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Summer Heat, Swimming and the Milk Cow
We’ve had a break from the summer heat this week. I’m hoping it isn’t going to get as hot as it was. The humidity and the heat and me being pregnant weren’t very enjoyable. I found myself walking right back inside to the air conditioning and being very thankful for the cool air. I have [...]
Baby Chicks
We had 4 hens hatch out chicks this summer. The boys noticed the hens go broody and were able to separate them and place them in their own small chicken tractor so predators didn’t bother them. Within a few weeks each hen hatched out a batch of chicks. I think we have about 24 new chicks running around [...]
The last 6 weeks
I’m in the last part of my pregnancy. It’s been a brutal hot summer although we are thankful it hasn’t been hot with a drought. At least we have been getting rain even if we do have high humidity levels…at least everything is still green and growing! It’s always a challenging time for me when [...]
Beef, Lamb and Pork Coming in the Fall
The boys finished up castrating the rams and pigs today. It really amazes me how young men can work and produce when given the challenge to do so. We are looking forward to all the beef, lamb and pork later on in the fall…and yes, we will be selling a lot of our farm raised meat. We’ve [...]
How to castrate a pig ?
If you have a farm, you might someday have a pig. If you have a pig, you might someday have more pigs? If you have a herd of pigs, chances are you might need to know how to castrate your own pig? or at least know someone who knows how to do that!
We started with [...]
Raw Milk Vs. Conventional Milk Experiment
I ran across this blog post that I thought would be of interest to our readers:
A Tale of Two Calves. One calf was fed raw milk and the other calf was fed conventional pasteurized milk. Check it out here!
The differences in these two calves is really amazing.
We’ve seen a similar pattern here on our farm [...]
Drinking raw milk while pregnant ??
Contrary to what many people believe, all milk is not created equal! After using conventional milk, pasteurized organic milk, pasteurized non-homogenized milk and raw milk and visiting a wide variety of dairy operations from conventional to grass-based as well as running our own small dairy operation, I can definitely say there is a huge difference. [...]
Low Garden Production
Gardening is hard work. Or at least it is for us! It’s frustrating when you work so hard planting your garden only to look out the window one morning to see the goat eating up all your hard work and the chickens scratching up all your newly planted bean rows. We’re trying to keep at it [...]
What’s Going on at the Farm?
We have lots going on around the farm. The flood put a damper on our progress and we have been having to deal with cleaning up piles and piles of river rock. We did get the rock off our main pasture fence and stood it up straight again. The rock is still all around us..but [...]
Giveaway on Penny Pantry
I’m hosting a giveaway over on my other blog, Penny Pantry. Go check it out….There is a good probability of winning since there are not many who have entered and since I am selecting the winner on Friday, June 18th…
A Favorite Southern Vegetable, Okra
We grew up on okra. For a long time, I actually didn’t know that there were people in the world who didn’t eat okra, much less there were those to didn’t even know what okra was. Okra is a favorite southern vegetable to grow in the garden around here. And, OHHH Boy, does it grow and [...]
Sweet Peas in the Garden
We’ve never had any success with growing peas in our garden, but this year, we actually have a row of peas growing in our garden and producing sweet peas! We planted the peas from seed…the .20 cent seed packages that I bought at the Dollar Store.
We’ve been picking a handful of pea pods almost on a daily basis, [...]
Weed Woes in the Garden
With the warm weather that has arrived and with the great rains we have had, our little farm is bursting forth with all sorts of greenery……which also includes lots of weeds and biting insects. The garden is taking off and it is very exciting to watch. We have a small garden plot for our size family, but [...]
Raising Your Own Meat: Pastured Pork, Grass-fed Beef and Lamb
For several years our family has been raising our own meat. We’ve found that not only is it a healthier alternative but it is much cheaper than buying meat from the store.
Pro’s of Raising Your Own Meat:
Home grown meat is a healthier alternative than buying prepackaged feed-lot meat at the store. If you want to [...]
New Piglets
For all those looking for farm fresh pork this fall, we have some goods news. Our first sow had her piglets! There were only five for this first time momma, but everyone was very excited to see the first pigs born on Vaughnshire.
Vaughnshire and the Tennessee Flood Disaster
This isn’t supposed to be a lake…it was our neighbor’s cow pasture and hay field.
We have been just a bit occupied with trying to get our life back up and running. Last week we didn’t have power or running water…some of the week we didn’t have phone or cell phone coverage either.
This week, I am working on [...]
Tennessee Flood
As most of you know, here in Tennessee we’ve just experienced the worst flood in a thousand years…or at least that is what they are saying. The 1,000 year flood has wreaked havoc on the great state of Tennessee and we have been in a “survival” mode for the last week just keeping up with [...]
The Current Flood
When I started out to make a water work for the farm I had no idea I’d get so much help from above.
We are currently under flash flood warnings which means that our “seasonal” creek is flowing at capacity.
Enjoy the picture, we will be back to posting more soon.
Katahdin Twins Born
I know I talk a lot about the Katahdin sheep we have. We really do love the Katahdin hair sheep! Someone asked us not too long ago why we have sheep on the farm. The reason we chose the Katahdin breed was because of several reasons: they do well in the South, they have hair [...]



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