Sown in Faith Farms and Nurseries

10/06/2026

SUPERCHARGE YOUR LIVESTOCK WITH MORINGA
​The Ultimate High-Protein, Hyper-Local Forage Supplement

Available Free for Pickup in Ridge Manor / Brooksville
​Florida’s warm-season grasses lose crucial protein heading into fall, forcing owners to buy expensive imported hay and grain. The solution is already growing right here in Hernando County. Moringa oleifera is a fast-growing, highly nutritious broadleaf tree that provides massive nutritional benefits to cattle, poultry, goats, and pigs.
​THE NUTRITIONAL POWERHOUSE
​Moringa leaves are not just a filler feed; they are a dense biological supplement that transforms livestock health from the inside out.
​Massive Crude Protein: Dried Moringa leaves contain 25% to 30% crude protein, vastly outperforming premium Midwestern alfalfa hay (which averages only 15-17%) and local Bahiagrass.
​The Complete Amino Acid Profile: Unlike most plant proteins, Moringa contains all essential amino acids, including heavy concentrations of Methionine, Lysine, and Threonine. These are the critical building blocks required for muscle growth, tissue repair, and high-quality milk production.
​Dense Mineral Bioavailability: Loaded with calcium (up to 3.65%), iron, potassium, and Vitamins A, B, C, and E.
​SPECIES-SPECIFIC BENEFITS
​🐄 Cattle & Dairy (Ruminants)
​Moringa is a highly digestible roughage that fundamentally improves rumen fermentation and milk output.
​Increased Lactation (Galactagogue): Moringa acts as a powerful natural galactagogue. Studies show that replacing just 15-20% of a dairy cow's roughage with Moringa can boost milk yield by up to 18%, while simultaneously increasing the butterfat and protein content of the milk.
​Healthier Weight Gain: The high protein and low neutral detergent fiber (NDF) make the leaves highly palatable and digestible, improving the feed conversion ratio in beef cattle.
​Reduced Methane: Natural compounds in the leaves improve rumen efficiency, lowering the methane emissions produced during digestion.
​🐓 Chickens & Backyard Poultry
​Throwing fresh Moringa branches into a chicken run provides essential forage that transforms egg quality and flock immunity.
​Superior Eggs: The massive amounts of Vitamin A and natural carotenoids in the leaves drastically deepen egg yolks to a rich, dark orange.
​Stronger Shells: The high calcium content naturally thickens and hardens eggshells, reducing breakage.
​Lower Cholesterol: Feeding laying hens Moringa has been scientifically proven to significantly reduce the cholesterol levels within the eggs themselves.
​Accelerated Broiler Growth: Broilers fed a diet supplemented with 5-10% Moringa leaf meal show increased weight gain and a better feed conversion ratio without the need for synthetic growth promoters.
​🐐 Goats, Sheep & 🐖 Pigs
​The Perfect Browse for Goats: Goats are natural browsers designed to eat broadleaf plants and tree limbs. Moringa provides a tannin-rich, high-protein browse that improves milk yield in dairy goats and helps combat the heavy internal parasite loads (like barber pole worms) common in humid Florida pastures.
​Lowering Swine Feed Costs: Because pigs are monogastrics that require high-quality amino acids to build muscle, supplementing their grain with Moringa lowers overall feed costs and improves the lipid oxidation (tenderness and color stability) of the pork.
​GUT HEALTH & IMMUNITY (Systemic Vigor)
​Beyond basic nutrition, Moringa is packed with bioactive phytochemicals, polyphenols, and flavonoids (like quercetin).
​These compounds act as natural antimicrobials and antioxidants, directly modulating the gut-associated immune system.
​By increasing beneficial gut bacteria (like Lactobacillus), Moringa enhances your animals' endogenous defenses, lowering veterinary costs and naturally reducing the need for prophylactic antibiotics.
​Try It For Free on Your Farm. I am currently coppicing 1,000 mature Moringa trees right here in Ridge Manor. We are giving away truckloads of fresh, green branches to local livestock owners. Send a direct message to coordinate a pickup time and see the difference Moringa makes in your herd or flock!

10/01/2026

09/26/2026

Now the fun work!

09/26/2026

More pictures from this morning

09/26/2026

Hi guys,

I just spent the morning checking out Everything here at our homestead.
I took hundreds of pictures and notes. We have a complete ecosystem that has been thriving in our family for generations. Rather than just uploading the photos I wanted to give you a little tour so I used an ai model to make the visuals and all the names of the flora and fauna in the pictures.
I hope you enjoy this beautiful day!
Tony

Hello from Sown in Faith Farms.
Today’s update is a little different.
Instead of just talking about the forecast, I wanted to simply share what the farm looks like today — what’s blooming, what’s changing, what’s still thriving, and some of the little signs of life we saw while walking the property.

There’s just something special about a day like this.
Bright blue sky, clear light, open pasture, wetland edges, woodland shade, and so many small details that remind us how much life is happening all around us.
This is one of those days where the farm feels alive in every direction.
All across the farm, there are still blooms and signs of growth everywhere.
The morning glories are climbing and blooming along the fence lines and roadside, with their soft trumpet-shaped flowers opening up in the sunlight.
Near the wetter areas, the pickerelweed is blooming with those beautiful purple spikes, and along the water’s edge we saw yellow blooms near the pond and the water plants, with lily pads spread out across the surface.

The American beautyberry is standing out too — not with flowers now, but with those bright purple berry clusters that bring so much color to the landscape.
And even beyond what we photographed today, there are other signs of the season moving forward on the farm.

The moringa trees have blooms on them, which is always encouraging to see.
There are also blooms on the peaches, and earlier we had seen cherry blossoms, reminders that different parts of the farm are each telling their own story in their own timing.

Even the trees are showing the shift of the season.
The magnolia trees are shedding leaves, adding another sign that things are slowly changing, even here in Florida where change can come gently.

One of the best parts of walking the farm today was seeing all the small life moving through it.

I saw bees working the blooms, moving from flower to flower, doing the quiet work of pollination.
We saw different kinds of bees and other pollinating insects, each one drawn to the blossoms in its own way.

I also saw dragonflies, which always seem to add a sense of motion and life around the water and open spaces.
And I spotted lizards, resting and moving through the trees and brush — another reminder that the farm is not just plants and pasture, but a living habitat full of creatures great and small.

When you slow down enough to look, the farm is full of activity — pollinators, insects, reptiles, birds, and all the little hidden workers that make up a healthy place.
The woodland edges had their own beauty today too.
I found Spanish moss hanging from the trees, and down low on old wood and fallen branches there was reindeer lichen, soft pale growth, and patches of moss spreading over bark and logs.

There were thorny vines, wild textures, old wood, grasses, and little overlooked corners full of detail.

Some of it is delicate, some of it rough, some of it fading, and some of it just beginning — but all of it belongs here.

The foxtail grasses were glowing in the sunlight, moving against that deep blue sky, and even the open pasture had a peaceful beauty to it today.

That’s one of the things I love most about this farm.
It isn’t just one kind of beauty.
It’s blooms and berries, ponds and pasture, old trees and new growth, wild edges and cultivated places — all together.
So this Saturday update is really just a snapshot of life at Sown in Faith Farms today.

The moringa is blooming.
The morning glories are blooming.
The pickerelweed is blooming.
The wetland flowers are blooming.
The peaches are blooming.
The beautyberry is bright, the magnolias are shedding leaves, the grasses are catching the light, and the farm is full of bees, dragonflies, lizards, and all the quiet activity of a living place.

It was a beautiful day to walk the land, pay attention, and simply notice what God is doing here.

Thank you for taking the walk with me.

09/23/2026

🌱 Sown in Faith Farms Grower’s Almanac — Wednesday Morning Update

Good news this morning: our weekly forecast is holding.

Today will remain hot and humid around Central Florida, with afternoon showers and thunderstorms possible.

The biggest change since yesterday is a small improvement in the outlook: drier and slightly cooler air may begin arriving Thursday, a little sooner than previously expected.

☀️ Friday through Monday still looks like our best outdoor window.

That means our recommendations remain the same:

🌱 Best planting/field-work window: Saturday–Monday
🌧️ Today: Work around the afternoon storms
💧 Check soil before irrigating
🌱 Protect very small seed from heavy downpours
🐔 Use the drier stretch to refresh bedding and improve muddy areas
🐝 Better bee-foraging and hive-work weather should arrive toward the weekend

The Atlantic tropics remain quiet around Florida this morning, with no active Atlantic tropical cyclones threatening our area.

So for now:

🟡 Today — Weather aware
🟢 Weekend — Get outside and grow

No major change to yesterday's Grower’s Almanac forecast.

🌱 Sown in Faith Farms
Faith grows here.

09/22/2026

09/22/2026

Saturday should be beautiful!

12/29/2025

Southern-Style Black Eyed Peas & Moringa

Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 1 hr 30 mins (stovetop)
Servings: 6-8

Ingredients
The Beans:
1 lb dried black-eyed peas (rinsed and sorted)
6-8 cups chicken broth (or water)
The Meat (Flavor Base):
1 smoked ham hock, smoked turkey leg, or 4 slices of thick-cut bacon (chopped)
The Aromatics:
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 stalks celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
The Seasoning:
1 tsp salt (adjust to taste—smoked meat is salty!)
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional for heat)
1 tbsp apple c***r vinegar (crucial for that "greens" taste)

The Greens:
3-4 cups fresh Moringa leaves (stems removed, rinsed well)
Step-by-Step Instructions
Sauté the Base:
In a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, cook your meat.
If using bacon: Fry until crispy, then remove bacon and keep the fat in the pot.

If using ham hock/turkey: Add a tablespoon of oil to the pot first.

Add the onion, bell pepper, and celery to the pot. Sauté for 5-7 minutes until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute until fragrant.

Build the Potlikker:
Add the dried peas, smoked meat (ham hock/turkey leg, or the cooked bacon), and broth to the pot. Stir in the black pepper and red pepper flakes. Do not add salt yet (beans cook better without salt initially).

Simmer the Peas:
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Check occasionally to ensure the beans are tender but not mushy.
Add the "Greens" Flavor:
Once the beans are tender, stir in the apple c***r vinegar and salt. Taste the broth—it should be savory, smoky, and slightly tangy (like potlikker).

Wilt the Moringa:
Add the fresh Moringa leaves to the pot. Unlike collards which take an hour, Moringa cooks quickly. Gently fold them into the hot beans and broth.

Simmer for 10-15 minutes uncovered. This allows the broth to reduce slightly and the leaves to soften and absorb the smoky flavor without losing all their texture.

Serve:
Remove the ham hock/turkey bone (pull off any good meat and add it back to the pot).
Serve hot, ideally with cornbread to soak up the juices.

Health Benefits
This combination creates a nutritional powerhouse. You get the comfort of Southern food with the superfood profile of Moringa.

1. Moringa Leaves ("The Miracle Tree")
Vitamin Rich: Contains significantly higher amounts of Vitamin A, C, and E than traditional greens like collards or spinach.

Anti-Inflammatory: Packed with isothiocyanates, which are the body's natural inflammation fighters.
Complete Protein: Unlike most plants, Moringa leaves contain all 9 essential amino acids, making this dish a complete protein source.

2. Black Eyed Peas
Digestive Health: High in soluble fiber, which aids digestion and helps stabilize blood sugar levels.

Heart Health: Rich in folate and magnesium, which are essential for maintaining healthy blood pressure.
Iron & Energy: A great non-animal source of iron to combat fatigue.