The Perch Farm

The Perch Farm The Perch Farm is a 20-acre farm located south of Columbia, TN in the town of Culleoka.

Established in 2019, Kevin and Charlotte shed their urban lifestyle and moved to the country in search of a more enriched lifestyle to settle into.

They stand as the citadels of the farm. Sure, we have a lot of trees on the farm, some older than others, but none as ma...
04/30/2026

They stand as the citadels of the farm. Sure, we have a lot of trees on the farm, some older than others, but none as majestic as these two. First up is this American Elm tree that stands next to our pool. With its iconic vase-shaped crown, the canopy easily extends over 100 feet wide, providing shade for anyone willing to take refuge under its leaves. It has stood the test of time, overpowering neighboring trees. When I was in elementary school, a bonsai club started. I joined eagerly, and the first exercise was to picture your perfect tree. This is what I pictured all those years ago.

Next up is this American Sycamore tree standing guard next to our house. It dominates the yard with its stunning light colored bark. The American Sycamore tree will typically live 200+ years, and many survive to 500 or 600 years old. If you tried to hug this tree, I think it would take about 4 adults joining hands to reach all the way around its trunk. A fun fact: last year, when we took up archery, we set up the range under this tree.

What iconic trees do you have in your yard, or have you come across while walking about?

Taylor fits our farm like that comfortable pair of sneakers we all own. She quietly moves about in the evening, position...
04/29/2026

Taylor fits our farm like that comfortable pair of sneakers we all own. She quietly moves about in the evening, positioning herself for maximum guardian duties. She sets the pace, and Beau follows. Never one to miss a good belly rub or a nice shady tree, Taylor always puts her duties on the farm first and then relaxes second, but only when it's safe to relax will she take a nap.

Who's the quiet keeper on your farm/home — the one who's always on duty before they rest?

04/28/2026

Getting Woody's front hooves right has been a multi-year project — but he's not letting it slow him down much. It's been a slog to get his front hooves in shape so that he can walk regularly. He has no problem getting up and going when he needs to, but he still spends a lot of time on his front knees.

Comment: Which animals on the farm are your favorite?

04/27/2026

Chick day on the farm — and this year, Charlotte got to make the pick. What has become our annual tradition for introducing new chicks to our little farm. Charlotte picked out Blue Laced Red Wyandotte's. They are adjusting to their new home quite nicely.

Warning, I may bore you with rose photos all summer. But can you blame me? Look at this thing.Our rose garden is off to ...
04/26/2026

Warning, I may bore you with rose photos all summer. But can you blame me? Look at this thing.

Our rose garden is off to a fast start, making a huge splash of color around our pool. I wish there were a way I could capture the smell for you and post it on social media.

Anyone else out there obsessing over their gardens and posting photos, I'd love to hear about it.

Six years ago, I had grand plans to fence the whole front pasture, all 6 acres of it. While the fence isn't finished, I ...
04/25/2026

Six years ago, I had grand plans to fence the whole front pasture, all 6 acres of it. While the fence isn't finished, I found a cool way to store the auger.

Most of the time, the auger sits ready for use, and storing an auger is not easy because of the three pieces that move independently of each other. Several Google searches showed different approaches people take.

One way was simply to lean it up against a tree.
Another way was to have a pulley to lift it in a barn.

While I have lots of trees on the property I could use, but no barn to attach a lift system to, I came up with a new use for this old playset. With this setup, I simply back the tractor to it, attach the 3-point hitch and PTO shaft, and voila, I'm ready to go dig some holes.

What projects do you have sitting unfinished? I have plenty; the fence is just one.

Here's a funny story about our flatbed trailer, straight out of a movie scene. I take our Polaris UTV and motorcycle to ...
04/24/2026

Here's a funny story about our flatbed trailer, straight out of a movie scene. I take our Polaris UTV and motorcycle to a shop in Murfreesboro, about an hour drive from the farm. On the way home after picking up our Polaris, I was about halfway home when a guy in a pickup truck pulled alongside me on the highway. His window is rolled down and he's frantically waving at me to get my attention.

I rolled down my window to try to hear, but it's impossible to hear when going 70mph. I was able to make out enough of what he was yelling. He was motioning back toward my trailer, indicating that something was wrong.

I quickly pull over and rush to see what's wrong with the trailer or worse yet, the Polaris. Much to my chagrin, the ramp on the right-hand side was dragging along the roadway. Apparently, I failed to secure it properly when I loaded the Polaris. And worse yet, I didn't even notice it.

I have no idea how long it had been like that, possibly for as long as 30 minutes. The part of the ramp rubbing on the ground was clearly rounded off, as if the road was sandpaper and speeding down the highway was like a skilled carpenter rounding the edget of a sharp board.

And it was hot to the touch, really hot. Like burn my hand hot.

So, I'm pretty sure there was a stream of sparks flowing from the ramp as I sped down the highway, also. I am very thankful for that man. The kindness of strangers always brings a smile to my face.

The bushes aren't that pretty. So, I prefer not to see them. And despite being mowed down, they come back year after yea...
04/23/2026

The bushes aren't that pretty. So, I prefer not to see them. And despite being mowed down, they come back year after year.

In preparing for this post, I used AI to look them up and found that there are three varieties of peonies: herbaceous, tree, and itoh.

Herbaceous Peonies are the most common type and grow in "busy mounds" and die back to the ground every winter.

Ahh-ha!!! So now I understand why they come back; that's how nature intended them.

For the record, the tree peonies are woody shrubs that do not die back, and the Itoh are hybrids.

I can hear my mom telling me how pretty they are.

This parsley plant (in green tray) is the next one to be transplanted tomorrow into the garden. I originally had planned...
04/22/2026

This parsley plant (in green tray) is the next one to be transplanted tomorrow into the garden. I originally had planned for 4, but only 1 germinated.

I've struggled this year with germination for some reason. We purchased all new seeds b/c we had problems last year also. Clearly, we are swinging and missing during the seedling phase. But I guess if you are failing, you're not learning.

04/21/2026

Life on the farm hasn't been all about planting a garden, raising chickens, and feeding goats this Spring.

I've been working on something cool, and I hope you will think it's cool too.

Since my "early retirement" or "forced sabbatical" or whatever you want to call it, I'm still very active online, keeping up with the latest trends and technology by signing up for more newsletters than I can actually keep track of anymore — and recently, I learned that I have a problem.

The newsletters are disappearing into my inbox, never to be seen again.

One early morning, while scrolling past another unread newsletter, I made a promise to myself to find a better way to keep up with newsletters. I was tired of the empty promises to come back and read them later.

So I built myself a fix. A clean feed of just my newsletters. No inbox scanning. No Gmail OAuth. No algorithm decides what I see.

Today I'm opening the waitlist for Bwak.news — a newsletter reader that gives you a private .news address.

Newsletters go to your feed.
Your inbox stays out of it entirely.

The handles work like social media usernames — , , -you-want. Once someone claims it, it's gone.

A few things that make this different:
🐣 No inbox access. Ever. (Unlike Meco, we never touch your Gmail or Outlook)
🐥 Works with any email provider — Gmail, Proton, iCloud, Fastmail. Why? Because the newsletter will never enter your inbox.
🐓 Kill any sender instantly with one tap — no unsubscribe dance

Oh, and as for the name? Bwak is the sound a chicken makes. Bwaaaaaakkkkk, bwaaaakkk, bwak, bwak!

Claim your handle before someone else does: https://bwak.news

Address

4218 Covey Hollow Road
Culleoka, TN
38451

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