Building the Valhalla Ranch

08/19/2026

Little by little, we’re getting closer to finishing! Still have a ways to go, tho!

08/19/2026

Saved this little dude from the chickens the other evening!

08/16/2026

It’s starting to look like something!
🐓🦃🐖 🏡

08/13/2026

It’s canning season! Having TWO full-size stoves is a game changer when it comes time to process our garden harvest!

I’ve seen a lot of posts in various homesteading groups lately about homestead kitchens, so I thought I’d share my favorite feature of ours!
Instead of paying a fortune to buy a ‘double stove’, we spent about half that amount and bought 2 full-size stoves instead!
Having this setup is a game changer, especially during canning season!

08/05/2026

We up-cycled an old playhouse into a house for our garden ducks!

08/01/2026

Monsters in the garden!

07/28/2026

A little evening herb harvesting with the little guy before bed. The house smells amazing now!

07/27/2026

Haven’t had much time to work on the this past couple weeks, but we did finally get this hog feed trough design out of my head & into a tangible reality!

✅ I wanted a way to feed the pigs from inside the feed room, so there didn’t need to be any physical contact with the pigs if we don’t want to (biosecurity & safety)…
✅ I wanted it sturdy, obviously…
✅ and mostly protected from the weather.
✅ It needed to be long enough for 3-4 pigs to share.
✅ I wanted it out of the way so as not to be an obstacle to the pigs or us
✅it needs to have a secure lid on the inside of the feed room, to keep critters from climbing thru it and into the feed room
✅ I wanted a window above it, so I can do a visual health check on the pigs every time I feed.

✅it will need to be disinfect-able; so, we plan to line it in sheet metal once we get to the finish work on this project

07/27/2026

Meet PICKLES, the newest addition to the bug patrol 🤦‍♀️🕷️

Ever since our youngest son, Levi, heard about Fish Or Price Ranch’s jumping spider that lives in their window & eats flies from their hand, he’s been on the hunt for a jumpy of his own!

The first one he caught was the right size, but was not fuzzy nor cute, and was toooo squirrel-y, so he was sent back out to set him free.

The second one he caught was way too tiny - he’d never be able to handle a full grown fly, so he was turned away again.

This one though, is big enough to eat flies… he’s fuzzy and as cute as a spider can be I guess… and, he’s not too spazzy… So, we’re gunna give him a shot at living in the dining room window amongst the house plants on the sil to help manage flies.

If anyone has any tips for taming a jumpy, Levi is all ears!