At 5 I tried to blink the sleep out of my eyes as I checked them again. Demelza was stumbling up the gentle slope from the corral to the barn with an intensity that made my heart jump. I quickly switched to the barn camera as she went inside. She immediately laid down and started straining and it didn't look right.

I got into the lambing overalls I had laid out the night before and ran down as fast as I could, grabbing gloves as I went. But as soon as I saw a grossly swollen head and watched her try her best to deliver her lamb, I knew it was too late. I got ahold of the lambs’s legs and worked with Demelza to deliver her dead lamb.

We were both heartbroken.

All day, I watched her closely. She was so exhausted and sore from the ordeal, she struggled to walk and refused to leave the stall where she had last seen her lamb. I gave her some pain meds and put food and water in easy reach.

It wasn't until the next day that it crossed my mind to find a bum lamb for her. I don't know why it took so long, but within 3 hours of the thought, we were on the way to pick up a little Hampshire ewe lamb.

As we wound our way around hills and streams, the cassette tape I recently picked up played music that sounded like the soundtrack to an old feel good Western movie. The road was more of a dirt track than anything and we saw wildlife nearly everywhere we looked. I will treasure that evening forever.

Little Cookie was one of the saddest little lambs I've seen. She hadn't eaten for 12 hours as the family that had her was running errands in town all day. My 12 year old held her on his lap and she nibbled his ears and cried in little lamb bleats most of the way home.

It was a good two hours round trip and I fondly dreamed of a happily ever after for Cookie and Demelza the whole time. Demelza had tried to steal another ewe’s lamb earlier that morning, so I was sure of success.

It was love at first sight… for Cookie. She began nursing right away and was treated to a kick. We secured Demelza and let Cookie drink her fill. Her belly was satisfied, but her little heart was not and she cried in the stall next to Demelza all night.

The next two days were more of the same: we helped Cookie nurse multiple times a day, but she got no nurturing and she continued to run around bleating.

On the third day, Flopsy began showing signs of labor. I kept a close eye on her. Finally, she began to push. Everything was going well, until I saw that only one hoof was presenting with the lamb’s black head. Gloves on, I quickly felt for the 2nd little hoof. Working against Flopsy's useless pushing, I finally reached back far enough to get ahold of the leg.

By the time I could deliver her very large lamb, he was dead. She stood up and turned around and I whisked her lamb away before she saw it. As she ran around the corral bleating for her baby, I used my gloved hands to rub amniotic fluid from the dead lamb all over Cookie. It only took a few minutes and then we removed him and presented Cookie to her new foster mom with bated breath.

Flopsy was ecstatic. She lavished every bit of her mother love on this very long legged, skinny baby put before her. Cookie soaked in every ounce - and enjoyed all that colostrum, too, I'm sure.

When I did late night lamb checks, I found them snuggled together in perfect happiness.

They are now nearly inseparable. Cookie quickly learned her adopted mama's particular bleat and goes running for her food every time she calls. Flopsy is the most attentive little mama and Cookie doesn't have to call out very long before she comes running to be sure everything is ok.

Their story carries loss, as every adoptive story does, but it's also full of love and the sweetest redemption after heartbreak.

The God of Love - “ah, benedicite!”

How mighty and great a Lord is he!

For of low hearts can make high, of high

He can make low, and unto death bring night;

And hard-hearts he can make them kind and free. - William Wordsworth

I did not get a meal plan put together for this month - and if you're missing it, know that I am as well!

This month has been well-spent so far in greenhouse and garden care and prep, along with keeping track of all the lambs and getting into the rhythms of milking again. We've also managed to fit in some time for adventures off the farm.

A prayer for nearness…

Draw me close, timeless Lord.

Closer through your pain,

Closer through your eternal glory.

Simultaneously creating beauty

and paying for our sins.

To be one with You means

to be one in suffering,

while seated in Heavenly places,

and yet walking this earth.

To be mocked, healed,

alone, surrounded,

dead, risen,

wounded, courageous...

all for One and in One,

as you live outside of time

and yet inside my every day.

Draw me nearer

and give me grace

for the multitude of

experiences, feelings,

and thoughts that creates

within me every waking moment.

Wishing peace and joy over you the rest of this beautiful month.

With joy,

Stefani

Lolly, the angora, is just beginning to shed and it’s been fun to see Jakki’s collection of rabbit fiber mound up into the softest piles you’ve ever felt. She can’t wait to start spinning it.

Blows the thaw-wind pleasantly,
Drips the soaking rain,
By fits looks down the waking sun:
Young grass springs on the plain;
Young leaves clothe early hedgerow trees;
Seeds, and roots, and stones of fruits,
Swollen with sap, put forth their shoots;
Curled-headed ferns sprout in the lane;
Birds sing and pair again.

Christina Rosetti

The wind has roared from beginning to end this month, making one feel as if life is all lion and no lamb. While it has had many good moments, I am happy to blow into April with the hope of many new and beautiful things around every corner. And hopefully a little less wind.

Our first highland calf of 2026 arrived at the very end of the month, a sweet reminder of all the good things to come. We are expecting ducklings, chicks, lambs, and more calves. While winter rest is a beautiful thing, we are ready to lean into the rhythms of the long, full days that come with spring.

A prayer for facing unknowns

“I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their vegetation; I will turn the rivers into islands, and dry up the pools. And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.”

Isaiah 42:15-16 ESV

The river has disappeared,
the landmarks are gone.
Mist overwhelms me,
fog covers my soul.

I look up to the hills,
but they are no more.
Where has my help gone?
You rod, Your staff, Your comfort
cannot be felt.

My God,
    My Guide,
why have You forsaken me?

Mist, tears, rain,
mingle together.
Ruach Elohim,
the breath of God, whispers.

The wind of Your presence
clears the path and I see
You were working
behind the veil.

The path is new,
the scenery unknown,
but Your handiwork
is unmistakable.

You have done 
a new thing.
The journey is still long
but the landscape has changed.

The river is gone,
the mountains have disappeared,
but now I can see
Your kingdom come
down to earth.

I am looking forward to our meals in April. This menu came together in a few minutes and it feels like a good blend of simple, varied, and comforting. I hope you enjoy it as much as we plan to.

Download the April Meal Plan

If a picture is worth a thousand words, this little newsletter is quite full. I’ll leave you with just a little more Rosetti and a few more farm pictures.

May your Easter be meaningful and your April full of beautiful things.

with joy,

Stefani

There is no time like Spring,
When life's alive in everything,
Before new nestlings sing,
Before cleft swallows speed their journey back
Along the trackless track, —
God guides their wing,
He spreads their table that they nothing lack,
Before the daisy grows a common flower,
Before the sun has power
To scorch the world up in his noontide hour.

Christina Rosetti

I must’ve been 12-14, but I can’t say for sure, when Happy came to our Missouri farm, Mockingbird Hill. She was red with white markings on her face and a white belly. We didn’t know anything about A2A2 milk and we weren’t picky about breed. A cousin had told us about the horrors of store-bought milk and we would do what it took to avoid it.

Given her name, we expected Happy to be…happy. Nice. Friendly. Loveable. Mr. Fred said he just walked out to the pasture with a bucket and a stool and milked her wherever she happened to be. I could just see him with his relaxed walk, thin form, hair sticking out under his newsboy hat, walking into the green, flower dotted pasture to milk his beloved cow. My romantic little self also had visions of milking a cow in the field with flowers in my hair, just like farm girls have for hundreds of years. All my dreams were coming together nicely.

Happy was the most cantankerous cows I have ever met. She wanted nothing to do with being milked in the field and my dreams died a sad death were postponed. I still want to walk out to the pasture with a bucket and a 3 legged stool just as the sun peaks over the horizon. Just me and my cow, loving the sun, the breeze, and birdsong.

Happy kicked the bucket when we were trying to milk or sometimes she just stepped into it and we had to throw the whole bucket out. She did not respond to us in the loving way she expected. In fact, she made life generally complicated in every way. I adjusted my dreams and loved it anyway.

Soon after, Mr. Fred had to sell Happy and asked us if we would buy her. I remember weighing the pros and cons over the dinner table. My parents made sure us kids, who were rooting for our own milk cow, knew the commitment we were asking for. We were determined and Happy came home to us.

Her front quarters were excellent for hand milking, but the back two had such small teats, we had to milk her Dr. Seuss style. I.e. one finger and thumb. So, we went to the sale barn and bought a bottle calf, whom we named Juliet. Juliet hung out with her buddy Romeo during the day and every time we finished milking Happy’s front quarters, Juliet got to eat her supper from the back two quarters. The arrangement worked well and somehow, we still had milk to spare and sell. It was always with a sense of extreme accomplishment when I opened the front screen door of our old farm house and traded gallon jars full of milk for empty ones with a customer - empty, except for the two dollars of cash in each one.

Happy became a flex for us. We were so proud of our ability to milk her. Once, when my cousin stopped by for a visit with her college friends, my brother was milking. As soon as she heard, my cousin begged to give it a try. I felt pretty grown up taking her and her cool friends out and showing them how to do something they’d never done before. My brother thought I should not have brought them through the messy barn.

I don’t remember how long we had Happy, but I will always remember the smell of the soapy water we used to wash her udder, the sound of milk streaming into our bucket, and the feeling of accomplishment as I carefully strained the milk into glass jars, not to mention the delight of skimming the cream and whipping it up with honey for fresh gingerbread.

Thinking of Happy reminds me that there is profound value and joy in diverse experiences during childhood. We may not have had her for longer than a year, but the experience and the memories from that short season were so helpful when we brought our first milk cow home to Cactus Hills.

When thinking over what will impact my kids during their childhood, it’s easy for me to feel like I must forever continue whatever I start, whether it’s milking a cow, planting a garden, or anything else. But, sometimes you have to try a thing to know if it’s a good fit for your family. And there’s no shame in giving it all you got and then going a different direction. It’s an invaluable experience either way.

I’ll always be glad I got to spend a year or two with Happy.

It’s been a minute, but I have a meal plan for you! So far, 2026 has been marked by a debilitating chronic illness relapse and I’ve spent most of the last 6 weeks resting on the couch, trying to recover before we start lambing in April. In an effort to keep life simpler for my family this meal plan is full of simple meals that my older kids can make or I can put together without too much effort.

Printable Meal Plan

Thanks for following along - I’m glad you’re here!

Stefani

And we’re not done yet! We are adding grades 7 & 8 this year, along with high school. We’ve had a lot of requests for preschool as well, and I’m looking into it, but not ready to commit yet. An outdoor preschool is pretty tempting!

So, here’s the part that’s not fun, but I’m asking that you please stick with me. When we started Huckleberry, we were able to get the building 85-90% sponsored by Virgil’s business associates. They donated time, labor, and materials with the greatest generosity. When we added on last winter, they once again donated so kindly. Now that we have a building in place, we are working hard to raise funds for education itself.

Our tuition covers our student’s books and the teacher’s salary. Even so, they kids are sharing most of their books (aside from math and grammar). We need art supplies, a school library, and funds for handicrafts. We also have a wonderful tuition assistance program in place, but it needs to be funded before we can put it into action.

We are currently planning some really great raffles, which will include a green house and some other amazing items. To keep it even more fun, we’re making it into a contest : girls vs guys. The moms and dad of Huckleberry are raising funds to buy our raffle items and cover some school expenses. Once we reach our money goals, we will be selling two different raffle tickets - one for the girls and one for the guys!

With Virgil’s amazing business connections, the guys are waaay ahead of us girls, so I’m here to most humbly ask for a little assistance. I’m thinking our farm fans will be happy to help us girls catch up. Every little gift, even $5, helps.

As a thank you, I’ve created a discount code for our farm store. Any size of donation will get 15% off your entire purchase. Donate $100 or more, and I’ll enter your name into a drawing for a $50 gift card to our store - with an option to custom order your item. Please make sure you send me a message with a screenshot of your donation, so I get your name in the drawing. The drawing will happen in one week, on May 7.

Donate

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this email and for your help. I really hate asking for money, but more than I hate that, I love our students and the vision to redefine education at Huckleberry. We’re saying good-bye to long school days and boring books. Our students are immersed in beautiful, story based curriculum every day. They are learning for life and not for tests - in fact, we don’t believe in traditional tests here at Huckleberry. Our three exam weeks throughout the school year give each of our students an opportunity to shine a light on what they learned and loved from the previous term. Exam weeks are also a valuable tool for our teachers, giving them the ability to learn how to best encourage and teach each student according to their individual learning style.

Huckleberry has been a wonderful experience for our family and the families we are able to serve. We are dreaming of offering an even greater education program to more students and your help will help make those dreams a reality. We are so grateful!

Thanks for being here!

Stefani

Help the girls win!

As we near the end of lambing season, I alternate between holding my breath over future “what-ifs” and heaving a sigh of relief over all the healthy lambs frolicking in the barnyard.

After a restless night of sheep watching, I checked our barn camera as soon as I was awake and noticed our F1 Valais Felicie, resting by herself. I shifted my morning plans slightly, knowing I’d need to keep an eye on her. Hopeful excitement hovered over my thoughts as we enjoyed family breakfast.

Felicie is an F1 Valais ewe. In 2018, the first F1 lambs were born in the USA. They were the product of a lot of hard work, money, and planning. Swiss Valais Blacknose are known as the cutest sheep in the world and they’ve recently stolen hearts across the world. Live sheep cannot be imported to the US, so bringing this special breed over here has been a slow, step-by-step process. It started with a group of foundation ewes, carefully bred via laparoscopic artificial insemination. Soon, little lambs dotted the country side, with their white bodies, spotted knees, and patchy black ears. When they grew up, they were bred via LAI, and the first F2 lambs were born. This process was repeated three more times, until they reached purebred status. Spotted knees gave away to perfect knee patches, faces were black, and beautiful, spiral horns grew quickly. Purebred Valais made it to the USA!

We are far from the first Valais breeders in the nation, none-the-less, we’ve been waiting for our first f2 lambs to arrive with great anticipation. We finished breakfast and I prepared to walk out to the school to make sure everything was in order for our teachers this week.

“It looks like she’s pushing,” Virgil’s words stalled my plans in an instant. I ran to the window. Felicie had moved across the paddock and was laying on her side, legs waving in the air, pushing for all she was worth. It was happening!

I hurried downstairs to get a closer look. Hoodie, overalls, jacket, I dressed for a chilly morning. Stepping outside, I was struck by the unexpected stillness and spring-like warmth in the air. Tabor was at the gate, waiting for her breakfast. I stopped to give her a little attention before ducking between a space in the fence, doing my best to observe without disturbing the shy ewe. My plan didn’t work and she rolled over and clambered to her feet, before staggering a few steps and falling down. My belly flopped.

A swollen, grotesque lamb head was emerging from her back end. Tongue purple and large, I knew there was no chance it was alive. But it had to come out. Virgil looked out the stall door before heading to work, “how’s it going?” I quickly explained the situation and had gloves and another pair of hands at my side in seconds.

I reached inside, feeling under the lamb’s head. No legs. It’s not possible to pull a lamb out by its head. I felt around a little more and was relieved to find a leg up by it’s ears. I moved my hand over across it’s neck and my heart sank. There was another head right on top of the first lamb’s neck. All hope of there being a live twin evaporated into the cool morning air. Every scenario I ran through my head to get the lambs out, dead or alive, ended in defeat. Two lambs in the birth canal was not something I had ever prepared myself for. There was no room to move either one in any way.

Using a tiny red dollar store sled, we pulled Felicie to the car and heaved her in the back. I really need to get a rubber mat for the trunk.

I’ve never had a smoother ride to the vet’s office. No traffic slowed me down and I was there almost before I got antsy. “Please, God, let there be a live lamb.”

They were waiting for me when I got there. Two vet techs brought a gurney and we slid it under her before grabbing the handles and lugging her into the now familiar space. For the third time this lambing season, I took in the spotless stalls and appreciated the time and effort it takes to keep them ready for any emergency.

There was no need to hold Felicie down. She collapsed in exhaustion, her back legs giving out underneath her as she strained to deliver two lambs at once. “Do you want me to get towels?” one of the vet techs asked. Dr. S shook her head. There’s no need to dry off dead lambs. I already knew what the first step would be and I nearly felt sick thinking of it. The first lamb couldn’t be delivered in one piece and Dr. S went right to work getting it’s head out of the way, creating space to sort out the mess behind it.

She worked hard to sort out legs and soon delivered the rest of his body. My hope for a live lamb retreated every second, but I still had to ask, “Do you think the other one will make it?” She shook her head as she brought the legs around, “I’m pretty sure it’s gone.” As the little face appeared, tongue swollen and purple, I knew she was right.

“Yeah, it’s gone,” she said as she laid it out behind her and went in to check for another lamb. I gazed at that perfect little lamb. Black head, black feet, and perfect black knee patches. I never dreamt we’d have such a perfect f2 lamb, and apparently we wouldn’t, because it was dead. Why hadn’t I checked her in person first thing this morning, instead of relying on the cameras?

I continued to take in the perfection lost, when I noticed a rhythmic beating in it’s chest. “Hey, it’s moving!” I said, upsetting the somber mood. Everyone turned to look. “That’s a heartbeat,” Dr. S said as I rushed over to the lamb. It was covered in blood and amniotic fluid, but I began vigorously rubbing it with my hands, praying for any sign of life to accompany that little beating heart. Someone ran for towels and someone went for a bulb syringe. It gave one ragged little breath. I grabbed it by it’s hind legs and held it upside down for a bit and then we began rubbing it all over. Dr. S suctioned her again and again, and then sent someone to fill a bulb syringe with water. “Let’s try an old trick,” she said before squirting the water in the lamb’s ear. The little lamb shook her head as the she explained that it was a harmless way to make them shake their heads and clear out their airways. “You got her here with seconds to spare,” she told me.

We continued to rub her down and everyone cheered her on when she shook her little head or half-heartedly tried to scramble to her feet. Eventually we moved her over in front of Felicie, who lay with her head against a wall, exhausted and defeated. It never gets old, watching a tired mama rouse when she first sees and smells her baby. She began nuzzling and licking the lamb, occasionally talking to her with deep bleats. She was answered by shrill little bleats that warmed my heart.

As we waited around for Felicie to stand up, different staff members stopped by to see the lamb. Someone carried in a brand new gray calf with a broken leg. The ebb and flow of life and death on a farm can’t compare to the stormy waves of mundane and emergency a vet clinic weathers on a daily basis.

Eventually, Felicie stood for a little and Dr. S released her to go home. Once again we wore ourselves out getting her to the back of the car. Her legs still didn’t work well and there would be plenty of work helping her and baby recover at home. But I didn’t care. We had a miracle baby and little Hope rode home with me in the front seat.

I fried hamburger and stirred cheese sauce in my freshly washed lambing overalls that evening. Memories of our last lamb birth haunted me. A long night of labor, followed by fruitless pushing as morning dawned. A black nose poked out, but would not budge further. I gloved up and reached in, trying to find little hooves to pull forward. Nothing felt right and I felt like I must've imagined I knew what I was doing the year before. It only took a minute for the vet to confirm that all was not right. An hour later she was finally able to deliver a lamb whose front and back legs had grown in the wrong places and directions. It was a horrifying experience.

Would Beatrix's lamb be deformed as well? I could hardly eat as my mind ran through scenarios.

Several hours passed. I checked her constantly, but have found sheep labor to be a long process. She paced, pawed the ground, laid down and stood up, only to repeat the cycle.

I made countless trips to the lambing jugs, elbows on the window sill, mindlessly holding my breath, willing things to progress. In between trips, I checked the camera on my phone.

One by one, the kids went to bed. I sat on the couch, swirling blueberry wine in my goblet, my brain cataloging each of the lambing supplies that may be needed. I closed my eyes and remembered how it felt a year ago. A ewe had delivered her lambs’s head and stalled. I gloved up and discovered the legs were back and needed to pull forward. I remembered how I felt along the neck, to the shoulder, and down the leg. Everything made sense, I could feel what I was doing. I breathed easier and checked my phone, just as a bundle of white slid onto the barn floor. A lamb! Here, without assistance.

I took one last sip of my wine, savored it a little, and ran downstairs, while Virgil laughed at my enthusiasm.

The lamb was out, but the sack was still over her nose and the ewe continued to push. Our first set of twins must be on the way! I wiped the baby's face and tickled her nostrils with a pice of hay. She sneezed once, twice, three times. I quickly moved her up to where her mama could see her, expecting her to get up and clean her off. She did not, but nuzzled and talked to her lamb between pushes.

Soon, a black nose appeared, followed soon enough by the rest of a healthy, and very large, lamb. I sat back on my heels and admired them as Beatrix jumped up and nuzzled first one and the other, back and forth.

I stepped out to get Beatrix some fresh hay and to give her a few minutes to bond with her lambs. The warmth in the wind enveloped me and I knew the little white ewe lamb was Chinook. The sign of warmth and a hope for Spring’s arrival, she reminded me that things can and will go well on the farm.

I’m going to share a quick recap and then turn the rest of this update into a photo book.

The second week of July brought our last Farm Camp with it. It was bittersweet; we’ve so enjoyed hosting camps here and getting to know more families in our community. We’ve also enjoyed some much-needed rest since then. While throwing ourselves into our newest project…

We’re opening an education resource center this fall, which will function as a cottage school. Our teachers are going through training and the drywall is nearly finished in our new building. There are stacks of books in our house and list upon list on paper and in my mind as we pull all the loose ends together. We are so excited about this new venture and we can hardly wait until the first day!

Lady Gingersnap (Ginger) had three beautiful puppies last week. They’re all boys, and the kids named them Grizzly, Kodiak, and Polar. They’re so fat and happy and well-loved already. We are also counting down the days until we can meet Nika’s litter! Her puppies are due August 13

Periwinkle and Bryn each had a calf this month and the kids have been working on halter training them. Sylve went home with a sweet family where she is very well-loved. It was sad to see her go, but we’re working hard to go back to a pure jersey herd. Bryn and her calf Belle will be going to a new home on Friday.

Finally, we had a friend come take some family/farm pictures and I love them.

Here is our August meal plan. I apologize it’s too late to plan for this week. I thought there was more time left to the month, but turns out, 31 days is all we get!

August Meal Plan

May your last month of summer be filled with joy and wonderful memories. I’m so thankful for you!

Stefani

We expected babies last year, but our donkeys weren’t bred as we had hoped. With a gestation from 11-15 months, the wait was long. Symphony was worth every second.

When I think over the last month or two, most of it is a blur, but a few things stand out. Farm Camp shines as a delightful experience. What a joy to introduce kids to farm life and then watch them explore and discover with exclamations, smiles, laughs, and surprise.

Farm Camp is four days long, from 9-1 each day. We start with chores, feeding, cleaning shelters and water tanks, gathering eggs, and checking each animal. Then we spend each day learning something new. One day is all about incubating eggs, raising chicks, caring for chickens, etc. Another day is sheep and alpacas, wool cleaning, a spinning demonstration, etc. The other days are filled with gardening and milk cow 101. We add plenty of playtime each day, including time at the creek, where the kids can get as muddy as they want. We also help the kids make lunch each day, teaching them to build a fire and cook simple meals.

It’s a delightful week.

Our May Camp started with our first Valais/Babydoll lamb and ended with our last alpaca cria for the season. In the middle of the week we also got our new Icelandic chicks.

Little Symphony arrived just before our June camp. We’re hoping for another baby donkey and maybe a calf in time for our July camp.

Our first Valais lamb did not arrive without drama. It was Saturday and all the sheep were sheared in the morning. I got the expectant mamas settled back in their corral. They seemed relaxed and showed no signs of being close to lambing. After a busy day and a late supper, Virgil looked out the window and exclaimed, “We’ve got a lamb hanging out!”

I rushed outside to find Sybil walking unconcernedly around with an apparently lifeless lamb partially delivered. We quickly got her in the stall. I tried to pull the lamb, but couldn’t. I was devastated to lose our first Valais Blacknose lamb.

I ran to my jump kit for gloves and OB lube when Virgil yelled, “There’s life! It’s alive!” He had pried its mouth open and the tongue moved a tiny bit. I ran back in and tried again to pull the lamb, but it was stuck. With only one hoof forward, I knew it would rip the lamb apart if I kept pulling. I reached my hand in to find the other foot. It was dry and tight. Sybil pushed against me, crushing my hand again and again.

I finally found the leg, but there was no room to pull it forward. I tried and tried, before finally giving up. I hooked my finger around it’s knee and eased the shoulder into the birth canal. That was all it took and we were able to assist her in delivering the rest of the lamb. He was lethargic and I was unsure if he was even breathing. I grabbed his back legs and swung him around again and again, pausing to rub him with hay and a towel, trying to inspire him to breathe. Eventually, it worked.

It took over an hour, but I finally got him on his feet and nursing. It was a close call.

We named him Huckleberry, and a week later he was followed by our first ewe lamb, named Miso by her new family.

Our sweet cow Lily also had a calf at the end of May. Little Cricket was born without any drama, but at about a week old he got very sick. It took a lot of work on our part, but he recovered and is full of spunk.

Shirley, a purbred Swiss Valais Blacknose ewe lamb joined our farm in May. One of our mama turkeys hatched 9 chicks and did a stellar job raising them. We have 6-week-old Royal Palm chicks looking for a new home. We hatched some beautiful Olive Egger chicks for Farm Camp with eggs from a friend and have some chicks looking for a new home. We’ve also hatched several Brown Chinese goslings; we will have several for sale soon. My poultry loving son is hoping to add quail to his collection of birds in the next several weeks, with plans to sell eggs and chicks. I think it’s time to learn how to process birds. I bought myself a trio of Sebastopol goslings and I love them so much.

I’m happy to have a meal plan put together in July. I missed it this month, as I didn’t have time to make one. This one is full of delicious salads, tacos, and grilled goodness - it will be summer on your plate at nearly every meal. Click to download.

Here’s to a beautiful July with lots of time to enjoy the sunshine!

Talk soon,

Stefani

There’s a depth to the nitty gritty beauty in the country. The beauty of a flower pushing through the dirt, the sweetness of a new baby born through pain and blood onto the ground, the song of a bird building its nest with bits and pieces discarded by the rest of the world. The sorrow of loss and failure against the backdrop of green grass and new life.

I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

April has been a delightful month. The pastures have turned green right before our eyes. We blinked and the grass appeared. Tutu had her first calf, a tiny little heifer whom we’ve called Peaches. Nessie had a beautiful little heifer calf; we named her Nova. All 16 puppies have added lots of joy to our days as they’ve grown more playful and cute. The bottle lambs continue to bleat their way into our hearts and we’re excitedly looking forward to several more lambs arriving from our own sheep. These lambs will be part of our Swiss Valais Blacknose breed-up program - our very first ones! Valais Blacknose are known as the cutest sheep in the world and it’s no wonder. Check out these adorable pictures of Tilney as a lamb and now.

Swiss Valais Blacknose were first mentioned in the 1400s and became an official breed in 1962. They were exclusively raised in Switzerland until 2013 when they were imported to the British Isles. They are in the US through a breed-up program, started by breeding “foundation ewes” via AI with imported semen. It’s quite a process and an exciting one to be part of! It takes 5 generations to reach purebred status.

Some of the biggest excitement of the month was the arrival of Joyful’s baby April last Saturday. We were cleaning outside, minding our own business, when the kids looked up and saw a tiny brown cria on the ground. Their (our) excitement knew no bounds! Little April is the cutest thing and she is doing so well. She is spunky, friendly, and the softest creature I have ever touched.

Excitement is constantly brewing, as is my coffee. We are keeping a close eye on our three ewes, Felicie, Sybil, and Guinevere as they get closer to lambing. Our last alpaca Eleanor could have her baby any day. Minuet and Fortissimo, our donkeys, are getting fatter every day, despite being on a restricted diet for their health. Minuet is beginning to develop a bag, so hopefully, her baby will arrive soon! We have an incubator full of goose eggs that should begin hatching in a few days. And Emma, our faithful barn cat, has started growing quite round.

I’m behind on the garden planning - I should have some seeds brewing right now as well, popping their little green leaves through the soil in my starting boxes, but alas! They’re still in their packages, waiting to be planted.

We are looking forward to May and all the excitement it will bring. Our May Farm camp is coming right up, starting with a shearing day for the sheep! It will be so nice for them to shed their wooly coats and feel the fresh air. They must be feeling quite hot when the sun shines.

I had fun putting together the meal plan for May. It’s full of fresh, light meals, like Chinese chicken salad, grilled kebabs, and salmon bowls. It’s extra pretty this month too, in honor of spring’s arrival. I hope you’ll love it! Get your copy by clicking the button.

May Meal Plan

May your spring be full of beauty and joyful moments.

Catch up with you soon,

Stefani

March has been full of stress, joy, and anticipation. After loosing my sheep Kitra to pregnancy complications, I was on high alert as Demelza got closer. I shared the whole story on my blog, so I will only say that the day finally came: she was in labor. It was an all-day event that ended in a bit of a panic when the lamb presented wrong and she was too tired to push any longer. It was an absolute relief that he was born alive and well - and big! He weighed in at 9.5 lbs.

We named him Twain and hope that Sybil, Felicie, and Guinevere will present us with a Huck and Finn between the three of them this summer. We will have to see if they are truly pregnant.

Not wanting Twain to grow up alone, we found some bum lambs that needed some TLC and brought them home. Hyacinth, Okwana, Popcorn, and Spinny are very loved by our older kids. They got to play out in the sunshine today and thought it was the best day ever. Twain is unsure what to think and Demelza is yet to be convinced that they are suitable playmates for her precious lamb. We’ll see how things go from here.

Next up for a baby was sweet Sylve, our new milk cow. She is a gentle soul and we loved checking on her, petting and scratching her, and making sure she knows how much we love her. We’ve worked to get her used to the stanchion and she’s done wonderful.

Two days ago I checked her first thing in the morning and discovered her “pins” had “dropped,” which means the ligaments between her tail and hip bones had softened in preparation for labor. This usually means a calf will arrive in 12-24 hours. And sure enough, she was a bit restless all day. I kept a close eye on her. At 4:30, I was pretty sure she was in active labor. At 5:30, her water broke and a rather large hoof made an appearance. She was apparently eager to meet her calf because she would lay down and push a couple of times before jumping up to sniff around, looking for her baby. As you can imagine this wasn’t very helpful to her end goal. Virgil was out of town and I was not convinced I’d be able to pull a calf on my own.

Finally, Virgil and the time for action arrived at the same time. We worked hard together to assist Sylve in delivering her very large heifer calf. The poor baby was gurgling terribly, so Virgil swung her around by her hind legs until her breathing cleared up. It seemed like the right thing to do and it worked. When Sylve realized she had a calf, she went into protective mama mode and neither Tabor nor chickens were allowed near. Thankfully she has been sweet to us.

I milked her for the first time the next morning and she has been a dream. She has not even stamped a foot, but patiently lets me milk away… As long as she can see her baby. I am proud of her!

And that’s about it for farm news. Our farm camps are filling up - June is already full! Our garden seeds have arrived and I don’t want to wait another month and a half to plant - but I probably better! We are waiting on Tutu to have her first calf in the next couple of weeks. And the puppies are growing up in the blink of an eye! They are so precious. They are quickly finding new homes but we hardly feel ready to send them home yet. It will be time soon!

I am happy to have a meal plan again! April already feels more organized. You can see it here. Use it for inspiration or download it and follow it to a “t.” Whatever works best for you!

Does your family have a favorite meal? Share it with me in the comments and it may show up in a future meal plan. I love to be inspired.

April Meal Plan

I hope you have a beautiful Easter weekend!

Talk soon,

Stefani

The end of February is the beginning of our busy season; we probably won’t slow down again before October at the earliest. We welcomed two beautiful litters of puppies the last week of February and it was not without drama. Ginger started us off by having one puppy and then requiring a c-section for the rest. It was a scary experience! I was so grateful we were home when she went into labor so we knew when she needed help. Everything went well, she got her staples out yesterday, and her 8 puppies are fat and healthy. Plus, one of our kids got an up close and personal look at a vet’s work.

Nika was next and exactly a week later she also had 8 beautiful puppies! Her labor was uneventful and we sat up with her into the wee hours of the morning, keeping one eye on her and one on Pride and Prejudice.

Available Puppies

Our next animals due were my Babydoll Southdown sheep, Kitra and Demelza. They were my Mother’s Day gift two years ago and now expecting their first lambs. Two nights after Nika’s puppies were born, Kitra started acting different and I thought labor was kicking in. An early morning check brought, not lambs, but the loss of my beloved sheep. It’s been a sad, hard loss. We’re keeping an extra close eye on Demelza now and hoping her babies arrive sooner rather than later. We also moved one of the younger ewes, Sybil, in with her for company.

Along with Demelza, we are waiting for Tutu and Sylve to freshen for the first time. I’m excited to start milking again! We haven’t had a cow in milk since Christmas and we all miss it.

The other big news on the farm is our new kid’s camp! We will have three farm camps this summer for kids aged 8-12. We plan to teach and do all kinds of fun things, like animal care, gardening, wool processing, cooking outside, and more! You can see all the details and sign your kids up by clicking the button below. Through March 10, the first three families to sign up for camp will get a copy of “No Such Thing as Bad Weather,” a book I’ve really been enjoying.

Kid's Farm Camp

Yesterday, in an attempt to make the next few weeks more manageable for our family, the kids and I made a bunch of freezer meals and canned some soup. We were able to make 6lbs of meatballs, two pans of meat loaf, two pans of garlic mashed potatoes, 3 breakfast casseroles, and 9 quarts of vegetable beef soup!

I hope these are helpful!

Now we are onto planning our garden. This year I plan to plant a lot more potatoes, carrots, and onions. Those were our most successful crops last year but we still went through them too quickly! I’m excited to try the three sisters companion planting method for my corn, squash, and beans. If you’ve tried this before, I’d love to hear your results. I order all my seeds from Grow Organic and have been very happy with them!

I made milk soap for the first time today and can’t wait to see how it turns out after it cures. I’m hoping to have some available at our farm stand this summer! We are planning to focus on brown chinese geese and runner ducks in our hatchery this year. If you are local and want some, make sure you get on our list! I’m sure we won’t be able to resist at least one incubator full of silkie eggs and maybe some peacocks.

Our babydoll lambs are all spoken for, but we do have room on our list for the babydoll/valais blacknose lambs we’re expecting late spring/early summer. Let me know if you want to be on the list!

So there’s your update for February! Welcome back to March. Hopefully I’ll be on time and have a meal plan at the end of this month. And lots of adorable lamb pictures!

Talk soon!

Stefani

But let me back up, before winter came, to that in-between season after Christmas and before New Year. Our sweet Darby, once a tiny bottle calf, had her first calf late on the night of the 29th. We called her Merida, Merry for short. Merida is a highland jersey cross and we will probably train her as a family milk cow when she’s older.

Subscribe now

Little Merry has been a bright spot in a month that has been harder than I wished. This summer we rescued a little fawn who was badly hurt. We had a wonderful few months with him, feeding him, caring for his wounds, and letting him eat all the tomatoes in our garden. Sadly, after Christmas, little Acorn died peacefully in the pasture, despite our best efforts. We will forever remember 2023 as the year with the sweetest little pet in the world. He was so affectionate and his little licks and his curiosity always bring a smile when we remember.

(Note: we only took him into our care because he was too badly hurt to survive in the wild. He would’ve been eaten alive by coyotes if we didn’t intervene. We made the correct calls before we cared for him.)

I finally took the time to dive headfirst into our alpaca and sheep wool this month and it’s been so fun! I have so much to learn, it’s a little mind-boggling but I’ve found it to be a peaceful new hobby. During our cold snap (-37 f, windchill even colder), I was able to card, spin, ply, and crochet alpaca fiber into a (rather ugly) hat for one of my kids. It felt like an accomplishment.

We also lost two of our older alpacas this month. I have no way to know how old they were, but they are sadly missed and we are treasuring the ones we still have.

I’ve been sharing more recipes on Instagram this month, several of which are included in the February meal plan. I’ve saved them in my highlights. I’m hoping to get them on the blog soon, so they’re easier to find. Speaking of the meal plan, click the button below to download it!

Go to Meal Plan

I taught my kids how to make a hot mash for chickens this month. A hot mash helps keep them toasty warm, with a blend of hot water and cayenne pepper. Simply layer some chicken feed in a shallow dish, sprinkle generously with cayenne, and drizzle the hot water over it. They love it! Sometimes I add in some mealworms to make it extra special.

Thanks for following along on our farm journey, whether you’re here for the animals, the meal plan, healthy recipes, or all of it together, we’re so glad you’re here! I’ll leave you with a quick and healthy graham cracker recipe.

Graham Crackers

4 sticks butter

1 1/4 cup honey

4 T molasses

5 2/3 cups whole wheat flour

2 tsp soda

1/2 tsp salt

Cream the butter, honey, and molasses together. Mix the dry ingredients and slowly add them to the butter mixture. Roll out fairly thin, cut into squares, and bake at 350 for 9-10 minutes. Getting them thin is key to crunchy crackers!

That’s it for January! Enjoy your meal plan and we’ll be back at the end of February.

Stefani

Enjoyed this post? Please share it with your friends!

Share

I hope your Christmas was delightful and this week between holidays has been restful.

I don’t have time for more than a quick note this week. It’s that slow, quiet time on the farm anyway. That time of year I should be spinning wool and making cheese because there’s no garden and the outside chores are few. But I haven’t found time for those winterly ventures either. Hopefully, once we get into January, right?

In the meantime, here are a few adorable pictures and your meal plan!

And you can grab your January meal plan by clicking the button below!

January 2024 Meal Plan

Thanks for your love and support in 2023. We are so excited to grow, learn, and share more with you in the coming year.

Talk soon!

Stefani

P.S. Keep an eye out on our Instagram for a super fun giveaway!

I couldn't get the link for the meal plan to work yesterday, so I'm re-sending as a picture this evening.

You can also copy and paste this link to access the downloadable pdf file.

www.cactushillsfarm.com/mealplan.html

If this doesn't work for you, leave a comment and I'll send it to you directly.

Have a great weekend!

Stefani

To make the marshmallows:

Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of gelatin over 1/2 cup of water in a mixing bowl. Let set.

In a saucepan, mix 1/2 cup of water, 1/2 cup maple syrup, 1/2 cup raw or coconut sugar, and a pinch of salt. Bring to a rolling boil and let boil for 3 minutes, stirring the whole time.

Begin mixing the gelatin mixture on low speed while drizzling in the hot liquid mixture. Once it's all combined, turn your mixer on medium high and beat it until its fluffy, but still drops off a spoon. Pour into a small pan and let set until firm, usually 20 minutes. Cut into squares and enjoy plain or in your hot chocolate!

Tilney, as you can see in the left hand picture, is growing up quite nicely! I'm very hopeful he'll be ready to breed at the end of the year so we can look forward to some part Valais Blacknose lambs next Spring. We're planning on Babydoll lambs in March and we're so excited!

Little September has become very friendly and will come running up to us when we go in the pasture. She doesn't love to be petted yet, but she's getting there!

I've been busy working on my cheesemaking skills. It takes a lot of patience, because most cheese isn't ready to tray for at least 4 weeks. But the process is fun and I'm enjoying learning the science behind it. Once I grow in it a little more, I want to share the process in detail here. Does that interest anyone?

And now, onto the December meal plan! I added a few extra meal ideas to make it more flexible for you. Click here: https://www.cactushillsfarm.com/mealplan.html ←I hope that works. Typing on my phone and can't add a button.

And that's a wrap for this newsletter and for November! May your December be full of joy and rest talk soon!

Stefani

Yesterday as I spent my morning in the kitchen mixing sourdough and learning how to make cottage cheese, I had to wonder if slow living is more about cultivating patience than simplifying things.

Maybe slow living is shutting the door to instant gratification and savoring the time it takes to make a loaf of sourdough. If I want bread for breakfast, I have to start 24 hours before that breakfast. I have to measure and mix, feed the starter for next time, let it rest, knead it smooth, let it proof for hours, shape, and put away in the fridge overnight. It’s a slow process.

When we find ourselves against a wall and need to shorten our to-do list, we often cross out the most life-giving thing: making nourishing, nutrient-dense food. We are quick to buy all the shortcuts so we can continue to cram extra things into our lives. Maybe we should cross out the extras and take time to savor the time it takes to make food that will fuel our bodies and nourish our souls, food that says, “I love you,” to our families.

We had a grand surprise at the beginning of the month when we found a baby alpaca (cria) laying beside her mama! The previous owner didn’t think there was a chance any of our alpaca could be pregnant, but apparently, there was a sneaky male on the farm. Ha!

I was a little worried about the baby at first. She was shivering and lethargic; she wasn’t putting in enough effort to stand up and I knew she needed to eat. So we got a dry towel and began to rub her vigorously. Some quick research told me that alpaca mamas don’t always do a great job at cleaning and stimulating their babies, so we did it for her. Pretty soon, the baby, who we named September, was on her (very) long legs and then she was nursing. Hurray! She quickly turned into the darling of the farm, with everyone stopping by to watch her. The other alpacas, the sheep, and Tabor were especially interested in her.

Now, at nearly 4 weeks, she is thriving! She won’t let us touch her, unless she can’t find her mama. Then she comes running and “asks” for help. It’s the sweetest thing and I’m smitten.

Shortly after September’s surprise, Ginger’s 10 puppies arrived, followed by Nika’s 5 a few days later. We are surrounded by baby animals and loving it! I mean, how cute are these little things?

And I think that catches us up! Find your meal plan here and have a wonderful October!

Meal Plan

Stefani

It’s been a good Summer: full, warm, busy, joyful, and full of feeling. Some years I feel like we’re cheated of Summer because it comes so late and leaves so early, but not this year. Our red beets and carrots are harvested for the year, the squash is ready to be picked and seasoned and the pumpkins are the loveliest golden orange I have ever seen. I’m hoping to pick and braid onions for the first time and it makes me just giddy. I want to hang them somewhere and look at them all winter - it may be hard to use them! The garden was a 75% success and I’m thrilled. I feel like a legit homesteader now, not a faker.

We (and by we, I mean Virgil) got our second cutting of hay done. We are hoping for one more and I think we’ll get it. Everything is growing back so fast! I took pictures of every step of the haying this time around, thinking you may enjoy it. When we moved to the farm two and a half years ago, I had no idea what it took to make hay. I had a fuzzy idea that it wasn’t supposed to get rained on after it got cut, but that’s about it.

If you know all about making hay already, enjoy the pictures because I’m going to share a quick rundown of how it works.

The first thing I learned about making hay is that it matters when it’s cut. We grow an alfalfa mix for our cows, and Virgil always waits to cut it until it’s flowered out. I think there’s more to it, but that’s the general idea. When I went down to take pictures while he cut the hay, I was mesmerized by the smell of the flowers mingled with the cut grass and the beautiful, buzzing world in the alfalfa. I spent much more time down there hanging out with the bees and butterflies than I had planned!

Once the hay is cut, it needs to dry completely. If hay is baled to wet it can spontaneously combust and you lose your whole hay crop to a fire in an instant. It feels daunting to me, but Virgil has a probe he measures it with and he knows what he’s doing. To help the drying process along, he’ll take his tractor and rake out a day or two before he plans to bale it and flip the rows over so the bottom dries. Then, right before he bales it, he takes the rake out again and swoops two rows together to make it easier and quicker to bale.

And after 5-7 days, the hay is finally ready to bale! This may be the kid’s favorite part. They love to watch the baler pop out bales. I tried to get some good pictures of the process, but it’s hard to catch with a picture. I’ll have a reel up on our social media soon.

And now we have lovely hay for the year, with some to spare! It’s such a good feeling to know that’s taken care of for the winter.

Speaking of hay and the animals that eat it…

Meet the newest members of our farm!

Tilney is a Swiss Valais Blacknose ram lamb and Felicie is a Valais/Babydoll ewe lamb. Swiss Valais are an old breed, native to Switzerland, of course. They were exclusively in Switzerland, until some farmers in the British Isles noticed how cute they were in 2013/2014 and began to import them. In 2016 they began to trickle into the US via a breed-up program. Importing the sheep was not an option for some reason, so people began by artificially inseminating their ewes to a purebred ram. It takes 5 generations to get a full Valais sheep. Several years in Valais embryos were imported and that’s where Tilney came from.

I don’t plan to do the breed up program at this time. The Valais Babydoll cross is so cute. Both breeds are known to be friendly and docile, while breeding with a Babydoll keeps the lambs a little smaller. They end up with the Valais wool and marking without losing the Babydoll smile. What could be better?

Tilney won’t be ready to breed this year, so we’ll use my Babydoll ram Henry for our first lambs on the farm. I don’t actually know if I can wait till Spring!

I’ll let you go now, with a few more farm pics and the September meal plan. Oh! I almost forgot: Ginger and Nika will both be having puppies in the first two weeks of September. Goldendoodle and mini Bernedoodle puppy pics coming soon!

Get your meal plan

Enjoy the meal plan! I’d love to hear how you use it. Next month I’m hoping to add a snack menu to the newsletter - because snacks are a necessity around here and I’m rarely prepared. I’m thinking if I plan it out, we’ll all be happier.

Talk to you next month! Enjoy your September.

Stefani

My monthly meal plans (I think a lot of you are here for that)?

Our animals?

A poetic take on farm life? (yikes! I might not deliver on that one.)

If you’re just here for the meal plan, I’ll save you the time it takes to skim the rest of this post, although I do hope you’ll stick around for all of it.

August Meal Plan

July has been a beautiful month in which the greenest Spring we’ve ever seen has been slowly giving in to the Summer heat. The wheat across the road has been harvested, our pastures have turned brown, and we’ve been moving sprinklers around constantly, trying to keep the grass alive for the next few months.

Our first flowers bloomed in the last week or two and I’m giddy with the excitement. We’ve also been enjoying small harvests from our garden - tomatoes, red beets, carrots, and a few potatoes. The kids can’t stay out of it and I’ll be happy if we have anything left to preserve for winter.

We harvested all our beets last week and froze them. It was much easier than I expected, mostly because the kids were so excited, they cheerfully stuck with me through the whole process. Everybody helped pick and wash them and then Jakki and Kade peeled every single beet after it was cooked. I was so proud of them!

I loved pickled beets, but decided to freeze them because we like to avoid sugar where possible. Does anybody have a pickled beet recipe that doesn’t take sugar? I’d love to pickle some eventually.

I couldn’t handle to throw all the red beet tops away, so we cut, washed, and pickled about half of the stems. We were getting ready to travel for the weekend, so I didn’t have time to do all of them. We tried our first ones last night and love them! They’re a little tough to chew, but the flavor is so dilly, yet earthy. They’re very enjoyable. I’m going to save most of them to brighten up Christ/winter snack trays.

I had great plans to dry the leaves and turn them into a powder to add to smoothies, etc, but ran out of time. Maybe next year! I’m surprised at how hard it is for me to let anything go to waste. #practicallyapioneer

Speaking of the two oldest kids, they’re upping their entrepreneur game. Jakki has started making kombucha to sell from our fridge and Kade has been catching fishing worms. One day he caught 100. haha!

Now that we’ve collected a dozen alpacas, we’ve decided to downsize a little bit. Actually, that was the plan from the beginning. We’re going to spend more time and effort building our sheep flock and I couldn’t be more excited. There is something about sheep that captures my heart.

I’ll end with some of my favorite meals from the last month. <3

If you stuck through to the end, thanks so much! I hope it was enjoyable.

Until next month,

Stefani

Subscribe now