Beside Still Waters

02/01/2026

Meet Beside Still Waters new Predator Abatement Manager! Mr. Bayard will be in training to be our full time LGD. We cannot wait to see how he progresses!

01/30/2026

🍄‍🟫 ::Beside Still Waters NATURE WALK:: 🍄‍🟫

These cute little cups are Bird’s nest fungi, known scientifically as Nidulariaceae, are a group of fungi that resemble tiny nests filled with spore-containing structures called peridioles. Per Mushroom-Appreciation.com “This fungus functions in an unusual and still not entirely known manner. The nests (scientific name peridia) act as splash cups, which hold the spore eggs (scientific name peridioles). So, when rain hits the inside of the nest, it sends the eggs like projectiles into the air, where they land on leaves, branches, and twigs. The spores then disperse from the eggs to (hopefully) germinate new bird’s nest growths.

Bird’s nest fungi are saprobic, meaning they feed on decomposing material, like wood, mulch, leaves, and the like. When they land on suitable organic material, they attach to it. It is thought that herbivore mammals that eat organic matter with bird’s nest fungi attached spread the fungus’s spores in their waste droppings.

When bird’s nests were first described to science, there was a lot of debate about how they function. Many experts thought the eggs were actually seeds, which were then dispersed like any other plant seed to take root. It also took a while for scientists and mycologists to figure out how the eggs were ejected from the nest. In the late 1790s, the French botanist Jean-Jacques Paulet suggested that a spring mechanism in the nest propelled them out.”

01/26/2026

Went on a Sunday excursion around the Ranch. God is so good and we are so blessed to call this place home!

01/13/2026

One question of self sufficiency is “Where does your protein come from?” We don’t raise meat animals on the ranch so what do we do when we are in need of protein.

Not everyone is able to raise meat producing animals and that’s okay. For our family we like to go to the source. We will purchase a whole or half a cow from local ranches or go to the fair auction to support our local kids who have poured their hearts into these animals.

It is so satisfying to know that these animals were treated well and because of that taste delicious!

I decided to try a recipe that I’ve never tried before. Vori Vori De Carne. It uses beef shank a part of the cow we usually only use for beef stock or dog food.
We were pleasantly surprised.

Most ingredients were measured with the heart.

3 beef shanks
5 chopped carrots
One red onion chopped
About 2-3 cups Trombocino squash
2 bell peppers
3 Roma tomatoes
A ton of garlic

Beef stock
Oregano
Salt
Pepper

For the vori vori
Corn flour
Mozzarella
Stock from the pot.

Sear the salted and peopered meat set aside.
Cook the veggies until the opinionare translucent. Out the shanks back in aith the seasoned beef stock. Bring to a boil then simmer for about 2-3 hours. Remove the shanks to cool make the vori vori place them into the boiling stock cook until they float add the shredded beef back into the stew and serve.
Super yummy and with the marrow from the beef shanks and good healthy veggies the dish is full of amazing health benefits. The vori vori may be left out if avoiding corn.

01/09/2026

The one thing about Gardening is that it’s mostly Trial and Error. There is never a day that I feel like I have it all nailed down. We have learned that gardening for self sufficiency means that I not only need to grow things that grow well here (or at least can acclimate to grow here) but also things we will actually eat. So much bed space has been taken up by plants that will grow well here only to find that none of us truly like to eat it. So we’ve waisted planting space for things that end up animal fodder.

🥔 Potatoes are a staple starch for our family. Many a year has been spent trying to crack the code on how to successfully grow the spud! We’ve tried barrels, in ground, 5 gal buckets, and finally the large above ground Hügelkultur planter box.

On top of everything we’ve spent many a penny on seed potatoes that were sworn to produce well! To no avail.

All planting methods except the planter box have failed. We fussed over our first round of potatoes ( but we learned our potato lesson and used Organic trader joe’s spuds )only for our harvest to be disappointing.

After that i pretty much signed off on potatoes thinking to myself we were just not going to lake potato farming a thing. When harvesting I thought I got all the taters out of the planter. Only for a few months later a few potato plants to shoot up. We didn’t fuss or fret over these we just let them do their thing! Natures gonna nature! Well harvested 5 of the 10 plants popping up and was blessed with over 7 lbs of potatoes!!!!

I guess choas gardening Trader Joes potatoes are the way to grow!

“What I say is that, if a man really likes potatoes, he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow.”
A.A. Milne

01/05/2026

This rain is so needed! We are so blessed! It recharges the spring, cleanses the air, and invigorates the earth! We cannot wait to see what flowers awaits us this spring! What will we forage for this year?

01/01/2026

https://youtube.com/shorts/HvwXmATWKtc?si=j4eoXm9WOLQgacdU

Even our calendar is a conspiracy.They have us out of tune with our natural cycles because it keeps us disconnected and discombobulated.We were originally on...

01/01/2026

https://www.instagram.com/p/DS-xqKQkiFo/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==