Wild Berry Falls

09/01/2026

From Reserve Champion chickens at the fair on a Wednesday...to meat in the freezer that Saturday. 😬 Doug and I along with the limited help from our kids 🙃 got all 17 of our birds processed the Saturday after the Dubuque County Fair.

Not gonna lie, the amount of time and effort we put into the birds James and Nolan brought to get them ready for the fair made it harder for us to butcher them 🫠 but we're so thankful to have a stocked freezer full of delicious chicken again! 🍗🐓

Knowing where our meat comes from and what our animals are fed is exactly why we raise beef and poultry! 🩷

08/27/2026

Whew! What a summer it was! School has officially started back up and we're getting into our new routine. 🎉 The county and state fairs have come and gone, and we were so excited to be able to go to the Iowa State Fair and see James's cowhide project there! 🐮 We're so proud of him!

We're shifting gears to fall now which means harvesting the garden and finishing up small projects here and there while we still have good weather! 🫑🍅 We also brought this sweet girl, Callie, home a couple weeks ago! 🤗 She likes to be held like a baby and is so playful!

It was a busy summer and I really tried to be more present with our kids, which is why you didn't hear from me very often. But we're excited to take you along for the ride again this school year!

08/06/2026

Fair Week started off last week with such a FUN night put on by the West Dubuque FFA for 4H and FFA kids! 😃 Both James and Nolan competed with their friends and came home with two trophies each! 🎉 It was great entertainment even in the heat and the kids had a blast even though James popped his back lifting the sack of feed! 🥴🤦‍♀️🙃 Well done to the ladies who organized this event!! 🫶🏻👏🏻

08/05/2026

Whew! What a week it was at the Dubuque County Fair last week! 😃 We had a different vantage point from years past because this year James and Nolan both decided to show poultry for the first time ever! 🐓 Cora also participated in the Clover Kids Poultry Show.

They worked so hard and tended to them so well over the course of the four days they were there especially in the crazy heat last Monday. 🥵 We have an even deeper appreciation for all the 4H kids who show their animals at the fair each year 🩷 and loved being able to watch more friends show all of their animals since we were at the fair so much this year! 🫶🏻

James brought home two banners for Reserve Champion for Broiler Chickens and Champion Novice Showmanship for Poultry! 🎉 My favorite of the entire week is the last one- the look on Nolan's face when James won champion. 😭🥹🩵 I'm so proud of all of our kiddos! 🤗 Lots more to come on fair week!! And a MAJOR thank you to Tanya Shepherd and her girls for helping us out so we knew what we were doing and helping the boys to know what to expect in the showring! 🫶🏻🩷

07/27/2026

We are so proud of James for making it to state with his cowhide static project! 🎉😃 Stop by the 4-H building this week to see it, and let us know if you will be there! James and Nolan brought their chickens today 🥵 and we will be there pretty much all day Tues-Thurs and we'd love to see you! 🤗 They show on Wednesday afternoon. 👍🏻

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07/22/2026

Kids are neck deep in 4H static projects and taking care of their broiler chickens to show next week at the Dubuque County Fair! 🎉 In the middle of all of it, we had a cria born on our farm! 😃🦙

We've been going through the alphabet in naming our crias born here and we're on E. We've had a few favorites but then there was a name that stuck out that we all knew we had to go with!

We're big soccer fans ⚽️ and followed the World Cup games...anybody have a guess yet?! 🤔

We also became big fans of a certain player. 🇳🇴😆

So we are excited to introduce to you our very own...Erling Haaland! 😃

This sweet boy is the offspring of Maddie and Theo and the third boy this pair has given us. We're pretty smitten by him and can't wait to see Erling grow! 🩵

07/12/2026

I have been severely lacking on posting this summer! 🫣 So much has been happening and I can't wait to share all that with you! It's been nice to get off social media a bit and really try and be present with our kids. 🩷 We've already had broken bones, surgery, pins, an MRI, and lots of appointments between them. 🤪 And it's been busy, but truthfully, it has still been a good summer so far!

We are in full-blown final 4H prep mode right now! 🍀 Kids are wrapping up their projects and working on the write ups which is always a process, but they are getting there! James and Nolan are showing meat chickens this year too so that's been an adventure! 🐔🍗

New this week is this sweet little nugget! 🐈‍⬛ She was clearly abandoned, and we could hear her meowing at all hours of the day and night. 😕 She finally warmed up to us after a few days of trying to coerce her and now she won't leave our sides! 🩷

Meet Moon! 🙂 She loves Cora the most and Doug is an easy second favorite which annoys me. 🤣 He is always a favorite of all the animals no matter how much I try! 😆😏 The barn is Moon's favorite place to be unless she hears us up at the house, then she comes running to hang out. 🤗 She's so sweet and playful and we're honestly in love!

06/14/2026

We love this time of year when the skies are blue 🩵 (yay for no rain!! 🤪) and the grass is green! 💚 So fun to see the cows out to pature and happy and healthy!

05/21/2026

Not gonna lie, it's a scary thing to put the plants in the garden for the first time after you started them as seeds months ago! 😆

Even though we have great fencing, we still have moles digging underneath. They have actually already wiped out an entire pepper variety for us. 😭 The squirrels still like to climb the fence and get in and chipmunks are small enough to weasel their way through the small holes of the fencing.

We are trying some new natural deterrents we have never tried before and hoping for the best! 🙏🏻 And thankfully it's still early enough in the season that we can keep replanting, even if it means waiting longer for the harvest.

We have worked so hard on this garden to get it to this point for the last three years and we just have the raspberries and strawberries left! We started with the raspberries, putting them on cattle panels and it's already looking so much better and will help the plants thrive even more! 

I joke a lot that nothing we do around here is done quickly 😆 but I do appreciate our intentionality and that it does eventually all come together! 🩷 

05/18/2026

If it's
Raining ✔️
Lightning✔️
Thundering✔️
you can bet these two will be out in the middle of it living their best life! 🤪

Planting season is done in the fields and garden and we're so thankful for a little bit of rain and the sunshine! 🙌🏻☀️

Ducks are laying again and we have 3 dozen available for $6/dozen. Let us know if you'd like any! 🦆

We also always have chicken eggs available for $3/dozen. 🐓Let us know how many we can set aside for you!