself.

The kids see us doing it and we don’t have to teach them a thing. They are naturally inclined to learn and discover for themselves. And now, it’s beautiful to see them just stepping up automatically.

Also, if they help on the farm, they get paid. They’re learning a big life lesson: if you work, you get paid.

Every Friday is shopping day, and we let them buy something. Sometimes we cringe at what they want to buy, but it creates this excitement. They know they earned that money on the farm with hard work.

Because they’re helping with the turkeys, they each get to sell a turkey. That’s going to be a $250 organic, pastured turkey. That’s going to be a big payday for them!

But, we don’t make them do farm work. They can go off and play, but if they help, they get paid. When payday comes, they have excitement…or they don’t. It’s an important lesson.

Can you take us the other direction? What is your biggest challenge in gardening and farming with kids?

The biggest challenge is letting them be involved. They want to be involved, but it will drive you nuts.

This morning, for example, Jonah doing the chores. It would take me 10 minutes, maybe 15. But it takes him 45 minutes, even with a little help from me. By the end of it, I’m done. The challenge there is patience.

They’re so bad at it. You can do it so much better. But you know it’s so good that they’re doing it and you really need to let them do it. But it’s a struggle.

What do you say to yourself to stay with it?

I have to keep saying: ‘There’s something good in this.’

Permaculture and life in general have taught me, when something bad happens, there’s a blessing in it somewhere.

For me, for any homesteader, it can be telling yourself: ‘This is a moment. This will never happen again. This is good for them. This is an investment.’ You know they’ll step on plants. No problem, we’ll just plant more than we need. Then, it becomes a story to enjoy.

Watch Justin making the investment with his toddler and practicing patience in this video:

Let’s get specific. What are your kids’ favorite plants? And what are yours?

The kids love to grow watermelon. It’s their favorite to eat. It’s exciting–it gets big and you don’t know when it’s ready.

Me? I like butternut squash because it tastes good. I can make a nice pie with it. And it lasts forever. It will last a year, just sitting on the counter. That’s the bomb.

If you woke up one morning and your garden was GONE, replaced by grass and weeds, what would you do first and what would you plant first?

First, I’d roll my chickens onto it in their mobile coop. Surround the area with an electric poultry net. Let the chickens go to town. Fertilizing it, tilling it, and debugging the place.

Then, I would move the chickens out and plant whatever is in season that I like to eat. Right now, you’re talking about lettuces and spinach going into a winter garden. Let’s look it up in the Farmer’s Almanac. What’s in season in this area that I can plant?

Read all about Justin’s approach to starting a garden in his blog post: 10 Steps For Growing Most of Your Food (In Less Than 10 Hours A Week)

Of course, the permaculture chicken ninja master would start by bringing in chickens to prep the garden. 🙂 I love it. 

Thank you for sharing your perspective on growing food with kids with us, Justin!

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Now, we’d love to hear from you…

What are the long-term investments you’re making in your garden?

And if you have kids, do you struggle with letting them get involved in the garden?

I’d also love to hear about your takeaways from the interview. Do you like this interview format? Would like to hear from more gardeners, farmers, and parents?

Leave a comment below and let us know!