Three years ago we set out to follow our dream of farming and moved to a working farm to become farm hands. The opportunity was like a dream come true, a place to stay, an employee wage, the promise of a work to own land/ home deal, land to use for our livestock, mentors… Each day […]
Category: Featured
Press Release: Beginning farmers want fresh, local food available to everyone
The Ryder Family Farm Can Accept SNAP Benefits GOLCONDA – Eating fresh, local food is about to get easier for some families in Southern Illinois! Starting this Saturday, June 10th 2017 at the weekly Golconda Farmer’s Market, The Ryder Family Farm will be accepting SNAP EBT cards as form of payment for the foods they […]
What is a CSA all about? Do I want to join?
CSA is short for community supported agriculture. We joined our first CSA about ten years ago back in Flagstaff, AZ. We heard about it and were immediately intrigued. We had no idea what we were in for but it was an amazing experience. We loved knowing we were getting food raised right within the community […]
Ch-ch-changes…
Some big things are in store for the site. Some of you feed subscribers got wind of some changes thanks to the automatic feed that went out with lots of dummy giberish text after we did a website makeover *facepalm* Many apologies for that. Its also been a while since I posted an update. The […]
Electric fencing is a pain in the ASS!
I’m really unimpressed with electric fencing. We already decided that we wanted permanent fencing for our “barnyard” where the barn animals will have free rein. Heck, we even invested in the rolls of fencing and it’s laying out in the grass near the area that needs fenced in.
Meeting Winnie, running over a lamb and shock fencing…
Last week was a roller coaster, we are still reeling from it. You see we were pointed in the direction of a homeless livestock guardian dog. We’ve known we needed one since our beloved family dog lost her life last fall. Luckily we’ve only had one farm predator issue since losing our farm guard dog, […]
Our goat herd grows…
We found ourselves another milk goat, one in milk! I was getting pretty panicky after getting a confirmatory negative pregnancy test on our Alpine dairy goat recently. Buttercup, our new goat, found her way to our home a week ago. Her two newborn kids also came along! I happened to see a craigslist post for a […]
Halloween Inspiration
Halloween Decor Idea: Make this “Bats at the Door” halloween decor project by simply printing out this template, cutting and taping the shapes. Super easy and super cute dont you think? Halloween Nail Idea: Looking for some creative & festive manicure ideas? I thought this was creative! Halloween Baby Photography Idea: Got a […]
Kombucha: Digestions Friend & How You Can Grow Your Own Kombucha Starter.
Somewhere along the way we discovered kombucha at a natural food store, it was actually Nathan and his love of tea. He was surprised when he took his first drink because of how different it tasted. Very much fermented with a hint of vinegar. He had me try it too, I wasn’t a fan but […]
Reflecting on the past then looking forward and planning ahead
There are only 4 months left in this whirlwind of a year! Remember all that madness? Need a recap? Last August we were living in Flagstaff, AZ and N proposed to me on the top of the San Francisco Peaks. Then we packed up a moving truck, the RV, said goodbye to all our family, […]
… and the special continues…
… with a living room fail courtesy of the cats. Here is what we woke up to this morning: I am not sure how we didn’t wake up to the loud crash. It seems we are only conditioned to wake for Everly’s sounds or something. Also, how in the heck did the cats manage to […]
First time parent shock and adjustment (it really does get easier)
Just 10 short weeks ago I was literally living in bed. Recovering from childbirth and around the clock newborn care left little time for regular person stuff like showering, getting dressed for the day and cooking. I was crying at the drop of a hat (for no particular reason) and I was sure I (as […]
Happy 2 month birthday Everly!
Our darling Everly was born 8 weeks ago and is now a two month old. Can you believe it? I know I sure can’t! She came in to the world totally new to everything and has come so far in these past 8 weeks. When she was born all she was doing was sleeping and […]
Milestones and laziness: The joys of parenthood.
This family will be in bed all weekend! After taking a trip last weekend and working all week in addition to taking care of Everly we are ready to do NOTHING for as long as possible. As it stands we have no plans for the weekend. We’ll probably play Wii and take care of things […]
Wordless Wednesday: E's 6 week checkup with our midwife
Over the weekend we made the 4 hour drive down to Summertown, Tennessee for our 6 week checkup at The Farm. We got to stay in our midwife’s cabin again, the same one Everly was born in. I had her right there on the floor where the rocking chair is in this photo. Ah, the […]
Blogging Tater's Arrival Featured home birth advocacy personal stories pictures say 1000 words pregnancy
Everly is now 5 days old: A look back on the birth experience.
The last week has been a whirlwind! Everly Charlotte was born on June 23rd 2009 at 1:16am. She weighed 8lbs 12oz and was 21 inches long, her head measured 34 1/2 cm. She was way bigger than we expected her to be but as you’ll see by the photos she is darn good and healthy! […]
My water broke, baby is coming. A Twitter live blog
June 22nd 2009 7:45:15 AM: My water broke at 7:30 am! 39 weeks 5 days pregnant. Here we go! 9:40:53 AM: I’ll do my best to keep sharing labor updates. Woot! Baby time! 9:49:13 AM: http://twitpic.com/83ov0 – Just finished the lettering. 10:46:21 AM: Blogged: My water broke at 7:30 am! 39 weeks 5 days pregnant. […]
Less-words Wednesday: Pregnancy Home Stretch Edition
There are only two more days until I leave you all and head off to wait on my little girls arrival. I am totally feeling ready for this and am very anxious for labor to begin. Saw the chiropractor yesterday and was all out of whack again. Even more so now that Tater’s bones are […]
We are holding our breath because we may have found OUR house…
Hopefully I am not jinxing us here but I just wanted to spread the upbeat news. With all the crappy happenings a bit of good is always nice, even if it is a bit premature… So, we did look at a home we liked today! I mentioned it yesterday briefly (I was trying not to […]
20 week ultrasound appointment. We're having a…
[POPUP=IMG1]We got in for our appointment and got some nifty photos of our little one today. We even got a little CD with the photos in addition to the ultrasound printout. N was way excited about our appointment and he is super stoked at the news. Lets see, I weighed in at 119 today and […]