How To Render Pork Fat Into Lard
On November 18, 2023 by MaryHave you ever rendered your own lard? It can seem a little daunting if you’ve never done it before, but I’m here to tell you it’s super easy and totally worth the effort. “Rendering” is the process of melting solid animal fat to remove impurities, tissue, and extra water content. You start off with big
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A [Great] Day In the Life of Us
On November 10, 2023 by MaryMost days here at Iveyshire are pretty uneventful. We take care of our animals. My husband goes to work. I do homeschooling lessons with the kids. I do laundry and fit in cooking, a million snacks, and the subsequent dishes somewhere in between. But the other day was jam-packed with bona fide homesteading awesomeness. None
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Giving Up Is the Only Sure Way to Fail
On November 7, 2023 by Mary“Giving up is the only sure way to fail.” Gena Showalter wrote that. I don’t really know who she is, because I live under a rock. But she has a point, and that idea is what’s been getting us through the past few months. As a whole, this year has been rough for our little
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Say Hello to the Piglets
On October 13, 2023 by MaryI’m so happy to report that Ethel’s two piglets are alive and well. They’re over three weeks old now, and growing like crazy. Since we’re fairly certain that genetics caused all the issues with our piglets, we decided it would be safer not to use these two for breeding. So once they’re weaned, they’ll go
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A Little Letter to Someone Special
On October 5, 2023 by MaryDear Grandpa Carl, Homesteading has been pretty rough this summer. Some days I question why your grandson and I are trying to make a life out of farming. When I get frustrated, I can hear you in my head matter-of-factly saying, “That’s farming.” Over the past couple months I’ve recalled so many of your stories
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Ethel’s Farrowing: The Final Chapter of the Piglet Saga
On September 23, 2023 by MaryThe last of our three sows, Ethel, had her piglets this week. And thank goodness for that, because the past few weeks have been tiring and disappointing. In my last post, I wrote about Dottie and her two little piglets. Sadly, neither piglet made it through their first week. Ethel’s Piglets Good ol’ Ethel went
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Dottie’s Farrowing: New Girls On the Block
On September 17, 2023 by MaryIn the last piggy post, I wrote about our pig Karen’s farrowing. Unfortunately, she didn’t deliver any live piglets, but since then she’s been doing just fine. Well, our pig Dottie was next in line, and she finally had her piglets this weekend. Story Time She went into labor just as Calvin had to leave
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A Brand New Homesteading Adventure Begins
On September 10, 2023 by MaryBecause we don’t have enough going on with 4 kids, homeschooling, 31 chickens, 2 feeder pigs, 4 breeder pigs, and hopefully piglets any day now… we added another endeavor to our homestead. A couple days ago we brought home… meat chickens! A lot of meat chickens. We’ve had laying hens for a while, but now
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Karen’s Farrowing: The Night I Became a Real Farm Girl
On September 5, 2023 by MaryY’all… I think I can finally call myself a farm girl. Story time!! Happy Labor Day Last night was something else. Before bed, my oldest son and I went down to the barn together to do the evening farm chores. While feeding the pigs, I noticed that Karen (one of our pregnant piggies, pictured below
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Getting Back in the Saddle- With a Baby in Tow
On June 1, 2023 by MaryThe beautiful, sunny month of May brought lots of new beginnings and fresh opportunities to our little homestead. Life since last September has been so difficult, but as I sit here typing with a swaddled newborn sleeping right next to me, I’m ready to keep moving forward. Here’s a few highlights of what’s been happening
