11x05 - Denali Double Rescue

[bunniefuu]

This homestead is dying

in the shadow of Denali.

[Misty] Alaska is no joke.

[Amber] Sometimes it'll snow
2 feet in a night.

[Craig]
Things go wrong all the time.

One step forward,
two steps back.

[Misty] In order for them
to survive,

we need to rescue
two homesteads in a week.

[Marty] Two families
on two separate homesteads.

We've never done this before.

I'm going in.

[Misty]
They rely on each other.

Without one, I don't know
if the other will make it.

[Marty] Watch out, please.

Whoa.

[Marty] Whoa, Craig.

Not good. What's that?

[man]
That's why we're looking for.

[laughter]

That's completely
a life changer.

These homesteaders
are trying to live

like an Alaskan should live.

Easier said than done.

[suspenseful music playing]

[country music playing]

We're home.

[Marty] We're home.

You cannot tell me

that you don't have
fond memories

of climbing Denali.

[Misty]
Dad, our climb was 29 days.

-Did you make it?
-[Misty] Yeah.

[Marty] Exactly.

I made it really close.

[chuckles]

[Marty] This winter,
record-breaking snowfall.

Rural Alaska got hammered.

The snow literally
just melted.

[Matt] But now is the time.

When you see leaves
on the trees in Alaska,

you have a very short window

because winter's coming soon.

[narrator]
The Raneys are 80 miles north

of their Alaskan ranch,

racing towards
a homestead in need.

Near the shadow
of America's tallest peak,

Mount Denali,
a mecca for climbers.

The region is known
for its short, hot summers

and brutal
record-breaking winters

that can dump more than
20 feet of snow per year.

It's also home

to an abundance
of destructive wildlife,

including moose, caribou,
and Dall sheep.

It is here facing
overwhelming challenges

from Mother Nature

that the Neamand family
struggles to homestead.

I'm Shandi Neamand,

and this is my husband,
Craig Neamand.

We live on a 10-acre
homestead in Alaska.

[Craig] We have two children,

daughter Cardwin,
she's ten years old,

and our son Uler, who's five.

We love it,

but the weather up here
can be pretty harsh.

And in Alaska,
things go wrong all the time.

Murphy State.

This winter
was the most difficult.

It was the most snow
that we've been faced with,

two to three feet every day

and our workshop collapsed,

which was very devastating.

[narrator]
The workshop was the heart
of the Neamand homestead,

housing generators and tools.

The collapse
brought on by the snow load,

destroyed equipment

vital for butchering
and storing food.

All of the meat
that we had harvested

and hunted all went bad.

It was devastating
losing all that meat.

[Craig] Living off-grid,
we rely on the generator

for food and to power
our well.

I don't know
how many generators

we have around here
at the moment.

It's probably
like eight or nine.

[Shandi]
It's not very reliable.

The generator
goes down and breaks

and we have neither
of those things.

Let us see if this starts.

[generator revving]

[Shandi] And nothing.

[sighs]

[Craig] Get the moose. Go.

[narrator]
But over the past month,

an expl*si*n
of wildlife population

has taken their plight
from bad to worse.

[Shandi]
The gardening situation

has been a struggle.

Moose kept coming in

and completely destroyed
everything.

Kept building fences up

and the moose
knocked the fences over.

[Craig] Things are getting
tougher and tougher.

[Shandi]
We don't wanna have to leave,

but we're not gonna
be able to survive.

We don't really like
to ask for help,

but we could really use
the help.

[Misty] This has got Alaskan
written all over it.

[man whistles]

[Misty] Oh.

-[Marty] Hello.
-Hi.

-Good morning.
-[Craig] Good morning.

So as I look around
this homestead,

I see something
I don't see often.

They have farm animals.
They have gardens.

They have greenhouses.

The homesteaders
look capable.

Why am I here?

The jury's out.

How do you fit in this family?

I don't live here.
I'm their neighbor.

I'm just over to help
them clean up this mess.

-[Matt] Oh.
-[Misty] What happened?

[Craig]
Snow built up and fell over.

We have to figure out
what's salvageable,

like, equipment in there

for, like, chicken lights
and stuff like that.

What kind of work do you do?

[Craig]
I do construction work.

[Marty] Okay.
So, you're a contractor?

-Yes.
-Okay. Any other incomes?

It's just started,
a essential oil business.

Where do you operate
that out of?

The shed behind the greenhouse
that collapsed.

[Misty] How much snow
did you guys get this winter?

Maybe 163 inches.

-That's 14 feet of snow.
-[Shandi] Yeah.

[Misty] Oh, my gosh. You guys.

When we first
came across this property,

we pulled Cardwin in a sled

while I was seven months
pregnant.

And it was, like, quiet

and peaceful and serene.

[Craig] We immediately said
we want it.

This is where
we're gonna set up our home.

[Shandi] I grew up off-grid.

That's what led me
to this lifestyle.

It's the only way
that I've known.

This is my daughter's
first stable home

that she's lived at.

My son's just been
living this way

ever since
he came into the world.

My children love
this lifestyle.

But with everything,

we could definitely
really use the help.

So our friend, Amber,
she'll come over here

to make it easier
on all of us.

The Neamands and I
help each other out a lot,

whether it be snow removal

or raise meat chickens
together.

When it comes
to homesteading,

to have a whole village
in your corner

is incredibly important.

[Shandi]
We have to make this work.

I love this place.
My children love it,

but sometimes
we just wanna give up.

[Marty] All right, buddy.

So, it looks to me
like this is your main shop.

Yeah, it is.

The roof survived
but, uh, under there,

I have tools, parts,
materials for work.

Now, we gotta ask
this question.

The snows melted
and this thing's still--

-[Craig] Still here.
-[Marty] Yeah. Why?

[Craig]
There was two feet of snow

and that just went away.

And I work a lot.

[Marty]
A lot of property was damaged
in the past winter.

Now the snow's melted here
for a little over a week,

and Craig hasn't sorted out
the problems

that this homestead faces.

I'm looking at one, two,
three, four, five generators.

There's six, seven,
eight, nine

that powers my well
so we can have water

and water the garden,
and take showers.

That's a lot of gas.

-It's a lot of money.
-[Craig] Money.

Craig's extremely capable,

but Alaska
is the land of extremes.

Clearly, Craig and Shandi
were not prepared

for last winter.

My job is to make sure

they're prepared
for next winter.

[Matt] You said that
you didn't get a chance

to get meat chickens
for this year.

-[Shandi] Yeah.
-[Matt] How come?

[Shandi] Craig works

and I'm here doing
all of the things.

I'm the one splitting wood.

I'm building the fences.

And then, I have the kids.

That's also a full-time job
in its own.

Oh, absolutely.

Let's get a closer look
at that chicken coop.

[Shandi] Okay.

This one was originally
for our butcher chickens.

It's not just our birds.

Amber gets birds
and then we all get together

for butcher day, k*ll them,

and then people
take their chickens.

This is a self-sustaining
year-round thing.

[Shandi] Well, we've gone
through multiple generators.

So, we first had
our freezer here

and then our generator died.

And then, we lost,
like, all of our meat.

-Really?
-[Shandi] Mmm-hmm.

Oh, man.

This homestead has
a food preservation problem.

Using a generator 24/7
has been working

for the homesteaders
up to this point,

but they need to diversify

their food preservation
techniques.

Because next time

they're in
a massive snowstorm,

everything's gonna go
to waste.

[Misty] Can we look inside

-this greenhouse?
-[Amber] Yup.

-[Misty] There's no door.
-[Amber] They... Yeah.

They can't be staying
very warm though.

I don't know how
these guys are surviving.

It's still pretty cold out.

[Amber]
I mean, they don't look like
they're doing great.

[Misty laughs]

[Amber] This is Craig
and Shandi's garden.

[Misty] Pretty sad.

[Amber] Got pretty decimated

by the moose last year.

[Misty]
It became like a moose feeder?

[Amber] Mmm-hmm.

And do you garden here too?

I have my own garden at home,

but the same sort of problems.

Moose walked
right through my fence.

[Misty] And you have a kid?

I have a 9-year-old daughter,
Soleil.

-Oh, wow.
-[Amber] Mmm-hmm.

-Single mom?
-Mmm-hmm.

[Misty] What was the winter
like for you?

There was a lot of snow
this winter.

And were you snowed in ever?

Yeah, a couple times.

I was definitely
not going anywhere.

I have a propane refrigerator,
but it stopped working.

So, I don't really have
any method of refrigeration.

[Misty] How is everything
being watered?

They have a well
and I'm hauling water

from here
or from my work in town.

And you're doing that
every day?

Um, probably every other day.

[Misty] It sounds like
you've got a lot going on too.

I'd love to see
your homestead,

and your cabin,
and your setup.

Sure.

[Misty] There's a lot
going on with Amber.

She's a single mom
hauling water

and not being
able to preserve food.

I can relate.

I have a son
and I can't imagine.

I don't think
I could meet a neighbor

that tells me
story after story

without seeing her homestead.

Oh, my goodness.

Yeah.
You're out here all right.

Okay. So, this is where

the moose kind of plowed
the fence down?

Yeah. I originally had

this whole side
fenced off as a garden,

but the moose just plowed
right through the fence.

[Misty] You said
your plants are inside?

-Yeah.
-Inside your cabin, right?

Yes. Mmm-hmm.

I live out here

with my 9-year-old daughter,
Soleil.

She doesn't like
the homesteading lifestyle.

A lot of times we're doing
things outdoor in cold,

like, hauling water
or using an outhouse.

We do not have running water.

Mostly, I'll go
to my sister's house

if I need to shower
or wash Soleil.

It's hard,

but I'm trying
to give her love

for this kind of life.

Been working
on this homestead dream

for quite some time now,

but it's one step forward,
two steps back.

[door creaks]

All right. Here we are.

Yeah. Your house
is literally the greenhouse.

It is. [chuckles]

[Misty]
Refrigerator is not working?

[Amber] It is not.

I do still keep food in here.

I'm just using it
as more of an ice box.

I'll bring ice in
every day and--

I wanna shut this. Oh, like...

-[Amber] Yes.
-[Misty] I wanna conserve.

Let's keep the cold in.

Have you ever ate anything
and then been got sick?

I got food poisoning
twice this winter.

I really don't think

I've been keeping it
cold enough.

There's not enough hours
in the day

-to do all of this.
-[Amber] There's not.

I'm just squeaking by
most of the time.

[Misty] I know we're here
to rescue Shandi and Craig,

but I couldn't imagine
leaving Amber.

Like, what about that
little community

that they've relied on
for so many years?

They need each other.

I think you're not
gonna be able to help

the one homestead
and not help the other.

This is a lot.

-Hey, guys.
-[Marty] Hey, we found you.

[Misty] Yeah.

[narrator] With the problems

on the Neamand homestead
assessed,

Misty calls Marty and Matt

to Amber's property
to propose a radical plan.

[Misty]
This is where Amber lives.

She's hauling water.

She's got all these
plants inside that cabin.

Nothing's in the greenhouse.

There's not one thing

that's actually
going well here.

Why is she over there
helping them?

[Misty] There is, like,
this relationship

with Shandi and Craig
and with Amber.

They rely heavily
on each other,

and without one,

I don't know
if the other will make it.

But I just went on
that tour with Craig

and the elephant
on that homestead

is this collapsed pole barn

with tools, valuables,
construction equipment,

all of it tells me
Craig and Shandi

were not prepared
for last winter.

It's time to get Craig
on track now.

And in order for them
to all be successful,

I don't think you help one
and not the other.

You have to help 'em all

to be able to support that

communal homesteading effort.

That's the way
they're gonna succeed.

Let's just be honest
about what you're suggesting,

helping two homesteads
in the same amount of time

that we normally help one,

we've never done this before.

Are we in agreement

that we're gonna try to help
two families

on two separate homesteads,
yes?

-Yeah.
-[Matt] Yeah.

[Marty]
Well, the plot thickens.

We're about
to propose something

that we've never done

and that is help

not just one family, but two.

But it's only fair to ask
your permission frankly

to take time, resources

away from this property
to help Amber.

[Craig] Absolutely.
She needs help too.

I mean, we all help each other
anyways, so might as well.

Thanks, everybody. [laughs]

Alaska is no joke

and you don't have to live
another winter

how you've been living
the last two.

I think we tackle
this food issue

when it comes to growing,

planning outside,
and you're fencing, and water.

And maybe you take
on the majority

and the bulk of that work

if they're doing a lot
of the work with the chickens.

Yeah. Yeah, let's do it.

I appreciate
that winter just ended,

but I'm thinking about
preparing for next winter.

You could be at a place

where this could be
the best winter

you've ever had.

On that note,
we'll see you in the morning.

All right. Sounds great.

-[Misty] Good night.
-[Craig] Good night.

[Shandi] Good night.

[upbeat music playing]

[Matt] Morning.

[narrator]
In Southcentral Alaska,

the Raney's begin
their first ever challenge

of rescuing
two homesteads at once.

While Misty
begins the morning

on Amber's property.

Marty is eager to get working

on Craig and Shandi's.

I left here last night,
it was just you two.

-What's going on?
-This is my dad.

-What an honor.
-Thank you.

That's an honor.
What's your name?

-Brent.
-[Marty] Brent.

Nice to have you.

-My brother, Chris.
-Chris?

-Who's that?
-That's my little sister.

We truly are short-handed.

Look behind me.

That's a lot of work.

We're gonna tackle that first.

Clean it out.

I think that everything inside

that footer
should probably come out.

-Absolutely.
-Let's start grabbing stuff.

When we first met
Craig and Shandi,

they told us
about the last few winters

and how each one
brought more snow

and more damage
on their homestead.

In order to get them prepared

for the oncoming
brutal winter,

priority number one
is to build a pole barn

to get this homestead up
and running.

So the first thing
we need to do

is get the shed roof off away
from the foundation.

You know what? Humor me.

Just lift it
and see what happens.

[woods creaking]

[Marty] Whoa, whoa.

What you should
have just learned

is what I just saw,

how strong
these trees really are.

This is an amazing
building material.

If we propose
to build out of these trees,

-don't be afraid.
-Absolutely not.

-That's my plan anyways.
-Okay.

In the process of clearing
this pole barn,

I discover
the roof is strong.

One man's pole barn
that's collapsed

is another man's potential
building materials.

Woo.

I had no idea you had
a concrete footer here.

-Couldn't see it.
-[Marty] Yeah.

But I can see it now.

I'm wondering... I'm...
Bear with me, please.

Now, that I see this footer,

I'm wondering
if you'd be interested

in just building on this

with the big trees
on this property...



If we could actually
get it to a point

where it had a roof on it

and put everything
back under here.

It's gonna be strong enough
for the next winter.

Leave you with something
that's not gonna collapse

'cause I will tell you this,
winter's coming.

I know. And what I learned

about your wife
is when she laughs,

she is staving off
the tears and the fears.

[upbeat music playing]

[Misty] Good morning.

-Morning.
-Good morning.

Who's this?

-This is Iver.
-Iver.

-Nice to meet you.
-Nice to meet you.

-I'm Mollee.
-This is my mom.

-Amber.
-Nice to meet you.

Hi, Iver.

Today, is bring your mom
to workday.

She is really tough
and she's really smart.

Amber also brought
a friend of hers, Iver.

Rescuing two homesteads
is not gonna be easy,

but for me,
Amber takes priority.

She's a single mom in a cabin

in the middle of nowhere
in Alaska,

but it has not been
an easy ride,

so I'm trying
to get this homestead

to a place where it's doable.

To do that, I need to start
with a garden.

I was thinking move it
to the middle of the yard

right here-ish.

It gets a lot of sun
and it'll be less accessible

-for moose with a fence there.
-I love that,

but let's just figure out
what this footprint looks like

and go from there.
You go that way.

You're looking at
your new fence.

It's gonna be 24 by 32.

And is that a big enough space
for not only you,

but for Craig and Shandi?

That should be perfect.

[narrator]
To supply both homesteads

with vegetables

and protect
against predators,

Misty will build
a 24-by-32-foot garden

in the middle
of Amber's property

for maximum sun exposure.

She'll then plant
three raised garden beds,

finally utilizing
sturdy drill pipes for posts.

She'll wrap a moose-proof
fence around the garden,

ensuring a year-round
food supply.

So I'm gonna show you
something real quick.

It's called
the three, four, five,

and it's how you can find
a right angle

and square foundation,
fence, whatever.

Go out three feet

and then when you're going
four this way.

Then you stay there.

I'm looking
for my little mark.

[Amber] All right.

And you are kicking out
three feet,

four feet, five feet.

[Amber] And you wanna
make sure that's five?

Yeah. There you go.

You have
a perfect right angle.

It's how
you can square fencing,

structures,
foundation, whatever.

-All right.
-[Misty] Easy, right?

That's amazing.

This looks like
an amazing start.

I've had no luck
with the garden so far.

It's just been
a complete disaster.

Being right
in the middle of the yard,

it'll get sun from all angles

and be way better
than it was.

And even just
the beginning steps of this

are really exciting.

[Misty] You're ready
to put in some drill pipe.

Awesome. [chuckles]

[Misty] Let's do it.

[acoustic music playing]

[Matt] All right.
There's something

I definitely wanna talk about.

[narrator]
Back at Craig and Shandi's,

Matt tackles the homestead's
food storage issue.

There is a downside
to off-grid,

refrigeration,
and freezing of food.

Yes.

And if that generator dies

and your meat
could go to waste.

Which it has.

It's very frustrating

when you work all summer

and all fall

to collect and harvest

a bunch of meat
and then it all goes bad.

And we just have
to figure out a lot more

different ways to store food.

This stuff happens,
but it happens to people

that don't really
diversify their method

of food storage,

and so a smoker

could really come in handy

because all your meat
is smoked and preserved.

You are not dependent
on the generator.

It makes it so that
you can survive

no matter
what happens out here.

Mmm-hmm. I'm totally into it.

[narrator] The practice
of food preservation

dates back centuries

and helps to keep food
from spoiling.

One of the oldest known
techniques is smoking,

which exposes cured meat
to heat and smoke

inside a repository

and allows it to cook slowly,

k*lling harmful bacteria

while also keeping the meat

tender and flavorful.

Historically, farms have had
dedicated buildings

called smokehouses

to smoke and store meat.

This used to be
the roof of your old shop.

What I see here,
pretty much every log

that we need
to build this smoker.

So let's go grab the tools

and we'll start
building our smoker.

All right.

[upbeat music playing]

[horn honking]

[Misty] Oh, I hear back up.

[Marty] What's up? What's up?

[narrator]
Back on Amber's homestead,

Misty pulls Marty
from the Neamand's rescue

for some heavy-duty help.

Thanks for coming.

I'm trying to get
the drill pipe in

from the 40

and we are not gonna be able

to get him in by hand,

so we need a piece
of equipment.

Okay. Meet you there.

Okay. Let's start walking

post over to the far side
of this fence.

The ground feels pretty soft.
That's good.

-You wanna be the eyeball guy?
-Sure.

So get right in line
and then thumbs up.

-All right.
-And then, he's straight.

[Amber] Okay.

That looks good though.

[Misty] Oh.

We brought in the skid steer

and we are trying to bang
the posts into the ground.

a whole lot of luck.

[Marty] How far
in the ground is it?

Probably only
like four inches.

Okay. I'll tell you right now.

That's a lot of post
and this is not working.

-Okay.
-We need to be in the ground

at least two feet.

Another thing
that could be happening here,

-the ground could be frozen.
-Could be frozen. Yeah.

-[Marty]
You already knew that?
-Well, I didn't know

what I thought
it was a possibility.

[Marty] It's like concrete.

-[Misty] Okay.
-[Marty] It's ice.

Does it feel like
it's cold, Amber?

[Amber] It's cold and gravel.

Yeah, it's frozen ground.

Well, let's get a bigger
piece of equipment.

Amber is probably
thinking exactly

what I'm thinking which is,

you could feel like the time

crunch of trying to rescue

two homesteads.

There's no time in the day

for anything to go wrong.

I just want the fence to go in

so we can get ready
for the next winter.

[Marty] Coming down.

Straight down.

Give me a good punch.

Yeah. Two more of those.

-[Marty] I'll do it?
-[Misty] Yeah.

[Marty] You guys be careful.

Oh, my goodness.

[Marty] Watch out, please.

But it's not going in.

Not one, but two pieces
of equipment

haven't even got it
in that far.

I'm not happy
about it at all.

This is an old friend of mine.

He can drill a well.

Oh, my gosh.

-I'm nervous.
-[Marty] Whoa.

We have a crack
in the drill pipe.

This is terrible.

[dramatic music playing]

[Misty] Here we go.

[narrator] The next morning,

over on Amber's homestead.

[Misty] Hello.

[narrator] Misty returns

with an excavator

hoping it provides
enough power

to drive the fence posts
two feet

through the frozen ground.

[Misty] This is the third
piece of equipment.

Okay. Should we give
this one a try?

Okay.

We can't even get in
one fence post right now.

I don't have
one minute to spare.

And the ground is still frozen
hard as a diamond.

Okay.

But thankfully,
we found an excavator.

I'm gonna try
and dig two feet down

and then we're gonna backfill.

I'm gonna tamp with my bucket

and we can eyeball 'em
or get a level,

-whatever you guys want.
-[Amber] Okay.

[Misty] If it doesn't work,
we don't have a backup plan.

-Oh.
-[Misty] Oh, yeah.

See the ground is really hard.

It's just rocky.

Is that two feet?

-One more? Two?
-[Iver] Yeah.

My dreams are coming true.

How are we looking?
Are we straight?

That does look
pretty straight.

[Misty]
That works better, right?

For speed, dig holes,
put posts in,

then, like, dirt work.

-Done.
-[Amber] Yeah.

Is Clint better at the X

-than Misty?
-[Amber] Maybe.

[Misty] That's perfect.
Right where it's at.

So the garden's on its way,

but we have one huge
thing to sort out,

which is we need
to figure out water,
irrigation.

How are we watering
this whole massive garden?

So we got the first one.
It's nice and secure,

nice and sturdy,
and it's in the ground.

-And there's a method now.
-[Misty] Phew.

There's a method
to the madness.

[Iver] Woo!

[country music playing]

[Craig] Yeah. Looks good.

[narrator]
Two miles down the road

on the Neamand homestead,

while Craig
takes apart the roof

from the collapsed shed.

[Craig] That works.

[Matt] Okay.
I think we should build

like a very Alaskan
cache smoker.

A cache smoker?

Yeah. A 6-by3-ish

-log cabin on stilts.
-Mmm-hmm.

That you can easily reach in,

hang some meat,

light some burners, and smoke.

This is Alaska.
We have crazy winters.
They're brutal.

Making sure these people
are ready and prepared.

Diversifying the way
they preserve food

and store food
on this homestead
is a necessity

because right now,
having to rely

on that generator
is not working out.

[narrator]
A cache is used to store

food and supplies outdoors

to prevent animals
from accessing it.

Designed to be either
underground or elevated,

the cabin on post style

is believed to have
originated in Alaska

by Russian fur traders
in the early 1800s.

First things first, let's get
all of this cleared out.

I want to use it
for this platform.

Let's dig in.

[Shandi] I'm hesitant
about the smoker.

I've never smoked
any meat before,

so this is gonna be
a new chapter for us

and it's gonna be exciting.

Lots of new things to learn.

[narrator]
Matt will build an elevated

6-by-3-foot cache smoker

by upcycling spruce tree logs

and other materials
found on the property.

Next, he'll use
tinfoil and moss

to seal the spaces
between the logs

in order to provide
extra heat.

And finally, he'll introduce

a small burner stove

to cook the meat from inside

to better preserve
the protein

and keep it from spoiling.

[Matt] I like the area
between those two trees

right at the edge
of the tree line.

-[Shandi] Yeah, me too.
-[Matt] All right.

More diversification
of food storage,

it's big,
so being able to smoke it

is having more options.

So it's gonna be
a huge improvement.

I really like this spot.

I love the proximity
to the house.

-It's a good place to manage.
-[Shandi] Mmm-hmm.

[Matt] Let's get to work.

All right. Sounds good.

One of the coolest
smokers I ever saw

was in a tiny town
called the Rampart, Alaska.

And the indigenous
people there,

they had a smokehouse

that was basically
like a shack,

bunch of salmon hanging
from the ceiling,

and just all their branches

burning day and night.

And I've always
wanted to borrow

from that idea
of just using all of their...

Building a shack,

smoke that salmon
until it's perfect.

[country music playing]

[Marty] All right.
Where's all the family?

[narrator] Later in the day,
Marty gathers the Neamands

to begin rebuilding
their pole barn workshop.

[Marty] Okay. Listen.

We're gonna probably have
to build that shelter

from the trees
on this property.

Who's gonna run
the skid steer?

Raise your hand.

-You wanna do it?
-I'll run it.

-Okay. Jump in there,
please. Let's go.
-[Craig] All right.

[country music playing]

This 10 acres literally has

about 1,000 spruce trees.

A large percentage
of those are dead...

[chainsaw whirring]

and we have plans for them.

[narrator] Marty will build
a 16-by-32-foot

custom workshop
to house the family's tools

and building materials,

utilizing the property's
beetle-k*ll spruce trees

for load-bearing posts

and to protect
from heavy snowfall.

Finally, he'll also build

an interconnected
roof system,

doubling as a deck,

enabling the Neamands
to build a second story

to fit their needs.

Craig!

[country music playing]

In the wintertime,
everything was buried in snow.

I could finally see
what I lost and that's a lot.

Maybe reality is setting in.

[Marty] Stop.

So you can see
what's going on.

-[Craig] Yeah.
-[Marty] And you see
what needs to happen.

Knock yourself out.

Here it comes.

[Craig] When I bought
this property,

I planned on using

all the logs I could
from here to build that shop.

It takes forever
just by myself.

And it's nice to have Marty

getting things down
and getting stuff done.

Go get some more. Go!

Now, we're ready
to get the pole barn up.

So we're gonna start
pounding nails,

building walls,

jack up these vertical logs,

and now we're
on our way to help

this guy get back on track.

[country music playing]

[Misty] Yeah, you guys,
this looks good.

Pretty sturdy.

[narrator] It's already
the midway point

of the Raney's
first double rescue.

[Misty]
We're running out of time.

[narrator] And while
Misty's crew finishes

setting the moose-proof
fence posts for Amber...

[Marty] All right. That's it.

[narrator] Marty
builds the new frame

for a sturdier
pole barn workshop.

[Marty] Ever since
we've met these homesteaders,

all we have heard is bad news.

How terrible the winter was.

The snow was this deep
and that deep snow

had crushed Craig
and Shandi's pole barn.

But with the spruce trees
from his property,

we have the makings
of a pole barn

that will never
be brought down

by the heavy snow.

[drills whirring]

As you can see,
that corner log

is right there.

It's this big around,

strong, sturdy, boom.

Every four feet, another log

holding up horizontal,

big logs spanning 32 feet.

Now that we have most
of the 2 by 6 decking on,

you can see that they have
a finished ceiling.

It's tongue and groove,
it's beveled.

However, that floor
will be springy

until you put this center log

and transfer all of that load

down to the ground.

We found this log
with these burls on it.

Look at that. Pretty cool.

I'll guarantee you,

no amount of snow,

once this is finished,

will compromise the integrity

of all these big spruce logs.

Why don't most people
have these

amazing logs in their shop?

It's tough.
It's a little risky

and it's just pure
unadulterated hard work,

which makes the normal person
dog-tired.

[jazz music playing]

[country music playing]

[narrator] On the other side
of the property...

while Matt finishes
the interior

and roofing
of the cache smoker...

[Matt] All right.
Looking good. Looking good.

[Marty] Misty!

[narrator]
Marty delivers Amber

some unexpected news.

This is an old friend
of mine, Joe.

-[Joe] Pleased
to meet you, Amber.
-You as well.

On Amber's little
five-acre homestead,

she doesn't have

what it takes to live
and survive out here.

There's no water.

That said,
we need to fix that.

Joe, he has a machine,

so he's here to pick a spot,

uh, to drill a well.

What?

That's what I do.

-You're kidding me.
-[Marty] No.

[Amber] I don't even know
what to say about that.

I feel for Amber.
She's hauling water.

Five gallon jugs at a time.

So having a well
on the homestead

means her days
of hauling water

are over,

and Amber can grow anything

for the communal
homesteading dream.

Is that even possible
if the ground is frozen?

Yeah, I can drill
through your solid rock.

I can drill through
a little frost.

Oh, my gosh. [chuckles]

It's just me
and my daughter out here

and it's a struggle,

so I can't wait
to tell Soleil.

Just the amount of time

we would have
to spend together

instead of hauling water

and going
other places to shower

and being able
to keep a garden.

This is huge.

It would just
change everything.

We'll make that happen.

On that note,
we're gonna find a spot

to drill a well.

[upbeat music playing]

[Marty whistling]

[Misty] What an exciting day
on the homestead.

What's really crazy
about Alaska

is its old glacial valleys,

really sandy,
really filthy, rocky.

You've got to find
the sweet spot,

too shallow, bad,
too deep, bad.

And so hopefully,
by the end of today,

there's water.

[Joe] We'll clip the mast up

then we gotta level up

so we have a nice
straight well.

Our riggers mast,
is this thing a boat?

At least. Yup.

Aye, aye, captain.
Let's get to work. Come on.

-[upbeat music playing]
-[Marty whistling]

[machine whirring]

[Misty] I have
faith in this guy.

I'd assume if I am deep...

-In the ground itself.
-Yeah.

[Marty] All right. Here we go.

[machine whirring]

[Marty] Whoa.

[machine whirring]

[Misty] The... Oh, no.

[Joe] I wonder
where that was, Brian.

[Misty]
Where the... What's up?
What are you taking?

[Joe] Oh, I got a little crack
in pipe right here.

I knew I had one
but I couldn't find it.

It was so small.
If that breaks off,

we're gonna have
to rig up a tool

to get on there
and get ahold of it

and pull it
back out of the hole.

It doesn't look good.

Got the tiniest little crack,

but with that much pressure

and it working that hard,

if it bit breaks off,

that would be terrible.

The rig's off.

[Amber] Now what?

We have a crack
in the drill pipe.

Where is the welder?

[Amber] This is terrible.

The future of this homestead

relies on finding water.

Um...

Without water, we're done
before we even get started.

I don't have time
to wait around.

Every single second matters.

This is terrible news.

[upbeat music playing]

[Misty] Never told my mom
the homestead right now,

the drill pipe
has a crack in it.

That's old well rig
and struggling through it.

Stakes are really high.

The energy and the stress
is really high.

Hopefully, they'll put
a little Band-Aid on it

and we can keep drilling.

Otherwise,
this is gonna be real bad.

How we doing?

[Marty] All right.
Fire it up, Joe.

What do you got?

[motor whirring]

[Marty] What's that?

That's what we're looking for.

-[dramatic music playing]
-[Misty] Oh, my God.

[Marty]
You got a... You got...

-You got water.
-[screaming]

[laughter]

We have water.

I'm over the moon.

It changes everything,
you know.

The time we have in a day
and what we could do

with the property
and the land,

it's a huge deal. [chuckles]

I've heard a lot about you.

But I've never met you.
What's your name?

-Soleil.
-[Marty] Soleil.

All right. Young lady,
what do you think that is?

Water fountain truck.

-[Misty] Yeah.
-Exactly.

And you have water forever.

So guess what, see this?

[Soleil] Yeah.

You don't have
to pack water anymore.

Is that a good thing
or a bad thing?

Good.

Seems like everything
that could go wrong

went wrong,

but somehow we stuck

clear, clean,

uncontaminated water.

Not only as Amber
done hauling water,

but now we have
water for the garden.

So everything
that I was trying to do

was relying on this moment

and I think
definitely this moment

has changed
Amber's life as well.

[dramatic music playing]

[water splashing]

[country music playing]

[narrator] Back on Craig
and Shandi's homestead,

Matt brings the heat
to the cache smoker.

Okay. So, and the only way

you can really turn it
into a smoker

is by being able
to trap heat in there.

You can't trap heat
in there as this,

there's a lot of cracks.

And that's where lots and lots

of tin foil comes in.

Tin foil is an amazing
heat shield.

You can't have too much
and you don't even need

to have industrial
heavy-duty stuff.

This is my plan.
I'm gonna take parts of this.

Make little twist

and then fill up
all of these cracks

so that our smoker cache

actually holds in heat.

All right. I'm going in.

Let's get
this thing insulated.

Building a large smoker

that gives up to 250 degrees

will smoke all the meat
in the world

they could ever want.

And so, this is something
that can really help up

the homestead
preserve the meat

and allows these homesteaders

to basically have
a safety net

in case their generator
goes out.

I can only feel that
it's getting warmer in here.

Okay.

[upbeat music playing]

[Matt] When you look
at this structure,

you're well on your way
to having a cool shop.

[narrator] The next morning
on the Neamand homestead.

[Marty] Right.
You can't do anything

if you don't have a floor
in there.

So we're gonna pour
a concrete floor.

It'd be great.

That would be amazing.

[Marty] Good answer
because the concrete truck

-is on the way.
-What?

[Marty] Okay.
What size of shoes you wear?

I wear a size eight.

Today, you're wearing nines.

-Okay. That's cool.
-[Marty] Okay.

-What size of shoes you wear?
-Tens.

-Today, you're wearing 12.
-[Craig] Perfect.

I'm not really happy

leaving the pole barn
with a gravel floor.

[whistling]

And I quickly realized

the one thing they need
to make it all work

is a concrete floor in here,

because they need
a foundation system

that is built to last.

We're gonna cover
the whole bottom with this.

First, you put down plastic

to keep the moisture
from coming through.

You put some type
of wire mesh,

rebar, whatever,
to keep it together.

All right.
Get your rubber boots on.

Party is over.

Then you put the mud
in place.

Let's have it, please.

[upbeat music playing]

I cannot stress how fast
we gotta get tracking.

I'm dead serious.

Concrete is amazing.

But when it's dumped
on the ground,

it's just a matter of time
before it turns hard.

[Shandi] I like to work
fast and move fast.

And so, working with Marty
on the concrete

is, like, really exciting

because the more hard work
you put into something,

the better you appreciate it.

So I'm really excited to start
moving things in there

and be able
to utilize the space.

[thunder rumbling]

[Marty] Aah.

-Whoa, Craig. Not good.
-What?

[Marty] I thought it was
covered up there.

That's really bad right here.

How do we get
that water up there?

Concrete is a perfect
amount of rock,

sand, and cement, and water.

-I got an idea.
-[Craig] Okay.

Climb up here and pry
the tube by under to get...

To get it away
from the dripping.

[Craig] All right.

Water is raining
down on the slab

that compromises
that perfect mix.

It impacts the integrity
of the slab.

What's going on?

[Shandi]
He cut a slit in a plastic

and stuck
the board underneath.

I like it.
So it's kinda going out?

-[Shandi] Yeah.
-[Marty] I like it.

You fixed it?

-[Craig] Yeah.
-[Marty] Good man.

It's cool working with Marty
and seeing how he works.

This is isn't level up there.

It's fine. I can correct that.

I think he has
a true passion for it

and just can't have it
be not perfect.

And to having concrete
in a workshop,

it makes me really excited
for this one here.

-That was a good job.
-Thank you.

Dead... No, no. Thank you.
Dead serious.

That was a pretty short time
in getting this placed.

So now, you sculpt it in
to a mirror finish.

I can do that.

-All you.
-[speaking French]

[Marty] That was beautiful.

[country music playing]

[Misty] Amber, yohoo.

[narrator] Down the road,
on Amber's homestead.

You can see
your plants from here.

I've love for you
to have a greenhouse

that actually isn't a house.

But the problem is
your greenhouse over there

doesn't have plants in it.

You need, like,
the pre-school greenhouse

and then, like,
the graduation greenhouse

and then, like, the outdoor
garden space to use.

I've been trying to do it
with the two steps

but it hasn't really
been working out

'cause of late springs
like this.

Would you be interested

in putting
a structure right here?

I would be stoked about that.

[laughing]

[narrator] Misty will create
a three-pronged approach

to maximize
Amber's growing potential.

First, she'll build
an 8-by-12-foot
sunroom nursery

attached to the side
of the house,

utilizing the heat
of the home

to keep the plants warm.

Next, she'll build
an additional 17-by-24-foot

high tunnel greenhouse

where the plants will go
once they reach maturity

to buffer
from the extreme weather.

Finally, the plants
will be transferred

to the outdoor garden
in the warmer months.

[Misty] Dad.

Water for the greenhouse,
right in this zone.

I need two things
from you, please.

I need a hole in this
general area for a foundation

and I need the waterline
to be trenched.

It's amazing that we hit
water at 35 feet

but really, that means nothing
unless you tap into it.

So my dad's gonna dig
a big trench.

He's gonna set the pump

and plumb it all the way
over to the house.

So, big day for us.

-Love tap.
-[Misty laughing]

That's more than a love tap.

-Your love is kinda hard.
-[Marty] Yeah.

[Misty] Okay.

Backfill.

Whoo-hoo.

-It's perfect.
-Glad to hear.

[Misty]
Do you wanna use the nail g*n?

[Amber] Yeah.

Ooh, that's fun.

[nail g*n sh**ting]

[Amber] Seems dirty.
Nice and deep feet.

And this is gonna support
the snow load.

This space is half the size
of the rest of the house.

It's huge.

I'm really impressed
with Amber

because she's so tough,
she's so capable,

and she does everything
with a smile on her face.

Her life is not easy.

She's busy. She works hard.

She's support
and raises her daughter.

All right. We're putting in
the floor joist.

It's gonna go really fast.
We'll just roll them,

boom, boom, boom,
and then deck it,

floor's done, and then
we're ready to start framing.

Realizing what
Amber's been through

this last couple years,
I'm really excited

because we can change
a lot of things this week.

It looks amazing.

[country music playing]

[Matt] Let's talk
about their fish that we have.

[Shandi] Okay.

[narrator] Back on Craig
and Shandi's homestead,

Matt and the Neamands put
the cache smoker to the test.

So I got 20 pounds
of sockeye salmon,

and we've been brining
this salmon for two days now

with Craig's secret recipe.

And why do you brine them?

It's the preservatives.

It gets the salt in there
and k*ll the bacteria.

[Matt] Exactly.

So let's do it.

The techniques for smoking
are basically the same

as they've always been.

You got two different
temperature ranges

where you can hot smoke
and cold smoke,

and the real secret is alder.

You can find it in the woods,

you can buy it at the store,

but if you're gonna
smoke salmon,

find some alder chips

and that's gonna be
the perfect ingredient.

Gonna get it up to two...

Closer to that 250 mark.

And as long as you get
your meat

up to that temperature
and keep it there

for a certain amount of time,
you can smoke anything.

[Shandi] Wood chips.

With a smoker,
we're going to have

a lot more ways to store food,

which is really convenient
for us.

The smoker,
it's going to, like,

be a whole new game changer

and we're not gonna have to
rely so much on the generator,

so that's really,
really exciting.

[narrator] One week ago,

the Neamand's reliance
on generators

opened themselves up
to power failures

and food spoilage during
Alaska's inclement weather.

Today, they have
an elevated 6-by-3-foot

custom cache smoker

utilizing upcycled spruce
trees from their property

and sturdy enough to
withstand predator attacks,

all while enabling
the Neamands

to better preserve their meat
supply for years to come.

-Awesome.
-Good job, everyone.

All right. It's starting
to smoke a little bit.

-Shut that door.
-The honor's all you.

-[Matt] Yeah.
-[Shandi] Awesome.

[Matt] Happy smoking.

[country music playing]

[Misty] So I have this idea
for the inside of the garden

that I wanna run by you.

[narrator] After striking
water on Amber's homestead,

Misty aims to utilize
the property's excess debris

for her garden.

In Alaska, a lot of people
heat with firewood,

and along with firewood comes
all of these debris piles

all over your property.

I wanna make this kind of
debris scrap wood garden.

It's kind of a two for one

because you're cleaning up
your yard too.

I know. Right.

And some of this in fire
season is a total fire hazard.

[Amber] I was thinking that.

With these scrap
wood garden mounds,

they're amazing, because
when you face them due south,

you have the sunny side
and the shady side.

So all the plants
that enjoy all that sun

get that hot heat,
and everything else

that enjoys all that shade

and those
cooler temperatures,

you can plant on the north
side, things like kale.

It's a tight squeeze.

It's going in.

So all in one garden
when you mound it,

you can plant
whatever you want.

You have your little
greenhouse right here

and not one plant in it.

And I've noticed
it's really small.

So for the communal
garden plan,

that is not enough space.

I wanna do
the three-step plan.

The pre-greenhouse greenhouse,
the hoop house,

and when the plants
get to a certain size,

move them out to the garden.

So I have a buddy coming in.

You're gonna need
something like this.

[Amber] Oh, my gosh.

-Come on in.
-What now?

-[Misty] Hello.
-[Steve] Hello.

[Misty] This is Amber.
This is her homestead.

-Hi.
-Hi. You're the one?

[Misty] She has no idea
why you're here.

It could be something

you might wanna
grow plants in?

[Misty laughs]

He's donating
this amazing hoop house.

Oh, my God.

[Misty] What I love
about this hoop house

is we can control
the hot temperatures

and the cold temperatures
and actually grow food.

I'm happy that
it's going to these guys.

They do believe in that
communal home setting dream.

And this thing is gonna feed
both families.

[Misty laughing]

What just got delivered
to my homestead

is the most giant greenhouse
I have ever seen.

This gives me the potential
to grow a ton of food.

I'm so excited.

I love growing things.

So we just gotta frame
some ends,

stretch some plastic,

and then Amber's looking at
a new 17-by-24 hoop house

to feed
not just her homestead,

but Craig
and Shandi's as well.

But my worry is I haven't
finished one thing,

and this is rare for me,

but this is what a double
homestead feels like.

When you try
and do it in a week,

there's just not enough time.

Thankfully, I'm tapping
into my community of people.

We still have the neighbors.

Hopefully tomorrow,
we pull it all together.

[country music playing]

[Matt] Well, let's see
the essential oils.

[narrator]
With food preservation
on the homestead tackled...

Holy smokes.

This thing looks like

something that'd be
outlawed in Tennessee.

[narrator] Matt resurrects
another potentially

lucrative part
of the Neamand's ambition

that was crushed
by the snow load.

I know nothing
about essential oils,

but what I love
about your dream here,

you're already up and running,

and it could bring money
to the homestead.

[Shandi] Yeah.

When that essential
oil shed collapsed

because of the snow load,

Shandi lost something
that was special to her,

but also really important
for the homestead.

I think a way to help
is to bring back

that budding essential
oils business

and really take it
to the next level.

The only way you're gonna be
able to work year round

is by having a nice,
insulated, heated building,

so a smaller space
that can be heated well

and that allows you
to get it up to temperature

and then start
doing your thing.

I actually like
this spot a lot.

Let's say there's a building
right here.

The corner of your house

to the corner
of this new building,

which would go this way,

so that it would all be
squared up together.

-Like that?
-[Matt] Yeah.

I'm a big fan
of A-frames in Alaska,

but I don't like it
when they go

all the way to the ground.

I feel like it's too much
encroachment on the space.

So building
a four-foot pony wall,

it will give us a lot more
elbow room to work in there

and it's really
the perfect structure

so they can work year round.

[narrator] With the potential
to bring in

thousands of dollars a year
in essential oil profits

from the neighboring
community,

Matt will build
a 12-by-12-foot
A-frame structure

to house the oil still.

The 60-degree roof system

design allows for snow
to easily slide off

and will be built
on 4-foot pony walls

to maximize
interior workspace.

Let's start scratching out
what 12 by 12 looks like

and get our line squared
to the building

and let's get to work.

[Shandi]
All right, sounds good.

Cool.

[Marty] Frozen ground.

[narrator]
Back at Amber's homestead,

Marty digs a water line

connecting the new well
to her garden

and sunroom additions.

[Marty] In Alaska, the water
line has to be 10 feet down.

That said,

I'll be painstakingly
digging the ditch.

I'll try to set the water line
in and we'll be good to go.

Amber.

Young lady,
we are about 50 feet away,

but I got a tree
about 25 feet away.

This one's right in the what?

We got a greenhouse.
We got a house.

We got some vehicles.

It really wants to fall
that way

right towards my house.

[Marty] Yeah.
It's real simple.

If you want to cut that tree,

get your chainsaw.

If you don't want to cut
that tree, just let me know.

-Let me look at it.
-All right. Thanks.

I am... Oh, man.

We have to dig a water line

from this new addition
on the cabin to the well,

but there's a tree
this big around in the way.

I feel like we can probably
drop it right in the trench,

but I am not 100% confident.

And it's not
your average tree.

It's leaning
towards her cabin.

[Amber] I'm gonna feel
really stupid

if I drop it on my house.

What do you mean
if you drop it on?

Do you wanna cut this thing?

I probably should.

Man, do I like your style.

I'm a little nervous though.

[Marty] You should be nervous.
I'd be nervous.

But it's doable.

Knock yourself out
of... I will...

I will tell you this,
I'll speak up

if I see something
that I think is crazy,

but besides this whole idea...

-[Amber] All right.
-which is crazy.

Which is crazy.

[chainsaw whirring]

[Marty] Amber's been out here
for nine or ten years

and she's cut all of her own
firewood trees this size,

but nothing like this.

But this is it right now.

This next cut, you can't stop,
you can't look around.

Am I gonna break my house?

[Marty] No, you're not.
You're gonna be fine.

It's all you.

Watch out.

[Amber screams]

[Marty] Uh-oh.

[chainsaw whirring]

[Amber screams]

[Marty] Uh-oh.

[Amber]
Well, there goes the camper.

-It wasn't my house.
-Hold on.

Did... It's...
You didn't hit your house.

We didn't hit my house.

But how sentimental
is that is your green thing?

Uh, it'll still serve
the purpose it was serving,

-which is a gear shed.
-[Marty] Does it run?

-No.
-[Marty] Okay.

Now if you don't mind,

I've gotta go lift
a tree off of a camper.

[Amber] Yeah.

I think I was
overcompensating really hard

and it went very much
the other way.

It's a mess.

[Amber]
My heart is still racing.

But I went over
and assessed the damage.

I crushed, like, the front
headlight side of the hood,

but it's way better
than I expected.

I thought it was
gonna crush my roof.

I really didn't think
it was gonna go that way.

[Marty]
This was a dangerous tree.

[Amber] I didn't realize
the entire inside was rotten.

-Is your heart beating?
-Yeah.

[Marty]
That was pretty incredible.

And I gave you a hundred
chances to not do it

and you still were confident.

I love it.

Some people might think
that Amber made a mistake.

Not me.

-You're not mad?
-No.

You sure?

I thought it was
gonna hit my house.

That was a dangerous tree

and probably a good chance

that I would've hit
that camper too.

She wasn't afraid of it.

That tree falling
was a 100% success.

We've sorted the water
at Amber's homestead.

Now we have to sort the power
at Craig's homestead.

The goal is to get them off
the generator.

This is a disaster

that has to be fixed.

[country music playing]

[Marty] Would you say
that we're perfectly lined up
with the building?

-We're right on the money.
-[Matt] Sweet.

[narrator] Back
on the Neamand homestead,

Matt and Shandi
lay the foundation

to erect an A-frame structure

sturdy enough to survive
the Alaskan winters.

[Matt] Now, let's square up
the rest of our pier blocks.

[Shandi] Yup.

In this part of Alaska,
the winter can last

for nine months,

and these homesteaders
have run out of time

to be able to get everything
done before the winter hits.

To help these
homesteaders survive,

I'm gonna build them
a nice dried-in A-frame cabin

where they can do
everything they need.

First things first,

we have to get
a foundation in place.

Let's stretch out
some of these 2-by-6s.

[Shandi] Okay.

[narrator] Essential oils
have been used for centuries

by many cultures
around the world.

With origins in medicine,

oils were naturally
produced using herbs,

fruits, and spices.

Today, essential oils are
found in cosmetics and food

yet are commonly distilled
on farms or homesteads,

making them
a potential revenue earner,

alongside livestock
and food products.

[Matt] All right.

So let's put out
all these joists.

-We already got the layout.
-Mmm-hmm.

You ready to screw it
all together?

-Yup.
-Let's do it.

[Shandi] Just wanna make sure
that it's lined up.

And there's always more
to learn.

There's always more,
like, growth.

You can't know everything.

Matt has taught me
a couple things,

which has been interesting.

You gotta check and make sure

you're not making
the floor sag.

It's a good day.

[Matt]
Is it between the lines?

[Shandi] Heck, yeah, it is.

It's level.
Is it feeling good?

Does it feel
like a good space?

-It feels pretty good.
-Yeah. [laughs]

[country music playing]

[Marty]
If we can get pre-concrete,

we're gonna take it.

What if we can have
a little fire pit right here?

[narrator]
There are 48 hours left

of the dual homestead rescue.

[Marty whistles] Okay.

[narrator]
And while Marty and Amber

pour the foundation
for a new fire pit...

[Marty] Thank you very much.
See ya.

[narrator]
just a stone's throw away,

the new sunroom addition
takes shape.

[Misty] I need manpower
to get this gable end up.

I had this idea to do this
pre-greenhouse greenhouse

with the sunroom off
of the side of Amber's house,

so that it can start
plants in her warm cabin,

and that way, she'll actually
be able to grow food.

No time.

I'm gonna tilt a bucket.

Yay, you guys.

Yoo-hoo! [chuckles]

Now is the time to make sure
we get all these windows in.

We need to sheet the roof,
get some metal in,

and get this thing
weathered in.

We have a day and a half.
That's it.

-We pull out of here tomorrow.
-[Amber] Okay.

-All right.
-[Misty] So I have somebody

coming that is gonna help us.

Somebody and that I know.

-[Amber] Okay.
-[Misty] Okay.

-[upbeat music playing]
-[laughs]

-Yeah! Yeah!
-[laughter]

Yeah!

Oh, my gosh. Maciah is here.

There's a lot of work to do.

We gotta finish
the greenhouse,

build these raised beds.

So I'm super pumped he's here.

He's just gonna have to jump
right in the chaos.

He'll find his way.

He's used to it.

I mean, look at me.

-Yeah. Yeah.
-Okay.

Up till it come down.

[Misty] Woo!

You wanna throw
a couple screws in this?

Yay, last window, Amber.

-[machine whirring]
-Last window.

Woo!

Takes an army on a homestead.

That'll fit.

All right.

We're getting really
close to moving

all of those plants
out of your cabin.

It's gonna be so bright
and beautiful in there.

-They're gonna love it.
-It's gonna be so nice.

This makes me feel
a lot more confident

about our food security.

We have the capability
to provide

a lot of food
for both families.

We've got a lot of work to do,
but it's gonna be amazing.

[Misty] As far as sunroom
goes, I mean,

this is pretty much it.

I just can't believe
how sunny it's gonna be.

-[Misty] Do you love it?
-I love it.

But good job. We did it.

There's a little bit more
to do, but it's weathered in.

-[Amber] It is.
-[Misty] Okay. Good job.

-Let's get out of here.
-[Amber] All right.

[country music playing]

Hey, Matt, Shandi, please.

Shandi?

Craig. Craig.

[narrator] Later that day,

Marty gathers Craig
and Shandi

to address
their power situation.

The generator, 24/7.

-[Shandi] Yeah, I know.
-[Craig] Always going.

-I don't hear it.
-[Shandi] No.

Okay. But I do.

This homestead is dependent

on the generator
to run the well,

to run the refrigerator.

Craig and Shandi burn through
five gallons of gas a day.

That means they're going
through 7 grand a year.

What can I do to fix that?

What we haven't
really solved yet

is supplying power.

An Alaskan company,

a man named Jason
heard what we were doing here.

They brought their crew over

to install a solar system
for you today.

[upbeat music playing]

[Shandi] Oh, my God.

Solar wasn't in any short-term
vision for me at all.

Like, I was thinking
maybe five to ten years

before we would
actually get solar.

So, when I saw that truck,
it made me feel feelings

that I, like, was holding

and suppressing
for a long time.

-I'm sorry.
-[Marty] You're fine.

Honey, you're fine.
You're fine.

[dramatic music playing]

Okay. Okay.

It was like I don't
believe this is real.

I don't believe
this is happening.

It was a huge weight

lifted off my shoulders.

One of the reasons
why I keep going

from homestead to homestead,

because we rely on good
people, smart people

to help us help you.

And that happened
hugely today.

So at the end of today,
it's gonna go quiet.

[Craig]
It might be too quiet for me.

[laughter]

[Craig] Having the solar
is extremely exciting.

We can bring our freezer here

and actually have
our food here,

and not have to drive
to go get food

from a friend's house
in our freezer.

[Shandi] Gonna be amazing
to be able to not

listen to the generator
all the time.

I might be able
to hear the animals

walking around now.

[laughter]

[Misty]
There's so much going on.

We have a lot of work to do.

-Just a lot of chaos.
-[whirring]

[Misty] Everything here goes.

[dramatic music playing]

[Matt] Okay.

We're going this way.

Everybody lift.

[narrator] With a little
more than 24 hours remaining

in the dual rescue...

[Matt] Flush to the outside.

[narrator] Matt and Shandi
race to complete

the A-frame structure

before the Raney's departure.

[machine whirring]

[country music playing]

So my whole goal here

is to make a snow-proof roof.

We have all the rafters cut

and now that we have
our basic frame structure...

-[Misty] Okay.
-on both ends,

I'll be on the top
of the ladder,
you'll be down here,

and we'll roll out
all the rafters.

We're making really
good progress

with our A-frame workshop
and that's good,

because we still have a lot
of work to do

so they can actually produce
product year round.

All right.

Now, we're cooking
with propane.

The tinc shack
is coming together so well

and it's something
that I never really imagined.

We'll be able to make
way more product.

I'll be able to use
a still year round,

which is something that
I've never been able to do.

-[tool whirring]
-[Matt] Looking good.

Fascia is on.

No more roofing,
no more rafters.

Let's build some walls

-on both ends.
-All right.

It looks good.

[country music playing]

There's only
a few extra steps

before this building
is dried in,

and we can sheathe
in the roof,

slap on a door, in a window,

and turn it into the workshop
this homestead needs.

[country music playing]

It could come over
just a hair...

like, a quarter of an inch.

Now, that the roof's on,
it's really exciting

'cause I can, like, picture

everything that's gonna go on
in there.

I'm already making plans

to where I'm gonna be
setting, like,

all of my products

and things that I harvest.

Just can't wait for it
to be finished.

All right.

The front's good.

It's starting to really feel
dried in.

-[Shandi] Yup.
-[Matt] I think we should go
get the still

and move it in there today.

All right. Let's get to work.

Awesome.

[upbeat music playing]

[Marty] Come on in.

Wanna be the first one
to walk on it?

-Yeah.
-Go ahead. You can't hurt it.
Trust me.

It's 4 or 5 inches thick.
It's solid.

You can drive a car on here,
if you want.

-Yeah.
-[Marty] Or a truck.

Listen, man to man.

If you don't build anything
up there,

-then you're gonna--
-[Craig] It's gonna get
ruined.

You know it's flat roof now,
with the idea

that you'll build something
up there

with some type of shed roof
and get rid of everything.

-Right. Mmm-hmm.
-Right?

-So time will tell.
-Yeah. We got it.

[Marty] Well, we'll see.

But I have confidence in you

and your skills
that'll get done.

[narrator] One week ago,
the Neamand's work shed

was broken down
after collapsing

from a winter snow load,

trapping
the family's essentials.

Today, they have a custom
16-by-32-foot

pole barn workshop,

utilizing downed spruce trees
for posts,

and a concrete footprint,
solid enough

to hold the Neamand's tools
and building materials

for years to come.

I wanna believe that
we have left you better off

than we found you
when it comes

to a pole barn
built out of lots.

I really can't express
how much it means

to build that shop.

I absolutely feel like

we're really set up
for this winter.

It's awesome.
Really appreciate it.

-It's nice.
-[Marty] Cool.

[tense music playing]

[Misty] Push to the finish.

[narrator] It's the final day
of the rescue.

And on Amber's homestead,

while Marty constructs
a surprise bathhouse,

Misty assembles raised
garden beds

for the hoop house
greenhouse.

I don't think
we have one thing completed,

uh, but a lot of people,
a lot of hands.

So hopefully,
at the end of the day,

this will look
a lot different.

Last minute, we're basically
just ripping these trees

one by one to give us
three raised beds

in her new greenhouse.

I mean, nothing says Alaska
like these raised beds.

Nice.

It'll look nice.
It'll be functional.

She'll have about
a foot of top soil.

Yeah, they're perfect.

I'm gonna get soil.

And when it finally warms up,

she can move everything out
of the sunroom

into the greenhouse.

You can't even buy something

this pretty at the store.

This is pretty exciting.
Three-step garden.

Woo-hoo!

[Amber]
There's a lot happening
behind me right now.

Today's the final push
to get everything done.

They're putting the roof on

and they put up the
greenhouse, and the garden

is starting
to come together too.

[Misty] Look at these beds.

It's like a work of art.

Just, kind of, trying
to finish everything up.

We're gonna drape
the big sheet of plastic over

right after we finish this end

and we'll need everybody.

Woo!

Usually on homesteads,

it takes so much time

to build something
from scratch.

But with this greenhouse

is the structure's
already here,

it just has to be modified.

We're just gonna use these
giant sheets of plastic,

insulated wall, and a little
bit of trim pieces,

and the things should go
pretty fast.

Plastic party
coming over the top.

There you go, folks.

You're looking at one big,
high tunnel.

This thing's amazing.
It's gonna grow a lot of food.

Thanks to all these hands

we got it up
even in the winds.

You don't need fancy, folks.

[upbeat music playing]

[Matt] All right.

Should we go marvel
at our handiwork?

-We should.
-All right.

Follow me.

All right.

So?

[Shandi giggles] Oh, my God!

This is so cool!

[narrator] One week ago,
the Neamand's work shed

was demolished
under a dangerous snow load

destroying valuable
oil products.

Today, they have a brand new

12-by-12-foot tincture shack

utilizing 4-foot tall
pony walls

to provide enough workspace

and a steep A-frame design

to snow-proof the structure,

enabling the family
to work indoors year round.

What you're doing
is really important.

-Thank you.
-I thought it was so important

that I contacted a company

and I got another
still for you.

What? Oh, my God,

-I didn't even see that.
-[mumbles]

[Shandi] That is amazing.

I'm super excited about
the tinc shack

now that I have it indoors

where I can, like,
be working in a dried,

covered area,
not get soaking wet.

Could do multiple
different oils

at the same time now.

And I'm super grateful.

It is going to benefit us

and the homestead
in the long run.

Knock, knock.

[Matt] Come on in.

Holy moly.

It's looking pretty good
over here.

A little better
than when we rolled in, yeah?

[Shandi] For sure.

On that note,

how do you feel
about all of us

jumping in the red truck
and heading to Amber's?

There's a lot of work behind,

-behind schedule.
-[Matt] All right.

Let's go get to work.

-[car engine starts]
-[Shandi] Shotgun.

[Matt] Did it.

[Shandi] I'm so excited
to go see Amber.

[dramatic music playing]

[tense music playing]

[Misty] I have family!

Family to the rescue!

[Matt] Come on, guys.

It's like the most
chaotic day

I think I've had in a while.

I heard my dad
was coming to help me,

and thankfully,
everyone showed up.

There's so much going on
and it's so crazy.

There's a ton of work to do

and there's no time in the day

for anything to go wrong.

What do you guys think?

-[laughs]
-This is amazing.

If you wanna help these guys
get the metal on,

it started to rain.

If you wanna help us
put a gate on the fence,

we'll take it.

Dad, I'm sure
you have a lot of work to do,

but we actually just need
a set of hands.

-Okay. Break.
-All right.

-All right.
-Blue, what are you doing?

Get back to work.

[Shandi] It makes me so happy
to, like, help Amber.

Amber is a really
hard worker.

She does it all by herself

and she's done it
for a really long time.

And now,
she is going to, like,

be living her life easier.

[Misty] Everything here goes.

[Amber] There has been
so much going on today.

The final push to get
everything done.

I think everyone's exhausted.

I'm exhausted. [laughs]

But again, I could never have
done all this by myself.

The Raneys are really
nice people

and you can tell
that they care.

They wanna help.

[Matt] We got the door on.

This fence is insanely high.

It's definitely gonna be
moose-proof

and when we leave,
Craig and Shandi's homestead

is gonna be doing
the same thing.

[Misty]
Oh, my gosh. We did it.

Called everyone I knew,

brought every family member
I had,

and everybody
just worked so hard.

And now, Amber has a secure,
safe garden.

You come a long ways

when it comes
to fencing, right?

-Yeah.
-Do you see a moose

-getting in this thing?
-No.

Oh, my goodness.

There's nothing getting
in this thing.

[Misty]
The size of these is amazing.

The amount
of grow room doubles

when you mound garden beds

because you go from flat,

a 4-by-20 garden

to an 8-by-20 garden.

But it's too cold
to put the plants in here.

-Mmm-hmm.
-Let's check out
the hoop house.

All right.

[dramatic music playing]

[Misty] Look at this space

-and feel how warm it is.
-[Amber] Oh, wow.

[Misty] It's so epic.

The raised beds
you have in here,

the growing space,
the growing room,

the potential is so great.

[Amber] This is the coolest
garden setup I've ever seen.

But there's not plants
in here yet

-because it's too cold.
-It's still a little too cold.

It's gotta be probably


I could never have done
all this by myself

and I didn't really realize
how over it I was

until the Raneys came in

and they made all these
incredible changes.

Misty has definitely
inspired me. [laughs]

I'm excited again,
which feels really good.

[Misty] Look at this space.

It's warm in here.

The plants actually
can survive

the 40-degree
temperature outside.

This is where the plants
start obviously.

When it warms up,
it's moving to the hoop house,

and then finally,

to that massive
outdoor garden area.

-Mmm-hmm.
-So this is your set up

to do whatever you want
and to grow

whatever you want
for everyone.

-The food security...
-[Misty] Yeah.

for my family
and for the Neamands...

-[Misty] Yeah.
-is huge.

-[Misty] Huge?
-It's huge.

[narrator] One week ago,
Amber's garden

yielded little food
due to severe weather,

a lack of water,
and poor predator control.

Today, she has
a three-pronged approach

to growing produce.

First, she'll start plants

in the 12 by 8 foot sunroom,

enabling plenty of space
to grow and sunlight

to keep plants healthy
before transferring

to the 17 by 24 foot high
tunnel greenhouse

containing three raised beds

built from upcycled
spruce trees.

And finally,
the plants will end up

in the new 8 by 20 foot
outdoor garden.

All being fed from the well

and ensuring produce

for both homesteads.

You're gonna grow
so much produce.

Where are you gonna
keep it all?

I don't know. [laughs]

[Misty] I don't know either.

-Can I show you something?
-Yes.

I don't want you to get
food poisoning anymore.

Oh, my God.

[Misty] This doesn't run
on any power.

It just runs on propane.

You don't have to run
a generator 24/7.

It's beautiful. [laughs]

The fridge has been so...

-much of a burden for so long.
-Mmm-hmm.

[knocking on door]

-Hello.
-[Misty] Who's that?
Answer it.

[Marty] Can you hear me?

Do you have water?

[Amber] I think so. [laughs]

-Well, let's check.
-All right.

[Marty] So we've installed
a water line

that's 10 feet deep,
it'll never freeze.

Septic system,
complete with leach field,

and there's a flushing
toilet indoors.

Somebody like you
is always gonna need water,

pack water, garden animals,
whatever.

I always install this
so that you can

get access to 5-gallon
buckets of water.

And this water is pristine.

I think it's gonna take
at least a week

to fully comprehend what
this means for me and Soleil.

Soleil?

-[Misty] Oh, hi.
-[Amber] Hi.

I think she's gonna be
really excited

and in years to come,
she'll look back

on what a cool experience
this whole thing was

and how much it helped
in our lives.

All I wanna know,
are you happy, young lady,

that we came?

Yeah.

What's your favorite
reason why we came?

[Misty laughs]

[Marty] Ah-ha.

[toilet flushing]

[soft upbeat music playing]

I'm thinking that
you're gonna talk about

what happened
in the last week or so

for a long time
by this very campfire.

[laughs] I imagine we will be.

And to have all the neighbors
and friends and everyone

come in and help just...

I don't know,
boosted my morale to the point

-where I am inspired again.
-[Misty] Yeah.

Getting power is a huge thing,



and now, it's, kind of,
quiet over there.

It's so peaceful.
It's so strange.

[Amber] You're not gonna
know how to sleep.

Oh, it's completely
a life changer.

Yeah. I really can't express
how much it means

to have all this done.

I would work
next to them any day.

The Raneys put off
this pure energy

that is tough to find
and not everybody has it.

We have power.

I have a shop.
We got a smoker.

I'm a lot closer
than I was before.

We started this whole thing
because we realized

you guys are so close
and you help each other.

You guys have,
between the two homesteads,

so much potential.

And now, you're prepared

come the next snowstorm.

-Yeah.
-[Marty] That said,
it's time to say goodbye.

[tense music playing]

[Marty] These homesteaders,
they're all hard workers.

They're all independent,
they're all tough,

and trying to live

like an Alaskan should live.

Easier said than done,

but as far
as the future's concerned,

better times are still ahead.

[woman chuckles]

[tense music playing]

[cheerful music playing]

Hey, guys, just want
you to notice

how quiet it is around here.

No generators.

[Shandi] We have
a freezer full of meat.

It's all being powered
right now by the solar.

We already did all the smoking

and all the fishing,
so, ready for winter.

[Craig]
Haven't wasted any food.

The garage,
that we have it filled up

with a bunch of supplies,

dry storage at the moment.

And I've also been focusing

a lot on making oils
and I've been selling it.

That's what the inside
looks like.

[Craig]
Raneys, thank you so much.

Very blessed.

[Amber]
Since the Raneys have left,

things have been
a lot easier.

I have not had to haul water
anymore, which is amazing.

The fence
has very effectively

kept moose out of the garden.

All right. Let's see if
there's anything over here.

[Soleil]
Oh, we got a cauliflower?

[Amber] Mmm-hmm.

In the greenhouse,

I grew some beans,

green peppers,
and some cabbages.

The rescue has changed
how Soleil feels

about homestead living.

I think next season,

we're gonna be
a lot more prepared

and I am very thankful
to the Raneys

for all the work
they did on our homestead.

They just reach out
and help people.