Choose from Two Black Friday Bundles, Both 75% OFF!
Volunteer Days!
Thank you for all the support!!!
We are making headway on rebuilding the house. The current status is that we have the road in and the big culvert to cross the creek. We are now starting to level the ground for the barn to go up! It has been a slow process but we are moving forward.
We have been asked how people can help. The struggle to keep the farm up and the household we are staying in along with building prep has proved to be very strenuous and we can use some man power help. Here comes our new Volunteer Days!! Starting this Saturday July 8th, we will be having dedicated Volunteer Days on the homestead from 10am-2pm and it will be repeating every 2 weeks. We need help in many different ways from weeding the garden, cleaning up, organizing, animal care, and building projects. We look forward to seeing you soon!!!
First Volunteer Day July 8th 10AM-2PM
Call or text us at 423-380-8220
Saved by Grace
As the sun broke on that morning, we stood also broken staring at the remainder of our home. Huddled together outside of our neighbors house, we watched our safe haven fall from the flames. And as the ashes settled, the reality settled in our hearts….home was gone.
In 2013, we walked through the threshold of our farmhouse with thankful hearts. We grew from a family of five, to a family of eight. We welcomed strangers into our house, and waved as new friends left. We took away and added, we created and learned, we cried and we laughed, but above all we loved. We created so many memories inside the walls of our house. And in 2023 as we crossed over the threshold of our farmhouse one final time with all six of our treasures to safety, it was also with thankful hearts.
I do not know what the future holds for us, but I do know WHO holds my future. And His plans are always perfect and good.
February 2, 2023, He saved us by His grace, and His alone. Our praises are to Him now and forever more.
Happy Birthday Surprise!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! To my Homesteading Momma. My beautiful wife turns another year younger today. She is the most amazing woman that I know. Helps me on the homestead, homeschools our 6 children and so much more. I do not see how she does it and I definitely could not do it without her. I thank God for blessing me with Kassy.
For her birthday we took one discussion point off the table. Well maybe it changed at least. It is going to be an interesting and cute journey on the farm now. Kassy is ecstatic with the new change along with the kids. We surprised the kiddos yesterday by going and picking up the new residents for the farm. 6 kids to 8 kids and probably ever growing from now on. Are you ready to know which point changed? Can you guess? We picked up baby Nigerian Dwarf GOATS!!!!!!! The discussion is now how to care for the cute little 2 month old goats and what to name them. Reply and let us know your thoughts. The goats will eventually provide us with milk, meat and a whole lot of fun in between!
Shifting gears a little to farm maintenance. This morning as I was filling up the waterers, I finally fixed the leaking yard hydrant. It has been leaking for a long time now and I have been meaning to fix it. I had put it off because I thought the fix was going to be a lot harder than it was. The water was leaking when turned on from the stem and what is called the packing nut. All I had to do was tighten the nut a ¼ turn and the leak stopped. All of 2 minutes to fix what I have put off for over a year. Click here for the information to fix it. Hope this maintenance tip helps.
Our discussion topics our still on the table:
Greenhouse – long time needed but can’t wait any longer / what design and material
Pigs – remove from stock or find way to feed them
Goats – Care, housing, rotation, when to breed and more
Milk Cow – add for dairy to help reduce feed cost for pigs
Sheep – add as grass based meat source in place of pigs
“God, You are my shepherd, I lack nothing. You make me lie down in green pastures, You lead me beside still waters, You restore my soul. You lead me in paths of righteousness for Your name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me!” – Psalm 23:1–6
Happy Tax Day! NOT!!
Happy TAX day!!! NOT! The dreaded day is upon us and I hope that all of you are on top of it this year and have it done. If you are like me, you are scrambling to get those last receipts accounted for and hoping to get it done before midnight tonight. There is some good news, the tax deadline for 2022 is Monday April 18th! So there is a little breathing room. Of course things are crazy here on the farm so I filled an extension to give me a cushion of time. I am very fortunate that I have found a great guy to do my taxes and he was booked up during this crunch time when I called so he freely said that he will file the extension. If you are local, his business is Neyman Bookkeeping and can be reached at (423) 479-8465.
Now all the bad news is out of the way, it is a beautiful spring day. We are working on projects that will allow us to move the animals back out to pasture. We normally have the animals back on pasture by now but we had extra hay and wanted to give the grass extra time to green up before the rotational grazing starts. One project we finished was rerouting our water line across the new dirt road. Ultimately the water line will follow the road so we will always know where it is and now that we buried it, we don’t have to worry about running it over with vehicles. The other project started was moving our outdoor brooder from the north side of our garage to the south side in order to use the sun’s warmth to our advantage. We have ducks that are ready to go outside. They are currently in our indoor brooder a.k.a. a tote with a heat lamp. We are quickly entering into the busy crazy time of farming/homesteading where everything happens at once and you have to go 100 miles an hour. Prayers will be much appreciated.
Our discussion topics our still on the table:
Greenhouse – long time needed but can’t wait any longer / what design and material
Pigs – remove from stock or find way to feed them
Goats – add for dairy/meat
Milk Cow – add for dairy to help reduce feed cost for pigs
Sheep – add as grass based meat source in place of pigs
When I thought, “My foot slips,” Your steadfast love, O LORD, helped me up. When the cares of my heart are many, Your consolations cheer my soul. – Psalm 94:18–19
Covid Crazy
The past 3 years have been extremely chaotic with what is happening in the world with Covid19. The economy is struggling and prices are ever increasing as inflation is on the rise. Our journey here on the farm has been and is continuing towards the goal of being self-sustaining. What is happening is definitely eye opening and making us realize how important it is to reach our goal sooner rather than later.
The discussion around our table is constantly on the cost of groceries. We have a total of 8 mouths to feed and it is amazing how much more the children consume as they grow. We are trying to focus on ways we can cut out the grocery store even more. We are also discussing which animals to keep raising for financial reasons or to cut out to save income.
Discussion Items:
Greenhouse – long time needed but can’t wait any longer / what design and material
Pigs – remove from stock or find way to feed them
Goats – add for dairy/meat
Milk Cow – add for dairy to help reduce feed cost for pigs
Sheep – add as grass based meat source in place of pigs
Stay tuned to see what decisions we make!!
“do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”. – Philippians 4:6-7
