How do you download TGN Academy courses?

GrowNewbie

I'm a new both to TGN and the idea that food can and should be sustainably sourced, so please be gentle with my ignorance. I attended the webinar yesterday and signed up for the bundle. Since a grid down event is one of my primary motivations for signing up, I'd like to download the courses that are most critical to what was discussed yesterday - chickens, gardening, and rabbits.

For the life of me, I can't figure out how we're supposed to download the videos. They play fine from Vimeo, but that wouldn't help me if the grid went down. The text downloads are also a bit tricky - for example, the chicken course has a well designed ebook that accompanies the course, but the rabbit course only has a transcript.

Could someone please point me in the right direction? Thank you!

Torey

Welcome to TGN's forum @GrowNewbie!

For "newbies", we like to recommend that you check out "Our Front Porch Welcome" at: https://community.thegrownetwork.com/categories/our-front-porch-welcome%21-%28please-read-before-posting%29

And the Introductions section at: https://community.thegrownetwork.com/categories/introductions. It can help you locate people who are in your approximate area or growing zone.

As to the videos, I had never tried to download one but just went and tried on the rabbit course. If you look in the bottom right hand corner of the video screen, there is a set of 3 vertical dots. Click on that and it will give you the option to download as an MP4 file. Just a audio file but at least you can save it on your computer. I checked on the Raising Backyard Sheep and there is an option right below the video that says Download Video. Unfortunately, I can't find either download option for the chicken course. I see there is a share option in the top right hand corner of the chicken videos but I'm not very computer literate with sharing options.

Some of the courses have e-books, as well as other resources, but at this time some may only have transcripts. For example, the Wildcrafting & Foraging course has several resources at the end of the course. "24 of the Most Useful Wild Plants" that can be downloaded as a video, MP3 recording or a PDF. Same for the "Edible Flowers" resource. The recipes one is just a PDF.

Hope that helps. Maybe someone else here on the forums can help with the chicken videos.

GrowNewbie

Thanks @torey. I did read through the rules before making this post - I don't think I've broken any, but please let me know if I should edit my OP.

I see the download option you mentioned on the rabbit video. I'd only tried on the chicken one (the first course I'm working through) and couldn't figure that out. I'll keep looking around to see if there's something else hiding. :) I realize the options differ between courses and am grateful for whatever is available.

Thanks again.

Monek Marie

Welcome @GrowNewbie

LaurieLovesLearning

@GrowNewbie Welcome to the forum! No need to be concerned, no rules were broken in your posts. 😄

You have entered into a fun, frustrating, and rewarding adventure. We will help you out with advice as you have questions & learn. We all started somewhere.

Over time, many of us have found areas that we are very passionate about and subsequently have poured a lot of ourselves into these subjects...and are happy to help others learn these important skills and pass on our knowledge.

For example, Torey is a very knowledgeable herbalist. As for me, I have a love for heritage breeds and am very involved in everything breeding heritage chickens (specifically, but not exclusively). Currently, I am working on 4 heritage breeds simultaneously, with a few color variations in some breeds. Many other members have similar/other/many passions & it makes for an interesting and deeply knowledgeable forum.

We are a pretty respectful group here. Never be scared to ask questions. Someone is always available and happy to help...and we are always up for fun as well. As one homeschool author says, it's "only as serious as it has to be." Have fun learning alongside us. 😄

GrowNewbie

@Monek Marie Thanks - glad to be here and excited to learn

@LaurieLovesLearning Thank you. I'm (more than) a bit overwhelmed at the moment, getting into a mindset of sustainably sourcing food for my family of six. I'll doubtlessly have a ridiculous amount of questions as I get deeper into the process.

LaurieLovesLearning

@GrowNewbie Ours was 7. One is gone from home and so we are now 6. She has a milk cow, ducks & is finishing up her garden for this year. She asks about wild plants & wildflowers and I am willing to help her keep learning about what is in her area. When she was at home, she milked & took care of some of the animals, but was not overly interested in gardening. At her first place, she grew a tiny one (she was renting & had limits). Now, she has 80 acres and is starting to use that larger space a bit at a time.

My second oldest just learned about canning this summer.

I said, "No garden!" this year as last year was 6' high clover, tall grasses and weeds...and dry. They said, "but we have to have a garden!" so we made a new spot available that has turned out to be a good choice. It is still dry, it produced some, but not as much as what it could have in a wetter year, but we're all happy with it.

All of them are learning about weed edibles & medicinals as we go along. That is fun!

Each now has a favorite breed of chicken. Our oldest boy bought 2 piglets this spring. The oldest 3 can hand milk.

It is a good idea to get everyone involved in some way. They pick up a lot as you learn & experiment but even more if they can be hands on. We have been doing this for a very long time and build naturally on what we know. We certainly didn't start everything all at once!

Take just one step at a time. Try not to get overwhelmed. If you do, rest a bit and pick up again, just one step at a time.

We are happy to have you.

GrowNewbie

Great advice, thank you. My oldest is almost ten, so I'm excited for their "help." You know, the kind that makes the work take three times as long but gets them really engaged? Your post is a good reminder that those engaged kids grow up to actually provide a more traditional form of help for which I'll be only too grateful when it's available.

It's going to be baby steps for sure. I'm walking around my house, trying to find the best place to put a coop. We live in a hilly area with lots of woods and no lawn or traditional yard, so the space is a bit of a challenge. Hopefully we'll be moving within a year to a place with more usable area, but I want to get my practice in now. I figure if I make mistakes now, it'll save me from doing the same stuff later when I'm able to implement on a larger scale. It's a journey, right?

LaurieLovesLearning

@GrowNewbie Exactly.

You will find a lot of information both in the growing chickens course & over in our Back 40 area under Birds. Any questions you have about chickens will most likely be answered between these two resources. If not, questions are always welcome.

Don't forget to post your discoveries too. We are always willing to learn from others! No matter how much we might know, remember that we still all make mistakes, even big ones sometimes.

Another tip for teaching your young ones...if you listen to podcasts or watch videos, make some popcorn to watch or listen during play or as you are all cleaning up toys or dishes, and learn together. Passive learning can be very effective.

I am glad you have helpers on with you on this interesting journey. I am looking forward to watching you bloom. 🌺

JodieDownUnder

@GrowNewbie hi & welcome to TGN. Try not to feel to overwhelmed by all the new info. The forum is a great place to ask questions and pick up bits & pieces of valuable information. We welcome like minded people worldwide and it’s a safe & nurturing space to find your feet. Always remember that there are no dumb questions and we are all in this together. I hope your kids find the journey interesting & rewarding, it will certainly set them up to be better prepared and more resilient in the future. All the very best.