The Redeem Your Ground Story on Growing a Greener World [& Bloopers]
October is here…and I am so very thankful. Exhale.
These past 12 months or so have seemed like an all-out sprint on a number of fronts at casa de Scott…often leaving me with the feeling that I’m barely keeping up. [Hence fewer posts and more re-posts. Sorry!] Exhale.
So today’s welcomed cooler temps have ushered in thoughts of what fall will bring. Exhale.
After the whirlwind of summer and school starting…and before the crazy of the holidays…just weeks away…October, to me, offers a unique time to pause, reflect, and be thankful for all that’s happened the previous year. Even more so than New Year’s…when we’re still in the tail end of crazy.
October is here…and I am so very thankful. Exhale.
Something I’ve been thinking a lot about recently from this past year was the amazing privilege of having the Redeem Your Ground story told on Growing a Greener World.
Crazy. But good crazy.
If you haven’t had a chance to see our episode on GGWtv, please do. It will give you some background as to why we started down this Redeem Your Ground path in the first place…and why we keep at it. You can watch it here.
[Thanks so much Joe Lamp’l and Carl Pennington for all that you did to make this happen for us. We really can’t thank y’all enough!]
Now…I invite you to check it out with some hesitation. Because…although it was a surreal honor to see my yard, home, & family…and to hear our story…all on TV, I also had to see my whacked, contorted mug and hear my overly-expressive voice on the the small screen. [I now see why some people say I remind them of Jim Carrey…but I had no idea how big my fangs are! Look at the screen shot below to see what I mean!]
So…in order to add a bit of levity to our lives, I asked my good buddy Joe Braun (Best30Seconds) to make a short bloopers reel out of some of the raw footage. Take a look and you’ll see why it’s tough for me to receive people’s compliments when they say that I’m “a natural.” Ummmm, really…a natural what?!? [Thanks Joe B.!]
Considering that this footage is from just 1 or 2 phrases, you can see what miracle workers both Joe Lamp’l and Carl Pennington are! [Thanks friends…for making something coherent out of all my babbling!]
Well…I hope the bloopers reel gave you a chuckle…and that the Redeem Your Ground story perhaps inspires you to consider living a more intentional life outside at home with your family and friends. Regardless, I hope your October is a good one.
Exhale…
![[VIDEO] Introducing…Our Backyard Chickens!](https://redeemyourground.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Video-Introducing-Our-Backyard-Chickens-RYGblog-150x150.png)
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Thanks for the early morning laugh. I should have known not to be sipping on coffee when I watched this. It was funny then and just as funny now. You were great and adding this levity to a long, hot day of filming realy helped. Loved this. Thanks doug for sharing this.
Glad my blunders made you laugh this morning AND during filming! Hope you, Carl, and the rest of the crew are well. Thanks again for allowing us to tell our personal ground redemption story on GGWtv…and how that launched us into all things RYG. Really can’t thank you enough. Let’s reconnect soon. Take care my friend! – D.
Hi Doug,
My family & I, live in North Texas, & we learned about RYG when it was featured on Growing a Greener World, while watching our local PBS channel. It was the best episode of that show that I had ever seen. Now, to be truthful, I am a bit biased. We moved to Texas 5 years ago, from Stockbridge Ga. While I have no love loss for south ATL, north ATL is a different story. I could also truly relate to the concept of “Redeeming” one’s ground. We have 10 acres that are in desperate need of some redemption. But, to hear your wife so beautifully describe & implore redemption, it moved my heart. Her voice sang of the heart of Jesus, without even having to say His name. The hope & gift of true redemption within every aspect of our lives. From our jobs to our lawns, from our eternal salvation to our right now today, from our marriages to our family growth & love, He is there to redeem our ground.
In a tale of awesome ground redemption, my family & I are about to move to TN, (where I’m originally from), to be closer to my step-son who has moved back to GA. When the decision was first made, I told my husband that I would absolutely love to get to visit your home & family, if you allow visitors. I read your blog every week, & I have to tell you that the #1 plant I look forward to being able to grow in my yard again, is the hydrangea. ????
If you all do allow for visitors, please let me know where I can schedule a time. If not, I certainly respect that & I will continue to pray for the furthering of RYG & blessing over your family. Thanks for being a light of redemption when the world says it’s impossible.
Sincerely,
Stephanie
Stephanie…wow SO MUCH in one comment!!! First of all…thanks so much for your oh-so-kind words about the RYG episode on Growing a Greener World. As I wrote in the post, it was an incredible opportunity to have our story told…and surreal to see/hear it all on tv! It’s also surreal to think that anyone beyond my family reads our blog regularly…and they’re even hit or miss!!! So thanks for that encouragement. And then even further…for you to want to visit our home. That’s crazy. So if/when y’all happen to be in the area, message me through our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/RYGblog/) or reach out through the “Contact RYG” deal on our blog (https://redeemyourground.com/blog-contact/) and we’ll figure something out. Lastly…yes, you saw right to the core of Britt’s heart. Our faith is central to the why and the how we do what we do. Again, your words were a huge encouragement!!! Thanks again Stephanie…good luck with your move back to Tennessee (a state I have a particular fondness for…I went to college in Nashville)…and hopefully we’ll connect again at some point. Take care, Doug
This morning we have enjoyed looking at all your RYG blogs again. It was especially fun to see this most recent one. It reminds us of how much fun and joy you have added to our lives and so many others! Thanks!
Oh Mother Dearest…thanks! And by the way, you can identify yourself as my mom. It’s no secret that a lot of the why I love gardening and the what I know came from you! I hope y’all are having as beautiful weather there as we’re having here!!! Love you, D.
Hey Doug,
Watched a rebroadcast of this and it reminded me all over again why it was, and is, one of my favorites from GGWtv. It’s not just the what you did or the how you did, but the why you did that made it so impact-full.
And, while I wish I could watch the bloopers (antiquated hardware/software) what I really find myself wondering about were some of the challenges faced/overcome during some of the projects. I love the design of the side porch/daybed area as well as the chicken coop. Were they both first drafts? Did you hit any hardpan clay digging down for footings? It’s not that I want to take away from the accomplishments, but understand some of the challenges you may have had to solve to reach them.
(and if you’ve written about them on your blog, apologies, I’m just now digging into them.)
Greg…thanks so much for reaching out with your comments and questions. So glad you enjoyed the GGWtv episode that featured our yard and story! Was a lot of fun to do…and a huge honor! Sorry you weren’t able to pull up the bloopers video…and that you were left w questions that weren’t answered. Although there was a ton of footage that was edited out I don’t think any of it had to do with the challenges we faced with any of the projects…it’s just not the direction that Joe and Carl took it.
That said, you gave me a lot to think about…as far as what future posts could focus on. Typically my projects are about solving a problem…but in a broader sense…like making sure my girls know where real food comes from…but I guess I don’t typically write about specific challenges I faced while completing the project. Hmmm…I’ll definitely try to work more of that in as I write future blogs.
But to answer the questions you asked specifically: 1. For the most part, yes…both the chicken coop and the side porch/daybed areas were first drafts. That said, there were certainly edits that needed to take place as we started bringing what was on paper to life. But for those 2 specific projects those edits were more tweaks that had to do with dealing with considerations specific to the area we were working…than they were a drastic re-drafting of the initial ideas. And I just realized…I’ve not done a post on the side porch…I need to…as it was perhaps one of the biggest transformations functionally and visually! I did do a # of posts on the chicken coop design (https://redeemyourground.com/?s=chicken+coop) and a post on building the daybed (https://redeemyourground.com/hanging-daybed_1/). 2. No, we did not hit any hardpan clay digging the footings…surprisingly, given that we live in Georgia! That’s not to say that it wasn’t back-breaking work. Fortunately I have strong friends…and a couple of even stronger guys that did our house renovation who I’ve used for a number of my larger projects. Having both friends and strong guys who know what they’re doing and enjoy being part of the design process is KEY!
I hope this helps…some. And thanks for the challenge…so stay tuned to see how it manifests itself in future posts.
Take care, D.
Doug, thank you! Really appreciate you taking the time to clarify, very helpful and I really liked how you mentioned solving problems, but in the broader sense…how it would benefit your daughters and I think that was one of the biggest take-aways from the episode itself – you didn’t/don’t just change things (side porch, garden, chicken coop) for the sake of changing them, you change them for a specific reason…to benefit your family.
Thank you very much for the links, and I’m really looking forward to the upcoming posts!
(My computer is such a dinosaur, you could put it out in the middle of a ‘prehistoric park’ and it wouldn’t seem out of place.)
Greg…so glad my response was helpful. And thanks for your continued encouragement. I look forward to our future exchanges. Take care and I hope you have a great Thanksgiving this week! – Take care and gobble, gobble…D.
Thanks Doug, looking forward to that! And I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving as well! In spite of the various challenges (or in light of) there’s much to be thankful for!
{turkey emoji} 😉 .
Gobble, gobble! – D.