Hey ya’ll, I’m Jess from Roots & Refuge Farm
Welcome to a place that feels like home. A small farm with a big family. We hope you’ll pull up a chair, grab some coffee and visit awhile.
There was a time that all I wanted in the world was a little farm where I could raise my family and grow our food. Now, that is exactly what exists outside my door. In watching it unfold, a new dream was formed in my heart – to share this beautiful life with others and teach them the lessons we’ve learned along the way. Welcome to our journey, friend. I am so glad you’re here.
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WHERE TO FIND US (Some of the links here are affiliate links. If you purchase through our links we’ll receive a small commission but the price remains the same – OR BETTER – for you! Be sure to check for any mentioned discount codes.)
– Our Website: https://rootsandrefuge.com
– Sign up for our newsletter: https://rootsandrefuge.com/yt-signup
– Abundance+ (Grab a FREE 7-day trial): https://rootsandrefuge.com/yt-wilder-still
– Shop our Stickers & Shirts: https://rootsandrefuge.com/yt-shop
– Order my book First Time Gardener: https://rootsandrefuge.com/yt-ftgbook
– Pre-order my newest book First Time Homesteader: https://rootsandrefuge.com/first-time-homesteader-yt
– Growing Gardeners Course: https://rootsandrefuge.com/yt-ggcourse
– Instagram: www.instagram.com/roots_and_refuge
– Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rootsandrefugefarm
– Email Us: rootsandrefuge@yahoo.com
– To drop us a line:
PO Box 4239
Leesville SC 29070
– To have a gift sent to our house from our Amazon wishlist: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/SFA0IZHZRCOZ?ref_=wl_share
– To support us through PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/jessicasowards
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PRODUCTS WE LOVE – You’ve probably heard me talk about these things a million times, so here’s where you can order them (and get a discount with my code!):
– Greenstalk Vertical Gardens (Use code “ROOTS10” for $10 off your order): https://rootsandrefuge.com/yt-greenstalk
– Squizito Tasting Room (Use code “ROOTS” for 10% off your order): https://rootsandrefuge.com/yt-squizito
– ButcherBox: https://rootsandrefuge.com/butcherbox
– Growers Solution: https://rootsandrefuge.com/growers-solution
#rootsandrefuge #homesteading #gardening
35 Comments
I have watched probably 95% of your videos for the past about 3 years. We all change and that's the way things should be but sometimes when we look back, we let something go that we wished we hadn't. You asked what I (we) would like to see. Two things came to mind as I started tearing right with you. The first thing is you, your smile, and whatever you want to let us in on. The second is the close-up, teaching moments, story, or the little things that get us all tickled in some little way that others just wouldn't understand. Thank you for sharing.
HI JESS! i started watching ur channel 5 years ago when my daughter was diagnosed with leukemia at 2 years old. At that time i had just had a baby and had 2 other children to care for as well, i needed something to take my mind off of the stress of going thru all that. Watching ur channel not only gave me and my husband a love for gardening, but also my children too! we now do 2 large garden areas(raised bed and in ground) and we live such a simpler way now than we did before. i truly love the day in the life videos and what your cooking for dinner for ur family or what do u do with the peas that u shell and how to cook them kinda things also. thanks for all u do
Hey!!! I just wanted to get on here and tell you that you already talk about the things I want to know and so much more that I didn’t realize I wanted to know! This is the end of my third garden season in Montana and while you and I have very different growing conditions your channel has taught me more than I ever expected! And I’m so thankful that I’ve been in a position to extend that knowledge to family members and friends who are also passionate about gardening! I’ve fully embraced turning my waiting room into a classroom! Thank you for all that you do!
i can't garden anymore, but I enjoy watching you & take joy from it. I do miss the animals of the farm and would love to watch Miah feeding them and what he is doing with the horses. Any closer to that cowboy hat? I know this was the season of the backbone of the garden and that was your focus. I was sad to see that little garden out your front door leave. I hope you turn it into a good dining / sitting place with flowers. I know you can make it a cozy spot to hang out.
Aloha Jess, Miah and family! I live with a blended family in Western Washington (zone 8b). When I watch y'all I am encouraged by seeing everyday life where goals and dreams become reality. My family is blessed and encouraged to live a better and healthier lifestyle by what y'all share through You Tube. We adapt things based on our area and abilities. Keep up what y'all are doing and may God richly bless!
Jess I can't imagine anything more important for you to do other than what you are doing now. You have taught me so much in the past four or five years I've been following. You and your sweet family are such a blessing to watch. Why, when you saw that spider in this video, and was so……woooooed. lol That blessed my soul. Watching you and Sweet Miah as you call him swoon over each other is so cute. 😍 I guess what I'm trying to say is I appreciate you so much. You keep on doin you!!
I love your videos that have music softly playing in the background like this one. 😊 All your videos are great but the ones with music really help me slow down and enjoy our talks. 😊
On a practical, content based note, I’d love to see more about chickens. I’d love to have them someday and our town finally is allowing them (up to 10 or 12 hens – I don’t remember exactly). So I really would like to get going with them but am nervous about getting a coop set up that is secure, how to know if they’re sick and treat them, and just all the other things I don’t know that I don’t know. 😊
You are so knowledgeable about growing “real” food. But do you have “wild weeds” on your new property that are edible? Do you save a lot of seeds? I know you order lots from seed catalogs. Love your joy and your willingness to share your struggles. Letting us know we are all just people wanting to live our best life.
I have always found going back to the basics inspire me and helped me to teach others. You would know your basics better than anyone. However. The above ground gardens that were built? We were not a part of that. The barn, the tilling, the daily harvests, a simple vlog. I personally feel like since the move has happened the camera flits through and if it is a teaching moment it is a planned one, not just sharing what you are doing.
We are a new homestead and struggling to get started. I love gardening and I long to have chickens and turkeys and rabbits. I can food as much as I can. Financially though we just are struggling to make it happen. I love Roots and Refuge because it gives me hope that one day I will achieve my goals and dreams. You inspire me with every video you make. Thank you for that.
Sincerely,
Charlena
Hi Jess! We have been watching you for a couple years now and have never commented on a video! I love your garden content it is absolutely my favorite, your videos are awesome! We would like to see a detailed how to video I know you have some wayyy back in the archives but I'd love to see a new one! We are not religious, but we love everyone the same and never judge! Thankful to see more people that are non judgmental of others! 💜
I watch for the hope and joy you exude. Even in flights of fancy, you acknowledge that that's what they are and go on them anyhow. You noticed all the things you stopped seeing along your homesteading journey. I'm at the beginning and often miss the special little things because I'm so harried trying to get things going as I learn along the way that I fail to see the beauty along the way.
You ask so I will be honest with you. I use to love and live for your videos. I don't live for the videos these days because you seem to have gotten away from the teaching aspect that I needed as a new gardner. I trusted your teachings, bought your book etc. but I have had to seek other videos that could fill the needs I have. Your videos use to be more teaching and devotional but have moved more toward a "day in the life". I enjoyed your videos more before you moved to SC. I had more in common with you as a backyard gardnerer. This is nothing against you, you just outgrew the simple backyard gardners and moved on to doing things on a larger scale that some of us can only dream about.
Jess the only thing I would ask from your VLOGs is to just be you. You keep your VLOGs unscripted and tell your story as it unfolds and often times you stop your narrative because you noticed something like the spider in todays VLOG or the first time you noticed the momma bird (sorry can't remember type of bird) yelling at you because she had a nest in your garden. These are things we do, we get sidetracked and you are very good at incorporating these side tracking's into your dialogue without losing site of what your conversation is about. In other words, your VLOGs are natural, and chances are we will get a little extra than what your topic is. Here is another example, your veered off course when you noticed the pregnant cow in the field and spent a couple of minutes talking about that. That is what makes your VLOGs real and personal to me because we get more than we tuned in for. Just do what you are doing, whether it is in your garden, your milking stall, or your kitchen. Heck you could even talk to us sitting in your house crocheting and that too would be a wonderful time spent with you.
I have been more interested in crafts recently. I don't know why I stopped. This year I started growing trees. I loved reading your poetry it brought me so much joy. I used to write poems but other things got in the way. I love this season, it is a chance to reflect. It is like the blending of the old and the new. You gave me the courage to grow things this year. Like your outdoor plants some survived and some did not. I would like to learn more about companion planting and what plants not to plant next to each other. Maybe tou could show us home to make soap, what makes a really great picture, or how to make candals, or different kinds of cheese. I just love all your videos. When I have had a stressful day, your vlogs center me again. I bless you.
I love all that you do, I have learned so much from your videos, keep them coming and your family life thank you for sharing. God bless you and yours ❤
I just love you being you and being real and truthful AND the hope you always give. Some of us don't have husbands like Miah that will go above and beyond for us. I so appreciate seeing Miah in the way he really and truly loves you. Some people don't know how to love and are self-seeking and don't do for others like he does, or you do. It's a joy to actually see marriages where BOTH works equally to have a GOOD one and you can SEE the love and the desire you both have to do for one another. I love seeing that. I am not jealous; I am truly happy that someone have that!!! Some will never have it and it's all one sided and you just can't have a marriage with it like that. I guess I am just saying you give me hope in other things like gardening and just the joy you have. BOTH of you are givers and THAT is just awesome!!!! 🐦I want soooo bad to grow and tend to a greenhouse and have that in the winter to go out to and just be outside messing with plants and little seedlings etc. I really really think it would help my health to be able to have something like that outside the house. Sorry this is so long.
OHHHH also where the spider did it for you on being organic, a worm did it for me when I saw it squirming in the soil, I'd just put a chemical fertilizer in. Right then I dipped it out and said never again! You live in my soil and be healthy little buddy!
Jess honey…
You’ve had a very busy year…
Give yourself a break.
I want you to write a book on how to grow our food and cook it too. Telling us how to grow or raise the food necessary for a recipe. Grow it and cook it. Recipes included.
I enjoy watching all the homestead content, but I continue to watch your videos because you have a sweet, fun , loving personality. I get most excited when you post your devotionals.. You are an amazing writer and teacher.
You teach and inspire us . Then we find others to share that information with and they hopefully continue the cycle. You were never ment to do it all . We love You and Miah and all the rest of your growing family.
Taking time to slow down and be you has been its own reward .
Now a question and I'm not sure what to make of it. Several of the you tube homestead family's, some you probably know, have been struck with illness the past couple years. Not covid, but something similar to what you have been dealing with. It seems odd that people working to live a more healthy life would experience such a system imbalance (my own description for it) It's mostly been the adult that makes the videos and not the rest of the family getting ill.
Personally I've decided to give my garden a rest for next year . I'll work the perennials and fruit trees but I'm give my spirit a rest and the garden a furlough. But I'll still watch videos.
WOW!!! You so touched my heart!
It was such a lovely question to ask. It made me think. Why do l keep coming back every vlog? I am living now with very limited mobility and pain at times. You are living life as l did minus the cow. Your enjoyment and excitement of that lifestyle is so special to me. So through you l smell the smells, remember the joy of looking for the first sprouts, the first meal out of the garden , going out with my five gallon bucket every meal and preparing what l brought in. So l love remembering through your eyes and seeing young people living close to God and nature brings my spirit such joy.
LOL yes, we cannot control so much, just let it go. Oh I laughed when you said " oh I have other seed packets in my pocket" I love the variety of your vlogs, some garden, some farm animals and some cooking and baking, so I am happy with your content
Yup. I live in South Dakota, but because I am on the top of a hill, I get to treat our little property as a zone up (5a) instead of 4b. Also I practice high intensity gardening (retains plant heat better on cold nights), with my peppers in particular planted close, even my hot peppers survived a 29 degree night. I'll take it!
Those degree or two differences matter up north and/or if you are close to another zone. Both apply to me.
I want to know all of it just wanna walk the garden with you love when you get up in the early mornings and go for your garden garden walks love when you get your seeds love when you plant your seeds love when you plan your garden love when you're milk in the cow there's all of it I love all of it that you do what would love to see Maya's builds and stuff Love the cooking And Hey if you guys decide to record any of your holiday food prep like family and the kitchen cooking that'd be really cool to see too. And absolutely love and appreciate all of your devotionals it's a blessing to us and a blessing to me. And by the way you are my number one appreciated Homestead gardener💖😁
After the growing, looking at preserving, canning and freezing. Alot of people grow but only use then how do they keep it. This would help alot of your viewers.
Oh man. You are reading my mail!! I so feel what you are saying. These last 3 years have been had. I crave homesteading, but I'm 50+. Handicap mom…. so hard.
I just want to hug your neck!!! Bless you!
Hi Jess, I love walks through my garden. Examining the plants as they grow. I check mine daily from the day I plant to the day I harvest, rain or shine. I want chickens but hubby says not now…Someday. I have learned from you to turn my waiting room into a classroom.
I miss your old rose covered garden gate
Everything milk and milk cows and cream and all the things good lol bless you
Jess, I found you by accident and I'm so grateful that I did. I was looking at different gardening channels about growing tomatoes. I had just about given up growing them when I watched one of your vlogs. I not only realized what I was doing wrong but that I was doing some things backwards! I was crowding my ppl plants, and leaving the little "suckers" there. ( I ended up with tons of plant and no fruit). Living in the desert, I over compensated with watering too much. My poor tomatoes didn't have a chance. I learned so much from your vlogs just on tomatoes! I still go back and watch them. Another joy I have is you with your cows, talking to them and loving on them. And your talks with "Miah". My husband passed almost a year ago and it makes my heart smile to watch you and Jeremiah sit and talk about your future plans with the learning center. Your love for each other shines through the camera!🤗🙏🤗🙏. It just makes one feel good and hopeful for the future of our world. That you figured out organic is better and a true stewardship. The way God intended for us and our fellow creatures. By the way, I don't put my tomatoes and other fresh veggies in the fridge anymore. And boy do they taste good!🤗🙏🤗🙏. Thank you Jess! God bless you and your family!
I think Primero is a good name for that spider! I walked through a large sticky web just this morning, and had a brief arm-flailing conversation with the spider who put it there about location, location, location! I'm a vintage gardener, living in the city, working long hours on a computer, fighting my own inflammation and stress, growing veggies, herbs, and flowers in containers and a couple raised beds I squeezed into my tiny rented flat's outdoor space. I had a big deadline earlier this week, and while I was computing, the cabbage worms were devouring my broccoli and cabbage starts. But I will plant more, and succeed where the good Lord allows (and helps), and I will find comfort in seeing your wilted cow peas, and meeting your first garden spider at the new home. Most days I feel like an outlier among my peers, but they all light up when I walk in with fresh grown produce and flowers. I'm so very encouraged to know you and many others are out there living my dreams, raising wholesome families, and blessing their communities. I am blessed by the videos you create because I feel like your heart and mine share a similar motivation, and I pray you will continue to follow where it leads you down all the pathways of your future whether humble or glorious, or both.
The roots of elephant ears, taro root, is edible.