HomesteadLarder

Fresh milk? Mr. Bacon is all for it and it only took a few minutes for more than two gallons to disappear.

I’ve struggled when it comes to balancing the nutritional needs of ruminants—our cows and sheep—when feeding barley fodder. But our chickens have thrived on them, especially these brown egg laying pullets.

We finally decided to jump in and start raising heritage Mangalista pigs. Honestly, I’m split between absolutely adoring them and being fairly intimidated. There will definitely be a learning curve to understand hog behavior! But we think having access to MRNA vaccine free pork will be worth it in the long run. Also, that hungry snort is kind of adorable.

Well, that was messy…

This webinar provides information for aspiring and beginning homesteaders dealing with some of the possibilities and potential pitfalls likely to be encountered homesteading.

I can't get over the vitality of these heritage sheep 🐏 breeds. The lambing ease is incredible and they grow like weeds--even on weeds. This calico Navajo-Churro/CVM Romeldale cross is only a month and three days old and already catching up with mom quickly.

I used to spend 45 minutes a day trying to keep our 1/4 mile road edge looking decent. Then we doubled the length of road frontage--and I invested in a professional landscaping crew!

I think these two wanted attention as much as they had an itch that needed scratched. That said, it still set off my semi-annual panic over whether my cattle have some sort of creepy parasite! (Thankfully, it’s always been a false alarm so far.)

This mess will be a productive garden in a few days! It doesn’t look anything like the gardening approach most people grew up using, but it’s one of the easiest—and most water efficient—gardening methods. You can read about how this Back to Eden style plot was created several years ago here:

This little ewe lamb was certainly a colorful surprise! Her mother is a gray/possibly blue Navajo Churro and her father is a dark brown CVM Romeldale. Cali (named for her calico color) was less than an hour old when she had this impromptu meet and greet with the flock.

Just look at all those gorgeous future sweaters! This flock is composted of mostly beautiful Heritage Navajo Churro sheep with three of the extremely rare CVM Romeldale sheep mixed in for some extra soft yarn.