A new year a new chapter

Once again I am not updating our blog enough.  This past year has been so exciting that I just forgot to tell everyone about it.  So what happened in a year you ask?

• We made the investment and hired a full time Farm Manager, not just a ranch hand.  Chris Sweet aka Bill (don't ask lol) came on board in early 2024 but was deployed overseas as he is a member of the national guard.  He has been working on ranches since becoming a teenager and has worked in almost every single state.  His last job exposed him to regenerative farming and after meeting Joel Salatin he was hooked.  He found us and the rest is history.
• Our Fiber Mill Shop and apartment was built and the Mill showed up in early summer and we moved in by the end of the year after selling our house in town.
• We raised 9 pigs and sold all but 2 for ourselves.  They escaped 3 times and since we didn't have exterior fencing they went off the property but luckily for us with the help of neighbors we got them back each time.  Which brings me to....
• We fenced in the farm along all public roadways so the animals won't get out unless they really try to by hiking up the hill.  Let's hope that is not a subject for another post lol.
• We purchased a small herd of Nubian Dairy Goats and had raw milk for ourselves and family all summer long and can't wait to have that again this summer.
• We purchased a small flock of Katahdin Sheep and kept a ram and some Ewes after processing a dozen lambs.  The meat was so good and healthy tasting.  We learned a hard lesson though, put alarms on your freezers because the power somehow got turned off to the freezers and we lost 75% of our lamb meat. I felt so bad as that was a sure waste of a lamb losing its life just to go to waste.  I learned my lesson though.
• We raised 150 pature broilers and processed all of them ourselves with help from family and neighbors.  It was such a great experience and lots of folks were interested in buying them so we ordered 750 birds for 2025.
• We tore down the old garage and built a brand new 30x60 farm shop that will have a store in it too.  It has heat and air conditioning which is really cool.
• We cleared 5 acres of land at the top of the hill, cut in a rough driveway and building pad at the top for our future home.  We were able to build the garage and plan on starting the house in the spring of this year.
• We found a spring and dug a pond to fill right next to it and pulled in power so we can start building some AirBnBs on the farm.  
• We acquired more equipment this year and now are helping other homesteaders develop their land too.  We now have a fleet of equipment.  Skid Steer, Mini Excavator, Large Excavator, Bull Dozer, large and small John Deere Tractor and over 15 implements to get any job done.  Oh we have a large Peterbilt dump truck now too to haul over 20 tons of material anywhere. 

I am sure I missed something but there you have it.  A full year of accomplishments.  2025 is going to be amazing.