Maid-N-Meadows: Fall 2022 Update

         

     "We have come a long way, baby!", but somehow this year felt particularly challenging. Lol, I guess adding an expensive pasteurizer, a flock of sheep, more chores, more cheese, new recipe development and a first employee, probably has something to do with it. There was more fighting this year, fewer family suppers, and just over all exhaustion. I think when energies run low and there feels like no reprieve, tempers running short shouldn't be a surprise. The oldest children really held things together this year. They were the rock and foundation.

        That sounds crazy, to me because I never wanted or expected my children to be the foundation of our business operations. I wanted them to help, sure! But I wanted them to have a life of their own and seek out their own opportunities. Both Karson (17) and Jaden (15) pulled weight no one expected and well beyond expectations, while also holding a strict boundary of Sundays off. 

     They did the work they knew how to do and did it well, in a predictable fashion. And this is what held everything together this year! While Daniel and I burned out regularly, became unpredictable, and erratic in our function as we burned the candle at both ends, they were the turtles that just kept on marching toward the goal. They worked when they needed to and rested when they should have....and just basically showed up the adults in common sense when it comes to work life balance.

       Jaden brought home another blue ribbon for her cheddar to top it all off!

      Remember that pasteurizer?! Well, its 100 gallons bigger than we first intended! It arrived in July but the probes for the temperature recorder didn't arrive until October! So, we have yet to use it in a full run yet. But that has to happen fast now as we only had a year to complete the project, per the USDA grant. Its a bit overwhelming! But think of the fun stuff we can do with it! I can't wait for fresh mozzarella and cheese spreads galore!We can finally up our output too! 500 gallons of milk can be processed in a day!

       A few sheep are lambing and there is fencing to do. There are so many repairs on barns and fence posts....the garden fence needs repair. Our spring house roof is literally falling off! 😂 Laugh with us so we don't cry! This winter isn't going to prove much of a rest. But we have put our foot down, and the family is eating together again. Family movies are happening again. And life is just more cooperative and together in general. I guess we just needed a season of strife to remind us how much value we have in the slower pace. Karson will finally be moving in his own direction this summer. The younger boys are going to move up in responsibility, and somehow, we adults need to rebalance how we handle it all. Throw us some pointers if ya got any! Winter is a good time to chew on things like that.

The girls....chewing in the barn!

Family Get Aways Are Family Memories

            

      It has really been a crazy year on the farm. Lots of ups and downs but mostly lots of work. I wanted the family to get out and camp this year, but spring chores can be up to 8 hours a day. It just isn't feasible to leave under those conditions, especially when most of the chores revolve around caring for vulnerable, young animals. It's so easy to miss when they start heading down hill! It's just not responsible to leave them in someone else's care for more than a day, unless one is lucky enough to have an experienced animal care giver.

       So we worked hard this year but didn't really get a chance to build any good memories as a family. Lucky for us, the campgrounds clear out in the fall. Since we homeschool year-round, we have a lot of flexibility when it comes to school vacations. So, we booked a family getaway with Homegrown Hideaways! We rented the teepee for one-night, late fall, with the plan to hike Anglin Falls the next day.

        Let me tell you about the glories of Homegrown Hideaways! It's owned by a family, just like us! It's situated on a small farm in the back country of Berea, Kentucky. If you love alternative buildings, this place has all kinds....treehouses, yurts, strawbale experimental, and simple wood shacks. LOL, and of course the tee pee! They have some outhouses, but also toilets with running water and showers. There is a community building where you can cook and eat if you are too tired to cook over an open fire, or if you need a place to escape the mosquitos in July!

        Our children were so excited to try out the tee pee! When we arrived, we set to work finding downed wood and building a fire. The tee pee easily holds 10 people. It has a gravel floor but there is a vinyl mat that fits most sleeping bags. I would recommend a few more mats if you are bringing more than 4 children. 

         Anyway, with a fire under way we cooked frozen pizza, chicken soup, and sausage over the open fire. Solar string lights come on at around 7/7:30 and give light inside until 9. We had a glorious time! The children declared the fire cooked pizza the best they had ever eaten.

         The next day we made our way to Anglin Falls. The owners of Homegrown Hideaways highly recommended it and it did not disappoint. It was the perfect hike for a family with so many skill levels. The toddlers were able to transverse the entire hike without being carried, while the big boys moved ahead with walkie talkies.

        The falls were not running due to this year's low rainfall, but the rocks at the end are just perfect. Not too dangerous for rambunctious boys, but enough adventure to get them excited about the outdoors. We climbed around and enjoyed the view for a bit and still made it back to the car without carrying toddlers, for the most part. The weather was beautiful, and it wasn't too busy. My kind of nature experience!

         Then we headed home! For a family of our size, it was a fast and cheap getaway. I think we spent around $150 for the food we cooked, lodging, and gas. The best part was we didn't have to put up a tent and take it down and lug it around. I love tent camping, don't get me wrong! But for a one-night stay, it just takes too much time to set up and take down, pack and unpack. I think we could have saved $40 bucks if we had brought it, instead of staying in the teepee, but I think the tradeoff was worth it.

    And hooray for time off with the family! Time is so short! While we get a lot of time together on the farm, its these little memories that give us a break and allow us to reframe, rethink, and redream about what life can be together. :-)

Family Homesteading = Togethering

         What is the number one reason we love farming and homesteading? Two words. "Family Togetherness" If the most important and valuable thing we do in our lives is family bonds and relationships, then I want more of that! When I ask myself what will really matter in 100 years, my answer is the time I spent with my children and the impact that will have in their lives and the next generations'.

Maid-N-Meadows: Fall Update 2019

  Fall sure has been a doozy! I don't know about anyone else, but the heat combined with no rain turned our pastures into dust! Our cows suffered and so did our milk production! But that wasn't our biggest challenge of the season. As soon as we started to experience a cool down and a bit of rain, we got hit with a family crisis.....one that would take a month to recover from.

                                

Baby Elora on CPAP, under a heat lamp. She was 18 inches long and weighed 4lbs 10oz.

   

Why We Started Maid-N-Meadows

           I have been sharing some of our journey in the cheese business, but I thought today I should share some of the personal reasons of why we actually started this journey to begin with. What really pushed us forward was a time of crisis in our family and marriage....this business, was actually born out of a serendipitous opportunity in a time of insane uncertainty. While our friends were supportive, there was no getting around that given the stress we were relating to, this was a rather risky time to invest in such a huge undertaking.

Early label design!

           Looking back though, I think the business was a beacon of hope. It was something that we could build together, even though at that moment  we had forgotten how to work together. The efforts we have undertaken to make our family stronger were and are valiant ones. But this business is still in the early stages and the hours are rough. I still look back in wonder at how far we have come, but I still wonder about the path forward!

Family Gardening! Tips and Tactics To Battle The Weeds!

           

  It is July and we have squash coming out of our ears! After spending our summers driving to Windsor's cheese facility for the past two years, this year we had a garden. And not just any garden! Oh no, it is the biggest garden we have had in 10 years! Go big or bust right? It has been a challenge to keep up with it while we were working on our home facility, but Karson has the farming bug, especially if it involves some kind of engine.....tractor, tiller....He wanted to try some larger scale growing to share produce this year with the hopes that he can sell a little next year.
              So with about 60 hills of watermelon, 10 hills of butternut, 50 hills of cantaloupe, 50 lbs of potatoes, 65 tomato plants, and a lot of corn, keeping the weeds back has been a battle. But I thought I would share the various techniques we use to keep the fight to a minimum.

Simple Meets Plain

        We traveled to Michigan this month and made a rendezvous that has been in the works for about 2 years! It was very momentous for our family. As I told the Millers, "We have met Quakers and we have friends who are plain, but we have never met anyone with both qualities at the same time!". This was a super, special meeting!

Baby Blessings!

     The joys of children! Truly, I can't think of a greater gift from the Lord than the gift of a child-biological or  adopted. Children bring joys and tests. They bring accountability and vision to our lives...for them and us. They teach us patience, organization, mediation, and cooperation. The list goes on. We see the world stripped of pretence when we look through their eyes. The ordinary becomes extraordinary when we get down to there level and explore.
     Truly we are blessed to experience the bliss of new life coming through us. With glad rejoicing we present, Gideon.