An update…

September 2022 update…

I thought it would be easy to keep up with posting on the website but since it has been at least 9 months since I put out a post, I WAS WRONG.

So an update…

We lambed out 4 ewes in January. We ended up with 4 lambs and we raised those up. The kids showed them this year at fair and had a great time. We will be taking the 2 wethers to the processor on Tuesday. We are thankful for the meat that will fill freezers.

We got pigs for Miss H again this year. She loves raising them and showing them. Miss E has decided she wants to show a pig next year as one of her clover kid projects.

All three of the kids had calves this year that they showed at the fair. Miss H & E had bucket calves that they showed. Mr. L had a 2nd year bucket calf and a stocker feeder calf. They all did well with them and are looking forward to next year.

Winter on the Farm

January 2022 – I wrote these posts but didn’t publish. Here is our lamb update from last year.

Well, here we are 1 week post lambing season being done.

And it was doozey. Is that how you spell that???

This was our first time lambing our own ewes on the farm. I grew up with sheep and lambing on my parents farm and we helped even after I got married but this year was different.

In years past, my kids have shown sheep that were born on my parents farm but I wanted to have the kids experience the whole process and be more involved in the chores, etc. So in the summer of 2021, we purchased registered Suffolk’s to be the start of our own flock. And in summer, we put the ewes in with our ram, Henry.

And that meant that starting December 31st, we were ready to welcome some new additions to the farm. EEEKKK!!!!

And welcome we did. Our first set of twins arrived shortly after the beginning of January and they were both ewe lambs!!! Then a week later, we welcomed another set of twins – ram lambs. And then a few days later, my problem child, lambed. She had twins – a ram and a ewe. Unfortunately, the ram lamb was huge and needed to be pulled. When I weighed him, he weighed in at 14.5 pounds. His twin sister weighed in at 8 pounds for reference. We fought hard to keep him going and made it 3 days but ultimately it was to no avail. Tears of sadness and frustration were shed!!!! I am still bummed that we lost a lamb this year.

We also had a barn fire but that is a post for another time!

Everyone is doing great so far and we are so excited to see what the spring and summer holds for the flock and our family!

Lamb Steaks

Our freezers are FULL! And that makes me so happy. I know this is a blessing to have the opportunity to raise the animals that ultimately go into our freezers.

Tonight, we are having lamb shoulder steaks. YUM!

Let’s get started… first start with thawed steaks.

Season the meat. We have really enjoyed using this blend from the American Lamb Board. It is a blend of rosemary, mint, mustard seed, garlic and salt.

Throw on the smoker.

Getting on my soap box for a minute!!!! Get a smoker. We eat a large variety of meat… beef, lamb, pork, chicken, pheasant, turkey, deer, elk, etc. and EVERYTHING is amazing on a smoker. They are worth the investment. We will never go back! Ok, now on to the cooking.

We cook our lamb steaks and chops to an internal temperature of 135°. Once this temperature has been reached on the smoker, we pull them and let them rest for 10 minutes or so before we cut into them.

Enjoy!

It is so easy! This is such a great meal.

We are serving our lamb steaks with mashed sweet potatoes and roasted garlic cauliflower.

Farm Additions

Well, we added to the farm.

We have 3 new little additions and my daughter couldn’t be more happy.

My husband and I have experience with lots of animals – cattle, sheep, goats, horses, chickens but neither of us have had a close experience with pigs. But Harper really wanted to show pigs this year.

We thought when she brought it up last summer, that she would forget.

Well, obviously she didn’t and we found ourselves going on a couple hour road trip.

We took the family on a road trip out west. We met the family that runs Harder Show Pigs. They did a great job explaining what to look for in a pig and helped Harper pick out her favorites.

We are looking forward to learning new things this summer.

Cheers to making memories.

Welcome

Welcome to the farm. I am glad that you are here!

This has been a dream for several years. I am excited to share our farm story.

Our farm is a little unconventional, I guess. My husband and I both have “regular” jobs. He works fulltime at an Ag Business and I currently do childcare in our home.

Farming is challenging and so rewarding and such a blessing to us. I couldn’t imagine raising our kids any other way.

I’ve had a dream for years that we would get to share about agriculture and I am taking the jump. I did not grow up on a row crop farm. To say that I had no idea what I was getting in to is an understatement. It has taken years for me to find my place and let me tell you… YOU CAN DO HARD THINGS!

I doubted myself so much and still do honestly but we are in this together so come along for the journey of finding our place in the farm and learning all the things.

Here is a preview of what you can expect on the blog…

We row crop farm and one crop that we grow is POPCORN. I loved popcorn before I married Cody and was surprised that his family grew popcorn. Did you know Nebraska is the largest producer of popcorn??!! I did not but now I do and I want to share all of the interesting facts with you about popcorn.

We are also starting our own flock of sheep. We have become huge fans of lamb. I hope to provide motivation to try lamb by sharing recipes and how to videos.

Thanks for reading thus far. I appreciate you being here.