Monday, February 9, 2026

I need to bring you up to date!

Whew, life has been busy!  I got so busy with all that we have going on that the blog got overlooked.  Sorry for that!  Here is a quick update on some of that has been going on the last couple of years.

  1. We have added a freeze dryer to our food preservation process.  We have pressure canned and water bathed for years all kinds of fruits and veggies, but in 2024 we tried a freeze dryer.  I was asked to speak at a homesteading conference in Oklahoma (The Okie Homestead Conference) and met a wonderful couple that convinced us we needed a freeze dryer.  We absolutely love it!

2. We have done more traveling doing speaking and teaching events around the states.  We have been in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, Oklahoma, etc.  It has been humbling to get to share some of the things we are passionate about and I believe can help our communities.  

3. Because of our traveling we have had to shrink back some of the things we are doing at farm.  Our kids are growing up and one by one leaving for their own homesteads and futures.  That means we are losing some help.  That's okay!  I wouldn't want it any other way.  The kids need to be able to spread their wings and do the things that they are passionate about.  It is cool to see them continue in some of the things they loved while home or them to start their own homesteads.

4. As we travel and engage more and more people, I am so encouraged with the amount of people who are rethinking food and agriculture.  I see other families just like ours that are starting to ask questions about health and the connection to the food supply.  Big Ag is killing the farmer!  I have talked to so many commodity-based farmers who don't want a farm bill (why you ask...because it assures Big Ag will get their overinflated prices for seed, fertilizer, and machinery).  I'm also encouraged that families that are still stuck with Big Ag are starting to grow more of their own food, buy more local meat and support suppliers like Azure Standard.  

5. Overall, the American people are a creative, get-er done, don't push me kind of people!  Bureaucrats, Big Ag, Big Pharms, Big Food has overplayed their hands!!!  And now they are going to pay the price for exploiting the health of the American people.  Mommas are going to break these companies with their pocketbooks and their Instagram accounts.  

I'm more encourage that ever before!  God is on the move in America, people are awaking, lives are being changed and the darkness is genuinely scared!  Keep walking in the light and the darkness cannot prevail!

Friday, March 31, 2023

One principle that has help guide our lives!

 One of our life motto's has been "anticipate the best but plan for the worst"!  This principle has guided many of the decisions we have faced throughout life.  I want to live in the positive, living as an optimist.  Looking for the good around us.  It is a healthy way of living and makes you a much more pleasant person to be around.  Looking for the best is found in our faith in God.  It is His goodness and sovereignty that settles our hearts and minds in the midst of life.  It has to start there....with a settled soul!  This place of settledness would be called the peace of God!  Because of the goodness of God we live with hope.  Hope is an anchor for the soul.  It gives us the ability to be optimistic in the midst of difficult times.  The other half of this quote is the planning part.  It is "wisdom applied".  Wisdom tells us to plan, plan wisely!  Be prepared as much as possible in your planning, then trust God for a better outcome.  

A few practical applications of this principle:

1. Plan and plant the best seed you can, nurture and water the plants anticipating a great harvest, but keep some seed back just in case of a crop failure.

2. When taking a road trip, look forward to the great time you will be having as a family.  Enjoy all the sites and sounds of nature, make the best memories possible, but keep a $100 bill in your wallet, gas 1/2 full in your automobile fuel tank, an atlas in the vehicle.  Be sure the spare tire and tools are in the trunk!

I hope that this principle will be a blessing in your lives also..... as we remember to keep "oil in the lamp"!

Monday, March 20, 2023

EXCITING NEWS!!

 We are so excited to announce that we are getting ready to release our first book!  We are finishing up the editing process and getting ready for the next step.  Please stay tuned, the book is filled with multiple personal stories and experience!  Lessons learned from nearly 30 years of homesteading and preparing our family for the unstable times we live in.  You can be as ready as possible also, PREPARE now!

Saturday, March 18, 2023

PREPARE! That is the word on my mind recently.

The state of living prepared is intentionality!  Intentional is doing what is needed to be done in the present to be ready for the future.  The intentional farmer plans and prepares for a harvest long before the harvest season.  He or she, starts months in advance!  They are intentional!  A very wise person once said, "Whoever works his farmland will have abundant food, but whoever chases fantasies will become very poor."  Prov. 28:19

Some ways to be intentional that you may be prepared:

1. Start your seedlings early so they are ready to plant when the soil is ready in the spring.
2. Have some extra fuel stored on the homestead 
3. Split next year's firewood this year or two years in advance
4. Keep some cash on hand
5. Start your chicks early as possible in the late winter/early spring.  Remember it takes 18-20 weeks to have eggs from those mature chicks.
6. Build relationships with your neighbors.  You might need them sometime!
7. Prepare your heart & mind for possible difficult days!  Find Peace with God and learn to trust HIM!
8. Learn a new skill or trade that would have value if you needed to draw from it.
9. Exercise thrift!
10. Minimize dependence on the national infrastructure! 

Ben Franklin once said, "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail"!

Let's not be found without oil in our lamps!

Saturday, March 11, 2023

Time tested method of preserving pork! Video

 I put a new video over on YouTube showing an excellent way of storing your pork without refrigeration.  You can find it here at this link:  


(6) Century's old method of preserving meat. - Salt Pork! - YouTube