Homestead Farms has so much to be thankful for this year.  Here are our top five:

5. Getting to do what we love.  Farmer Michael always says “I don’t have a job.  I get to do what I love and play every day of the year.”  (Seriously everyday… as he is currently out doing chores.)  I am so grateful I get to keep on working while and raise my daughter at the same time.

4. Our family.  Homestead Farms wouldn’t be around if our family didn’t trust us to care for and farm this land they have entrusted to us.

3. Growing pains. Our farm is growing by leaps and bounds, and we’ve hit some bumps in the road, but we are so thankful for all the progress our farm has made in the last year.  Our biggest growing pain is affording to remodel the new frontage we were able thankfully able to purchase this last year.

2. Our AMAZING employees.  We have a great team that is always will to step up and keep Homestead Farms running.  It’s hard to find people who are willing to get up before the sun, work in the dirt and weather, and on Holidays.  Thank you Shar, Dillon, Cale and Michael Murray!

1. Our LOYAL customers.  We appreciate y’all’s support!  We don’t do any advertising, but more and more people know about the hidden farm in Keller- THANK Y’ALL!!!

If you’ve been missing or looking for Homestead Farms’ all-natural humanly raised pork, your wait is almost over!  In the first years of farming we kept a hog or two around to be  garbage disposals for spoiled produce and milk, but as our goat herd has increased, we have ran out of space for our garbage disposals.  We’ve not only had space limitations lately, but all along Farmer Michael has had a plan in his head and was never quite happy with our minimal pork production.

This spring we heard about a grant through Green Fellows Inc. that would support sustainable and green practices of all kinds in the North Texas area.  Here are some excerpts of the grant we sent in, and a summary of how the master planed hog/composting facility works!

“Our hog/composting facility will not only provide a comfortable and natural living space for the hogs but will also double as composting facility.

The focus at Homestead Farms is a goat dairy and a produce market, which both create substantial amount of waste.  The hog/composting facility will include six composting pens that will be layered with manure, straw, spoiled produce and grain.  The hogs will then be let in to the pens in a rotation to turn the compost with the use of their natural plow (their snout.).  Not only will this help decompose the compost faster and save Homestead Farms labor, but the hogs will be happy doing what nature intended them to do; rooting in the earth, and getting fat on grubs, worms and spoiled produce. “

“Our hog/composting facilities will be able to provide healthy pork and produce to the local community with little or no carbon foot print and will promote green agricultural education to the community.  While most swine facilities in America create huge amounts of a waste, are bad for the earth, and are a hindrance to the community, our project will enhance the land without polluting surrounding air and water.”

We are super excited that a portion of the project was funded by Green Fellows Inc. and the hog/composting barn is almost finished.  We hope to have young hogs in the barn by the end of August and hopefully pork will be ready for sale by the holiday season.  Look forward to that pork freezer finally being filled again as Homestead Farms adventures into adding hogs to our new barn.

Read more about Southlake Green Day and Green Fellows Inc. at www.southlakegreenday.com

As many of you know and for those who don’t, farmer Michael and I are expecting a new two legged addition to our little farm family in September.  So if you’ve been in the store in the last couple months and I haven’t been the sweetest peach on the tree…sorry I have a good excuse. I was probably either nauseous or starving.  

We are 4 months in and beyond excited, scared, nervous, and stoked to meet the treasure we were given.   Don’t get us wrong though. We are completely aware we have absolutely no idea how our lives are going to be turned upside down in 6 very, very short months.  We are working on moving farmer Michael’s office out of the house and turn it into a nursery, finding money for a car seat compatible vehicle, and trying and figure out how to keep up with our ten hour days.

But all those worries were washed away in a few short moments out in the dairy barn last night.   Surrounded by two 18 year old farm hands, my father in law, farmer Michael and his best friend, we got to see our little munchkin on a 12 inch screen.  Wait-What? No, you didn’t misread.

I’ve always been a road less traveled individual, but when you are a farm girl that road can be WAY off the beaten path! Yesterday we had a reproduction specialist from Oklahoma down to sonogram 40 of our does to find out if any are bred, so we know who to artificially inseminate in April, so they have babies in October, so we can have a little milk for the winter months.  Of course I was #41, since my goofy husband just had to use the sonogram machine on his “bred” wife. 

So picture this- I am STANDING in the middle of the milking parlor, with CORN OIL on my growing belly, as farmer Michael plays with a sonogram machine that was previously used on half our herd of goats, with an audience of 6 males staring at a really dirty 12 inch screen.  But, wouldn’t you know the little booger waved (or just moved) at its daddy and all of a sudden our world got really small and we decided yeah, we CAN do this.  We even got to see its little head and body and even the heart beating. 

I am sure I have to be the only women who goes in for her 20 week sonogram and says “yeah, I’ve already been sonogramed by the vet and seen the baby in our barn.”  As silly, unexpected and one heck of a bumpy road as this farming life all is, we are so excited to get to raise a family with kids who can get dirty, gather their own eggs and go to work with dad any day of the week.

I know I am about 15 days behind on the blizzard news, but our entire farm has been busily de-thawing in this beautiful spring weather. But when the winter wonderland set on North Texas Farmer Michael and I bunkered down for the chaos.  

During North Texas’ version of a blizzard, my mentor who taught me how to cowgirl posted this perfect statement on facebook:

“BREAKING NEWS: There will be no farms or ranches closed due to the upcoming BLIZZARD. Every farmer & rancher will be out in the blistery, cold, blowing wind and heavy snow fall tending to their livestock. They will be praying for machinery to work and non-frozen water pipes. Say a prayer for our farmers and ranchers and thank you for our food.”

There was absolutely no going stir crazy around our farm that week.  After rolling black outs, frozen oil in the milk pump, having to hand milk 32 goats by hand, raising 6 baby goats in our laundry room, and repairing 3 water pipes during and after the blistery cold week we are welcoming spring with open arms!  

We are thankful the spring is just around the corner and we don’t have to deal with temperatures in the teens very often.  We can’t wait until that one March cold front has come and gone and we can start to plant on every flat and plow-able piece of land we have.  

I am also thankful for Ms. Doreen who taught me how real cowgirls work, since the horses still had to be cared for in the rain, shine, triple digits or snow.  Had she not started to drill that into me 16 years ago, I might have had a minor break down two weeks ago. 

Every farm is well acquainted with “If you pray for rain prepare to deal with some mud.” Well, at Homestead Farms January has been more correctly summed up with “If you pray for milk prepare to deal with lots and lots of babies.”

In the last two weeks, 32 of our sweet mama goats have given birth to 67 babies.  Most of these births happened in the ten days between January 5 and 15.  This amazing miracle of life is beautiful, but also creates loads of work for your friendly dairy farmer and his wife.

We knew we had about 30 moms due the first week of January, so the last week of December there was this huge dark green cloud hanging over head, like right before a big Texas storm, warning us of what was to come. I think the smell in the air even changed. We would sneak out to the goat lot to feed and wait to hear the quiet cry of a new baby. But we made it through the holidays and we even enjoyed our calm before the storm by sleeping in, staying snuggled up on the couch reading and napping. Because we knew what was ahead.

You remember the only “kind of, sort of” snow we have seen this year, that brought 10 days of freezing temperatures? The chaos ensued that quiet Sunday morning with 9 new babies to kick off the New Year!  For the next ten days every time we turned around the corner we would find a mama licking off her new trembling baby.  Our lives were consumed with making bottles, warming bottles, and feeding 4 times a day (including a midnight and 6am feedings) and hand milking moms twice a day. 

Because all babies take time to learn to find the nipple, drink standing, and then out of a bottle rack there were a few days it was taking both Farmer Michael and I almost 2 hours to feed all the babies.  Milking also takes twice as long, due to colostrum production.  We have to hand milk mama the old fashion way (and get that specific milk to her baby) for the first five days after she has kidded.   Thank goodness for our amazing farm hands James and Cale, as we would have been a mess without their help.

Things have slowed down and we are feeding only 23 girls three times a day straight out of a bottle rack and Farmer Michael can now milk directly into the milk line.  As I finally have some time to tackle the mountain of yellow pooh and milk stained laundry I can now smile thinking back to those long and seeming like never ending weeks, knowing we now have plenty of that much sought after white gold!

I know this farmgirl is no good at blogging.  Transferring my random cluttered thoughts to complete sentences can be terrifying and getting started often overwhelms me. But my promise to you this year is to be a better blogger, exposing our life as young farmers trying to make a business as old as time a success.

While I am making resolutions for 2011, why not reminisce the best of 2010? In the last year, we sold 2,771 gallons of goat milk, built a new 100 foot barn (like in the last week),  paved our entrance driveway, fed  1500 square bales of hay, gave over 200 hay rides in our pasture, and the store even had a short cameo on Good Morning America. Homestead Farms received the Family Land Heritage Century Farm award from the agricultural commissioner, Todd Staples in July.   In 2010 homestead farms reached our goal of increasing our sales by 50% during a recession and hidden at the end of long hard to find driveway.  

Needless to say we consider 2010 a thrilling success and have even bigger expectations for 2011! We are planning on 2011 to be a year of “more” and to really grow this farm a larger, more well oiled machine.  We are expecting more milk, more Homestead Farms grown produce, more kids groups and tours and maybe even the accusation of more land.

We have had a blessed year and we have all of our loyal customers to thank for your continuous support and help making our dream start to blossom into a full blown company.  We wish you and your family a splendid Holiday and a happy new year!

Goats are funny animals.   They get into trouble and I swear they know what annoys you, but you have to love that the crazy creatures have a unique family connection.  It is precious to watch them as they are inclined to hang out with their mom, or sister or best friend.   

Tink and her sister, Wendy are always lounging together in the pasture, and it makes me giggle every time I see them hang together in a herd of 40 animals, so I had to snap this picture to share.   These sisters have a special place in my heart.  The twins were the first born in the early spring of ’07, when Michael was working day and night building the dairy barn, I was living 2 hours away, and Homestead Farms was just an idea that was just beginning to form.  Wendy and Tink were the first of many baby goats I would get to meet, name, and of course feed…4 times a day.

Although farming is hard and monotonous work, it’s these simple daily farm observations that remind me why I love my farm girl life.  When I first met Tink and Wendy I had no idea what kind of career I was getting into, but it is the joy those girls gave me that attracted me farming.  In days that are so fast paced, it is humbling to be reminded by four legged friends to call your sister and “hang out.”

Tink on the Left, Wendy on the Right

 I was out running errands and stopped to get a drink.  (Yes, I stopped at one of those places and yes, I ordered one of those high fructose corn syrup filled drinks-I have my flaws) Waiting for more order, I saw a kitty walking along the side walk in front of my truck.  Looking a little closer I realized the kitty looked extremely familiar. It was Homestead Farms’ newest form of pest control, Daisy the Kitty. 

The cute little booger had climbed up in my truck, taken a nice little ride and hopped out at the next stop. A little embarrassed and humored I got out, swept up Daisy, and had to quickly explain to the staring Sonic girls that it was just my farm cat that had hitched a ride here. …Just another day in the life.

8…You drop everything if you hear we have bacon.

7…You pray that our production will stay up so that you can have milk in the winter.

6…You get excited when you see a carton of eggs in the store fridge.

5…You think nothing of your kids talking about playing with buttons, snickers and pumpkin.

4…You refuse to buy a watermelon or cantaloupe from a grocery store.

3…You have to allow an extra 30 minutes for your shopping trip because your kids don’t want to leave.

2…Your family considers Scout as one of their pets.

1…You schedule your carwashes around your trips out the farm.

WE HAVE SOME BIG NEWS!!!! We got our bumpy, muddy entrance paved with asphalt. Come check it out!

Last Thursday we found ourselves sitting in the beautiful Texas Senate Chambers in the capitol, for the Family Land Heritage Ceremony.   Michael and his sister, Mindy Looper (the amazing jam and pickle maker) were awarded the century farm award, which honors that the land that is now Homestead Farms has been in their family since 1889.  Out of 91 family farms, our Homestead Farms was the only farm to be honored in Tarrant County, let alone with in Ft. Worth city limits.

The award and ceremony was hosted by the Texas Department of Agriculture, and the Commissioner of Agriculture, Todd Staples.   As our Tarrant County farm was announced, Commissioner Todd Staples said to Michael, “Wow, that must have been hard to hold on to!” We hope that this certificate will help as our farm grows along with the big bad city.

It was so neat to be surrounded by other remarkably healthy and happy farmers, who have and will face the same struggles as us on a daily basis.  Farmer Michael always says, “Farming isn’t a job or a career.  It’s a way of life.” This couldn’t have been more evident on Thursday.   I am so proud of Michael and Mindy for researching their heritage and they even found out that originally the land was granted to an officer who fought in the Texas revolution.   As we celebrated the past 120 years, we couldn’t help but to wonder what our farm will be like when it receives the 150 year award, or even the 200 year award.