Yes. We. CAN! (Lauren)

Howdy, everybody (or possibly those three people who occasionally check this blog to see if we've posted anything new).

It's been a long while since I've written to you guys and I'm sorry. I was gone all summer for an internship in Pennsylvania! It was fun and I learned so much! But I also didn't have Internet where I was staying. If there is interest in what I was doing over the summer, just make a comment or two and I'll maybe make a post about it! (**Spoiler alert: it has to do with bio-fuel crops and science**)

But that is not what I came here to write to you about...

New Term For a New Calling (Austin)

As Lauren and I have been endeavoring to homestead and look into shaping our vision, we've done a lot of adapting and growing of what we want to build. But lately it's become much more than just being sustainable in our own right. The best way I can think to say it is that God is not leading us to build a mere homestead; rather, He is revealing to us a vision of what I call a farmstead.

Farmstead Vision: Mob Stocking? (Austin)

This video is a gem to me. It didn't take very long into researching sustainable livestock management to run into the concept of Holistic Mob Stocking. I understood basic concepts of it and was aware of some benefits as well as some of the most noted names in the field, but I didn't have much understanding of what the finer points were to this system. Well yesterday I found it, and to boot it's by one of the most successful Mob Stocking employers in the country and in the world.
His name is Greg Judy and his primary operation is beef cattle in Columbia, Missouri. If you're at all interested in livestock management, environmental restoration, quality food, or sustainable agriculture then I strongly recommend you spend the 75 minutes to watch this video. This stuff is amazing.

New Internet! (Austin)

I'm back! Finally moved back into town a week.5 ago and am finally getting settled in with enough time to start updating y'all on my experiences on the orchard this last month of June. Lauren continues to miss out on the fun while on internship in Pennsylvania for the summer, so it'll just me be for the next month or so until she can get back. But there's plenty to tell about so I'm gonna get started on it with some back-dated videos I took at the farm that will mostly end up on the Facebook page. There's about six of 'em total, most are less than a minute so check Facebook to find them. Don't worry, I'll have a few that you can easily find here too :) Starting with this one! Just a little knowledge and a trivia for your afternoon. Y'all have a great weekend!

Guest Post for the Sustainable Couple

Last week I was featured as a guest blogger for The Sustainable couple, a couple that also lives in Iowa and has a much more impressive blog and following. They are interested specifically in our rabbiting endeavors as it is a unique topic to their readership, so here is the post I shared with them. You can read it by following this link. Hopefully if enough people show interest in the subject (wink wink, nudge nudge) they'll continue wanting to hear from us and we can share our passion for stewarding Creation with more than just our personal friends and family :)

http://www.thesustainablecouple.com/2014/05/video-exploration-of-urban-meat-rabbit.html

I Finally Got It Right! (Austin)

Remember how the rabbit tractor was long, cumbersome, and incomplete? Well I decided to follow a hunch and am very glad with how it turned out. Here is a video update for you on the rabbits, the kits, and the new facility that I've been building the last two days. Between the fact that I actually measured and marked my cuts, drilled lead holes before placing my screws, and used uniform lumber I think the difference shows and I am extremely proud of how it turned out. It is lighter, it looks better (not a necessity, but it is a nice change of pace), and I like the box setup more than what I built for Fabio and Appa. I put the box on the side of the tractor but kept it raised off the ground to avoid too much condensation and frost. Without double-tapping a dead horse, here is the video so you can see it for yourself. As I said, I am very please and proud of how it turned out :)

Couscous, Peppers, Chicken, and Gravy? OH MY! (Lauren)

Look! I'm writing posts about food! Soooo, anyone who likes food (which should be everyone) should read this post. It might note be everyone's cup of tea but, it's an easy recipe to modify and make into a delicious dish of your own!

Pastured Rabbit Ops (Austin)

CAUTION: This post is long and extremely informative. If you'd just like the 10 peso version (props if you get the reference), you can click on the link below and watch the video without all the supplementary info. If you care to understand why we're starting to do it the way we are, you should read the whole thing.

Spring so far has been pretty rainy. So when the last two days cleared up and turned out beautiful, I couldn't help but go work outside. The video below is to show you what we've been working on. Surprise! More about the rabbits. But it's a little early for the garden yet since we're not quite past the projected last frost date for our area (early-mid May), so the rabbits have been the priority. The link below gives you the idea, but it's two days old and more of the work got done today and the project was actually finished so I'll let you watch it then read about what we got going since the video was filmed.

One Down, One to Go! (Austin)

One of our two expecting does has given birth! Georgia began pulling fur yesterday morning and by sundown yesterday she had an occupied nest! Below is a link to the low-quality video courtesy of my cell phone giving you the update. Now we are just waiting on this not-so-little lady to give us her first litter.

Appa also had three matings with Fabio two days ago, so in about another month there should be some more kits born. We are excited for this great start to the season and are looking forward to seeing the differences each mother lends to their kits. Ain't Spring great?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYDX8ucdTTE&feature=youtu.be

UPDATE: No sooner did I publish this and go outside to work on the tractor than did I see that Jane is pulling fur to make a nest. Which means that if she's like her sister she's like to kindle by the end of tonight but definitely within the next two days. The Lord is good and has seen fit to put my doubts to rest with our new mother doe. He gives me great hope every day for the aspirations before Lauren and I and continues to amaze me with the processes of nature He created.

Halfway There! (Austin)

As y'all know, I've been working on the rabbit tractor with my free time lately. I just started a new part-time job that has me currently training at full-time hours so my free time to work on the tractor has been pretty minimal this week. But I'm here with a video update on the progress so you can see how it's coming along! I apologize for the mediocre camera-work and my tendency to ramble, but please try to see past it. Here is the Youtube link for your update, stay tuned as the tractor gets finished and the garden gets started in the next few weeks!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0F-yXcEMT8&feature=youtu.be

Bring the Spring! (Austin)

I really like winter. A beautiful snow fall, great time with family for Christmas, snuggling up next to a fire, and now having gotten engaged to a wonderful lady in the midst of falling snow really endears the season to my heart :)
But I am so glad this winter is finally leaving. I've developed quite a cabin fever since I'm off school this semester and it's been far too cold to enjoy normal winter activities at length. So I had lots of time to begin planning the homestead's agenda for Spring, and I am very excited that now is the time to begin preparing for the pending projects.

Partaking in Seedy Behavior (Lauren)

It's finally warming up here in Iowa! The past week has been above zero and a couple of days have gotten above freezing. You know what that means! SPRING IS COMING! That means Austin and I looked through the Seed Savers' catalog and chose some plants that we wanted to try this season.

It's Rabbit Season! (Austin)

Well, it seems the record-setting winter starting off the year is finally waning. To celebrate the forty-plus degree temperatures yesterday, we got the rabbits out into the Redneck Express 2.0 for the first time in 2014. Also, to celebrate, I enjoyed a cigar. I documented yesterday's excursion in the following video.

Meet Appa! Our newest family member. (Lauren)

Recently, one of Austin's friends from To Write Love on Her Arms (TWLOHA), told Austin some sad news. She was moving away and could not take her full-blooded, black New Zealand buck with her!

The Aquapon Revealed! .....and some pictures of food (Austin)

So I announced last fall that I was going to build an aquapon for year-round indoor gardening and meat production of fish. Despite all the setbacks, frustrations, and money spent, I am finally ready to show you how it looks and proudly announce that it is done. While aspects of it have been functioning fine on their own for a while, not until now have I considered the whole system fully operational. Once I can find my elusive video camera, I will give you a video that walks through the whole thing. But without further ado, here it is!

Another Year (Austin)

Well, another year has come and gone. And with it we've had times; some good, some not so good. But God has blessed us with another year to see and endeavor towards His purpose for us, so for the good and the bad I regard the last year as a blessing. And this year is going to be another one of those. What's been happening so far since the start of 2014? Glad you asked. There's a few goings-on happening lately that I'm proud to bring to your attention.

He Popped the Question! (Finally) (Lauren)

Hello Friends, Family, Followers, and Strangers!

As you can guess from the title (if you didn't know BEFORE this post) Austin proposed to me! (Insert cheers and the laughter of babies here). And for all of you "What'd you say?" smart alecks out there, I said yes.