After the most challenging two months of my farm life, things on the farm have finally settled down to a manageable routine. We have been blessed with more abundance than ever and we are working very hard to make sure that nothing goes to waste. We have been living more frugally than ever and trying to save every penny for a very exciting investment opportunity in the near future.

Our Wyoming trip that started at the end of May was an enjoyable time. We were so thankful to my parents who came out to our farm twice a day and lovingly cared for our animals with such joy that we had no guilt of being gone. We are very undeserving of their generosity in doing our chores and the many ways they have helped us in the past such as traveling out of state to pick up a tractor for us, driving to the other side of Nebraska to pick up cover crop seed, always being willing to share their extra garden produce, and so much more.

We had prayed about this vacation for months and had hoped to go earlier in the month of May in order to be home for planting and spring busyness, but felt led to go during this particular week. The timing couldn’t have been better, because we missed a huge late snowstorm in Wyoming by a few days and my parents were blessed with abundant rain while we were gone. I didn’t have to beg them to water my extensive gardens. When we arrived at Yellowstone, I felt like we had gone back in time as snow covered the park for the first few days. We had originally planned to camp in the park to save money, but over time changed our minds when we discovered how cold it could get at night. Wyoming received record rain fall and the temperatures were not always very pleasant during our visit. I was so thankful that we rented a cabin where we could cook all of our meals and stay warm and cozy.

When we arrived at the cabin, we were surprised with a loaf of organic sourdough bread and bright yellow butter sitting on the counter. I felt as though I was in my own home with all the natural cleaning supplies, organic spices, and stainless steel cookware. We brought all of our own food and supplies, but I forgot many necessities. The Lord provided all of our needs by putting us at just the right place. Since our family tries to get the most out of a vacation and see as much as possible, we spent a lot of time in the van travelling all over Yellowstone. On the last day of our vacation I was so excited to get back to our farm that I stayed up past 1:00 am making a hot breakfast to quickly warm up in the morning and preparing everything for our long drive home. We were up at 5:00, efficiently packed the van, and enjoyed a feast in the van that morning along with a few naps. I often hear that vacations should be restful and rejuvenating, but I’m not convinced. Maybe in another five years I will be ready for another adventure.

After carefully documenting our expenses for almost a year, I have learned a lot about our spending habits. Investing in good quality, nutrient dense food is a priority in our budget, but one thing that astonished me was that in half a year we spent almost $1000 on cheese. This discovery persuaded me to add another milk cow in hopes of having enough milk to make more cheese and butter. Before our vacation my husband stated that Daisy, one of our nurse cows, was looking a little thin. She is a sweet cow, and it didn’t take long for her to adopt a calf that needed a mom along with her own. She may have had one or two more calves that would sneak milk too, but I’m not sure. I imagined she would be a great milk cow for me and asked him to keep her with the calves until we got back from vacation if he thought that would be okay. A few days after our return, I was caught up and ready to start milking again. I separated the calf from my original milk cow the night before and milked without any issues. With the help of Aiden we were able to get this new, sweet milk cow from the pasture and into the milk stanchion. While cleaning her up, however, she started kicking like no cow I have ever seen. I stood back as far as I could and started the process of milking. She continued to kick and occasionally threw a side kick that would knock a person right off the milking stool. After two days, no improvement, and the observation that she had lost even more weight, I decided to give up and let her dry up instead. The next day I noticed the flies were attacking her in the pasture, but few were on my milk cow. She also looked extremely thin and was beginning to get pink eye. After bringing her into the barn, treating her naturally with herbs and nutrient dense whole food supplements, quality hay, and cleanliness in the stall, she recovered fairly quickly. The pink eye was completely gone in less than a week and despite her contact with other animals, none of them contracted it. She has gained most of her weight back, and now I realize that we should have separated her from the calves when my husband suggested it, and trusted that something else would work out. I learned how quickly animals can lose weight and how slowly they gain it back. By God’s grace, treating this cow has helped me understand how critical the right natural treatment is and how decreasing the stress makes a big difference in recovery.

As I was treating this cow, I knew I had one cow remaining that still had milk. It was my husband’s favorite jersey cow, but she was not friendly at all. I separated her from the herd and started the process again. Although we had struggles, milking went better than I expected. The only problem was that I was only getting a quart of milk at each milking despite all my efforts to increase her supply. I decided it wasn’t worth the effort. She had been with a calf for almost a year and was drying up. As I was walking her back to the herd I felt like a failure. I had been praying for months and really felt like I should milk a second cow, but she was my last option. When we finally arrived, I was shocked to find a new baby in the pasture. The mom was a jersey, angus cross. I told my oldest son that I should bring them back and attempt to milk her. My son said, “She’s an Angus, she won’t have much milk.” I thought about it for a minute and then agreed with him. I thanked him for his help and told him he could head back to the house, and I would finish putting up all the fences. As I was climbing the hill to head home, I noticed three of the “milk stealers” were attacking this new mom. These are older calves that go from cow to cow stealing milk since their moms are no longer part of the herd. I thought to myself that this calf would never get anything to eat, and I needed to separate the mom and baby from the herd. I walked down the hill and opened everything up again. I found the baby and gently started pushing him up the hill toward the barn. The mom followed us and after a lot of work and sweat we made it. I put them with my milk cow on pasture closer to the barn. I had little expectations, but decided to try milking her that evening. My husband helped me get her into the stanchion and I nervously cleaned her up and started the process of milking. I was so excited when my bucket was almost full to the brim with milk and she was standing still, but right at the end, the cow quickly knocked over the bucket with her foot. Since it went better than I had expected, I kept working with her. I left the calf on for a day to get the colostrum and then separated it. That same day another cow had a baby so I brought her in and worked with the baby to get it to nurse from the new mom that had too much milk for one calf. The timing couldn’t have been better. Things really started getting busy when I added the third cow to my chores. With bringing them in to the barn separately twice daily, moving animals, weeding, harvesting, and the routine work, I really had to hustle to get everything done.

My new milk cow was certainly a blessing, but she really tested my patience. She could hurdle over, under, and through fences, plow through a stall in the barn that has been there for decades, break gates, and knock the milk bucket over so quickly that I didn’t know what happened. My three milk cows also became very time consuming to get them back to the pasture. I have over 30 paddocks that I rotate them through daily and each day I walk them to the barn and back out twice a day. There was a wide area to bring them through and almost every time they got away or ran back just as we finally made it to the pasture. At the time I couldn’t think of anything to do.

During this time the kids and I also took over moving our pastured pigs. I was convinced that we would try moving them daily instead of every few weeks like we have always done. Pigs have been one of our biggest challenges to move because there’s always at least one that runs in the opposite direction or gets away. Sometimes it takes us hours to round them all up. After several days of daily moves and the pigs constantly getting out (due to my ignorance with the fence) I figured my time of moving them at over 3 hours each day. I determined that these would either be the most expensive pigs on the market, or I needed to go back to our previous plan of bigger areas with less moves. We quickly went back to our original plan of moving them like Joel Salatin does. He moves his pigs every time he fills up the feeder. They still have plenty of greens until their next move, and we spoil them with garden scraps, grass and weeds, apples, and more. In the future we hope to be able to invest in a better set up and try daily moves again. For now the pigs will be just as good as always.

One thing I have learned about regenerative farming is that as your land is healing and looks as though the ground is even, one must remember that deep cow paths and animal holes still exist. Over the last few months, I have suffered several minor injuries that have made it hard to work for several weeks. My first injury occurred the night before our daughter’s graduation, and I was unable to walk for a few hours. At first I felt defeated, but as I prayed I realized that there was plenty I could do while I sat. I mixed up several whole food supplements and applied some heat to my knee while I read a book to the little ones and did what I could. I was able to get around slowly after a few hours. The next morning I awoke at 4:00 am and was determined to get going. I was in so much pain that my husband had to carry me to the bathroom. After a long soak in the tub and more whole food supplements, I was able to get around with very little pain and enjoy our daughter’s party that day. It was a miracle. The next three weeks I endured a few more falls with injuries in the cow paths and tripping over a fence. What I learned from these experiences is that even if I’m not 100 percent, there are still ways I can serve, and that I should slow down (especially in the pasture), and really appreciate my health. I kept pushing on despite my pain and I worried a little that I wouldn’t heal because of the lack of rest, but I’m so thankful to be fully recovered and no longer have any pain.

Despite all the challenges, I didn’t want to give up, and I knew I could do everything if I could make things more efficient. I kept praying and seeking wisdom. My family was so supportive during this time and happy to help in any way they could. We were able to get the fence figured out for the pigs to keep them in and build fence and better gates for my milk cows to walk through. Thankfully my new milk cow decided that she no longer needed to kick the milk bucket (most days) and has started to respect the fences. With only two cows to run through the barn, a better set up, and the other two cows back with the herd, the extra milk cow is only taking a little more time, and our family is really enjoying all the cream, yogurt, raw milk, and cheese. As I try new things and continue with the routine work on the farm, I find myself continually needing reminders to slow down and think things through better, take the time to set up temporary fences to make moving animals easier, keep pushing through the slog even when I want to give up, have compassion for others who are struggling, humble myself and ask for help, and most importantly lean on the Lord’s strength and wisdom and not my own.

The Lord has really put it on my heart to empower others about how our food has changed over a short period of time. We are reaching more and more people with our website and newsletter and LOVE to hear your stories about how natural, clean foods have changed your lives. Please help spread the word and keep those stories coming! As we get closer to fall, we look forward to the work that lies ahead and to blessing others with our products. Homesteading and farming are not simple tasks, but when you enjoy the work you are doing and get to feel a great sense of accomplishment at the end of the day, it is completely worth it. This summer we pray that you are encouraged to grow great food, find and meet a great farmer to buy from, slow down and enjoy each day, and be blessed with abundant health!