As we hunker down for winter and prep for Thanksgiving this coming week I thought I'd do a little write up on what the fall activities have been this past month here at the farm. As all homesteaders know, there is a constant need to upgrade and 'optimize' the utility of the farm; particularly space … Continue reading The Goings On At The Farm
The crisp cool air is settling in here in the Smokies. Wood burning stoves are active as smoke and fog (it's hard to tell as they look the same) nestle across the valley floors. The leaves are beginning to turn though only in the early fall color varieties. This morning I have the wood cook … Continue reading Fall Is Wild – Insightful Times In Our Lives
It's been a while since I've blogged as we have been so busy here at HiBar Ranch. June was crazy as we were preparing for family for the fourth of July week. Our theme was "Look Closer". It was the message my husband's Grandfather always shared with him when he was young to instill a … Continue reading The Summer Rages On But For Us Harvest Season Has Started!
Well, it's Sunday and I am taking a little break from farm chores to pen a note to you all about the goings on around here. To say things have been insane has been an understatement. With the construction going on at the farm....to say the lumber spike in prices have not been shocking, is … Continue reading Sunday! Fuel Shortage! Oh, My!
I haven't blogged in a while as we have been so busy here at the farm. I'll tell you why. Well, we bought a cow named Rosie. We raise our own beef for the freezer. The friend we bought her from said she isn't breeding so best to let her come to us for our … Continue reading Such A Busy Spring!! Plus Foal and Calf Coming Soon.
We have been so busy this spring at the farm. Well, the first day of spring is tomorrow so I guess it's better to say "late winter." Over the last few months we've been tending greatly to all the new lambs and kids in the barn along with baby chicks and baby turkeys. We have … Continue reading Busy Spring – An Update On Goings On At The Farm
It was finally sunny and warm today at the farm. The luffa gourds and bird house gourds have been seed started and are doing great. Today I went into my art studio to make a gourd requested by a client. I love the approach of keeping the natural colors visible in the gourd where the … Continue reading Had A Fun Time Creating A Custom Gourd For A Client Today – From Our Gourds
We have been busy with lots of babies here at HiBar Ranch. It started with a litter of Australian Shepherd puppies end of November and now we have 10 little kids in the barn and 2 baby lambs. It's a challenge due to the unexpected cold spell that is sweeping the nation right now keeping … Continue reading Video Of New Babies In The Barn & More On Navajo Churro Sheep
It's Valentines Day and what a fun day to make soap. Here are a few shots of our soap curing that we actually have made over the last couple of days that we are continuing to let cure, cut and dry and are finishing processing today. We raise dairy goats and use the buttermilk for … Continue reading Making Soap – Goats Milk Soap Day
My daughter and I have been delving deeply into eco-dyeing - using natural materials from our farm to create art for apparel and more. I posted recently how we used the black walnut hulls at our farm to create a gorgeous natural walnut dye and indigo. Today we did a photo shoot of the final … Continue reading Creating Beauty At HiBar Ranch – How Our Eco-Dyeing Worked Out & More
We've had really cold sub freezing temperatures here in the Smokies over the last few weeks and it will get worse this weekend. We have had days of snow this last week and also have snow in the forecast for two more weeks off and on. It is such a challenge right now as all … Continue reading Trying To Keep The Babies Alive In This Insane Cold Spell
So we have a bunch of babies in the house and chicks in my gym bathroom LOL. Yes it's that time of year. Here is a cute video I took from today with the puppies playing with our pet house baby goat Clyde. You'll love this and it will make your heart pitter patter. https://youtu.be/B0q0-5g8q4M
It's early this morning. About 4 am: A little later when I finally post this. I am sitting by my wood cook stove here at the farm drinking my coffee and pondering. My mind is racing as it often does this time of year. Do I have all the seeds ordered I need for my … Continue reading Making Homemade Buttermilk Goat Tallow Soap From Our Farm
My daughter and I made natural medicine today at our farm for Chloe's company ReWild Co. She makes natural products to rewild her generation reconnecting them to nature and natural things. Here is our journey today making lemon balm chapstick and salve from our infused lemon balm we grow here at our farm, our bees … Continue reading Making Lemon Balm Salve and Lemon Balm Chapstick Today At The Farm
Today my daughter and I made natural dyes using indigo and our black walnut husks from our farm. We did it over a wood cook stove to heat the walnut husks for several hours. This was the result of our days work.
I am always so happy and so sad when our puppies leave. But, it is so wonderful to meet the new owners of our puppies and see how much these puppies fill the lives of their new owners with love. This last week all our puppies went to their new owners - from New Mexico, … Continue reading Our Beautiful Fall Litter (Nov. 2020) Of Australian Shepherds Are All At Their New Homes
Now more than ever consumers have shifted their focus from mass produced to sustainable and naturally sourced products. Over the last few years the profound value of goats milk is becoming increasingly understood and appreciated. Cleopatra was said to bath in goats milk soap regularly to maintain her radiant beauty. The benefits of goat's milk soaps comes … Continue reading Our Farm’s Goat Milk For Soap: Sustainably and Naturally Sourced
Today was a fun day creating with my daughter who runs a company out of our multi-generational farm. Her company is called ReWild Co. and you can go to her website at re-wild-company.com. It is a lifestyle company with apparel, apothecary and wildcrafting/home decor that connects people back to - stay raw stay wild. We … Continue reading Organic Buttermilk Goat Soap Making Today & Designed A Black Walnut Hourglass
2021 is here! Wow, today is the start of a whole new year. I am happy about that. We grow gourds for art that we sell and you will see them in local galleries in the near future. I wanted to take some time to show you, as today is the start of a whole … Continue reading Creating Indigenous Gourd Art At Our Farm
Part of our passion is to live in a way that does no harm. Recycling waste products is a passion for us at the farm. Today, in similar fashion, my daughter and I are making paper out of the grain bags. This custom paper art is a passion as each piece of paper is made … Continue reading Recycle – Repurpose – ReUse: Making Handmade Paper
The sky is clear bright baby blue. The air is crisp. It's not above freezing yet. I bundle up with my dog Ruby and my camera as I do chores. I am giving her a break from her puppies (she just had a litter Nov. 24th) as they always want her feeding them. She is … Continue reading A Day With Ruby And My Camera At Our Snow Covered Farm
We had a wonderful time with the little puppies over Christmas. They were born Nov. 24th and are now one month old. We got a lot of video over Christmas Day as that was how we spent our day, frolicking on the floor with the little critters. Here is the latest video with their fluffy … Continue reading Here’s Our Latest On Our Little Bundles Of Joy! #Aussie #AustralianShepherdPuppies
Wow. It has arrived, Christmas. Mike and I are so thankful for the blessing the Lord has bestowed upon us this year. We want to wish each of you a wonderful Christmas and holiday season where ever and how ever you celebrate it. We spent our last few days in the workshop (Santa's Workshop), making … Continue reading Merry Christmas To All From Us At HiBar Ranch
I have been managing numerous websites and video blogs and have decided to consolidate them due to the time and costs of maintaining them. As of Dec. 31st I will only be running this website and our Rumble Channel: HiBarRanch. My Old Ways Virtual Classroom program is also on Rumble called: OldWaysVirtualClassroom. I am shutting … Continue reading We Are Moving To Rumble Dec. 31st And Consolidating Websites – FYI Readers
We did a fairly large renovation of our Victorian farmhouse when we moved to Tennessee. The reason was, we raise our own food and needed a very functional food processing environment inside the home. It was a somewhat formal home and had no fireplaces. We needed more space for food preservation and also seed starting. … Continue reading Best Homestead Kitchens – What You Need In A Homestead Kitchen
My husband and I decided to do a tiny cabin build this year and have been spending summer and fall building it. We did a time lapse of it that you can watch here: https://rumble.com/vc47x1-time-lapse-off-grid-tiny-cabin-build-in-the-smoky-mountains-i-husband-and-w.html?mref=3d2zr&mc=338or
As I shared in my last blog, I miss writing. I love blog writing but have been doing more videos this year. I have to say that while I like video, I much prefer beautiful photography and writing more. So, with that, I am going to begin writing again here at the blog about life … Continue reading Reflecting Back On 2020 Here At The Farm
Hi all. Here are the cutest pictures of the puppies from today. We still have two blue merle boys for sale if you're interested. Check out the photo gallery below.
I decided after a few years to start a blog again this year. I had a farm website where I blogged quite often and had a fairly large following but it took a great deal of time while simultaneously running an organic farm. I closed down that web blog. After a few years I really … Continue reading It’s Been Quite A Year: Thanks For Following Our Blog! (Visitors from 50 countries)
We love creating art here from the raw materials at the farm. Here are some of the gourd projects I was working on yesterday utilizing our birdhouse gourds, antlers, turkey feathers, pine cones and more. This is such a fun and creative outlet. These products will be sold through our daughter's new company ReWild Co. … Continue reading Creating Beautiful Gourds From Our Farm’s Bounty (Samples)
Howdy folks. Well, it's that time of year again - puppy season. So, we've shot a bunch of video this week capturing the cute puppies. There are two blue merle boys still available. Contact us if you are interested. We also update on the tiny house project and the custom Christmas presents we are doing … Continue reading Tons Of New Puppy Video From Today & Tiny House Update Part 20
Here is our latest #TNTinyHouse2020 progress. We address the finishing of installing off grid solar to the solar shed and tiny cabin. Also we show the latest on the interior of the tiny cabin. This video link is to Rumble. We ask that you subscribe to our Rumble Channel 'HiBarRanch'. We will after this video … Continue reading Our Latest Tiny House Video – Also We Have Moved To Rumble From Now On FYI
Well I'd like to introduce you to total cuteness. Here is our fall Australian Shepherd puppy litter. We are letting our customers pick which ones they want and show samples of the previous litter and how their coloring evolved as they grew. We hope you love the video! https://rumble.com/vbg1rp-new-puppies-pick-your-favorite-puppy-i-australian-shepherds.html?mref=3d2zr&mc=338or
Hi All! Well, Ruby is literally having her puppies right now as we speak. I did a quick video putting together clips of the first few puppies being born in between her contractions and next puppy coming out. LOL. Enjoy the cuteness!! Click link below picture to watch the video. https://rumble.com/vbe9k1-watch-live-australian-shepherd-puppies-being-born.html?mref=3d2zr&mc=338or
Howdy folks, are you wanting to know the status of our Australian Shepherd puppy litter? Well, here is the latest! We are on youtube but have just set up a new Rumble channel (it's like youtube). We hope you follow us there as there is much more interactivity and lack of latency etc. due to … Continue reading Puppy Update!!! Nov. 23, 2020 Hear The Latest
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