Meet our new roomie

Happy March, Subscriber First Name

We’ve got a roomie…

We are so happy to welcome Nurse Robyn Potter, one of Nathaniel’s sisters, to Big Rock Ranch! She is starting off as a travel nurse in our local hospital system’s ICU. We have been enjoying so much yummy food, ranch chores, and hikes with Auntie Robyn.

This Spring and early Summer we will get her settled into her tiny house here at the ranch!

The shell was completed by Nathaniel in 2018 and now the time has come for the inside to be completed, transforming a beautiful structure into a cozy, welcoming home for its owner and newest Big Rock resident!


Nathaniel and Robyn on her Tiny’s porch in May of 2018. Freshly nestled into place.

The weather has given us pockets of snow and wind and warm and calm. A nice mixture to see us through to the real start of Spring coming so soon. Already the days are long; we are finding ourselves in an abundance of eggs!

Our chicken tractor is back in action. Eight lucky hens have been put to work keeping the earliest weeds eaten and scratched to nothing. We move them 1-2 times each day and they also receive supplemental layer feed, oyster shell, and grit.

Clancy loves to watch the chickens at work.

The remaining flock of 12, including Oliver Lemon the Rooster, remain in their large run and stall off the barn. Robyn loves to give these ladies our fresh food scraps each day!

STARTS! We prepped our 6’x3’ raised beds for the first starts of the year. My mom started these spring greens under lights weeks ago and now their roots are nestled into new soil at Big Rock. We are so excited to start harvesting fresh spring greens. They taste so fresh and are so tender compared to the hearty and sweet wintered over greens that have been nourishing us for months from my mom’s high tunnel! Eating seasonally is so satisfying.

CROCHET! I made my first beanie featuring the bobble stitch which makes that cute puff pattern. It is a bit large and itchy on Clancy’s primarily bald noggin’: he hates it. I am going to try the same pattern in a nice cotton yarn to see if he likes that better since this one turned out so darn cute! I did debate lining it but I think we will pass this on to his cousin who has a full head of hair between his scalp and the wool yarn!

My husband is a YouTuber! Nathaniel recorded all the footage, edited it together, and just uploaded his very first YouTube video! Please go check it out here. I think you will be surprised at how satisfying it is to watch and listen to even if you have zero knowledge of woodworking! He takes raw lumber and mills it into beautiful frames.

Handy Husband! We thought the clutch went out on our tractor. Nathaniel made calls to find a mobile mechanic who works on Zetor tractors; turns out we have a rare tractor. The previous owner is our valued friend and between the two men, they found a damaged hose leading to the master cylinder which the clutch engages. Fluid was not making its way there. They were able to replace the hose from the clutch fluid reservoir to the master cylinder and VIOLA, Zetor is restored!

We have felt the weight of being out a tractor on the ranch in the winter/spring. If it snows too much, who do we call to plow our 1/2 mile driveway? How do we maintain our ditches for summer irrigating? How do we drag our pastures? Manage manure? Compost? How do we move heavy gravel? Feeding our cows larger bales of cow-quality hay to cut the cost of feeding has not been an option as we pay premium prices for premium horse-quality hay.

Not having Zetor running has hurt. We’ve been left vulnerable, falling behind on the ranch maintenance calendar at a crucial time of year. Right now is the race to do all the things before irrigation water is turned on for the season in April!

We are so thankful to our community of friends and family that offer their skills and services to us, slowly expanding our own skill sets and growing our confidence to problem solve.

What I read in February and what Rusty eats…

Thu, Mar 04

February Reading List

It was a short month but I still managed to fit in a couple of books plus extra reading for a new commitment I am making for this first quarter of the year. Enjoy taking a peek at my February Reading

Thu, Feb 25

Homemade Dog Food

Homemade Dog Food made with raw meat and whole food vegetables for our dog with cancer.

Denim Washies Set of 3

Three 100% cotton crochet dishcloths for wiping counters, sticky toddler fingers, and soaking up all the spills. Color Denim.

Made and ready to ship.

$15.00

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Rusty is going on five weeks of corticosteroid treatment and is doing well. He has energy to play ball, hike, and beg for all the food! Check out this blog post if you want to know what Rusty has been eating!

The last batch of dog food I made for him was a 20+ pound batch! I had to mix it in two huge batches in my biggest bowls! We don’t have a large enough scale to weigh him but I can feel that he has gained since his diagnosis which is awesome and not always possible for dogs with cancer.

We are feeling super blessed to have had these past weeks with him being so much like his happy, energetic self and we hope for more to come! Until next newsletter…