Author: Mary

A New Homestead Endeavor: Breeding Pigs

I mentioned in my last post that one of our projects for 2023 is learning the ins and outs of breeding pigs. We are new to it, but we are fortunate to have extended family with experience, so we have some helpful resources just a phone call away. Our last four pigs were raised for Read More

Hello 2023: New Year, New Goals

Happy New Year, everyone! What a wild ride 2022 was for our little homestead. We had so many ups and downs, and the last few months of the year were difficult and stressful. (If you didn’t catch the last update, you can find it here.) 2022 Recap Last January, Calvin and I came up with Read More

For Better Or Worse, In Sickness and In Health

It has been a long time since I posted anything here on the blog or on Iveyshire’s social media pages! I never intended to take a three month break, but life has been an absolute roller coaster for our family since September. Updating the blog didn’t really have a place in survival mode. The main Read More

Purslane: My Unexpected New Favorite Plant

Have you ever heard of purslane? I didn’t know anything about it until this spring, but now I can’t get enough of it. I first came across it while weeding in our veggie garden. Every once in a while I’d see a tiny plant that looked like a succulent. I had a feeling it wasn’t Read More

Welcome to the Homestead, Little Chickies

The first flock of chickens we raised here at Iveyshire made quite a dramatic exit. Something was getting into the coop, and some of the hens turned into cannibals. It was a messy and gruesome ordeal, and we went from 24 birds to 0 real quick. But we aren’t quitters, so this past week we Read More

Figuring Out Gardening on the Cumberland Plateau

Many, many hours of this summer have been devoted to gardening. Living on the Cumberland Plateau means dealing with wild summer thunderstorms, and temperatures that differ from the surrounding areas of Tennessee. It’s been interesting to see what grows well here, what does okay, and what was a total bust. Here’s an update on how Read More

The Unhappy Tale of the Iveyshire Chickens

To cut right to the chase: there isn’t a single chicken left here on our little homestead. In my last post, I mentioned that the poultry situation here had turned a bit chaotic. Unfortunately, the craziness continued until just a few days ago, when our very last chicken bit the dust. They were dying inside Read More

Time Flies When You’re Homesteading

The majority of this past month has been spent gardening and tackling other outside projects. My current favorite days are the ones where the kids and I head outside early, and come inside late. Between all the outside time- and a family vacation thrown in the mix- I haven’t been posting much. Time for a Read More

“I Could Never Do That!” [Part 1]

A response my husband and I often get from people when we share our homesteading journey with them is an immediate, “I could never do that!” People are interested in what we’re doing, and many even wish they could try it themselves. But instead of pursuing it, they automatically focus on all the reasons why Read More

Gardening Mistakes, Lessons, and More

The last couple weeks here at Iveyshire have been packed full. Between the usual mom-of-three duties, working on the garden, spring cleaning inside and out, and trying to maintain some semblance of a social life, I’ve been pretty consistently exhausted. Maybe it’s my personality, or anxiety, or the combination of too much coffee and too Read More

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