Original subtitles

[Marty] It's hard to imagine

the volume of water it would take to fill up

all of that area over there,

and ultimately get high enough to get over this.

-It's just hard to believe. -[man] It is hard to believe.

-I agree with you. -[Marty] You've seen it?

I have seen it with my own eyes.

Oh, my goodness.

[woman] Jonah, come here.

[boy] The piglet's completely underwater.

[man] We panicked.

[boy] It took all three of us to drag him to high ground.

[Marty] What's the forecast?

[Jake] Rain today,

rain tomorrow.

[thunder rumbles]

[Marty] We've got a week to figure this out.

[Marty] There's been three floods

in the last four months.

Let's do it.

We're pretty much forced to use

what the homestead can provide.

[Misty] Woo-hoo-hoo.

[Marty] We're crushing it. We're moving fast now.

[man] It's moving quite a bit, Marty.

[debris crashes]

I can't see.

[man] Not cooperating.

[Marty] A needle in a haystack.

When the homesteaders tell you that around 1870,

the first homesteaders flooded out,

you're in trouble.

Run.

[man] Wait, wait, wait.

[Marty] And that's how it's done.

All you have to do is survive.

[theme music playing]

[narrator] Marty Raney,

master builder and stonemason.

[Marty] I don't see problems on homesteads.

I see challenges.

[narrator] Daughter Misty,

garden and food preservation expert.

[Misty] I believe you can grow food anywhere.

[narrator] And son Matt,

skilled craftsman and predator protection.

[Matt] Wildlife is a constant threat,

but I draw the line between their home

and your homestead.

[narrator] Together,

they use Alaskan know-how...

-Let's find some power. -[Misty] Yes.

[narrator] ...and ingenuity...

-[man] It's perfect. -[Matt] Yes.

[laughs]

[narrator] ...to save the off-grid dreams

of desperate homesteaders.

[Marty] We work every second we can,

trying to help complete strangers.

That's who we are.

[rain pouring]

Do you guys hear that?

Welcome to Oregon,

where it rains and the trees grow big.

[Misty] This part of the Pacific Northwest

has that rich history

with all the logging.

-[Marty] The Oregon Trail. -[Misty laughs] Yeah.

Thousands and thousands of people

went over the Oregon Trail.

[Matt] This part of Oregon is very wild.

These thick trees,

these deep valleys like this,

anything can be up here.

Predators, prey,

there's mountain lions,

bobcat.

Now, look.

-[Matt] Oh, yeah. -[Marty] That is cool.

[Matt] Did we just cross the finish line

of the Oregon Trail?

[Misty] I hope so.

[Matt laughs]

[narrator] The Raney's head towards a historic homestead

nestled at the base of the coastal mountains

of southwest Oregon.

First established over 200 years ago

as a pioneer logging camp,

an explosion of surrounding farm and logging communities

brought on by the Western expansion

of the Oregon Trail,

led the property to be converted

into a school in 1901.

However,

the weather has intensified in the past decade,

bringing over 100 inches of rain a year,

which funnels down sheer cliffs

into the valleys below,

threatening lives and livelihoods.

It is here that the Hult family finds their off-grid dreams...

deluged.

-I'm Shannon. -I'm Jake.

[Jake] We live in the woods of southern Oregon,

[Shannon] We've been on this homestead for two years.

When we found this property,

it was essentially heaven on Earth.

[Jake] This homestead used to be a rural school.

In the 1800s,

it serviced several logging camps.

[Shannon] We knew that it had flooded in the past,

but with the improvements

and with the buildings on stilts

made us think that the problems had been solved.

It was absolutely gorgeous.

We were on cloud nine.

[Shannon] We put in a garden.

We wanted to be able to produce our own meat,

so we got pigs.

Uh, we wanted to produce our own dairy,

so we got goats and we built an animal pen.

Our whole plan was coming together.

Everything we did seemed to be succeeding.

[Shannon] And then, the rain started.

[thunder rumbling]

We discovered this property floods,

and it floods with a force.

[Jake] Oh, my goodness.

[Shannon] When the water comes up,

it is extremely overwhelming.

[Jake] When the first flood came,

one of our pigs had just had piglets,

and during that flood we lost all of the piglets.

Our garden got completely inundated with water

and wiped out the blueberry bushes and trees that we planted.

Everything was destroyed and washed away.

[narrator] Aside from devastating floods,

Jake and Shannon discovered even more threats

to their gardens and their homestead.

[Shannon] Fifty to a hundred head of elk

may have rooted up in the garden,

just wreaked havoc.

[Matt] They do a ton of damage.

We don't want to feed the predators.

We were trying to feed ourselves.

We don't have a Plan B.

This is Plan A, B and C.

I don't know what we're gonna do.

[Shannon] We are in desperate need of some help

because our dream is quickly fading.

I feel defeated all the time.

[Matt] Having to leave the property would be heartbreaking.

Marty, Misty, Matt, without your help,

our entire homesteading dream will be washed away.

[Marty] Look at these old buildings.

-Hello. -How's it going?

[Marty] Good.

[Marty] Are you expecting some people from Alaska?

-[Jake] We are. -Marty Raney.

Jake Hult.

-[Jake] Hello, Shannon. -Shannon. Hi.

-Shannon. -Jonah.

-Jonah. -Jess.

-Nice to meet you, sir. -[Marty] Jess.

-My name is Matt. -[Misty] Hi.

This place looks really cool.

But what is that building?

[Shannon] It's a gymnasium.

-Well, the average homesteader doesn't own a gymnasium. -[Shannon] Right.

So what's happening here?

[Shannon] This is an old school.

-This was the schoolhouse. -[Jake] Yeah.

[Marty] Okay. How long ago?

[Jake] It started in the 1800s.

1860s, 1870s, it became a school.

It kind of serviced the logging camps in the area.

That's the history of it.

So, how did you end up here,

and how long have you been here?

[Jake] My family lived up here,

so I spent a lot of time up here,

and always wanted to have a homestead,

always wanted to kind of come back to our roots.

and this is where we ended up.

[Misty] And how long have you been here?

We've been here about two years.

And how's it been going?

[Shannon sighs]

It was good and then it got wet.

If we were standing where we're standing now,

two months ago, we'd be up to

above our knees in water.

-Right here? -[Jake] Right here.

-[Shannon] Mm-hm. -[Marty] Knee deep?

-[Jake] Yes. -Oh, yeah.

Okay, so you've been here two years,

the first year was paradise.

-Yeah. -It was.

And then the second year,

you had one flood or?

Three. Three times.

-[Marty] Three floods. -[Shannon] We had three.

[Jake] Three times since December.

Five inches of rain in 24 hours,

puts two and a half to three feet of water

where we're standing.

What if we got ten?

[Shannon] We've been married for 27 years.

[Jake] Shannon and I have known each other

since we were teenagers.

We went to high school together.

I had a unstable childhood,

so did Shannon.

But it really changed us

and directed us what we wanted to do.

We fell in love.

We got married and decided to have a family.

[Shannon] We didn't have a lot of stability, so...

Jake and I have always worked hard

to create a stable environment for our kids,

and what that looked like to us

is to have a homestead.

[Jake] We've always discussed homesteading

since we got married.

We've always looked at properties,

even when we were poor,

didn't have two nickels to rub together,

we always still wanted to be out here.

This is where our roots were.

[Shannon] When we lived in the city,

we had chickens,

and we were doing our best to grow

what the property we owned at the time would allow,

teaching our kids how to can,

how to cook,

how to be more self-sufficient,

regardless of where they are.

[Jake] We've always wanted to raise our kids

in the homesteading lifestyle.

We wanted them to have the skills that it seems like

the world is slowly forgetting.

[Shannon] This area is a place where we always took our boys.

It was our place of recreation.

[Jake] For hunting, fishing, camping.

We saved up a long time for this homestead.

When we found this place, we fell in love.

This place means the source of stability, you know.

It's a symbol that everything is going to be okay,

everything's gonna work out.

It seemed like the dream homestead.

But even with all the progress we've made in the first year,

it seemed like when the flood happened,

it completely set us back to square one.

Even I feel like beyond where we were when we started.

[Shannon] We've made an attempt

to channel the water across the property

and it is not sufficient.

I haven't been able to put up a greenhouse

because of all of the above.

I've been a nurse for ten years,

he's been a police officer for the same.

To know that...

we have taken on something that we don't have the answers for,

it's actually pretty humbling.

We need something to change

because this is really tearing me apart.

[Jake] The flooding could totally ruin us,

but we can't keep pouring money into a property

that keeps pouring a river out onto it.

[Marty] All right. So what happens over here when it comes to the flooding?

[Jake] This is definitely a low spot here.

The old timers took some steps

to mitigate what flooding did happen,

and this berm is kind of the first example of that.

[Marty] They built this out of tires?

[Jake]Yeah, they buried a bunch of old equipment

and vehicle tires in here

to kind of help hold this bank together

and hold this berm up.

We joked that we had more tires than a junkyard,

but water definitely comes over this part of the berm.

We know from history that the first time it flooded

was in the 1870s.

[Marty] So it's been a problem for 150 years.

Yes. Overnight it can go from there

to right here in the yard.

[Marty] Right there is the concrete wall.

[Jake] Somebody at some point poured a concrete wall.

The water has been completely to the top of this,

so this is definitely a weak point.

This is one of the first places

the water starts coming into the yard.

[Marty] Is there any more water

coming into the property?

[Jake] Over here.

So this whole area out here fills with water.

-Where we're standing... -[Marty] Mm-hm.

...is where the river tends to jump its banks.

You see, we're just in a straight shot to the river,

and at full current,

it goes straight through our backyard.

All right, so we've got several issues here.

We've got a berm that is failing,

and that allows water to come in

-and flood that portion of the property. -[Jake] Right.

You come down here,

this water just gets up over the top of this

-where there's no berm at all. -Yes.

And the forecast is rain?

The forecast is rain in the next couple of days.

[Marty] People have used different means,

rubber tires,

concrete walls,

to protect life and property from...

biblically proportioned flooding.

We have multiple problems we're trying to solve,

but it has to be a fix that lasts...

forever.

[Misty] And this looks like you're growing something, right?

[Shannon] Yeah. This is part of the garden that we have.

-So you've had a flood come in... -Yes.

-...and wash the garden away? -Yes.

Is the garden positioned

on the only high ground on this homestead?

Actually, it might be.

-[Misty] Okay. -[Shannon] And,

and our goal has been to box in the whole thing

and protect it from the elk.

We have resident herd in this valley.

-It's upwards of 75... -[Misty exclaims]

...that come and they help themselves.

[narrator] Elk are among the largest land animals

in North America,

weighing up to 1100 pounds,

and foraging up to 24 pounds of food per day.

In addition, elk can be highly destructive,

laying waste to homestead gardens,

and due to their territorial nature,

an encounter can prove extremely dangerous,

even deadly.

But, posts don't do you any good.

[Shannon] The fencing was put on hold

because of the flooding.

When it does flood, it collects so much debris.

So you didn't finish the fence because of the flooding?

-Right? -[Misty] Okay.

Hearing all these stories about all this flooding

tells me that I'm up against Mother Nature.

And one thing I know about her

is she can catch you off guard and be pretty brutal.

[Matt] So this is where you have all your livestock?

[Jessip] Yep. This is our goats.

[goats bleating]

We've got ducks in there,

and we've got chickens that run around.

This portion was pigs.

And then this was our goats only.

But after that first flood we had,

and all the heartache we had to go through

to get the pigs out of there,

we kind of just said,

we'll wait for the pigs

until we can find a better solution

to get pigs back in here,

because the water came in here

and it was three and a half, four feet deep

in the back of the pen,

and those pigs, they don't swim all that great,

especially in the current.

So, the water is just like rushing through

all the way through

-this whole property. -[Jessip] Yes.

It'll sweep you off your feet if the ground's slick enough.

That sounds dangerous.

This area, it's all pretty flat.

It gets a little bit

higher over there.

[Jessip] When we set the pigs there,

we didn't think about it being a low spot

because we hadn't gone through a flood just yet.

[Matt] And the piglets died

because they were just too small.

[Jessip] Yeah, they got swept away, unfortunately,

So, the pigs were...

-a big time protein source for the host then. -Oh, absolutely.

-[Matt] And they're not here anymore. -No.

[Jonah] Yeah, it's definitely been different

just knowing that you're not gonna have that food.

What aspect of the pigs did you like the most?

I liked raising.

So you just come out and you take care of them.

[Matt] When Jonah told me he enjoyed taking care of those pigs,

I realized that the homestead

was missing something for Jonah,

something that is beneficial,

something that will teach him everything he needs to know

about sustainability and raising your own food.

And if they don't have that resource for food,

this homestead is not homesteading.

[Marty] All right, take a look around, guys.

It's about this deep

when it floods here.

-Right here. -Crazy.

It would mean that the goats over there

washed downstream,

or the pigs, which did happen right over there

A hundred and fifty years,

people have been trying to stave off this flooding.

The question is,

what can we do to keep these buildings

from washing down the same river?

[Matt] The family said,

"We don't want to put these animals in harm's way."

And so they stopped raising pigs.

And when I asked Jonah

what he liked most about keeping pigs,

it was the fact that he had something to do.

And if that opportunity stays gone,

this homestead isn't really going to continue,

and the only way that I can see

to bring pigs back on the property

is to make some high ground.

The property wasn't good enough for a homestead,

and the old timers knew it.

This is a schoolhouse.

So, for the first time in history,

we're going to try to homestead here

in one week.

That's what we're up against.

[upbeat music playing]

[Marty] We walked around the property,

heard all the problems,

and now we have to figure out the solutions

because the work starts in the morning.

The question is,

do you want to be self-sufficient...

-Yes. -...grow your own food?

That's the reason you called us.

-[Jake] Right. -Right?

I want you to do

whatever you think that you can do

to help us be a successful homestead.

That's why we're here.

To have a homestead.

[Misty] I think it's so complicated

when you're trying to combat flooding,

and I don't think there's one solution.

The fact that you don't have pigs here,

you know you don't have the food.

The only way I see

getting the pigs back on the property

is by creating high ground,

because you're not gonna find it anywhere.

For us to roll in here in a week and go,

"Yeah, we'll fix it."

I'm not gonna tell you that.

Well, what they didn't have 150 years ago, Marty,

was the Raney family, so...

-[exclaims] -I think we have a shot.

Well, I wish you would have never said that

because now I'm really worried.

-[laughter] -On that note,

we'll see you in the morning.

-We'll hit the ground running. -[Jake] Yeah.

[Shannon] See you in the morning.

[Marty] See you in the morning.

[upbeat music playing]

[Marty] Let's get up close and personal with this thing.

[narrator] It's day two on the Hult Homestead

in southern Oregon.

[Marty] This is definitely compromised.

[narrator] And Marty and Jake set out to solve a problem

that's been plaguing property owners

for a hundred years.

This thing gonna collapse on me?

It looks pretty sketchy to me.

I see the aftermath right here.

[Jake] Sure.

[Marty] So, I'm a believer.

But now,

we need to fix the problem which is the flooding

-breaching these walls... -[Jake] Right.

...and taking out the property and buildings, yeah.

This is the 21st century

where there are rules and regulations

for everything.

So, we just can't waltz in here

and tear out old rubber tire walls

that are collapsing

on the banks of salmon streams.

Not gonna happen.

So, our hand is forced

to look at something else

besides tires

to stave off floodwaters.

It doesn't look like any portions of this wall

have even come close to being compromised.

-No. They're in great shape. -It looks pretty good.

Okay. So, we're gonna pour a footer.

We're gonna head right over here,

We'll set in two pieces of five-eight rebar.

It will be 3000 PSI concrete,

and we'll figure out how we're going to bring it from there

to this concrete.

Wow, I think that's a great idea.

[narrator] Instead of replacing

the original tire wall,

Marty will extend the existing concrete barrier 60 feet,

building it taller

and reinforcing it with rebar.

First, he will grade the ground

between the property and the river's edge,

clearing trees and stone along the way.

Then, after pouring a concrete foundation,

he will install a 60-foot long upcycled cinder block wall

reinforced with steel,

and poured solid

along the entire western riverbank.

-[Marty] Here we go. -[Clint] Okay.

[Marty] We'll cut these trees out,

get them off to the side.

[narrator] While Marty gets started

clearing land for the new berm...

[Misty] Okay.

[narrator] ...across the homestead,

Misty pulls Shannon aside to discuss garden solutions.

You know, these old timers,

-I'm not going to pretend to know... -Right.

-...more than they did, right? -Yeah.

And there's a reason why

all of these structures are on stilts,

and that they're still here...

-[Shannon] Right. -...right?

Every single structure is on stilts...

-[Shannon] Mm-hm. -...right?

Showing up on this homestead

and hearing like, "Oh, there's so much history.

"It goes back to the 1800s."

But they weren't actually homesteading

because the old timers knew something that we don't.

[narrator] Developed in the 1860s,

the site of the Hult's nine acre homestead

once housed a school for children of local loggers.

Located at the base of a valley,

at the confluence of two river systems,

the land was deemed unfarmable,

due to the likelihood of springtime snow melt

oversaturating the soil.

The original schoolhouse was washed away

in the early 1900s

and rebuilt years later.

It would eventually close down for good

in the 1960s.

[Misty] So, you've seen water...

[Shannon] Oh, yeah.

It comes right to the bottom of that board.

So, we're talking, like...

You've seen it a couple of feet.

-[Shannon] Oh, yeah. -Okay.

So, there's a reason why

-all of these stilts are two feet. -Mm-hm.

And anything I want to build,

-I want to put on stilts. -Right.

Do you want to build a greenhouse?

-Is that something that you want to do? -I would love to.

We have about thirty old windows

that we're taking out out of all these buildings...

...over the years, that would be amazing to repurpose

'cause they're still part of the history of the property.

Can you show me all the windows

-you've been collecting? -Yeah. Yeah.

The one thing I've learned about homesteading

is when you're trying to combat something

like Mother Nature, you wanna overdo it.

You wanna over build.

You just wanna, like, totally go for it

so that you could be confident

that you tried do anything you can think of.

These are old windows from...

-Like, the old school house and the principal's office. -Yeah. Yeah.

So right now I'm going above and beyond,

and we're going to build

a stilted green house on top of a berm.

-I think we're looking at your new greenhouse. -[chuckles]

-Are you ready? -Yes, I am.

[narrator] Misty will first build a two foot high berm

to use as the foundation

for a three foot high greenhouse platform.

Then, she will upcycle the heirloom windows,

creating a functional schoolhouse greenhouse

that celebrates those

that came before

and provides for the Hults for years to come.

[Misty] Let's rip out the bushes.

That Greenhouse is gonna give us

a lot more food, a lot more ability

to grow things and get it ready

for any part of the seasons here.

Okay. Can we squeeze one more?

-There you go. -I am completely...

-[Shannon chuckles] -...in this the tree that I'm moving.

But I'll be back.

[upbeat music playing]

[narrator] Over by the river...

[Marty] Coming through.

[Jake] Our bank's pretty steep down there, Marty.

[narrator] ...Marty hits a roadblock clearing land

for the extended retaining wall.

[Marty] We wanna build a retaining wall over 60 ft long to protect

this homestead from floodwaters.

But there's a huge granite boulder in the way.

You can see it goes down into the ground.

I'm hoping we can move it some way,

undermine it, roll it, whatever,

and incorporate it in the berm or wall.

Wow. We gotta move it.

[Marty] On more than one homestead,

we moved big rocks to hold back water.

So, hey, guess what?

I'm a pro.

That's what I thought we were going to do here

until I realized I'm not the pro that I thought I was.

So I think we just gotta go back to the drawing board.

Retreat.

[Marty] Hey, bud.

[narrator] On the Hult Homestead in Oregon...

Let's talk.

[narrator] ...racing against the end of the day,

Marty has made little progress clearing land

for his retaining wall build.

Halted by a massive stone boulder.

You ever heard of a place called Egypt?

They moved a lot of things by undermining them.

-They did. -What do you think about if I dig down here?

If we can roll it over a little bit, it'll be pretty good.

-Wanna try it? -I like it. Let's do it.

[dramatic music playing]

-Moving. -Looks like it goes pretty deep.

It's pretty crazy.

[Jake] Yeah.

It's moving quite a bit, Marty.

Oh, jeez, I couldn't even guess how much that Boulder weighs.

I mean, he sort of dug a hole

next to and underneath the boulder,

and he just, kind of, kept undermining.

You might be getting close.

[Jake] He just kept working at it and digging and digging

and digging till he had enough leverage

to pull and just flop that whole giant boulder

over into the hole that he made.

-[chuckles] -Okay.

I would have not in a million years

thought to move that boulder like that.

In fact, I didn't think it was possible.

You might end up with some more

parking and flat area before it's over with.

Yeah. There you go.

[Marty] But that said, let me get back to work.

[Jake] Sounds good.

[Marty] Looks like the beginning of a wall to me.

[Matt] It's raining right now. That is a lot of water.

But this is a really useful structure.

There's a lot of space in here.

Would you ever wanna keep pigs in here?

Yeah, absolutely. I think that's a great idea.

Okay, but this is a low, wet ground.

You have a grade and drainage problem.

And you have high ground

just on the outside of this building

that actually needs to be

on the inside of this building.

Before we can even get the pigs over here

to help them survive the floods

we need to bring that high ground inside.

Does this skid steer run?

[Jessip] Yeah. It actually came with the property.

The previous owner said that

he was having problems with it

and we've got some of the problems straightened out,

and this has been, kind of, our saving grace.

-Really? -Yeah.

You think you can move some logs with it?

-[Jessip] Absolutely. -Then that's, like, gonna save us a ton of time,

and it might be just what we need

to get this actually figured out.

[narrator] First, Matt will clean out the cluttered pole barn

before grading and elevating the interior, creating high ground.

Then he will build an elevated platform

designed to keep hooves dry

even in the heaviest of rains.

Finally, he will fence in the area inside and outside the pole barn,

giving the pigs a safe place, rain or shine.

[engine starts]

All right, let's just get this out.

It's kind of funny how somebody comes in with a fresh set of eyes

and kind of sees our problems right away,

whereas we just kind of live with them

and don't really notice them like he does.

-You got that? -[Jonah] Yeah.

[Jessip] I have not seen that barn this cleaned out.

It's crazy to see how much space is actually freed up.

[Matt] Yeah. Nice job, Joe. Whoo!

[narrator] As day three begins on the Hult homestead...

Where's that lumber going? Right here?

[narrator] ...Marty and Jake prepare the bank for the next phase

of the river-resistant retaining wall.

[Marty] I'm telling you right now, they're making the mud,

so we gotta get cracking.

Pouring this concrete wall for the riverbank.

The concrete truck's on the way.

So time is of the essence.

[Marty] Not bad, not bad. One more.

We can't scavenge enough rocks to build a retaining wall

that's worthy of the flood waters

that come down that river.

So we're gonna do the one thing that I know

that will fix that flooding forever.

Tie it to the Rebar.

[vehicle reversing]

Mud's here.

So what we've done now is set the footers.

We're gonna fill this full of concrete.

We're replacing the rebar, and we're gonna tie it...

[drilling]

...with rebar coming out of here

into the wall that we're going to build on a block.

[whistles]

Okay. So this is pretty exciting.

We should just go over.

-I actually don't really know what's happening... -Okay.

but anytime there's a concrete truck here,

-it's kind of a big deal. -[Shannon] It's a big deal.

[Misty] Also, we could score a little maybe for us.

-Yeah. -Dad!

-She's kind of pumped. -About what?

-[Misty laughs] -This is exciting.

-You know what's happening back here? -[both] No.

Okay, so there's a 60-foot-long footer over there.

-Yeah. -You pour concrete in it, then you take the boards out

and you're left with a 10-inch tall footing

that you can build a block wall off of,

-which is what most houses are built on, right? -Yeah.

[Marty] We wanna keep flooding away.

So it's concrete.

I'm excited.

Oh! This is amazing.

I didn't know how we were gonna fix it.

And this is so promising for real.

Yeah. Good?

[both laughing]

Happy?

[chuckles]

Don't, don't cry, Shannon. You cry, I cry.

I've never seen somebody cry over concrete.

-I know. -You know what?

-I like it because it tells us we're on the right track. -Yeah.

There's a lot of hardship that comes with this property

because you never know how it's going to behave.

And if all your hard work is gonna be there

from one day to the next.

Hey, Dad, you and your wife

are gonna be flattening this out.

-Okay. Sounds good. -Okay?

[Shannon] I really have a lot of hope,

a lot of faith that it will work out

and that it'll help mitigate the flooding.

[both] Here it comes.

-Oh, there we go. -[both laughing]

-Hey! -Hey.

-Let's go. -Perfect.

Pull it down real quick.

So we're pouring concrete inside forms over 60 ft long,

and the concrete strength is 3000 lbs. per square inch.

[Marty] Stop the mud. Holy moly.

[Marty] Cement reinforced with steel rods

make for a formidable force

when it comes to our first step

in building a wall that will protect

life and property on this homestead.

[Marty] Yee-haw! Misty!

[all laughing]

-[Misty] Dad! -Mud.

Let's go.

-I'll get it. -[Misty] I got it.

-[Marty] I'll get it. -I got it.

-Holy, it's heavy. You can get it. -[both laugh]

[Misty] It's heavy. Watch out.

I'm taking it for the greenhouse.

Yoo-hoo.

I wanna beef up these concrete piers

and I actually was helping my dad so we could steal some mud.

Because when it comes to flooding,

I've kind of seen the unexpected.

Let's go! I think now with this structure,

when you've combined stilts, the berm, concrete,

this structure isn't going anywhere.

[upbeat music playing]

[narrator] As work gets underway

on the schoolhouse greenhouse...

[Misty] Hey, you guys, you wanna grab a hammer?

[narrator] ...Misty turns her attention to the fence.

Shannon began but abandoned due to the floods.

[Misty] They have elk that come through here and wreak havoc on the garden,

and they started putting up these fence posts.

But then she realized, man, this is gonna be, like,

a debris catchment, and she didn't want to add to the problem.

Ready for a little homestead hack?

I call it the old ball and chain.

When you don't have a fence stretcher,

you just use an old train,

you tie off to an old post.

You just ratchet strap it tight

off of some two by sixes.

You're gonna go-- Look how tight this thing is.

I'm gonna pick up where she left off.

And I'm gonna try and figure out

how we can protect this fence.

[Marty] Okay, guys. Come on over here, please.

[narrator] While work continues on the retaining wall,

Marty turns his attention

to the flooding issues at the back of the homestead.

-You can clearly see there's no berm at all. -[both] Right.

[Marty] You know, it's a lawn and it's flat and it's great,

but it needs a berm, right?

-Yeah, it does. -So would you sign on

with a plan of continuing the berm

straight across here

and take it as far as it needs to go?

It might have to go all the way to the goat pen.

[Jake] Absolutely. I think that that would solve a lot of our issues.

You've got a couple of trees here

-that look like they might be in the way of the berm. -Mm-hmm.

You've got a big, crazy, dangerous leaner over there.

Let's go look at it.

[Marty] We need 200 yards of berming

to keep the floodwaters at bay.

[Jake] We had two actually fall

right from this clump down here.

How about using the trees along the river?

This one obviously has a big lean to it.

But the one behind you makes us even more nervous

because in one of the storms, one of the sections broke off.

The other one broke off but is now hung up in this leaning tree.

-[Marty] This guy right here? -[both] Yeah.

[narrator] To safeguard the back of the Hult homestead,

Marty will clear a patch

of danger trees to use as the support structure

for a 200 yard long, five foot tall dirt berm.

When connected to the 60 foot retaining wall,

it will provide the homestead with complete protection

along the river's edge.

Okay, So that broken tree...

-Yeah. -...this crazy leaner...

Yep.

-...uh, and those two over there. -[both] Yeah.

-That's four. -That would be...

The thought entered my mind,

"Is it possible not to cut one

but four trees at the same time."

[Jake] Let's try it.

We start with a tree this big a round, and it's leaning like this.

It was compromised already by floodwaters.

And it's dangerous.

Leaning in to a clump of trees and there's a dozen of them,

and today we have to defy the term "widow-maker."

We'll leave a little bit of it holding.

Here we go.

[trees snapping]

-Run. -[Shannon] Run, run, run.

That's how it's done.

[narrator] At the back of the homestead

the pole barn is cleared out...

[Matt] You gained a lot of space.

-[Jessip] Yeah. -[narrator] ...and Matt shows Jonah and Jessip

where he'd like to source the material

to create higher ground for the pigs.

[Matt] I got a pretty wild idea.

We can actually dig a massive hole into our goat pen

that will actually have a dual purpose.

All that material that comes out of this goat pen

we can use for high ground for the pigs.

And then we can do something with that hole for the goats.

I think it's a really interesting idea, but I think it will work.

-I fully believe in it. -[Matt] All right.

First order of business is let's start digging.

Yeah.

[Matt] Jonah and Jessip are brothers

that work really well together,

and they are helping me out a ton.

This homestead will finally have dry ground

and an elevated platform,

so if the flood comes in,

those pigs are gonna stay high and dry.

[upbeat music playing]

[narrator] At the front of the homestead

Misty's Schoolhouse Greenhouse is almost ready for windows...

[Misty] I would like to take it to a place

where we're definitely not gonna break any windows.

[narrator] ...while she and Shannon work on the elk proof fencing.

[Misty] Okay. This is not good.

I just hit a water line.

That's, like, a one in a million.

What are the chances?

I'm digging with a postal digger

this big around, putting in a fence and I hit a water line.

Oh, yeah, that is wild.

So I'm going to find my dad.

I didn't even know they had water

and I have to find out if this is good,

is this bad...

Like, we gotta man down and figure this out.

We've hit a water line.

-Did you break it? -Uh-huh.

Was there water in it?

-[Jake] Was there water in it? -Uh-huh.

There shouldn't be a water line up there.

Well, let's go look at it.

Let's find out.

I'm curious. What did you find?

[Misty] I mean, I don't know.

[Marty] Show me exactly.

[narrator] On the Hult homestead in Southern Oregon...

This one.

[narrator] ...while digging fence post holes to protect the garden

Misty makes a surprising discovery.

None of the other holes have water in them.

And then, none of, obviously, the other holes have lines

running through them like that.

Well, it's heading that way.

So was there ever a water line along the road?

We have a water... from 1912.

It's an old hand drawn map of a pipe coming out

somewhere on the mountain.

I've scoured that hillside looking for that spring,

and there's no sign of any spring up there.

[Marty] Where does the map say the spring is?

So it's measured in chains,

and I don't understand all that.

My dad tried to help me find it.

-Um... -Yeah, it's old.

It was measured from the property corner on that side,

a certain distance up and a certain distance over.

-So let's talk about water. -Yeah.

[Misty] Where are you getting your drinking water?

From the creek.

You're getting your water from that river.

[Jake] Yes.

That's not healthy.

-[both] Yeah. -It makes us even more nervous

because there's cattle above us in that creek.

[Marty] Uh, guess what?

We've also seen at least 100 elk.

-[Shannon] Yeah. -And 20 deer.

-[Shannon] Oh, absolutely. -And cougar, bear, bobcat, porcupine.

-You know what I mean? -Yeah.

They're all pooping in the woods, right?

Day in, day out I'm focused on flood waters.

And then Misty comes and gets me and I discover,

they're drinking out of the river,

something I would never do.

[Jake] We do run it through a filter

and we do run it through a UV filter,

so we haven't gotten sick from it

but still there is that concern.

We're well aware of what's above us in the drainage,

-so there's also a farmland up there. -[both] Yeah.

So what are they using for fertilizer?

-We don't know. -Exactly.

I'm glad that this happened 'cause I've been thinking about flooding every second

I've been here and now I think

we've got to start thinking about water.

[upbeat music playing]

[Marty shouting]

[narrator] While Marty ponders

drinking water solutions, he gets back to work

on the primary problem on the homestead,

flood control.

How do you feel about

cutting the grade back towards me?

We'll take that material and stack it on logs,

stack it on logs and create a very skookum berm.

[Jake] Yeah. Perfect.

[narrator] A natural berm is typically composed of soil,

gravel, rocks or other organic materials

that prevent floodwaters from entering a vulnerable, low lying area.

If constructed properly,

its integrity will stand the test of time

and protect property and lives stock from destruction.

[Jake] We fill these trees to create some rebar to hold this berm together,

it looks great,

and I think at this point we're ready to start pushing dirt over it.

[Jake] That's it. That's money.

[narrator] With work nearly complete on the elevated pig platform...

[Matt] Okey dokey.

[narrator] ...Matt and the Hult brothers are ready to extend

the pig's new home outside.

[Matt] We have a nice high spot.

[Jessip] Oh, absolutely.

[Matt] All fenced off, all ready to go.

I mean, we have a lot of work done.

The grate is fixed.

We've got a berm in here.

But we need to build a place for the pigs

where they're gonna spend most of their time.

I'd like to see it close to here,

because then it would be easier

to get them up out of the flood

instead of having to wrangle them up from over there

and push them all the way over here.

I can just show you. I have a video

of us dragging the pig up there.

-You do? -Yeah.

Show me.

[Jessip] I mean, there's me, there's our neighbor, Jory and Jonah,

and we got that big lasso, and...

-and you can see, -[Matt] Oh, my gosh.

[Matt] Whoa.

[Jessip] very stressful on the animal.

That water is all the way up.

I mean, it's going up the driveway.

[Jessip] Yeah, that's at the front of the property.

[Matt] That's crazy.

The pigs will be a lot easier to rescue if they're right close,

and you only have to move them a few feet up a ramp

and they'll be safe.

So I think we just start building a pen right here, out in front.

[Jessip] I think it's a good idea.

[Matt] Let's do it.

Put a screw in right here.

-And don't bury it. -[Jonah] All right.

Bringing pigs back o the homestead as soon as possible

is what the homestead needs.

But really, it's what keeps

Jonah's homesteading journey going forward.

What do you think about that?

I think that's good.

So, we'll get this thing pounded in with the excavator,

and that way our corners will be really solid.

And then we'll do T-posts in between

each of our main post corners, okay?

[Matt] It's a thing that he's into.

He's only 16 years old,

If we have pigs here, he's already comfortable with that livestock,

it's gonna keep him more invested into this lifestyle.

and he has a real skill to be able to feed his family

and contribute to the homestead.

[Matt] Stab that in there.

[Matt] That's perfect.

Now the fencing will go up against this side of the T-post.

If you put your T-post, with the fencing on the outside,

it's really easy for animals like pigs

to push that fencing away from the T-post.

But if you flip it on the inside,

the fencing is stopped by the post.

That's gonna stop the fence from being pushed outward, okay?

Now pound this post in.

I enjoy working with Matt.

[Matt] Keep it straight.

[Jonah] Before the Raneys came here,

it was really overwhelming

because there were so many problems that had to be solved,

and we just didn't know how to solve some of them.

And so now that they're here, it's a big relief,

and it's gonna help us out a lot.

[Matt] All right, that looks tight.

[upbeat music playing]

[narrator] Meanwhile...

[Misty] This is gonna be so cool.

[narrator] ...Misty and Shannon aimed to add some homestead history

to the new greenhouse

by incorporating windows from the original schoolhouse structures.

[Misty] The thing about repurposing,

reusing anything old or antique,

-you cannot buy it at the store. -No.

And it doesn't have the same look or feel.

And it's still the history here.

-[Misty] It's the history. -I love that.

They're in perfect shape, the old logs,

and the wood, they're in really good shape.

Yay!

This is always the most exciting part,

is when you actually get to piece together old windows,

it always kind of surprises you like, "Oh, that looks so good."

It's gonna be a good day.

Okay, I think we have enough.

It's always about recycling and reusing things.

But for Shannon, being able to use all of these old windows

from all of these old structures that date back to the 1800s,

and just to repurpose and keep that history alive

is like, it's a really special thing.

So obviously, they replaced all these single pane windows for these structures

because they needed a double paint or triple paint,

a window with a little more insulation.

But for the green house, the single pane windows are gonna be perfect.

The temperatures are pretty moderate

this part of Oregon, 40-70 degrees.

So the fact that we can put them to use is really exciting.

[Misty] All right. The structure is taking shape.

We've got to a place where we're gonna throw a window in.

So no pressure.

I kind of like, get nervous handling these windows

because you can't really replace them.

[Shannon laughs]

It'll take a little moment right here.

This hole should be kind of big,

so we're gonna block it and then trim it.

But let's just set it.

Let's go down one.

[Misty] It's gonna be tight.

-Are you ready for how cool this greenhouse is gonna be? -[Shannon] Oh, my gosh.

[Shannon] I'm not ready.

Putting in that first window with Misty was pretty special to me.

It's just another way of using history with those windows,

and seeing them repurposed back again is pretty amazing.

That is awesome.

-[Misty] Good? -Yeah.

Okay. So you have enough windows to do top to bottom.

[Shannon] That's amazing.

I was in 13 schools before I was in the seventh grade,

and we just always carved out what we could when we moved around,

and having a homestead is a real gift.

And to be able to show our kids

that if you go out and you work hard

and you get what you put into it.

And I think that the way that everything's set up now,

we are well on our way to that.

I think this is gonna be one of the coolest greenhouses in Oregon.

[Shannon] I love it.

[upbeat music playing]

We've really done something here with the berm.

[narrator] The Raneys have two days left

on the Hult homestead in Oregon,

and Marty has a plan to solidify his newly built

flood prevention barrier.

When the floodwaters come, it's gonna put that berm to the test.

Would have loved to build it out of more rock, didn't have it.

Built it out of trees. That's good.

The trees are gonna be there forever,

but some of this dirt could get washed away.

We need more.

So we're gonna plant at least six trees here on the crux,

which is this part of the berm that is arched out.

Nothing happens while you're talking, so.

[Marty] So, Clint, the day is gonna come

when they're gonna grow into each other.

These trees are huge.

But more importantly, this root system is just gonna go in here

and tie in with the logs and the craziness and the berm,

and serve as rebar at the same time as it does produce fruit.

Just like that day that we poured concrete,

it's pretty good,

but it's better if you had rebar.

And just like the berm that we built out of dirt is pretty good,

but it's better if you add tree roots.

-[Marty] I can dig it. -Okay.

[Marty] If these roots are growing,

there'll be 12 trees growing quickly, rapidly and strongly

as their roots search for water at the top of that berm,

go down both sides,

and literally will protect life and property.

Last, but not least, this protects from those guys.

All right, sir. Only four more to go.

Meet me down here, please.

All right, what do you think, boys?

I think that's a hole.

-[Matt chuckles] I think that hole's deep enough. -[chuckles]

[narrator] With the pig pen complete,

Matt, Jessip and Jonah returned to the hole

they dug in the goat pen for their next building.

Okay, now I want to build a goat tower out of the logs that we have

so that the goats have a place

where they could get up off the ground to stay out of the flood.

[Jessip] That sounds exciting.

[Matt] Building the goat tower has two purposes.

It gets the goats up out of the floodwaters,

but livestock need enrichment, hey need to be able to play, exercise,

and the tower that I have planned

is the perfect playpen for any goat.

These logs are pretty heavy,

so you're gonna be my log manipulator,

and we're gonna stab them into the ground vertically,

and once we have enough logs

where I feel like we have a nice little platform,

I'll just start trimming things up with the chainsaw.

We'll backfill it,

and the goats will have a nice, safe place to get away from the flood.

[Jessip] I like it.

Just a second, right there.

[Matt] Yeah!

[Jessip] We are very excited about what's about to come next.

Lift it and put it right here in this corner.

[Jessip] The goats having something to do,

it's kind of one of those things that we didn't really notice

because the problems that we've been having

once Matt kind of pointed it out right in front of us,

I think it's a great idea as far as getting the animals up out of the water,

and I think the goats are really gonna enjoy it,

having something to fill their time with,

rather than just beat on each other.

That stuff is hard and heavy.

[Jessip] I see it now.

[Matt] Just stay the course.

Just grab onto it and lift it up.

[Matt] We're on the coast of Oregon,

and I wanted to design this entire goat tower to kind of resemble a dock.

[Jessip] I can't see.

[Jessip] No, no, no, no.

[Jessip] Not cooperating.

[Matt] These myrtle wood logs are insanely heavy.

They are hardwood, they're filled with water,

and you've got some peers that go way down on the ground.

and no matter what water rushes through,

those big, heavy logs are not gonna move.

Whoa!

Yeah.

It's amazing.

-Okay, backfill. -What?

We're using a cross log straps to hold everything into place so we can backfill.

And the backfill really acts like concrete, especially with these trees.

There's so much friction.

Once that log in the ground and the weight of all that dirt

compacted around those logs is good as any concrete

for what we need to use these for.

[Matt] Yeah, just like that.

[Matt] That's good.

[Misty] So let's talk about how we're gonna

prevent this garden from flooding,

and how we're gonna prevent this fence from washing away.

[narrator] As the schoolhouse greenhouse nears completion...

[Misty] I'm gonna drop this because it is not white.

Misty and Shannon set their sights on an innovative idea

to create a ground level garden space and flood prevention barrier

all rolled into one.

[Misty] So I have this idea, that is, I think it would be really cool.

It's one thing to build a greenhouse,

elevate it and get it out of the floodplain. We're doing that.

It's a whole other thing to put a garden right on the ground,

and a floodplain,

try and grow a bunch of food,

and figure out how you're gonna protect it.

How do you take a problem like flooding,

and how do you actually grow right here on the ground?

So my dad has been working really hard on the berm,

-and this is me not saying I don't have faith in him -Right.

or what he's doing,

this is me saying

-I've seen what Mother Nature is capable of, -Mm-hmm.

and let's just make sure we can secure food.

So I want to create these burrito berms,

-where we literally wrap a bunch of debris -Mm-hmm.

inside of this long fabric,

and take it one step further,

where we actually take the burrito berm and we grow right into it.

Really?

[narrator] To extend and protect the Hult family's growing space,

Misty will first lay down a perforated landscaping fabric,

fill it with organic materials and soil.

Then she will wrap the filling with the remainder of the fabric,

creating a type of sandbag while protecting the filling from erosion.

Lastly, she will cover the entire structure with fertilized mulch.

and plant directly into the burrito berm surface.

In this part of Oregon on the Oregon coast,

we need to be protecting this garden from floods, right?

But at the same time, we are creating garden beds.

So we're getting a two for one.

You take that greenhouse and you combine it

with the burrito berm bed Shannon's growing year round.

All right, Shannon. First ingredient.

Scrap wood from the mill.

[Shannon] Yeah.

So this obviously, like, look at this guy.

-[Shannon] Yeah. -He's not good for anything, right?

Wrong. He's good for the burrito bed.

I think the garden burritos are genius.

We're putting a whole bunch of different layers of organic material

and covering them and creating berms inside of the garden

in order to mitigate the flooding

that could happen into the garden.

And it's also giving me more planting space on those berms.

[Misty] How's the burrito smelling? Good?

Actually, it smells like the dirt. [laugh]

We've put in so many things into those burritos.

There's garden clippings, pig manure,

manure from compost piles that I've had laying around.

All kinds of ingredients

[Misty] You liking the burrito berms?

-I'm seeing the vision. -Yes?

Yeah, I think it's great.

[Misty] It's gonna be really good.

Yeah, I really do.

I really think so.

Yeah. We're gonna definitely do a U shaped berm, right?

And be parallel with this other berm and this trench,

and really keep the water out,

and just truly secure the food

and give you that much more room to grow in.

[Shannon] I love it.

[Marty] Hello, family.

[Marty] Come here. Gather around.

[Marty] You can't have that much fun pouring concrete and not be thinking,

"Hey, I think I want to sign my name."

So grab a nail,

and there is your palette.

-[Jake] Sounds great. -[Shannon] I like it.

[Marty] Oh, yeah.

[Jake] With those concrete slabs,

you know, I think it was really cool

that we personalized them and put our names in them.

[Marty] That's amazing.

That's actually really cool.

I remember as a kid we did the same thing in my grandparent's property,

and we poured a concrete patio under his picnic table.

You know, that property meant a lot to my grandparents,

and we want the same thing to be a source of stability

for our kids and their kids and you know, generations of Hults.

It's really cool.

[Shannon] Can I get a corner with my foot?

-[Shannon] I'm kidding. -[Jake] Okay, let's see that.

Oh, yeah.

Whoo!

Yeah, that's cool.

It is set in stone, guys.

Thanks a lot for your help today.

Let's get back to work.

[Marty] A needle in a haystack.

Allegedly some type of spring is here on top of that cliff.

Does the spring actually exist up there or not?

[Marty] So I'm standing on the road,

with a homestead on one side,

and a cliff on the other side.

[narrator] The Raneys have less than 48 hours remaining in southern Oregon,

and Marty turns his attention to a new critical mission,

bringing the family clean drinking water.

In my hand is a map that said somebody applied for a permit

to use the water

for this property.

and it's allegedly some type of spring.

And allegedly that water is right here.

X marks the spot,

because if there's one thing that's gonna bother me the rest of my life,

is leaving these homesteaders with that river

for drinking water.

All right, so...

a needle in a haystack.

Let's go.

[Marty] I've been working hard

at trying to protect this homestead from flood waters.

All the while wondering

why this homestead doesn't have clean drinking water.

[groans]

It doesn't matter what homestead I'm on,

if I'm looking for water.

I roam around on that property and I look for

ferns, right?

Because usually where there's ferns, there's moisture.

There's water.

But my theory

doesn't really work in Oregon,

because just look at the cliff here above me.

It's a sea of ferns.

So that little homestead trick does not apply in Oregon.

There's ferns everywhere because it's wet everywhere on the surface.

[grunts]

Can you hear that?

[exhales]

[Marty] That's water.

Oh, yeah.

All right, this is it.

We have water here.

That's a lot of water.

It's deep in the crack and it's going straight down this mountain,

which is good because there's homesteads at the bottom.

[Marty] I'd bet my life that if you dig down on that property,

you'll find this. Water.

[Marty] Boom. Done.

Whoo!

[narrator] In the back of the homestead,

Let's just set it right here.

[narrator] Matt and Jonah push to complete the new goat tower.

[Matt] Let's finish this thing.

[Jonah] The goat tower that we're building

is an amazing addition to the goat pen,

because now the goats have somewhere

to go out of the rain and out of the floodwaters.

Perfect.

[Jonah] Goats have an instinct to climb things,

so I think it's gonna really help them out a lot.

Now we've got a little overhang on both sides.

The water will drip down and it won't go inside that building.

-All right, let's get the old one on. -All right.

So we can't finish this roof unless we get this board up here, right?

And it's kind of hard to reach.

-[Jonah] Yeah. -Right?

How the heck would we get it up there,

hold it,

screw it together

on both sides by ourselves?

I have no clue.

Check this out.

Put this in here.

Screw it.

Just put two screws.

Now flip it over.

Now do this side.

Now climb up there.

Flush it.

-You feel that? -[Jonah] Yep.

[Matt] Okay.

You were able to hold the board up there

by putting just two temporary straps of wood on each end.

Now you'll easily be able to screw it.

Can you handle it?

Yep.

Good. All right. Take that block off.

I think it was really cool how Matt taught me

how to do a two person job by myself.

Jess isn't always here to help me out with building stuff.

So sometimes I'm here alone.

I'm really happy that he taught me 'cause now I can use it.

How easy was that?

It was really easy. It's pretty cool.

Homestead home school. Now I'm gonna show you how to spin straw into gold.

Tar paper. That's pretty old school homestead right there.

Bubbles are bad. [bleating]

-[goat bleats] -[Matt and Jonah laugh]

We're moving fast now.

[Misty] All right!

[narrator] At the front of the homestead...

So let's just pull these up, and some of these bigger ones

I can cut if we need to.

It smells really good.

[narrator] Misty and Shannon, add more layers

to the new flood-stopping burrito berms.

Okay! Last, but not least, topsoil.

We're just gonna pile it over the top and wrap the burrito tight.

Let's go.

Hi. How's it going?

Does the truck driver look familiar?

-My son! -[all laughing]

We have pigs, Jessip. And this is from your company, right?

-Yes. -Yeah. Cool.

[Shannon] Yoo-hoo! I mean, this is the best present a kid could ever bring me.

-May I point out, you guys are twinning. -Oh, yeah.

-Oh, yeah. -Oh, wow!

These burrito berm beds have turned into something so spectacular.

By taking what was on the homestead, wrapping it up in some landscaping fabric,

and creating a berm that keeps water out.

Look at that. Yoo-hoo!

And for the first time since the late 1800s,

this place can actually secure food,

and grow food that isn't gonna wash away the next time it floods,

is really, really exciting.

Oh! It's hard to get in there. Lots of stuff.

I'm super excited.

The burrito berms are gonna keep the water, hopefully out of the garden,

and allow us to have a good growing season.

Okay, so this is actually pretty cool.

Let's see if we can stitch these burritos. Okay.

How'd we do? Ooh, yeah.

[Shannon] It's very important for Jake and I to know where our food comes from.

When I was young, I lived in different parts of Alaska.

We were off-grid often, and we were able to grow our food.

And as I grew up, that was always in the back of my mind.

And it's just always been a goal.

Do we make it? Does the tortilla make the wrap?

-Barely. -Barely.

-I love it. -I think it's great.

The goal is to cut some holes in the top of the burritos

and plant things in them throughout the year.

So I love the fact that it's not just this flat.

The garden bed is actually the mound

you're going up one side across the berm and then down the other.

Which is pretty epic.

This isn't something I would have ever thought of.

These burritos are gonna be very handy.

We'll get them kind of fine-tuned. We'll figure out how we

keep them together and all that stuff.

Um, but for now, let's wrap these burritos,

-finish off with the topsoil and move on to the next one. -All right.

[upbeat music playing]

[Marty] Okay. Here we go.

[narrator] On the Hult homestead in Southern Oregon...

The little bucket is gonna take a while to get down there,

but we need a digging bucket. Whatever it takes.

It seems like water is the epicenter of the problems on this homestead.

Too much water is flooding from the river.

And the homesteaders are drinking water out of the river.

They need good, safe drinking water.

There is a spring running down the side of the mountain,

that supplied all the needs for a school.

What happened? You find that water, you've just found gold.

[chainsaw buzzes]

Once I got the logs into the ground and supported the deck,

I realized that my goat platform was pretty far off the ground.

And to keep with the same look and the same style of build,

building a staircase out of a log, the same logs that are in the ground,

it just is gonna be way too cool.

Whoo.

[Misty] All right, Shannon!

Last but not least, is the mulch over the top for the burrito berms.

Mulch was just delivered, and it's not just average mulch,

it is fertilized mulch.

It has some manure mixed in.

Burrito! [laughs]

[Misty] We're gonna dump it on top.

Thankfully, Mother Nature cooperated this week.

It was pouring, but then stopped,

long enough for us to deal with the flood control.

This structure is coming together, but we're running out of time.

Whatever it takes, I'll do it.

And I'm so excited for Shannon because these berms are massive.

You can't have a burrito without the salsa.

[upbeat music playing]

[bird squawks]

Check this out.

-We've got the stairs in. -It's looking good.

I've got one last touch to this goat pen

that I think the goats are really gonna like.

It has to do with this broom. Times four. It goes right here.

The goat rubs up against it, and you've got yourself a nice little goat spa.

A goat is going to find a way to scratch themselves.

No matter what you have in their pen.

-See if it works. -[Jessip laughs]

Oh, yeah. Nice.

Why not give them a place where they can groom themselves,

get off the itches and the, you know, the bugs

and look good afterwards?

Oh my goodness, I think it's gonna help the goats out a ton.

-Look at them go. -Yeah.

Look! Not only do we have a great place for the goats

to get up out of the flooding waters,

but it's a place where they can play.

-And let's not forget our really awesome goat spa. -Yeah.

Our little goat brushing station. It's got it all, come on.

You know what's really funny, is like, we started this whole thing

just trying to help the pigs out,

-and we kind of went above and beyond for the goats. -Yeah.

[narrator] Over at the barn...

-[Jonah] There's pigs in there. -[Matt laughs]

[narrator] ...Pigs have arrived on the homestead,

and Matt has one more surprise.

Here's something that's really exciting.

Both of these pigs are pregnant.

-[Jessip] Oh, my goodness. -[Matt laughs] Yeah.

-That's a lot of pigs. -Yeah.

There's piglets on the way.

And piglets didn't survive the last big flood.

Okay? I brought the pigs here because I know

that they're gonna be safe,

because of the area we've built over here, that leads to high ground.

[narrator] Seven days ago, the Hult family was reeling

from the loss of livestock,

and paralyzed by the fear of losing more.

Now, with the introduction of safe, high ground for the pig pens,

and a climbing tower, allowing the goats

to escape floods and disease,

the Hult family's animals will be happier

than pigs in slop.

I think the pigs are ready to weather any flood,

or anything really that's gonna come our way.

I think we can overcome just about anything.

I feel good about what we did here, guys.

[Jessip] It's great to hear pig noises back out on the homestead.

[upbeat music playing]

[Misty] Come on in your new greenhouse.

-[Misty squeals] What d'ya think? -Oh, it smells good.

-I haven't been in here I'm gonna cry. -[laughing] Oh, no!

Obviously, Shannon is really excited to have a greenhouse for the first time.

There's a lot going on here. We have the old windows from the schoolhouse.

We have all of this myrtle hardwood, that last really long time.

I'm just, like, so excited that all this material

was on the homestead and it was just waiting to be used.

Do you think you're safe? Do you think you have food security?

Absolutely. I feel very safe.

-Yeah? -Yeah.

-And like, no more homestead dream on hold? -No. Full steam ahead.

Okay, it's a little slick.

-I'm gonna fall! -We gotta put the tread on this.

-We gotta put the tread on there. -[both laugh]

[Misty] Good job.

[Misty] I'm in love with this garden.

You have these burrito berm beds.

Not only are they keeping out any potential flooding,

but the amount of grow room, there's method to the madness,

all those layers breaking down over time, giving you like,

perfect topsoil, perfect compost.

The size and just food security,

like all-in-one is really exciting.

I really think those burrito berms are going to really give me

a lot of planting space, and also if the flood does come in the yard,

I don't think it's gonna come in my garden.

I'm super excited about that.

I'm, I'm stoked. I love it.

[narrator] A week ago, the Hult family's dreams

of living wholly off the land were on hold indefinitely.

Now, with the introduction of the schoolhouse greenhouse

and the newly protected garden with plantable burrito berms,

Shannon and her family have room to safely grow

enough produce for generations to come.

You know, we've worked our whole lives, and we've done it all ourselves.

I'm just gonna look away. [laughs]

We're all super excited to get back to work

and dig into this homestead again and make it exactly

what we planned on when we bought it.

It's a dream come true.

[Marty] Let's do it!

[narrator] At the front of the homestead, Marty is out of time.

But the dig for a freshwater underground spring

is essential to the viability of the Hult family's homesteading dream.

[Marty] That's what I'm looking for.

It's gonna happen. That water is gonna be riding on top of this clay.

Whoo!

Unbelievable.

That's a gusher.

Oh, my lord. Look at it running in.

This is some of the most water we've ever found.

We've got to get the homeowners over here.

This water source is a huge victory.

I know their lives are gonna change for the better.

Okay, look down here.

Look at that. There's water running into that hole.

That is as much water as we've ever hit on a homestead, ever. We've been to hundreds.

-[Jessip] Oh, my goodness. -[Jake] Really?

-And look how clean it is and look how pure it is. -[Jake] Yeah.

I'm super excited. In my mind, it has to be a good water source.

-But the bad news is it's gonna get dark. -Yeah.

And we're supposed to be in that truck in about an hour.

We're never gonna make it. Well, we're gonna work all the way to dark.

We're gonna develop this thing the best we can.

But there's no doubt in my mind if we develop this,

that you guys won't figure out how to get it.

-Absolutely. -We can get it everywhere.

Just make a vow that you'll never drink water of that river again.

-We won't. -Nope, never again.

Is that really you?

-It's me? -How many years? How many years?

Fifty two.

Every once in a while you get a blast from the past.

One of my old school chums named Daryl Grew,

he found out we were working down here and surprised me

with some pictures from high school.

-There's me and... -There's my wife. There's Molly.

-[Marty chuckles] -[Daryl] Oh!

And a jersey that he wore when we played basketball.

That's why we're here. Inside the gymnasium.

Daryl and I are gonna step back in time to glory days,

and we're gonna play some basketball.

[all cheering]

That's it! I can pivot. It's coming.

[all laughing and yelling]

-Here we go. -Oh, he's my old dad!

Next basket wins.

-Oh, quick! -[all] Aw!

-Marty, we lost again. -Argh!

Man, it just looks so clean, I wish I could get down there and taste it.

I can't believe it. Talk about the last second.

[narrator] With clean spring water finally discovered...

We're gonna roll it out back!

[narrator] Marty and the Homesteaders race to tap into it,

before the Raney's leave for good.

That'll work. We're gonna drop this in vertically.

We have to sort this water.

We dug the hole, you set the culvert in there.

-Is that going that far down? -Yeah.

And now, fill around that culvert up to the water table with gravel.

Oh, that's awesome.

What an amazing find.

[Marty] And then backfill. That will allow all of the water

to seep through the cracks of the ground,

through the rock, and make its way inside the well casing.

Scrape it in, scrape it in.

Perfect.

Hey, Marty, I don't know if I've introduced you to my dad.

This is Dale. He's down from Portland.

-Big guy. Big guy. -Nice to meet you.

Things are happening. Don't get too close to the edge.

Have you ever seen water in this homestead before?

Uh, not right here. That's great. Look at all that.

I grew up in this area, and not only did I grow up in this area,

generations of Hults, my grandfather lived here, my dad lived here,

and it's getting more and more rare

that families live in one specific area like this,

and it's a tradition that we want to continue.

Whoo!

You know, we've actually got an extra line already going over to that pump house.

-Yeah. -We can tie this spring into that pump house,

and everything could just be centralized.

-Yeah. -Water, water house, you know.

It definitely feels like it's gonna be continued up here.

-Which way has it got to go? -Towards you.

[upbeat music playing]

I'll let you be the first one. Any water in there?

Heck, yeah, there's water in there. Check that out.

Did you ever think this would happen?

-It's a lot of water. -Yeah.

It's more than enough to run this homestead.

I think there's enough water there to run a homestead with goats, with pigs,

a big family, visitors, a barn full of neighbors having a hoedown.

-[chuckling] Yeah. -Whatever happens here,

uh, I think you've got enough water to do it.

And speaking of water, do you think that those flood waters

are gonna stay on that side?

I have no doubt that the flood waters are gonna stay on that side.

This looks great. Gives me a lot of confidence.

I think that a bulldozer could hit the back side of that wall

-and probably not knock it over. -There you go.

Just walking around the property now and seeing all the changes

that have been made just instilled a level of confidence.

Knowing that now maybe we can complete the things

that we originally wanted to with this property

that it is absolutely a working homestead at this point.

We cut the gray down to get the water wicking away from all your buildings,

took that material and mounted it up here.

We've got trees running horizontally,

the stumps, hopefully acting as rebar in an earth dam.

To stave off that.

[narrator] Seven days ago, the Hults were drowning in water worries

with extreme flooding, wiping away hard-earned progress.

And a lack of safe drinking water, jeopardizing their personal health.

Now, with the introduction of a 60-foot long retaining wall

and a 200-yard protective berm,

the entire perimeter is shielded from flooding.

While a newly found underground spring

will provide fresh mountain water for years to come.

I am blown away that we didn't have to truck in any material,

that this was all sitting right here.

Often on a homestead like this you've got a problem for sure,

-but the solution is right there, -Hmm-hmm.

right there on the property as well.

[sniffs] Thank you.

You're welcome, sir.

You're welcome.

We gotta go.

We gotta go. It's getting dark.

You said something the other day,

about when you bought the property,

you said you put all your money in, every penny.

And you got here and you experienced that first flood.

We got into something over our head, and I don't feel like that anymore.

Just the projects that have been done this week are so impressive.

All of it has to do with flooding in mind,

more food in mind, being able to keep our animals safe.

You're actually gonna be able to homestead without worrying.

Even if you did have a flood come through here,

the livestock is gonna be fine.

It's kind of like starting over, you know, the property that we,

started with two years ago.

It's like we're starting again.

Our goal was, when we bought this place,

to continue sort of our family's dreams, of my family's dream,

of having that family homestead where generations grow up.

We didn't know in the beginning if that was possible.

But what we've done up here has made it

to where our kids will enjoy this property.

Our grandkids will enjoy this property,

and probably so on and so forth, through the generations.

What do you think about what's happened here for your parents?

I am just so impressed with all the things that have changed around here.

Just seeing everybody working and constantly working is...

It's good to see.

I'm glad that they're not gonna have to worry about flooding now.

I'm so happy that for the first time, you guys, get to start living

the homestead dream, and now it's official, it's no longer on hold.

Thank you so much for the sweat,

the hard work, uh, the ideas.

A close family really makes

for a successful homestead,

It really does.

We enjoyed Oregon, thanks for working alongside us.

[Marty] When the homesteaders tell you that around 1870

the first homesteaders flooded out,

you know you're in trouble.

But the course of history can be changed with hard work.

So now a new chapter has been written down.

For the first time since 1870,

this property, these buildings, these homesteaders,

are high and dry,

and that's a good thing.

[Shannon] Since the Raney's have left, it has been full steam ahead.

We've been super busy building off the foundation that they left us with.

[Shannon] The garden has taken off, we actually harvested

a few things out of there already.

[Jake] We used all the concrete form boards.

We repurposed them to build raised beds.

[Shannon] Jake's been working on getting our water system out there,

and the greenhouse is growing tomatoes and peppers.

We had some really significant storms that put everything to the test.

Marty built that wall high enough that all the flood prevention measures

that we put in are holding up great.

The goats are loving that port.

They are literally like kids playing around in a tree house.

Loves the belly scratches.

[Jake] We expect piglets any day.

I see this as the beginning of a long history on the Hult homestead.

That's been our goal from the beginning

to make this a property that passes on through generations.

It's always been a school, but now it's also the Hult property,

and I think that it's pretty exciting to see where we're gonna go from here.