Getting Started - Introduction

My name is Destin Smith. I am currently 28 years old & I am trying to build a community.

I was born in Georgia (My family lived in Phenix City, Alabama at the time and the closest hospital happened to be in a different state). My father was a professor at Auburn teaching at the school of Pharmacology (well above my pay grade) but was raised in Center Hill, Florida & eventually at a young age moved to our little town Brooksville, Florida (The Hammock).

Well, the same happened to me. We moved from Alabama down to Tampa when I was still a baby and my parents ended up getting divorced which led to my dad and myself moving to Brooksville to start building what is now known as Fat Troy Farms (My father’s name is Troy - You’ll be seeing him sooner rather than later). We have been at the farm that we built for over 20 years! Time flies when you don’t have shitty neighbors & luckily for us, we have 0 neighbors.

Now, when I say “Farm” it isn’t your typical farm of cows, pigs, chickens, etc.… (all that will come in the future once I have my OWN farm). Fat Troy Farm’s is a nursery. Growing up in Center Hill, my dad lived throughout the Orange Groves. Nothing but family, friends, never ending land & citrus trees. Living in Center Hill back in the 60’s, there isn’t much to do. That is where he was taught to hunt & fish to become what is known as a Hunter-Gatherer by my grandfather (We call him “Pappy”). So, once we cleared some of Water Oaks on the land here in Brooksville, we ended up planting Persimmon trees in their place. This was in the hopes to bring in Wild Game for the hunt. The main goal at the time was Deer & Turkeys, but the hogs found their way into our lives shortly after.

We have about 30 Acres currently & I happen to live in a mother-in-law suite on the property. I love living on the farm as it keeps me busy & it is continuing a tradition that I have been blessed enough to be a part of. With that, I want to build my OWN farm & have my OWN homestead for my future children. Now, this is where we get into the hard part because if you saw what happened the last 4 years, $50,000 houses are now “worth” $500,000 and as a 28-year-old making $5 more an hour, I simply can’t afford to live how people were able to live 5 years ago.

I am in the insurance industry, so you’re probably thinking I make the big bucks. WRONG. The big wigs make the big bucks & I have the pleasure of getting screamed at by your local Karen when her bill goes up. Mind you, I didn’t raise her bill - the big wigs did. So basically, it’s a SHIT sandwich that you have to sit back & try to your best to swallow. All the blame & none of the benefits. I am hoping to get my own insurance office as I was promised one when I got hired with my current company, but seeing what has happened with the world the last couple of years it gives you a different perspective. Not all insurance agents are bad, just some of them are. I’ll do another blog on the insurance life to give y’all the rundown of how it works & give you some insight into what goes on. It should answer a lot of questions that I am sure most of you have. With that, the insurance life isn’t helping me get closer to purchasing any farmland & starting a homestead for my future family, so I am trying this out.

Outside of work, I have been raised by my father the same as his father raised him. We are Hunter-Gatherers. We grow our own crops & eat what we kill/catch. I have always tried to live off the land (Publix fried chicken does have a stranglehold on me - but that’s neither here nor there). With that, I hate the thought of depending on people, so this style of life ensures that if I am not able to eat that night, it’s strictly on me. Not because I can’t afford it or the local Wal-Mart burnt down, but it keeps me active & engaged in nature and consuming what is produced naturally without all the bullshit chemicals in it. And I’ve heard all the people say “There isn’t any difference” and to those people I say, “You’re a fucking idiot”. The know-it-alls, the self-proclaimed doctors, all of them can go pound sand. You do what you do & I’ll do what I do. Just a heads up, if you are one of those people & you are actively reading this, I recommend you don’t read any of my future blogs because you WILL BE made fun of. LOSERS.

Being able to live if off the land is a major blessing but it is A LOT of hard work. From running equipment tilling dirt, planting, moving hunting stands, fixing boats, you name it - NOTHING IS EASY. You have to work to live this lifestyle as shit doesn’t just get given to you. If it did, I wouldn’t be writing this blog & I’d be down in the FL Keys with a Spanish mamacita feeding me Pina Colada’s (any Spanish mamacita’s interested in feeding me Pina Colada’s - please visit the “Contact Us” page & I will get back to you VERY soon).

With that, my grandad “pappy” didn’t get any handouts, my dad didn’t get any handouts & I haven’t gotten any handouts. I was taught that if you want something, you have to earn it. Which I think is more than fair - “Earn Your Keep”. The sad part is no one wants to earn anything anymore. Everyone is lazy & would rather sue someone for a handout than just being a genuine hardworking person - “They don’t make em’ like they used to”. Being in the insurance industry, it is all I see. ALL DAY EVERYDAY. Now I won’t lie, when I was in college I did play frogger from time to time with the university school buses to see if I could catch someone slackin’ but luckily, I was unlucky. Which lead me to this idea, if I am able to just be myself, show my life, give my perspective on things & help build a community around me - Think that counts as earning it. As a community we help each other out. I wouldn’t be where I am today without the people around me & the people around me wouldn’t be where they are without me. We keep each other honest & on top of our game. Wrenches do get thrown in the mix from time to time but again, that is called life.

Now like I said earlier my life has been quite interesting. When I started working where I am (surrounded by a bunch of city folk - Yanks mostly), they can’t even comprehend half the stuff I talk about. But it goes both ways as some of the shit they say is insane. They love having 150 people on 1 acre of land and here I am pissing into the wind out my front door. It sounds dramatic but would rather die than someone live on all 4 sides of me again - I did it in college, won’t happen again. Being enclosed in a little box sounds like hell on earth, but some people love it. NOT ME. Even though I am not exactly where I want to be in life, I have to say I have lived a very blessed and amazing life so far. I’ve been through a lot of SHIT, but I am sure most of you have, which is why I am writing this now. We’re all people on a floating rock having 30% of our labor stolen from us every paycheck (Uncle Sam). So, I figured I’d do something a little different & create a company to try and build a community no matter the location of the individual. Like I said, we’re all people looking for a getaway. And, in all honesty if the insurance industry isn’t going to help me achieve my dreams in life, then I have to adapt & go back to my roots. This is why we are here at this very moment.

What is crazy is, I am a very private person. When I am at work, I don’t talk about my personal life & when I am home, I refuse to talk about work stuff. I keep everything separated (Church & State / Severance). But two days ago, I just said fuck it. I had a feeling that I should create a company/website and YouTube page because I do live a very different & interesting lifestyle & some people might be able to connect with it or be entertained by it. Seeing different aspects of life is interesting to me as it teaches new concepts & brings people together to connect on similar ideas. So, I hope y’all stick around for all the fun.

This is my first of many blogs that I will write. I will be posting Blogs somewhat back-to-back & not all will be this long, but I have to start somewhere. This is just to catch you guys up on life & what has happened over the years. Not all of these things are happening on a daily basis as this is my first step into being more a part of the community & sharing the things that are happening/have happened in my life. This is just to give y’all perspective on things that I go through, deal with & experience as I know most of you reading this might have dealt with similar situations. With that, God bless & welcome to The Hammock Lifestyle.

Thank you,

Destin Smith

“You must pay for everything in this world, one way or another. There is nothing free except the grace of God” - Charles Portis “True Grit”

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