On our Own Homestead

08/25/2026

Our Tumeric is blooming and it's phenomenally fragrant!

08/24/2026

Pardon my English but sorry but GO F**K OFF with that nonsense! What about our AMERICAN FARMERS that are fighting for survival??

Before we start looking overseas to make beef cheaper, how about making it easier for AMERICANS to produce and sell American beef?

Thomas Massie’s bipartisan PRIME Act is a perfect example. It addresses one of the biggest headaches for smaller livestock producers: access to processing. Instead of forcing small producers through an increasingly consolidated USDA processing system, it would give states more freedom to allow locally processed meat to be sold directly to consumers, restaurants, grocery stores, and other local businesses.

Massie has also introduced legislation aimed at helping keep family farms in the family instead of watching them get sold off because the next generation gets hammered financially when ownership changes. THAT is the direction I want to see.

Break up the bottlenecks. Cut unnecessary regulations. Expand local processing. Protect family farms. Encourage more young Americans to get into agriculture. Make it easier for small ranchers to compete with the massive meatpacking corporations. And THEN let’s see what American farmers can do.

We voted for America First because I actually mean AMERICA FIRST.
I don't want cheaper beef at the expense of the American rancher. I want American cattle, raised by American farmers, processed by American businesses, feeding American families!!!

Support the farmer before you support the import.

PS: Yes I realize this interview is 10 month old but here we are, on the brink of importing beef from another country and since we do not raise Beef ourselves on our Homestead, this is really near and dear to my heart because it affects us directly!

US President Donald Trump, speaking onboard Air Force One on Sunday...

08/20/2026

Apparently, we have opened an all-you-can-eat sushi buffet for Blue Herons. Unfortunately, nobody told us. 😂

For the past few hours, we've been chasing this giant feathered freeloader away (5 times now!) from our TINY goldfish pond because he has suddenly decided our fish are his personal snack stash.

Then, he changed tactics. This fool apparently thought, "They can't chase me off if they don't see me." So where did he go?

THE ROOF!

He was literally standing up there, waiting us out, like some kind of long-legged, fish-stealing sniper 😂

Sir. We SEE YOU.

You are approximately four feet tall, standing on a ROOF, staring directly at a pond the size of a bathtub. There is absolutely nothing subtle happening here.

At this point, we're not even sure whether we're protecting the goldfish or participating in an ongoing battle of wits with a bird.

Current score:
Humans: 5
Heron: 0
Heron confidence level: Completely unjustified

I'm sure he'll be back.... Probably wearing camouflage next time!

08/16/2026

First Pumpkins of the year going to cure, plus I picked some flowers while I was out there ❤️

08/01/2026

Muscadine harvesting and they are soooo sweet! Also discovered my other variety was Bronze Muscadine called Carlos. Also I managed to rescue some elderberry clusters from the birds by putting organza bags around them

07/23/2026

I was under attack. Not by a bear. Not by a snake. Not even by one of our turkeys.

A fly.

Just when all hope seemed lost, Chris sprang into action like a highly trained member of the Elite Household Fly Response Team!

Armed with what looked suspiciously like a Nerf blaster (its a Salt gun lol) and absolutely no hesitation, he tracked the airborne menace across the kitchen. The fly never saw it coming.

I am happy to report that I survived this traumatic ordeal thanks to my brave protector. Some women get flowers. I get a man who gears up like he's clearing a hostage situation because a fly had the audacity to buzz in my general direction.

I feel safer already... although I'm pretty sure the remaining flies are now plotting revenge ;)

07/22/2026

They are the reason our garden is so prolific ❤️

07/21/2026

This lovely Lady in front of my Office needs a name... and no... not Charlotte LOL

07/20/2026

I was cleaning out the Turkey Brooder and moved the Poults into a small setup. I told Pippin my Aussie to watch them. She took her job VERY serious! (That was AFTER I told her that they weren't Nuggets though!)

07/17/2026

Yesterday we harvested it our first Seminole Pumpkin, today it was Moringa and Grape Harvest time!

Our Moringa Tree was a goner after the frost earlier this year but came back with a vengeance and I harvested about 1/3 of it to reduce stress on the tree but it gave me the opportunity to cut it back down to 8 feet from it's original 14 feet.

Last week I started putting bags around the grapes to give them a fighting chance from the bugs and have some time to sweeten before we had to pull them. This too was a success and I pulled about 1/3 of the bags off the vine this morning.