Original subtitles

[Marty] When you look out the window of an airplane at 30,000 feet,

you're looking at this right here.

You're looking at farms, rectangles, and squares.

There is a common thread running through that patchwork.

They all recognize the value of family

and a good work ethic.

Iowa in winter is a frozen, windswept, barren landscape.

-It's brutal. -[Marty] Hundreds of holes in the roof.

I don't know how to fix it.

They don't have a proper barn to put the animals in.

Since my husband died, everything just kind of sat.

We failed at everything that we have done.

Something has to change drastically.

We need to show them how to thrive out here.

[opening 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. -...and ingenuity

It's perfect. [laughs]

To save the off-grid dreams of desperate homesteaders.

We work every second we can trying to help

complete strangers. That's who we are.

Iowa means... beautiful.

[Misty] All you see is farms as far as the eye could see.

-[Marty] Boom, shakalaka. -[Misty] But guess what?

We're in wintertime.

All of these cornfields are dead.

[Marty] And it is windy and cold.

Don't think for a second that this place isn't brutal

in the dead of winter.

In the remote plains of Iowa, the Raney's answer

a distress call from land utilized for centuries by farmers,

providing 10% of America's food supply.

But the bounty of this region doesn't come without risk.

Summers bring scorching heat and humidity,

along with an average of 50 tornadoes per season.

And with winter comes life-threatening sub-zero temperatures

and winds howling up to 45 miles per hour,

turning this fertile ground into a barren landscape

with no respite from Mother Nature.

Facing this windswept battle is a second-generation

homesteading couple struggling to keep their off-grid

birthright from the brink.

I'm Jake Anthony.

And I'm Shawn Anthony, and we're situated here on 10 Acres in Northwest Iowa.

[Jake] Almost 40 years ago, my mom purchased this property,

and it's been in our family ever since.

Growing up, my parents had a thriving and flourishing property,

but since Shawn and I have taken over the homestead,

we've been struggling.

The summer and fall season, we survived, but...

The temperatures in Iowa in winter get

20, 30, 40 below zero sometimes.

And the amount of snow can go from an inch

to three feet overnight.

Everything on the homestead is at risk when it gets that cold.

We are in Tornado Alley.

We had a tornado come through here last year and it caused

the damage to our property.

[Jake] We just haven't been able to build back from that.

Due to the extreme weather, our barn is inadequate

to house our animals.

There's holes in it.

So we've had to relocate the livestock all into the shop.

There are no doors on our shop,

so it allows very brisk cold winds to come in through there,

which is a big danger to the animals.

[Jake] Our horse stables, you can see through the walls.

You can see through the ceiling.

The horse is exposed to all the elements.

Horses have been a big inspiration in my whole entire life.

And right now we have one horse,

but we had seven horses and we ultimately had to sell them

because we needed to focus our time and energy

on other parts of the homestead.

[Shawn] It's really tough when you're trying to help

these animals and you fail them.

[Jake] In the winter, food is scarce.

Our garden is non-producing.

We've tried to do raised beds. We've done plants and tires.

We've done strategic placement of where our gardening is.

We've tried to patch up our structures,

but we definitely don't have the knowledge in building

anything that we need.

We've failed at everything that we have done.

[Shawn] We're this close to not being able to make it through this winter.

Raneys, please help us.

This wind is blowing. Batten down the hatches.

Hold on to your hats. Zip up your coats.

-[Misty] Oh, gosh. -[Marty] Are they inside?

-Hello. -Hello.

-Welcome to Iowa. -Oh, my gosh.

You guys, hello.

-Jake, nice to meet you. -Nice to meet you.

-Jayme. -Jayme.

-Jayme. -And Shawn.

-Shawn. -Yes.

And you are?

-I'm mom. -To him?

-Yeah. -Okay.

And you live here?

-I did for 37 years. -[Misty] Oh, wow.

-Where'd you move to? -Washington, Iowa.

-It's about 500 miles east. -500 miles away?

-Yes. -Because the wind is brutal, let's cut to the chase.

Why did you call us here?

Because we're at a loss for surviving.

We don't want to let go, but we need so much help.

[Jake] My favorite thing growing up on the homestead

was the freedom that we had.

My parents were big into agriculture and gardening,

and we had sheep, we had hogs, we had cattle.

I grew up mostly south of Chicago.

I knew nothing about homesteading

and being self-sustainable.

[Jake] Throughout my life, my dad was the backbone.

He was a hard worker from sunup to sundown

and dedicated his life to my mom and myself.

For six years, Jake and Shawn lived a normal city life

in Omaha, Nebraska.

But three years ago, life as they knew it changed.

In June of 2021, we got a phone call in the morning

that my dad had passed away.

Ken basically said, "Jayme, walk me to my pickup.

I don't feel too good this morning."

Get halfway there, and he dropped over.

Had a massive heart attack.

[Jake] We had just talked to him on the phone the day before

and it seemed like everything was fine.

So it was definitely a shock to me.

[Jayme] I was there for a year after he passed away,

but it was too much for me.

[Jake] That's when Shawn and I decided to take the reins.

Our main goal on this home set is to survive self-sufficiently,

but also to pursue my passion for horses

and rescuing them and do some training

on the side for supplemental income.

[Jayme] We also were very big into making our own products.

We make our own laundry soap, toothpaste,

we make our own deodorants, and we do that all from organic materials.

I always wanted to live a life where I could generate

an income for us selling my own things.

[narrator] But without Jake's father around

to teach crucial farming and construction skills,

the homesteaders are fish out of water.

[Shawn] Jake knows so much about animals,

and there's a lot that I know about gardening,

but we just lack some of the basic knowledge

that would make us successful here.

[Jake] My mom knew some things, but there's a lot of things

that my dad did on the homestead by himself,

and I never got the opportunity to learn those skills.

And without the skills that my dad had, we can't keep it going.

[Shawn] This has already been in his family for almost 40 years,

and we want to carry that generational legacy on.

There's not a plan B, but right now we're just over our heads.

My whole life is here on the homestead.

Leaving this would be leaving my dad.

If we are not able to save our homestead,

it would break my heart.

[Marty] What's this building?

This is the barn where all the livestock was being kept.

-My dad built this. -How's the integrity of the building?

I'm honestly not sure because I don't know much.

Well, I can see a lot of daylight. That doesn't look good.

Shawn attempted to insulate it to keep some chickens in here.

[Marty] You can't insulate this.

Any kind of heat is going to go right through.

I'm looking at probably hundreds of holes in the roof.

If it was snowing or raining right now,

all these holes would be just dripping with water.

[Jake] Yeah.

10 years ago, where would the goats be?

The goats and the cow would have been in here.

They're all in the shop now.

-In the shop? -Yeah.

Where the tools, the tractor, and the mechanical?

-Where that's supposed to be. -The shop stuff? Okay.

-And then there's a horse as well. -Right.

Where do you have that horse?

[Jake] There's a stable, and we've tried to repair it

with tin sheets and more plywood and stuff.

But even that, due to the weather and stuff,

even that stall isn't suitable to have the horse.

This homestead has around 50 farm animals.

And there's not anywhere that I can see

that protects them from the cold.

This building is pretty much non-usable.

Yep.

And it's something that just really sucks

because it's something that my dad kept going

and I don't know how to fix it.

I can use a screwdriver and drill a board,

but I don't know how to make the cuts or what I need to look for.

And I feel like that's something that

I should have learned from him, and maybe it's my fault

because I wasn't outside with him a lot.

-Well, listen. -But I don't know.

Listen.

We can't do anything about the past, right?

Yeah.

And if you're sincere about wanting to carry on

your dad's dream of everything this homespan, this 10 acres meant,

that's all you really need to focus on.

But it takes work to get it done.

The weather is brutal.

The buildings are in terrible condition.

We're probably going to tear stuff down.

And the question is, what are we going to build?

Something has to change drastically if he wants

to carry on the legacy of his father.

[Matt] Okay, what is going on in here?

[Shawn] Well, this was originally, like, our workshop.

Is it a shop or is it a barn?

Yeah.

[Matt] There's 20 chickens in here, four goats.

-[Shawn] And a steer. -A steer.

This was set up where we would keep all of our tools.

At one point, we had a tractor in here that was old.

But unfortunately, this winter was so brutal that it damaged

a lot of our structures that we kept our animals in.

So we haven't really been able to utilize this space

the way that we really would have hoped to.

-It's a shop. It's a barn. It's both. -Yeah.

[Matt] This is not a great place for a barn.

I know that you put some stuff down on the floor,

-but, I mean, this is a concrete slab. -Yes.

There needs to be a door on this thing, you know?

That door doesn't even look like it can close.

[Shawn] Right.

The other barn is a shanty about ready to collapse,

and they don't have a proper barn to put the animals in,

and it looks really unsanitary.

So, I mean, how badly do you need a shop though?

Like we really need a shop.

You know, our dream and our goal here is to be

not only self-sufficient for ourselves,

but we want to provide an income for ourselves

so we can work from the homestead.

Yeah.

I'm going to try to figure out a way to get the animals

in a safe space where they can keep warm,

but also have a nice shop where they can work on

their mechanical stuff for their business.

I think that this is totally a very useful space.

Yeah.

[Matt] We just need to make it safer.

[Misty] What are these guys doing for gardening?

They put their garden down here.

-Oh, under the trees? -Under the trees.

For shade?

I don't know. And I go, why?

This seems like a pretty small garden, but there is one.

-Did you have a garden here? -Yeah.

-And it seemed like it was working for you. -Yeah.

So what's happening with these guys?

Since my husband died, everything just kind of sat since then.

When it comes to just growing food, there's a lot of work to do.

-I would love to be able to resurrect... -Yeah, exactly.

...this, but look at this crazy weather.

-It's like dead of winter in Iowa. -Yeah.

No plant is going to survive in this wind

-and in these temperatures. -No.

-No. -So step one, figuring out

how you can grow in this climate.

-And it's not going to be underneath a tree. -No.

I have Jayme at my side.

We're here for the same goal, which is to help Jake

to make sure that his dream of being here can come true,

because it's not going to happen like this.

We definitely have some work to do.

[Misty] Jake moved back with Shawn, and he's here to stay.

I know he's serious, but he can't do it on his own.

The barn has reached a point of no return.

There's not one structure here that provides refuge

from these winds. How's that shop look?

The shop is being used as a barn and gets too cold

and dilapidated to keep animals safe

from all the wind and the snow.

That shop space needs to be a shop space,

but the animals need to have their own spot as well.

You think this wind is brutal with the animals?

It's brutal when you try and grow anything.

If this was being used to its fullest potential,

this would be like a moneymaker.

So we need to show them how to not just survive,

but thrive out here during these brutal Iowa winters.

You've got a warm house, and the animals have no place to go.

So Matt and I, we're going to focus on

new housing, new structures for the animals.

-Definitely. -Absolutely.

It's simple enough. Do you want to grow your own food?

-[all] Absolutely. -Yes.

This wind, not only is it super hard on the animals,

it's going to be really hard to garden in.

What we have going for us is the amount of structures

that are here.

I think you could easily repurpose one of them.

-Absolutely. -Definitely.

We're dealing with below zero chill factor.

But guess what? We're from Alaska, and we don't care.

Because you're going to see that the talking stops

tomorrow morning, and the working starts.

Let's get out of the wind.

-See you then. -Great.

-Take care. -All right.

Shawn and I were training horses for a while for people.

And then the weeds just overgrown everything.

-You're a bronc buster. -Yeah, I grew up doing mutton busting

and roping with my mom.

[Marty] We need to go beyond just building a structure.

Let's go!

[narrator] As dawn breaks on the Anthony family's 10-acre Iowa farmstead...

-[Misty] It snowed. -It snowed.

[narrator] Misty presents Jayme with a plan to give Jake

and Shawn's gardening infrastructure a second wind.

Wintertime in Iowa, trying to grow food.

I know Iowa has this amazing growing season,

but how do we take advantage of it right now in this moment?

So I would love to talk to you about a few things.

-Come on in here. -Yes?

There are a lot of structures here

that you and your husband built pretty much all of them, right?

And they all had a purpose at one time.

But now, not so much, right?

Now they're just kind of random,

filled with random things.

When I look at this Quonset Hut, I see the potential.

So I would love to do something with this structure.

Is this structure up for grabs?

-If we can empty it. -[both laugh]

[narrator] A Quonset hut is an all-purpose,

prefabricated structure created for the US Navy during World War II.

Commonly made of corrugated galvanized steel,

the US military sold their surplus huts

to civilian buyers.

And today, Quonset huts are often constructed

for use as outbuildings, businesses, and homes.

I would love to turn this Quonset hut into a greenhouse.

Do you think we're going to be able to do that?

-If we can do it, let's do it. -Okay.

[narrator] Misty and Jayme will replace a portion of steel paneling

with translucent roofing to transform the 50 by 25 foot Quonset hut

into an insulated south facing greenhouse

with shelves for crops that will sustain

Jake and Shawn during the frigid Iowa winter.

This seems light.

Why don't you grab that, and I'll grab this.

We are in the dead of winter in Iowa,

and if you want to maximize your potential to grow

as much food as you possibly can,

the only way to do that is with a greenhouse.

But to transform the Quonset hut into a greenhouse,

the first thing I want to do is move it so it's facing south.

Okay, there you go. Okay, it goes right inside.

It's going to fit right inside as a block.

Down.

We're gonna put in these massive stabilizing logs,

a little bit of bracing, and that's gonna hold the structure in place

and keep it stable when it's moving.

Okay, we're gonna call that good?

Okay.

[dramatic music playing]

All the little things matter, especially when it comes to gardening.

Little things like just pivoting a structure

to be able to collect southern exposure is something

you're going to want to spend time doing.

Look for damage. Look for damage.

Looking good.

Obviously, extra care needs to be taken because

this is something Kenny built.

So I'm trying to be really careful.

We're taking it nice and slow.

I hear damage.

This Quonset hut is not heavy, but it's rickety.

And even with the bracing, there's potential for us

to totally collapse the whole thing.

-Come this way a little bit. -Okay.

This is just a little bit harder than I thought it'd be.

Yes!

-All right, Jayme, good job. So look at this. -Yes, perfect.

If you were a plant, would you be happy?

I'm happy not being a flight attendant.

I've missed the moving stuff, rebuilding,

putting stuff together, fixing stuff.

Working with her reminded me of working with my husband, Kenny.

It just brought back so many memories of working with him.

[Misty] First things first, we got to pop off the middle.

How are you with an impact or a drill?

-Piece of cake. -Piece of cake.

-Here we go. -Let's go.

[country music playing]

[Matt] Hey, Shawn. How's it going?

Another day in Iowa with snow.

[narrator] Over at the shop turned barn, Matt and Shawn begin

the critical task of keeping the homestead's livestock safe

from howling winds and sub-zero temperatures.

[Matt] My main goal is to make sure these animals are safe in the winter.

But I also want Jake and Shawn to learn the skills

and the tools, not just to survive this winter,

but the winters to come.

To make things a lot easier, I don't want to spread out

their shop and their barn.

I want to make things manageable

and bring everything all together in one spot.

I want to look around for materials that are on the homestead.

-For sure. -Anything that we can source right here

from the homestead is going to speed things up.

So let's get this thing weathered in.

[narrator] Matt and Shawn will build a one-stop barn shop,

constructing three separate weatherproof rooms,

a chicken coop, a pen for larger livestock,

and a workshop, all under one roof.

This will keep the farm animals safe and dry

while providing Jake and Shawn with plenty of room

to store equipment and work on critical homestead projects.

There might be life left in some of these logs

I'm seeing on the ground here.

And I mean, there's a four by six right here.

[Shawn] I'm excited to learn a lot of things from Matt

and super excited about moving forward with these projects.

It looks like it's 16 feet long.

We're definitely going to take that. This is good.

We're finding really good materials here.

I mean, look at this. Are these the barn doors right here?

Um, I would assume so.

[Jake] I wonder, do you think that Jake

would mind if we took these barn doors?

I think he would be thrilled because then it would be

repurposing something that his dad was wanting to use.

And so that'd be really touching to Jake.

I think it's really amazing that Jake and Shawn have chosen

to try to keep this legacy of the homestead alive.

And if we all work together, we can get this place

back to what it was.

Let's bring all our materials over and we'll start restoring

-the shop. -Perfect.

[upbeat music playing]

-So we had a little blizzard last night? -[Shawn] Yeah.

[narrator] 100 feet away from the future one-stop barn shop...

All right, let's talk about this place.

Marty and Jake seek to safeguard the largest animal on the homestead.

[Jake] There was stables here.

Shawn and I were training horses for a while for people.

-Really? -And then the weeds just overgrown everything.

Well, so was there any money in training horses?

Yeah, we'd get the horses like from like a kill pen

or something and then train them or make sure

they were broke right enough and then sell them for more.

-So we would make money. -You're a bronc buster.

Yeah, I grew up doing mutton busting and roping with my mom and yeah.

-Are you serious? -Yeah.

Wow.

So do we want to do something on this footprint right here?

I think this is our best. It's a good foundation.

-Access to this. -And access to, yeah.

Okay. Let's walk out to this field.

After finding out about Jake's passion and history with horses,

we need to go beyond just building a structure.

This is very valuable land that this...

very invasive, aggressive plant has overtaken.

-Right. -So do we want to get rid of this?

-That would be the best thing. -Okay.

[narrator] Marty and Jake will construct a 50 by 25 foot

weatherproof stable that opens up

to a 250 by 100 foot wide pasture,

providing Jake with the means to train horses

for additional income.

We made it in.

Okay, let's do it.

The key to unlock this homestead's potential is this,

horses.

Jake's dream is to rescue horses,

bring them here, care for them,

and then sell them to a family that wants a horse.

That could be a way to generate income.

So they can improve it, expand it,

and make this homestead even better.

But there's no way it's going to happen

unless that kid breaks a sweat.

Let's go!

[rooster crowing]

[narrator] In the wind-chilled heartland of Iowa, an overnight increase

in temperature has melted the snow.

[Marty] We got a barn to build. Let's go!

[narrator] And across the homestead, an essential lumber delivery arrives.

-What's your name? -My name is John.

John, Marty Raney. This is what we do.

We make dreams happen.

[narrator] Providing Marty with the necessary materials

to teach Jake valuable building skills

as they construct a new winterized horse stable

to house the homestead's burgeoning horse training operation.

So now think of this space as two horse stalls.

-That sounds great. -They'll be 12 by 12.

Whatever it's going to take here, one step

at a time, basics.

This homestead has a sad excuse for a horse stall.

No protection from this incessant wind.

So we're building a two horse stall barn

to help them make money on this homestead.

We're going to build a straight cut wall,

and our studs are going to be...

this long, we're gonna need a lot of them.

Nothing would make me happier in the world if you could cut

all these studs while I'm figuring out the wall.

Yeah.

I never got the opportunity to learn from my dad

and so I'm really looking forward to working with Marty

and learning how to make structures sturdy

and show him that I can actually do it by myself.

Ah.

Hey, this is not a big deal.

So what you're doing is, come here, let me show you.

Your hand over here is holding it up and pinching it.

-I just gotta let it. -Yeah, just let it go.

Let it go.

That was perfect. That's all I had to see here.

Good man.

I need about, I probably need 50 of them.

-Carry on, please. -Cool.

Thank you.

I feel like a carpenter.

If my dad was here, he would be taking a step back

and shaking his head up and down and saying, "There you go."

If you put your mind to something, then you can do it.

That has really been like a motivation for me.

[Marty] Where's my next one?

-Ready. -Good answer.

Ready?

Yep.

Thank you.

I love it.

I'd love for you to make what is called a header.

It's the head of the top of a door or a window.

So it's usually a bigger board or sometimes a beam.

So we're going to put headers over our barn doors

that are going to open so they're strong.

Let's put this header and trimmers in there.

You want to do it?

Why? Is it wrong?

Wow.

Three and half inches, wrong side of a line.

That's a mistake.

Big time. Who made it?

Exactly.

No one's made more mistakes out here than me.

But I didn't have mentors.

You learn anything?

-How about that? -Yes, sir.

Make a mistake, who cares?

-Right. -You'll fix it.

The good news is I can help others.

It happens, right?

To learn the skills involved with homesteading.

If they're ready to learn.

-How's my people skills? -Good.

You remind me of my dad, so it's a good thing.

-[Misty] You ready to pop some of these sheets off? -[Jayme] Sure.

[narrator] On the other side of the homestead,

Misty and Jayme convert the old Quonset hut

into a winterproof greenhouse.

I'm so excited.

This is like we're going to transform this thing.

[Jayme] I'm starting to see it. I'm starting to see it.

Obviously, in a place like Iowa,

you need insulation to keep your structure warm.

-Can you catch the metal when it comes down? -I'm holding it.

[Misty] But guess what?

That fiberglass insulation is 99.9% air.

Those double-paned insulated windows, guess what's in there?

-Air. -Two down, a million to go.

-Ready? -Let's do this.

So after we take off the metal on the south-facing wall,

using two sheets of poly and a thin air gap,

I want to create insulation for this greenhouse using just air.

Oh, yeah. You're doing it.

Oh!

Super sketchy.

I'm trying to put roofing on in a windstorm.

We have this corrugated poly.

I just lost a piece that just flew in the air,

became a massive sail.

You're not going to get cut. You're not going to get knocked out.

But you're going to damage one of these panels.

So I'm just trying to get them on little by little,

tacked on, so when the next gust comes, they don't blow away.

Okay. Tack them in.

[Jayme] The greenhouse is coming along well.

I think we get the working knowledge on

how to start a garden, but to keep it going

and keep it thriving and keep it maintained

is what we need some more education on.

[Misty] Okay, last screw.

-Yeah, okay. -Yes.

What do you think of the old homestead hack, insulation using air?

-Would have never thought about it. -You like it?

I didn't know it worked like that.

-Makes sense, though, right? -It does make sense.

-It's like a double-paned window. -Yeah.

[Misty] Okay. We're going to hang the thermometer.

Boom.

We'll check back in a little bit and see where we're at.

But I feel like if I were a little plant,

I would love this space.

[Misty laughs]

[Jayme] I can't wait to see it with the shelves.

[Misty] Yeah, me too.

[upbeat music playing]

Well, Marty?

[narrator] At the site of the new horse stables...

-Got you some help. -Jake calls in some helping hands.

-Hi. -These are some friends of mine and our nephew.

-Val. -Val?

-Yep. -Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you. -Julian.

Julian, nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you. -Ryan.

Ryan, man. Ryan's a big dude.

-Heck yeah. -So I've got to stand a wall.

Let's do that first. Come on in.

[Jake] Marty and I have been working on the horse stables

behind the shop.

The walls are all getting framed,

so hopefully we can get as much done in the short

amount of time that we have the nice weather,

because there's colder weather coming.

These are 12-foot stalls, so we're just going to stand this wall,

and that'll be the one wall for the tack room, dry room,

right here.

Lift that wall up. Don't pinch your fingers.

Everybody has to do it at the same time. Ready?

-One. -What?

-[all laughing] -Three.

-Were you going to do one, two, three? -Yes.

Okay, that's what I do. You tell us.

-Tell us how we're going to do it. -Okay.

Ready?

One, two, three.

All right, now we're going to slide it back, everyone.

Come on, keep coming. Right there.

Push it to the wall, please.

Nice.

-Okay. -Why is there a space?

That's a good question.

If I would have framed it on the ground and stood it up,

it won't fit because this building is actually leaning.

Okay.

So what I did is built this short,

and then we'll piecemeal this together hard on this

and probably hopefully keep it from keep leaning, yeah?

-Cool. -Good answer, right?

Yeah.

-Better question. -Thank you.

You're welcome. Now we're going to stand this one.

This is a horse-stall divider, guys.

The more and more I work with Jake,

the more impressed I become.

He is growing in confidence, learning, asking questions,

constantly thinking about the future here.

-Val? -One, two, three.

All right. Okay.

[Jake] Really appreciate how much he's taught me.

And now I know how to build a wall.

Done.

It's something that's really going to be beneficial

to Shawn and I in the future.

Tall enough for these two horses to go, hey, how's it going?

-Good morning, good evening. -Heck yeah.

Hey, what are you eating?

Let's get the roof on.

[upbeat music playing]

[narrator] Inside the one-stop barn shop, Matt teaches Shawn

how to make critical infrastructure upgrades.

You can literally see that where these boards meet,

this whole thing is sagging.

And so we need to fix this.

My plan is to turn this old building

into a multi-purpose space that is the one-stop barn shop.

But there's the little thing this all hinges on

that it doesn't collapse on our heads halfway through.

We can't start and do anything

-until we jack this up. -Okay.

[Matt] But the number one thing that needs to happen

on this homestead is to train Shawn

in the ways of homesteading so that he can actually claim

this land for his own.

So now that this is on there,

we will slap in some wood and get it braced with some posts.

Okay.

-All right, grab that thing. You got a drill in your hand? -Yes.

Okay.

[upbeat music playing]

Okay.

Now we're going up.

Let me know when this is flush with this side of the brake.

-Okay. -Yeah, we're calling that thing

in the middle the brake.

Okay. All right. We're touching this joist and that one now.

Okay. Let's screw it.

All right. One more issue.

It's really easy to attach wood to wood.

But where are the posts going to go in the concrete?

-That I don't know. -Joining concrete and lumber is easy,

but you have to have the right hardware.

I've never seen it done, and it's a skill I would love to learn.

I would absolutely say that I am learning a lot from Matt.

What you want to do is you want to go,

go, go, go, go, and then pull it out.

Go, go, go, go, go, and pull it out.

-Just try to get that dust to come down. -Okay.

He explained things in a way that I understood them very well.

I would definitely say it gave me some more confidence.

We'll be able to utilize that moving forward.

[Matt] Just, hey, pound it. Yeah.

You just anchored a wood post in the concrete.

High five.

-I mean, this is pretty cool, huh? -Yeah.

Yeah, I've never done that before.

[upbeat music playing]

[drilling]

[Misty] All right, Jayme, come on over, Rover.

[narrator] Across the homestead, Misty and Jayme start work

on the Quonset hut greenhouse interior

that will allow Jake and Shawn to grow vital crops

through all extremes of the Iowa seasons.

I want to use these pig crate panels as shelves.

I just want to turn them into shelving,

and the idea is they'll last a long time.

Obviously, when you water from the top,

-it trickles down to the plant below. -Perfect.

-That's why they're here. -Yeah, good job.

-Let's do it. -Let's do it.

We're putting these shelves together for free

and creating a space where you can actually grow

a significant amount of plants in here.

And they look like something you would buy from the store.

And every shelf can get some.

-Let's start putting them together. -Okay.

[upbeat music playing]

The greenhouse is amazing.

[whooping]

[Jayme] I think it will help Jake and Shawn

start the first steps in the process

of what they need to do to keep things going

under the homestead.

And that means a lot to me.

-[Misty] Pretty good? -[Jayme] It is.

[upbeat music playing]

[narrator] With only 72 hours left in the rescue...

We can do this door over here.

[narrator] Marty and Jake race to complete the new horse stable's

weatherproof interior, a crucial project

to generate income and help ensure

the homestead's long-term success.

All right, this has seen better days, right?

-For sure. -I think so.

We'll make a new door, but I think these are usable.

-What do you think? -Yeah, they look good.

Top and bottom. Let's get them, please, quick.

We're homesteaders.

Homesteaders repurpose.

Homesteaders upcycle.

And those materials go right back into the barn.

How you doing on the hinges?

-Good. Got them. -Good man.

And it's a win-win.

You know what to do.

Thank you for saving those hinges.

I love it.

-[laughs] -I'll be.

I take a break when I can, but I never like being caught.

Get it down. Do not tell anybody.

I wasn't sitting down.

We got two more. Let's go.

-Come on, everyone. -Okay.

So we're in the process of making doors.

And why not access...

these horse stalls from the barn where it's dry and not windy.

You can feed them, you can water them.

You don't have to come outside and access this

and fight these doors in the wind.

However, we're not done.

[upbeat music playing]

Here's Marty!

Whoo!

All right.

Enough room to get through there.

This is going to be a tack room.

Some saddles, some grain, most likely.

I mean, there's not any building on this homestead.

And there's 14 buildings.

There's nothing like this that's efficient.

Everything looks good.

We had a little reprieve with the wind.

Got the metal on.

So what we have done is state-of-the-art roof

with enough screws to keep it on here in any winds

and it will also protect those animals,

those horses, from the elements, from the rain.

[upbeat music playing]

[Matt] Let's just kind of get it over here in this corner.

[narrator] At the one-stop barn shop, Matt and Shawn build

livestock partitions that'll keep the animals safe

and warm throughout the winter.

I'm thinking build a wall and seal off this entire side

-of the shop. -Okay.

So we can have the goats on this end,

that'll also be closed off to the shop,

and then build a separating wall,

and then this entire area would be used for chickens.

And guess where the chicken run is?

-I have no idea, I was gonna ask. -It's outside.

Free-ranging.

Yeah, you're gonna still free-range the chickens.

That fridge has to move, and the temporary fence.

-Let's get ready to work. -Sure.

Pull it out of the way.

We want to separate the chickens from the goats

and other animals because if you build

a big enough space and they have separate areas

that they're comfortable with going into when they go to sleep,

they can totally cohabitate and be just fine.

You just have to make sure that they have a place

where they can kind of separate and just be their own entities.

Okay, push the top.

And if we build a wall, Jake and Shawn will have

a nice, sanitary place where they can process food

and meat and products.

Whoa.

We got to turn.

Okay. Well, let's set it down gently.

Okay.

So we have a two-inch difference between

this end of the wall and this end of the wall.

We're going to build two different walls,

and we're going to make our wall

shorter than the shortest measurement.

-Okay? -Okay.

Now we want to put a stud in every two feet.

Teaching Shawn how to pull layout and build a wall is one thing.

Showing him how to put that into an old building

is homesteading.

Shawn is learning above and beyond what he would learn

at your typical carpentry school,

because everything that we're doing here

can be applied to all the many old structures

that they're going to have to repair and add onto in the future.

Pull the trigger.

Look at the nail, 'cause it could shoot at the little thing.

Okay, we're doing the other side.

[Shawn] It's been a good learning process.

It just all makes more sense. It's all centrally located.

It's just 30 feet from our front door.

No more chugging water all over the property.

Lord, I hope it fits.

The animals can all be in one place

but separate and have hay there to feed them very easily.

It's all coming together.

It's all starting to make sense.

And we're just excited to see where it's going to be

in the next few days.

All right, we got this thing secured into a nice spot.

And now we're going to really tie it all together

-when we put the next wall in. -Yeah.

And we'll square up this whole thing,

make sure it's plump, get some sheathing on here,

and then we'll start turning this into a barn.

[Shawn] Sounds good.

[upbeat music playing]

[Jayme speaking]

Come here.

You're not, though.

It's something that you and Dad made,

and this is something that you're helping me continue

-by making it better. -[sighs]

It's a lot of years of memories.

It is.

This is something that's going to create

-even more years of memories. -I know.

-I mean, that's... I'm sorry. -Are you guys okay?

Are you doing okay?

[Jayme] I'm having a moment.

-What's wrong? -I just see all the great changes

going on, but it's... It's like I'm almost, like,

losing my husband again because a lot of the stuff

that we did over the years, and it's like

he's being taken away again, but it's being replaced by

all this stuff that is so amazing.

-Aw. -So it's...

-Great emotions. -Bittersweet.

Bittersweet.

This is, like, why you ended up leaving, right?

Because of the memories.

-Yeah. There's too much. -There's too much.

-And now you're back, and it's, like, too much. -Yeah.

It was just all of a sudden overwhelming today

when I saw it all. It's like...

Wow.

-It's all good. -You're kind of seeing the farm, like,

-come back to life. -Yeah, I know that.

I know that in my heart.

-It's hard, but it's great. -Yeah.

[Misty] To see any homesteader in tears is hard.

Jayme is having a rough day, which is understandable.

These are memories that she spent with

her husband for 30 plus years.

That's a big deal.

To me, like seeing this is something

that they built together.

And for me, it's a memory that I'll have that's actually...

-keeping us on the homestead. -I know that.

I really felt that.

[Misty] You know what's fascinating about the two of you?

It's very different, okay? You have, like, a spouse,

it was like, this is too heavy, this is too loaded,

-I have to move away because of all these memories. -Yeah.

Then you have a son that's like, I got to move back

because I need these memories.

They are who I am. I really miss my dad.

I love my dad.

And I want to be here for my dad and with my dad.

-So I'm moving back so I can be with my dad. -Yeah.

But she left. No, I know.

It really is.

Where is your dad buried?

-In the front yard. -Really?

There's a tree, like a tractor tire.

If you don't mind, I would love to see where your father's buried.

Yeah, for sure.

-Let's go. -Let's go.

I mean, all I ever hear about is Kenny.

I want to meet the guy.

People react differently to change.

Some people love it, and some people hate it.

Jayme lives in the past when it comes to this homestead.

This farm is a huge reminder of Kenny.

All she can see when she sees the farm is Kenny.

But Jake is all about the future and all about the change,

and that's good.

That's what we want.

We want to pick up where Kenny left off

and take the homestead to the next level.

-This is Kenny. -Yeah.

He always said he wanted to be out at the farm.

I love you.

-Okay, thank you. -I appreciate that.

Thank you for bringing me here.

-What's that about? -This is too heavy.

-Yeah. -He's out of here.

Yeah.

He'll come out here and sit sometimes and talk to his dad.

-By himself. -Yeah, by himself.

-It's personal and private. -Exactly.

It's like his...

a place where he can go and talk to his dad and not be bothered.

-Yeah. -Yeah.

[Misty] Just hearing that this is where Kenny is buried,

this is where his ashes are spread, this is heavy duty.

This is, like, really heavy, right?

You can't just, like, hear this information

and not be affected by it.

I don't even know the guy.

And everywhere you look, you can see Kenny.

So I get it why Jake is like here to stay no matter what.

Everything we do for you, we do for Jake and we do for Kenny, right?

-It's all for him too. -Yeah. Yeah.

So I'm going to leave you to it so I don't cry.

[both laugh]

That's it. No more. No more. Okay.

-I'm going to get back to work and when you're ready, -Oh, perfect.

-you know where to find me. -Thank you.

[exhales]

[upbeat music playing]

[narrator] With the Raneys deep into a winter-steady

master class on their first ever Iowa rescue,

Matt, Shawn, and local build help install

livestock pens inside the one-stop barn shop.

You didn't see it coming, but I'm back.

[indistinct chatter]

With my dad rebuilding the barn on the backside of the shop,

I actually think it's a good idea to make a little area for the goats

close to the backside of the interior of the shop,

and then keep the chickens to the front side.

The chickens will literally just go in a rectangle room

that's a little bit bigger.

And they will be able to exit the shop from the front side

so that they can continue free ranging and getting

all those tasty bugs.

All right. I think we're ready to start putting the sheathing on.

[upbeat music playing]

I got one nail in it.

Now I want you to lift the board up.

-Down. -Down.

Down a little bit.

Right there, sir.

I've learned how to frame some walls and do plumbing up

wood and stuff like that.

-Is that level? -Pretty much, yeah.

With all the new knowledge that we're learning

and all these new builds, after the Raneys leave,

we're going to be able to take that knowledge and grow and expand

and really make this homestead a place that we love to call home.

Jake and I actually met online,

and the first time we hung out,

Jake actually told me, I'm gonna marry you someday,

and I thought it was funny.

Um, I was like, you don't even know me,

I don't know you, and you're 10 years younger than me,

and here we are nine years later,

and we're married, and we're on his family homestead.

I am a little bit intimidated, but I'm excited as well.

[laughs]

All right, let's get more sheat on the wall.

I want to consolidate all the egg laying that

the chickens are going to do from now on

in nesting boxes.

We could just wall that whole side off.

These animals are going to be safe and comfortable

no matter what the weather is like.

And we have plenty of room left over to park a tractor,

do all the shop needs.

This building is going to be bomb.

So we're moving right along with our Quonset hut.

It's not officially a greenhouse yet,

but in the next couple of days it will be.

So obviously plants won't live in there full time, year round.

You grab the end of this tape, only a 25 foot long tape

and head towards that post down there.

We're off to a good start with the greenhouse,

but this is farming country.

Okay?

And this homestead needs an outdoor garden.

I don't have a ton of time to spend on this outdoor garden space,

and that's okay because it's forcing me to get creative.

I have this idea where I want to put in this

rainbow fence, the shape of the Quonset hut high tunnel,

and that way we don't have to put in one corner post.

We'll save ourselves a ton of time,

a ton of material, and in the next hour or so,

we'll have an amazing outdoor garden area.

So this is how we're getting the radius.

-Now let's figure out... -How big.

-How big. -How big is too big?

Well, we don't want to encroach.

-Right. -Correct me if I'm wrong, this is a run for the animals.

-Right. -Okay, so let's not get too greedy,

so let's walk out this way.

I feel like this is enough for pumpkins and squash.

Okay, now go eight steps that way.

Here we go.

-Yeah. -Boom, go that way.

Let's go this way and do the same thing that way.

Are we starting to look like a rainbow?

Rainbow fence for the gays. Do you have a pounder?

-Yeah. -Okay, let's drive the T-post in,

stretch some fence, and it's done.

-Sounds good. -Okay, let's do it.

It's really nice to get a chance to work with Jake

and create this garden space together.

Done.

We're just staying with the theme of round

and creating this rainbow fence line

and pulling off of this pre-existing fence.

We're using a pre-existing gate.

Next.

-Tired yet? -No.

-Let's go. -I like you.

Get her done.

Reminds me of the good old days.

[Misty] Work with your dad? [laughs] That's nice. Good job.

Let's stretch it.

So let's start at this amazing corner post

that's already in, that your dad probably put in, right?

-Yeah. -And we'll go to the outside of that post.

Let me get this stapled down, and then we'll start stretching it, okay?

Heck, yeah.

[Misty] What's really cool about this farm

is you could see, like, his projects.

-He was going to, but... -He was going to,

-where he just didn't get to them. -Yeah.

Life gets in the way, and losing him, like, yeah.

It's crazy, like, his dreams are coming to reality.

-My dad, so... -Yeah!

That's really awesome. That's so good!

Here we are all together trying to pick up

where Kenny left off, right?

We don't want the farm to pass away along with Kenny.

We want to do Kenny proud.

That's like in the forefront of my mind.

Every day I'm like, Okay, I got you, Kenny.

Jake's going to be fine.

Let's just get him to that place.

Okay, what do you think?

-Looks good. -Looks good, right?

-Yeah. -It took like no time at all.

I feel like about an hour. We put in a fence.

And you're standing in your new garden.

Sometimes when it comes to these immediate needs,

you don't need to spend a ton of time.

-You don't need to spend a ton of materials, right? -Right.

-And that's the idea behind this. -Yeah.

Just kind of use what you have on hand. Make it work.

-Right. -Right?

-Easy. -Yeah. Quick, easy.

-Done. -Okay.

I'm sure my dad could use your help.

And I still have some work to do over there.

-Sounds good. -Good job?

Heck yeah.

[Jake] Woo-hoo!

[narrator] Across the homestead, as critical fencing upgrades

are made to enclose the equestrian pasture...

I think it's great.

[narrator] Marty seeks a way to utilize the newly cleared out area

beyond the enclosure.

I've been looking at this area ever since we got here

because now they not only have an arena,

but this is a beautiful pasture.

The horse, horses, goats, the cow, whatever,

they'll love coming back here, but we've got a problem.

We don't have time to build a fence.

There's nothing here but the post.

So I have an idea.

Hand me that rope. Please.

There's an old country song called "Don't Fence Me In."

But sometimes you got to fence in the horse,

or you may never find it again.

We're going to find out if that horse can be contained

with one single strand of rope.

We'll use the existing fence post,

and we'll go fence post to fence post about four feet high or so.

This is an old cowboy hack.

They can build a game fence later.

But for now, she's going to get the job done.

Sure enough, it worked.

And I hope it works equally as well here.

Oh, Maverick, this is going to be a good day for you.

I want that rope off of him.

And we're going to leave it up to Maverick to play by the rules.

Come on, Mav. Come on, Mav.

-Oh, gosh. -Okay, he's heading for the rope.

[Jake] Look at that.

[Marty] He did it.

That's a smart horse.

This is awesome.

Right up against the rope.

I never thought that just using one string would be.

But I get it. I get it.

There's just one rope across the top of some fence posts,

and it's actually keeping the horse in.

So that, to me, really surprised me.

He showed me something that I can pass on to someone else.

[Marty] When's the last time you ever had a horse back here?

When I was a kid, probably. Look at how beautiful he is.

He's really happy, I can tell.

Look at him.

He got an amazing arena and a bonus pasture.

-However, we're not done. -Heck, yeah.

[upbeat music playing]

[narrator] With less than 48 hours until the Raneys leave,

Misty, Jayme, and Shawn fill the greenhouse

with the first batch of what will become

a vital supply of wintertime crops.

Okay, so what do you think?

-This is amazing. -Isn't it nice?

-Yes. -Okay, there's no door.

There's no windows.

So I don't think we move shelves or anything.

I literally think we just set the plants

wherever you can find room. We'll go grab more.

Sounds good.

Let's put these guys, like, right here.

Move the screws.

The idea with having this greenhouse is being able

to start whatever you want to start.

And then in the springtime, getting the plant to a place

where it can actually be moved outside and survive,

so that way Shawn and Jake will actually be able to grow food.

-Okay, it's official. We went from Quonset hut to... -[both] Greenhouse.

'Cause now there's a plant.

Just missing a door and a couple windows.

Full steam ahead. We're going to make it happen.

Good job.

[upbeat music playing]

[narrator] Later that morning...

I think the most important measurement we need

to get is the width of the door.

[narrator] Matt and Shawn put the final touches on

the weatherproof one-stop barn shop.

All right, let's grab that other door,

slide it over here, and get it cut.

-Now this one might be heavy. -I was like this looks a little...

a little solid.

We're at the point now where we need to put a door on this shop.

The height of our door opening is 90 inches,

but we don't want to cut our door 90 inches high

'cause when we try to put it in there, it won't fit.

So, mark this.

89 and a quarter.

Straight up.

It's the only thing that's going to keep this shop weatherized

and buttoning up all the air gaps

in that building is really the thing that's gonna keep

those chickens warm, and they'll be able

to just go in that coop, huddle all together

when it's cold, and they're gonna be just fine from here on out.

[Shawn] I didn't have the opportunity like Jake did to grow up

on a homestead.

So it was really hard to figure out my place here

and seeing things come together.

Let's bring it over to the shop.

It's going to be the perfect space for me to delve right into

helping animals and making products.

The things I'm most passionate about,

I just know with every ounce of my soul that

we're going to succeed together as a couple.

Just the edge.

These old barn doors are amazing.

They've been sitting here for a long time.

They've had many uses in the past

and they're the perfect doors to really tie

this whole barn together with the shop

so that their livestock will survive.

Okay, slide it over.

And provide a much needed way

to keep out bad weather.

Okay, open it up.

Are they easy to open?

-Yeah. -We've secured your shop barn,

and it looks like an amazing barn door.

-What do you think? -I love it.

The major need here was for the animals.

Having a nice area that's an enclosed structure

without any drafts, it's a whole new world in there.

You know, we're excited to utilize that space.

Yeah, I like that we really repurposed these doors.

It's probably my favorite part.

That's my favorite part too. I was saving the best for last.

-Right. -[laughing]

We just have a couple more pieces of hardware,

get a latch on this thing, trim it out,

and this shop barn is done.

You are doing phenomenal,

but the projects aren't over yet.

[upbeat music playing]

Hey, Jake, come on over.

[narrator] With work on the horse stable nearly complete,

one crucial equestrian project still hangs in the balance

as time ticks away.

So when I first met you, you talked about

how you had a dream to save horses,

-put some time on them, and maybe sell them. -Yeah.

I got a question for you. What's the next step?

Having a round pen out here somewhere.

A round pen makes it so much easier

when you're getting a two-year-old or a three-year-old

to create that bond, because you want

to create a bond in a closed environment,

but still give them the space that they have their independence, so...

-Where would you put the round pen? -I don't know.

Realistically, it'd be out there.

[Marty] Can I reveal something to you?

Sure.

I have all the panels here brand new for a round pen.

Really?

-No way. -Yeah.

-[chuckles] Really? -Yes, sir.

I don't know what to say.

-Can I help you put them up? -Yes.

Yes. Yes, you can.

-Let's go. -Let's do it.

-Are you happy? -Yeah.

I can't tell.

Let's get started.

Okay.

When the Raneys first arrived, my skill level was very low,

like maybe a three out of 10.

And now that I've taken the time to soak in

all the knowledge,

my skill level is probably more around an eight or nine.

And I feel like if I just keep on doing

and staying confident in myself that with everything that they've shown us,

I know that I'll be able

to do anything in the future and it's something that

I'm really looking forward to.

-This is legit. -Is that where you want your post?

-Yes. -We figured out where the center was,

and we put a post in the center.

Right there. Yeah, that's perfect.

That will be a great tool for us.

Perfect.

[Marty] Get in there. Is it firm enough?

It ain't going anywhere.

It's a place for us that we can start new horses

if they're just learning on how to saddle.

-All right, is that going to work? -Yes, sir.

That's almost a 60-foot round pen.

-That's what the professionals use. -It's perfect.

And you're a professional.

Come on in.

[Jake] Since all this new construction with the horse stable

and the arena, it's exciting,

and it'll just keep on going up from there.

[Shawn] Now that we have the knowledge,

we can make this place whatever we want.

Right here, another stable. Ha-ha!

-There you go. -Thank you.

Don't thank me yet.

We get a horse in here, two-year-old or younger,

where you guys are putting time on her

with that beautiful view in this Iowa paradise,

then you can thank me after I'm long gone.

[upbeat music playing]

[Matt] So what is this over here?

[narrator] With the one-stop barn shop complete...

[Shawn] It was a smoker at one point,

and that's what Jake's dad was using it for,

but it eventually became a tool shed.

[narrator] Matt tests Shawn's carpentry skills and his ability

to complete off-grid tasks without help.

-I think this thing is way too cool to be a shed. -Yeah.

And so I've been thinking about something

you said earlier in the week about how you were making

your own products.

And I want to know like where you've been

making them and kind of what is needed for a space

where you could have basically call your own.

We make our own laundry soap. We make our own deodorant.

We make our own body scrubs that we sell.

We just don't have an adequate space

to do that because I'm doing it out of our kitchen.

Would you want to turn this space into

your own workshop to make your products?

Yeah. I love the structure, so does Jake,

and it's still in pretty good shape.

I mean, I've been working with you,

-and we've done a lot of work. -Right.

But I'm trying to be as hands off

as I can so you can get experience.

So it's time to put those skills to the test.

-Right. -Let's start moving out some stuff.

Okay.

And then we'll go in there, get some measurements,

and figure out how we can turn it into

your dream workshop.

-Sounds good. -All right.

All right, here you go.

[Shawn] I'm ready to do it without the help from Matt.

One of the needs I needed was to have an area

where I could do my work because that's a source

of income for us to be able to stay home

and make our dreams here a reality.

There's going to be a workstation in there

and proper shelving for storage,

and it's going to be the perfect space for me

to make money to put towards the homestead.

Finish that station, and then we'll get the paint on.

[Shawn] Overall, I'm starting to see a different change in myself,

and I just feel so, so happy.

What do you think of your new space?

I'm pretty impressed because in the beginning

I was a little skeptical because it was so dark

and looked so small with all those old tools in here.

I'm glad we actually finished this space for you

so you can do the work that you've been missing out on.

I love it.

And by you doing all this for me, like,

you know, you're bringing my dream back.

[Matt] I'm confident that you have all the skills

to just keep this ball rolling.

And I'm really excited for you.

-And your work has just begun. -Right.

[narrator] Across the homestead...

[Misty] Shawn and Jayme.

[narrator] Shawn joins Misty and Jayme to inspect

the new Quonset hut greenhouse.

-Should we go inside? -Yes.

And get out of the wind?

-Yes. -Okay, let's go.

So what's amazing about this little structure

is how warm it is and how not windy it is.

It's wintertime in Iowa, and this structure

is 70 degrees during the day and warmer.

Also, this whole hoop house is sitting on this concrete slab.

That'll hold on to that heat

and kind of release it at night.

We have the air gap, that insulated air gap

that I think is really cool.

And just the size alone. Like, look at this.

Look at how much room there is.

[Shawn] What shocks me is that we planted almost 300 plants,

and it doesn't even take up a quarter of the space.

[Misty] Yeah.

There's a lot of seeds over here, too.

Like, you have some serious potential, and I'm just excited.

You guys will have such a jump start.

-Like, every farmer around has to wait for spring. -Yeah, absolutely.

-[Shawn]Yeah. -Not you guys.

[Misty] It's a really big deal.

[narrator] One week ago, Jake and Shawn's

poorly placed garden was overrun with debris,

and they had no way to grow essential crops

during the frigid and windy Iowa winters.

Now they have a windproof Quonset hut

greenhouse for all seasons growing.

You guys gave us a great solid foundation to grow from.

You know, I think we can only go up from here.

I feel that we have been pulled out of

a very dark place that we had been in for a while

and where we felt like we had no hope.

And I see sunshine in the near future.

And what I love about this place is...

Kenny's still here, Jake's dad,

'cause me and him built this Quonset by hand...

-Yeah. -...when he was little.

-Yeah. -And it's still half of what Kenny did.

Yeah, I love that too.

I think Kenny would be proud. Wouldn't you agree?

-Oh, absolutely. -Oh, yes.

Yeah.

[Misty] I'm super happy in this moment.

And I think for Shawn, you know,

just really not only getting him to a place

where he can grow everything he wants to grow,

but just giving him the knowledge

and the little tricks of the trade,

like it's gonna go a long ways.

With gardening, there's trial and error.

That's like what gardening is.

You cannot control mother nature, but guess what?

You can adapt to it.

I appreciate everything.

-Yeah. -We all do.

Yeah, no problem.

-But the work is just beginning. -Beginning.

[upbeat music playing]

I suppose no better time than now.

[narrator] As the rescue approaches its final day,

Marty spots another critical piece

of the homestead's history that could prove to be useful

for its future.

This is the tractor that's been on the farm for how long?

As long as my parents have been here.

-40 years? -Yeah, at least 40 years.

40 years.

And it's been running the entire 40 years until?

Until my dad passed away.

When I was younger, growing up,

obviously my dad would cut hay every year

and we'd take hay rack rides with the family and stuff,

so it's really something that I've lived with my whole life.

For me to be able to use that again is something

that's really going to continue my dad's memory and his legacy.

Have you ever driven this tractor?

-I have not ever driven this one. -Okay.

-Um, do you want to? -I would love to.

-Yeah. -Okay.

-It would be like my dad was here driving it with me. -Okay.

How mechanically inclined are you?

-Not very. -That's okay.

It doesn't matter if it's a chainsaw,

a generator, or a 65-year-old tractor.

-Right. -It needs spark and it needs fuel, okay?

-You ready? -I'm ready.

It's hard to believe that Jake has never driven the tractor.

If you own a tractor on a farm in Iowa

and you don't know how to drive it and run it and work it?

You don't belong on a farm in Iowa.

But if we can get it running again,

Jake is going to be in that driver's seat.

You know where the gas tank is on this thing?

It's one of those top ones.

Come here.

Would it be right there? This is your tractor.

You're going to get familiar with it. What's it say?

-Buy clean fuel. -Well, let me go get some clean fuel

for you and see if that will come off.

[Jake] I don't know if there's words to describe working with Marty.

It's a memory of my dad and it's

something that's motivating me to work harder

and I'm trying to soak up everything that Marty can teach me.

[Marty] I like your style.

Good job.

Jake is a quick learner.

He knows how to build.

He's about to learn how to drive a tractor.

His confidence is growing and he can do anything.

That's your clutch. Put your foot on it all the way down.

Here's your throttle. Reach up there and grab it.

Okay? Feel free to hit that starter.

Okay, you got nothing. We're gonna have to jump it.

Clint.

We're not gonna give up.

We might be driving this tractor before the sun goes down.

Look at the lights! Whoo! Now that's park.

Push on that starter.

[engine sputtering]

Stop!

One more trick.

Where's that starting fluid, Clint?

You can get it in that carburetor.

Hit it.

[engine sputtering]

Stop! I don't like it.

We got issues in there because that should be firing.

It's a solid tractor. It's solid.

And we will get it started.

Hey, Dad, can you help me with something?

Marty, I would like you to meet Marty.

Really?

-A scarecrow? -[Misty laughs]

I get it. Misty's trying to be cool, clever, cute.

Makes a scarecrow that looks like me, allegedly.

[laughs]

This thing scares me a little bit

What's with the black eyebrows and gray mustache?

It might just be me, but it does seem like

that ever since Misty put up that scarecrow,

everyone's working a little bit harder.

I'm just glad there's nobody out there

in the real world that resembles that.

[upbeat music playing]

Okay.

[narrator] As the sun rises on the final day

at the Anthony family's frigid Iowa homestead...

Hey, buddy, come on in here. I'm gonna show you a few things.

[narrator] ...a new morning brings a breakthrough.

So you remember when we checked it for spark

-and we said, yeah, we have spark? -Yeah.

Well, I've been working on this all morning and figured out

that spark plug wire was arcing to the ground.

So we had broken spark plugs.

So I've got four new ones in there, and now...

I know we got spark all the way to where it has to go.

[Jake] I haven't seen the tractor run in almost four years.

It's not only a piece of equipment for us,

but it's a piece of a memory.

Choke it, please.

Okay.

Fire in the hole.

[engine sputters]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Stop.

Okay, it fired, I like that a lot.

[tapping]

Uh, take that choke off.

Okay, fire it up, please.

[engine starts]

Let off, let off.

There's your throttle.

Right there, let it idle for a while.

Whoo! You like it?

Good job, good job.

It's the life changer that the tractor's running again.

It's something that my dad used every day,

so for me to be in the driver's seat

is something that's really special.

How's she running?

-Good. -You like it?

Yeah.

Sounds good.

That's amazing.

That thing started better than most of my trucks.

I think you're the proud owner of a 1957

International Harvester Farmall tractor.

-Sounds good. -Is it cool?

-Yes, sir. -You look good behind the wheel.

[Jake] It's pretty special to hear it running,

and we'll definitely be using the tractor for the arena

and moving snow and just building whatever

we can with it now that we have access to

a bigger piece of equipment.

[Marty] That's gold, buddy. That's gold.

Heck yeah.

[Marty] Whoo, look at that.

[Matt] I mean, before we go into the shop,

-we have to talk about these amazing barn doors. -[Shawn] Right.

I think Jacob is really excited

that he was able to repurpose doors

that his dad originally wanted to use in the barn, so...

Yeah, man, these doors are awesome.

All right, open it up.

I mean, come on. This is the ultimate shop.

-It's crazy. -First of all, we replaced

-the post that wasn't even existing. -Yeah.

We made this more structurally sound,

and then we beefed up the overhead beams

so that you can actually pull that tractor

all the way in as far as you need.

And we didn't sacrifice too much space

-adding all the livestock. -Yeah.

[narrator] Seven days ago, the Anthony homestead

had a dilapidated barn that offered its livestock

no protection from the chilling elements

and no safe place for Jake and Shawn to work.

Now, they have a weatherproof one-stop barn shop

that comfortably houses livestock,

a workplace big enough to fit a tractor,

along with a revamped shed where Shawn can generate income

for the homestead by producing organic products.

I'm really happy with the way this turned out.

-Absolutely. -And the goats are going to love it.

Yeah.

[Matt laughs]

[Marty] So the day is going to come soon when Maverick,

the only horse on this homestead, realizes this is all for him.

Right.

And when he does, you're going to have to introduce him to?

His palace.

-Pretty cool? -Heck yeah.

[Marty] That wall right there was left short

so that just the one light bulb in the tack room

can broadcast light across the whole barn.

Heck yeah.

[Marty] Rubber mats.

They're comfortable on the feet.

And they do provide some insulation from cold concrete.

And of course, they're easier to clean.

You got another room over here for another horse?

-Heck yeah. -A tall enough wall, sir, that...

they can interact and have fun.

It's possible right now to make an income

on this homestead.

And we've got them set up because they've learned how to build.

How long have you been dreaming about having a place

-to save horses and raise horses? -My whole life.

Okay. What made it come true?

The hard work and determination.

Yeah, there you go.

[narrator] One week ago, Jake's horse, Maverick,

lived in a dilapidated stable that was susceptible

to the elements, and Jake lacked the off-grid skills

needed to keep his family's homestead alive.

Now, he and Marty have built a stable, arena,

and training pen,

giving Jake the space to fulfill his dream

of rescuing horses and the skills to keep

his parents' legacy alive,

all while providing

a future income stream that should make it much easier

to live off this land.

[Jake] I feel like Marty has started a fire under us

to keep the motivation going and for me to have an area

where I can show my expertise and use my expertise

is really something that's going to motivate us

to not only keep going, but to keep going even further.

It's all new.

I want to hold true to honoring my family's legacy,

and I really want to make my dad proud and want him

to be able to look down on something that he can say,

"Wow, I started that, and Jake and Shawn continued that."

[Marty] Iowa did not disappoint.

Yup.

Obviously, we're sad that we never got to meet Kenny,

but after a week, it feels like we've gotten to know him a little bit.

Absolutely.

I feel like we're a part of Kenny's legacy here

on this homestead.

[Misty] He's in everything that you guys have built,

and he's going to be here for the future because that's what Jake's all about.

I see a lot of confidence and I see a lot of courage

-going into the future. -We doubted ourselves a lot.

You guys gave that confidence back to us

to not doubt ourselves anymore and to just go for it.

I think that Jake and Shawn will be able to make

massive steps forward now.

I have a feeling that tomorrow morning

when the sun comes up, you're all three going

to go right to work.

We appreciate everything. We really do.

-Thank you. -I have confidence.

I can do stuff.

Thank you.

[tractor engine starts]

[Marty] We're going on a hayride.

-Let's go. -Climb on there.

We invited some of your neighbors.

We'll see what this tractor's got in her.

Let's go.

It's a 1957 tractor that Jake worked on.

Listen to it. Runs like a sewing machine.

These people are smart, they're hardworking,

and they have values.

I've seen them working hard every day,

making a dream come true.

So when I listen to Jake and Shawn and Jayme

talk about how they're gonna start tomorrow morning,

pick up where we left off, and make this a thriving homestead,

I know this family will get it done.

-Two, three, and... -[playing harmonica]

[all clapping]

[all singing indistinctly]

-Whoo! -[all laughing]

[Jake] Since the Raneys left, we're getting a lot done.

[Shawn] Everything in the greenhouse has been doing rather well.

And Jake is over here now planting our cabbage.

[Jake] Here in the next month or so,

we'll be able to actually harvest that and enjoy the food

that we've been able to grow ourselves.

I'm training horses now, and we're boarding now.

[Shawn] And I used the skills that Matt taught me

to add on another stable here.

It turned out pretty well.

My dad's up there definitely just saying,

keep it going, and he would be proud.

[Shawn] Thank you, Raneys.