Homestead Happenings August 2019

August was a busy month on the farm!

Happy Thor!
We started the month with our Great Pyrenees, Thor, breaking his leg. We took him to our excellent vet, who helped us decide the best plan of action, and Thor is doing so much better! While he’s still bandaged, we caught him running around his pen the other day, and you wouldn’t even know that he was injured! We were worried about him for a few days, and we’re very glad that he seems to have made a full recovery!

Thor

Happy Birthday, Hewitt!
Hewitt turned fifteen on the 13th of August, and got braces the day after that. He’s transitioning from working in the barns to working in the candy kitchen, and has been doing a fantastic job of helping serve lunches and helping Emery with our caramels, fudge, toffee, bark, and more. He’s such a wonderful young man and we’re so very proud of him and all that he accomplishes on a regular basis! We love you, Hewitt!

Hewitt also began his new job in the Candy Kitchen.  He is now spending his time making all of the sweet treats available in the Sweet Shop. The other day he made our delicious Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Caramel Crunch Bars! Here is the video of him making it! 


Mason also celebrated a birthday – the big 25! We’re very thankful to have him in our lives, and look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with him! 

Landon celebrated turning nine months old (already??) and is having the time of his life, learning constantly, and making everyone who sees him smile. We’re so blessed to have him around the farm and love watching him grow!

Happy Birthday, Mason!

Although many went to new homes in August, we still have lots of #GMSKids to snuggle, including one born this month. This is Megatron, an absolutely adorable buckling who has stolen our hearts. How cute is he??

Jade and Megatron

Welcome, Megatron!

He is one of the biggest Nigerian Dwarf baby goats we’ve ever had! He loves prancing around the baby goat pen with his friends and having shoving matches with the other babies. 

Megatron

Megatron

Megatron

We put up so much produce this month, we’re running out of empty jars! 

Cherries!

Cucumbers!

Potatoes!

We filmed a lot of the processing and cooking we did this month. You can find our Homemade Meatloaf video on YouTube or watch our Facebook Live videos to find several other meals we made, including one of our favorite desserts, Bananas Foster

Behind the Scenes
Part of our homeschooling when the children are in their early to mid-teens is an outdoor leadership course with Outward Bound.

Greyden & Hewitt spent two weeks backpacking in the mountains of North Carolina. Greyden’s course also included rockclimbing while Hewitt’s crew spent time whitewater canoeing. Both of them made new friends with crewmates from all over, and had opportunities for personal growth through challenge and adventure in the wilderness.

Greyden and Hewitt off to Outward Bound
Pit Stop
We were all glad to have them back, (they do a lot of work here on the farm!) but especially their older siblings who now had two more brothers with whom they could relive their own Outward Bound experience through countless tales from the trails. Everyone (except me) was jealous that both of the boys on this trip also had bear sightings! I’ll stick to my farm animals.

We did get a second cutting of hay, though we’re not sure if it will be enough hay to last all winter. We had a pretty long drought and it really stunted the growth of the fields. We’re praying that we’ll have enough! 

Lots of Hay!

Hay Day!

Second Cutting of Hay

I had the chance to speak to a new farmers group of US Military Veterans who were brought down by Purdue University. We love showing groups around the farm and it was a blessing to help new farmers who had served to protect the freedoms we enjoy here in America!

PJ Loves to Teach!
Landon has started using his walker to explore the farm. He ran down to the barn to visit the goats, loves going into the kitchen, and takes great pleasure in walking past the windows to see everyone.

Landon Visits the Goats!

Landon Doing Inventory!

Landon Sees Uncle Hewitt!

It was a great month and we are looking forward to the remaining days of summer and the visitors that Fall Break brings!