I am so excited about today. It’s taken a long time to get here but this morning we sent our first steer, that was born on our little farm for processing. I had butterflies in my stomach praying that everything would go smoothly. Our experience so far with loading cows into trailers had been very…
Farm and Garden
Starting a Homestead And Strengthening Your Marriage
Four years into starting a homestead and I can honestly say that my husband and I have never been closer. There were some very challenging times in the beginning of our journey, but this life was a dream for both of us. Frankly there were times that I cried my eyes out. Nothing seemed to…
Improving Pastures On a Homestead
Most of us go into raising animals with the intent of raising them on pasture. We are often told how easy it is. Just put some chickens out there and they will take care of it. After a while you start to realize that as great as it is to have chickens out on the…
Bringing a Bull On To Your Small Farm
Are you thinking about bringing a bull onto your small farm? There are a lot of different things to consider. Based on our experience, these are just a few things you should include in your decision making process. Is your fencing secure enough? If the bull doesn’t test the fence, a cow in heat will….
No Till Gardening For An Affordable, Manageable Garden
The No Till Gardening Method has helped me have a successful garden that I can manage. Setting up the garden initially will involve some work but after that the labor is less than a traditional garden. It is the healthiest and most cost effective approach to gardening. I rented a tiller the first year we…
A Peony for Your Thoughts
The garden is slowly coming back to life. Tiny green leaves are budding on the limelight hydrangeas I planted last year and I am relieved. The best surprise was that the peony tubers I planted last year but never grew actually sprouted this year. My winter blues have been replaced with elation as I prepare…
Prioritizing Home Improvement Projects
I love scrolling photos of English cottage kitchens with beautiful stone floors, spacious bathrooms with clawfoot tubs and large patios complete with an outdoor kitchen. One day I plan on having some of that in my home. Before we can get to the fun and exciting renovations, there are some projects we have to take…
First Time Milk Cow, How to Train Her
After living on the farm for a year we started looking for a dairy cow. We found our milk cow, Liza on Craigslist. Liza was a two year old Jersey-Zebu cross. She had never been bred but had been handled and seemed friendly. Training Liza to be a first time milk cow was hard. There…