https://dalarnafarm.com/, https://dalarnafarm.substack.com/

Dalarna Farm, RR1, Marietta, MN (2026)

10/07/2026

Effective immediately, Dalarna Farm is pausing all public operations and social media updates due to private health reasons. This page will be completely unmonitored during this indefinite hiatus. Thank you for your support, and please note that direct messages and comments have been turned off. Do not use personal channels for inquiries, as they will not be read or returned.

09/04/2026

One thing I could never get used to in the periods of my life where I lived amongst more hills and more trees was not being able to “watch the weather come in”.

Growing up on the plains, you get used to being able to just look outside and have a pretty good idea of what’s next…no need for radar. You know what each wind direction means and you learn to judge the clouds. Because it’s all wide open, for anyone to see, out here. I felt trapped and unprepared the entire time I lived without my skies. My whole sensory world is built on reading the weather.

And that’s why I saw my North Dakota friend post about the rainbow he saw in his yard an hour ago and then could look out my own window and say to myself “that must be Dirk’s storm” and know I’m right. I can now also judge when the cooler, drier air that is pushing those clouds will get here and relieve us of the oppressive heat and humidity today (103 heat index 🥵)

Those clouds are an easy 100 miles away but they tell a story in the sky you can easily read if you grew up here. ❤️

09/02/2026

A farm friend and I were talking yesterday about our humble financial goals.

Neither of us want to own a mansion or travel the world on a yacht. Or eat caviar every day (ewww) or own a wardrobe of designer fashion.

When we thought about it, the thing that would really make us feel like we “made it” was this:

Being able to freely (as in not neurotically budget for) hire a crew to do all our much-needed fencing for us.

That’s it. That’s our goal and benchmark for “success”. 😂

Just a world of zero electric fencing (so hated by both of us, don’t come at me) and yet not a single wood fence post or corner bracing we must install ourselves. Oh what a wonderful world that would be… 😍😍

Anyone else have some less than flashy “when I get rich” goals?

08/25/2026

Well it’s official—while I still consider Lloyd beautiful, he is no longer “booty-flu”.

As you may remember, Lloyd suffered a near fatal accident earlier this summer when he tangled with one of our dogs. The dog’s bite severed much of the muscle that holds up Lloyd’s tail feathers.

I was hopeful we might recover his beautiful tail in time but as of a few days ago, his tail feathers finally let go and from the looks of what is left, his body has decided to heal without that area being quite the same. The wound actually looks great and is almost completely healed but alas, I’m not sure his tail will come back.

And so now Lloyd is sort of shaped like the guinea fowl—just legs, helmet shaped body and a funny looking head. Thankfully he doesn’t seem to worried about what’s missing. And if he isn’t worried, I won’t be either. ❤️

08/20/2026

Gabe leading the herd up when I had to go call them for evening check because they were so far out (they finally found the rich stand of brome on the far side of the pasture).

Yes, he is exactly that round up close.

Perhaps he does not need to find that rich stand of brome. 😬

08/18/2026

After a long day away for doctor appointments, I came home to find an unexpected package on my porch.

I brought it inside and found it was even more unexpected than I first thought it to be— the word perishable was written on all sides of it, and it came from someone at Texas A&M University. It was definitely addressed to me, but I definitely didn’t know anyone by that name.

Since it was my package and it was on my porch, I figured I had best open it. Sliced open the tape and opened the top flaps and inside was a Styrofoam box… the kind they put medical and laboratory samples in.

And that’s when my panic set in.

Because for some reason, the deep recesses of my brain decided that the only possible explanation for this unexpected perishable medical box was some sort of new biological warfare.

In my head it somehow made perfect sense that they would target the insatiably curious like myself, knowing I wouldn’t be able to resist opening an unknown box and then by doing so I would unleash a new virus into the world. I was just about to remove the lid of the Styrofoam, and this thought made me swiftly unhand it.

I was not going to be patient zero.

After standing frozen in my kitchen, staring at the dangerous box, for a rather long time, it finally occurred to me I could Google the name …which might give me some clues. And so I did. And his name popped right up…and 🤦‍♀️

You guys…

It’s the box for me to take my Turkey DNA samples of Lloyd…

Because yes, one night on a whim in a Turkey color genetics Facebook group (yes it exists), I responded to a researcher’s inquiry for people willing to take domestic turkey DNA samples and send them to the university for a study… I said I would do it and then I completely forgot about it. This was several months ago.

😳

And so while it does appear, we are for the moment safe from me being the first chapter of the book about the end of humanity… this could be the first chapter of a book about how Texas A&M University uses Lloyd’s DNA to make some sort of dinosaur/turkey/zombie cross that takes over the world. Either way I get to be in a book! 😂

08/11/2026

Oooh, it’s been a long time away!

We’re still here!

Somehow Lloyd is still here!

And life goes on.

I have stories to tell but first I want to help a friend.

It’s a long and crazy story that someday deserves its very own book but I spent some time in my life right after college where I really, truly did manage a “circus”, of sorts. There is a whole incident involved an actual “liger” (yes they are real) and another that showed me why camels are statistically one of the most dangerous domesticated animals.

But I digress.

Today I want to help one of the amazing folks I met in that journey. Caroline is one of the single most amazing horsewomen (and humans) I’ve ever met and a multi generational circus trainer whose family has traveled the world doing incredible things. We met when she was brought on to tune up the circus trained horses on a farm I managed as my first post-college job.

Now retired from that world (well mostly!), she hasn’t given up the horse bug quite yet and a few years ago ended up with this lovely Sugarbush Harlequin draft gelding that she brought along and then found a great home for him. That’s her with him in this video, doing the “Spanish walk”.

Fast-forward to this summer and while on vacation in South Dakota, she actually got to meet him again and found out that he is in need of a new home. He knows everything that he knew when he left her plus a whole lot more….now a solid 2nd/3rd level dressage horse.

She asked for my help in spreading the word and I said I would… if you want to learn more about him message me on the page and I will connect you.

Or, we could all team up together to bring him here because wouldn’t he make the coolest? “Big & Little” act with Gabe? 😜😂

07/15/2026

Alright fellow moms...I have my million dollar idea pitch for you:

Mom Pods

This is an idea I actually noodled up during the pandemic when there was, perhaps, too much family together time but has bubbled back up for me in recent weeks as I have sat in my car in this depressing parking lot waiting for Evie during her verrrrrrrry long play practices.

The Concept: A business that offers "rooms to rent by the hour"...but not THAT sort of business. 😜

Instead imagine a place with beautifully decorated, serenely colored rooms filled with the coziest giant chair, big screen TV, a perfectly ergonomic desk setup....a curated space for reading your favorite book in peace, catching up on Bridgerton without being interrupted, or time with your laptop working on that project that requires absolute concentration. (Or, if some of us are being honest, a space to take that nap you can never quite get at home when your whole house screams your "to do" list back at you)

A room that you need never pick up, a room that is always waiting for you to to nestle into the cozy pillows, a room that is yours and only yours...if only for a few hours. And then 100% not your responsibility when you leave it.

I imagine a place where a busy mom can tuck away a bit while their child is at practice or they have that extra hour after a really fast Target run. You can stop in, grab a drink and check into your quiet space for a moment....clean, cozy and ready for YOU time. No required human interaction, no awkward "I feel weird sitting here alone" and no accidentally having to make small talk with your neighbor down the street when you both end up sitting at the coffee shop. Your space, your time, your choice of what to watch next on Netflix.

I'd locate them in the many unused office blocks near shopping areas--a great way to use those blocks of small rooms without huge remodeling costs. Get it set next to a good coffee shop and you'd really be in business...or have a great coffee shop right on site. Offer good smelling candles, feather pillow, massage chair upgrades. Consider all the factors that create comfort and coziness and include them all. Oh, and absolutely ensure only ONE person per room so no funny business. ;)

Moms could pop in on the fly and choose their pod or make it a monthly membership--something smart dads/kids get their mom for Mother's Day ;0 ...or offer alternative billing that shows up as "The Gym" for moms who don't want to have to explain what self care really means for them. LOL

Quiet, cozy and private spaces to just BE don't exist at the ready in our world...but man do I wish they did! So if someone else out there can just go ahead and create Mom Pods, franchise it across the US and build one here for me to book, that would be great. ;)

07/14/2026

This might end up being the last photo I ever took of Lloyd's strut. 😞

As has been the case the last few years, the summer months have been full of the "rule of 3s"...as in bad luck comes in 3s. I haven't posted in a bit as we grappled with the newest waves of bad news in our world.

But the one you all might want to know the most about is Lloyd's bad luck. A week ago he was unexpectedly attacked by one of our elderly dogs (who may be suffering from dementia) and Lloyd suffered severe, deep lacerations to the muscles that hold his tail. Additionally, a large artery was severed and he lost a large amount of blood very quickly. Thankfully I was outside when it happened and was able to get a compression bandage on the wound immediately.

It was touch and go for a few days but I think we are on the right track now, barring infection. At the very least, the amount he is now fighting me when we do a bandage change tells me he is feeling better! All in all, Lloyd has actually been a good patient for me. He gets his medicine hidden in cold grapes, which are especially tempting in the horrible heat wave underway this week. He stands pretty good for cold hosing and wound cleaning but absolutely hates having his bandage reapplied. But as of today, we have good granulation starting and I am hopeful he will get well soon.

But I am not so sure he will regain his signature strut.

The levator caudae muscles on birds are located at the base of the tail and responsible for raising the tail upwards. This entire muscle group was what is most damaged on Lloyd. Currently his bandages keep him from moving his tail but I have my doubts that if he survives the healing process, that he will retain full use of that area, especially given the weight of mature turkey tail feathers.

Fingers crossed that I can figure out some sort of "Turkey Tail PT" and help him out because right now I think Lloyd is the most depressed because he cannot engage in his #1 daily activity: Showing off for anyone and everyone who enters the yard.

In the meantime, I am on multiple times per day cold grape duty to keep my patient hydrated and as happy as I can make him. Send grapes!

06/29/2026

One of my favorite things to do at little county fairs is to walk through the 4-H horse barn.

In these barns you likely won’t find many fancy pedigrees or world champion resumes. This isn’t the spot for flashy movers or stunning halter profiles. The horses in these aisles don’t come with 6-figure price tags or import paperwork. And they were more likely to arrive there in the same elderly stock trailer with the goats than a $100,000 LQ trailer.

Instead these stalls contain more than their fair share of grey hairs, swaying backs and knobbly knees—wise old heads nod over the stall doors, waiting for their kids to come back with fair treats to share and sticky fingers to start saddling for the next class. Each stall is plastered with proud (often bedazzled) photos of “Kit” and “Cowboy” and “Alice”, doing all the things: Barrels, jumping, showmanship, trail. The photos share a common trait: The biggest smiles imaginable.

For many of these horses, this might be their second, third or fourth career (and kids). They are one part mount, and another part teacher. And they are all parts loved. They probably aren’t world beaters but they most assuredly are joy-givers.

Like so many things we do, humans are incredibly good at making loving horses harder than it needs to be. We create arbitrary standards and goals, believing we must funnel our love of a horse into something “bigger, better, more meaningful” when really it’s all just made up stuff—every world championship, every trophy brought home, every standard set—it’s just randomness that someone, somewhere, invented one day. And too often it leads people to do the damnedest things—to themselves and to their horses.

In a world where God gave us horses and the opportunity to love them, does it really need to be that hard? Are all the made-up hoops necessary?

Or can we learn a few things from the old wise heads leaning into the aisle of the 4-H barn who help us remember if it’s all a make believe world, then maybe let’s make believe something a lot more fun?

Dalarna Farm

10/07/2026

09/04/2026

09/02/2026

08/25/2026

08/20/2026

08/18/2026

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06/29/2026

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