Twin Oaks Ranch

06/22/2024

UPDATE: I FOUND A WILLING VICTIM (aka tester) besides myself today and BOTH of us really like the sunscreen. We have both agreed that when applied to one side of our body and not the other we could absolutely tell the hot rays were not contracting the skin on the test side. After one application and hours in the sun were both burn free (please be advised neither of us are fair skin but we do burn). I’m going to expand my test subjects to a couple more people and get their thoughts. I think I’m going to sell this soon!

It’s 92 degrees and sunny. What’s the obvious plan? Stay inside, find a pool, relocate some place where it’s never warmer than 75 degrees and never colder than 30 degrees…. OR

DECIDE TO MAKE SUNSCREEN THAT DOESN’T INCLUDE ZINC OXIDE AND STAND IN THE SUN

I couldn’t resist that last option now could I? I mean why when I spend every day in a hot industrial shop physically working on heavy equipment would I want to stay someplace cool on a Saturday?

So here goes nothing. My reasoning for this idiocy is as follows, everyone puts zinc oxide in their sunscreen, even the homemade people. I don’t like zinc oxide. Do your own research, but for me the fact that it has side effects and causes inflammation is a no go.

So I’ve been working on my own formula that is 40 SOF and uses oils, not chemicals. Most people don’t know that many oils have the ability to block bad UV rays, allow good UV rays (so you soak up vitamin D and get a nice glow) and bonus, they all repair your skin too.

So far my thoughts are as follows: I am able to see it on my skin as my skin is a bit shiny but not so shiny you’d think greasy. I’m not able to feel it, I’m not sticky and as I’ve got actual sweat dripping off me and still see and feel it it’s holding up after 2 full hours out here moving on the farm. I’m also not considered about side effects or chemicals and that makes me smile.

Downside, it’s thinner than the normal consistency of body butter I make and that’s weird to me. It’s also not cheap to acquire or produce the ingredients.

I’ll update later to let you know my final thoughts.

06/13/2024

An “organic, pasture raised” store bought egg verse our organic, corn free, soy free, pasture raised egg.

Any questions as to why we threw that out?

06/07/2024

We’ve been quiet. We’re still on high alert constantly and it’s exhausting.

That said, life continues and renews. We’re welcoming new babies and doing our best to enjoy the moments of peace.

05/21/2024

This post does not find us well.

To whom ever you are, you have trespassed on this property six times that I know of. Today you cost me the life of one of my animals. You baited that animal up to a gate and you opened that gate and let it loose. It resulted in the death of one of our emus, added to that, your actions endangered the lives of my friends, my family and a stranger who is now a friend as she stopped to help.

You have broken my heart, I suspect that you’re the reason one of my Livestock Guardian dogs was let out and killed a month and a half ago.

For the first time in my life, I have padlocked my gates closed. It’s a sick attempt to protect my animals from you because in the event of an emergency they are now locked in and we have to pray I can open the gate fast enough.

You are the reasons that I don’t like other humans. I took a life today, a needless act. I’m considering selling this farm today and letting it become a development. A piece of property that I love so much that I willingly put every bit of my time, resources and energy into may become a development or solar farm. We’ve had offers for both, we’ve declined them but today I’m thinking hard.

Today I’m thinking that the healthy food, the healthy lifestyle and the option to not have chemicals in your body isn’t worth my time for someone like you.

Today I consider you a threat to my way of life and my wellbeing. I hope your actions made you happy. I hope you realize that when I find out who you are, my actions will also make me happy..



05/16/2024

05/13/2024

Last one till fall!!!!!

05/12/2024

Happy Mother’s Day to our mom’s and our farm mom’s!

We spent the afternoon making my mom a mushroom garden and then working on more fencing runs for our rotation grazing.

Hope you all had a wonderful day!

05/09/2024

Being part of the family I have made means you realize that at some point I’ll name an animal after you.

In my world that’s the equivalent of you being recognized as a God or Goddess, there is no higher honor. Ask my best friend as I’ve named a pig for her, a goat after my brother and the list goes on….

Today, we welcomed our newest full blood heifer. Her name; RonniMae 😂

Welcome to the world sweet girl!

05/08/2024

What regenerative agriculture looks like!

05/08/2024

Final market for me until fall!!!!!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
🪴 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬 🪴
𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐚, 𝐌𝐈 | 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟏𝟗 | 𝟏𝟕𝟓 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐬
𝐀𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬 | 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐑𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 | 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜
𝙼𝚘𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝙱𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜 • 𝚂𝚗𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚜 • 𝙷𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎
𝙷𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝙳𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛 • 𝙵𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 • 𝙰𝚛𝚝 • 𝙿𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚜
ᴘᴇʀᴍᴀɴᴇɴᴛ ᴊᴇᴡᴇʟʀʏ | ᴛʀᴜᴄᴋᴇʀ ʜᴀᴛ ʙᴀʀ | ᴄʜᴀʀᴍ ʙᴀʀ

🛍️ 𝐁𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 🛍️
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Mark your calendars for 𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝙺𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟏𝟗, 𝙲𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎𝚊, 𝙼𝙸, 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟕𝟓 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐬

📣Early Bird Tickets are available here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/780332554677?aff=oddtdtcreator. 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝟏 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐝! 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐛 𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝!

05/06/2024

A word from our wonderful farm.

Please remember, you are what YOUR FOOD EATS. Let that sink in. If your food ate grain full of glyphosate, soy, fertilizer, antibiotics and vaccines then you are now full of all of those things too!

“Know what you’re buying.” This picture has store beef(left), and farm beef(right). There is an obvious visible difference between the two but the differences don’t stop there!

1. You may notice the color difference in the picture. The store bought is pumped full of additives and preservatives, including propyl gallate, to protect against spoilage due to long term air exposure.

2. There isn’t a guarantee of where that beef came from, OR how many cows are in it.

Yes, it may have the USDA label on it but as long as that animal was packaged in the US, it can be called a Product of the USA.

And yes, the meat in the left package is not from one single cow, rather scraps from multiple cows. It may have come from Argentina, Canada, or Brazil.

3. The beef on the right is fresher, darker and is farm raised beef. It is filled with more nutrients & flavor. The ground is also from one cow and not just low quality scraps from multiple cows.

4. When buying your beef from a local Farmer/Rancher, you are helping to buy a little girl dance shoes or a little boy baseball gear. Buying from the store just lines the pockets of the already wealthy meat packers.

Let’s help each other. We help you eat healthy, you help us provide for our families.

Buy from a local ranch/farm!

05/06/2024

05/03/2024

I have two spots for you to spread out and shop in! Come check out Finders Keepers Vintage Market in Maumee this Sunday!!!!

05/02/2024

I ❤️ Maumee! Can’t wait to see you this Sunday! I’ll have really great gift bags available for all the Mom’s out there who need a gift that is healthy and helpful!

04/30/2024

Our first registered Boer doe born on the farm today. She needs a good name.

04/28/2024

At the risk of sounding impolite, over six months ago I posted that the farm is no longer open to visitors or shoppers.

We have a website where you are able to place and pay for orders. You are able to select in person pick up and within 24 hours your order will be in our pick up area.

I have a job that pays my bills and the bills generated by this farm.

We are a small, sustainable, regenerative, organic, no till farm. That means we do NOT take government subsidies because we don’t believe in planting what we’re told and poisoning you with your food. This means I have to work a lot in order to pursue my passion because it isn’t cheap. Most weeks total over 70 hours. It’s not fair that people expect me to drop what I’m doing, go fill their order on the same day they place it and also make myself available to meet them. This doesn’t work and it’s a ridiculous expectation that would never be asked of someone that wasn’t small business.

As this is becoming a very common and unrealistic expectation I would like to be very clear. This is my home. I have a website, two pick up locations and shipping available. I’m at every Finders Keepers Vintage Market for you throughout the year. I require 24 hour notice for all pick up orders and they will be in the pick up area.

Please respect my privacy, my home, my time and my farm the way you would expect me to respect yours.

I’ll link the website in the comments.

Picture of Merle & Haggard because they’re cute!

04/26/2024

I got one good picture of the babies.

Then I got the rest of these gems

04/20/2024

Let’s talk foraging!

It has become abundantly clear to me recently that most people have no idea the amount of food that lives around them. Today, we’re starting with an easy one.

WILD GARLIC aka garlic onions

This particular varietal, called allium canadense, produces rich, green tube-like stems similar to chives. They’re easy to identify since they tower over the grass and stink like onions.

Wild garlic looks similar to two toxic plants. The first is death camas, which are deadly to humans and most animals. However, death camas do not typically grow in Michigan, preferring warmer, humid climates.

The other similar-looking greens you’ll want to avoid are daffodil shoots. Newly budded daffodil stems, when consumed, can cause diarrhea, vomiting, and severe abdominal pain. Neither of the two toxic plants has the telltale pungent odor of wild garlic, making them easier to avoid while foraging.

Because these plants are so hardy, remaining green through harsh winters, they’re essentially the die-hard of weeds. Trying to pull them from the surface will prove both frustrating and futile. Rather, you’ll need to dig them up and remove all the bulblets from the ground.

Since we’re not dealing with pesticides on our property it’s easy enough to wash wild garlic in cool water to rinse off the dirt or any critters that may be hiding out in the roots or stems. Do this outside in a bowl of water.

Before and during the cutting process, remove the outer skins. They peel easily, saving you time with cleaning. Any brown or dead ends will easily peel off as well. I like to separate the bulbs and stems, cutting the stems into fine bits with my kitchen scissors.

Then, the sky’s the limit with preparing and preserving wild garlic. To dehydrate wild garlic, spread finely chopped green stems on a baking sheet lined with parchment, and place them in the oven on warm (160-180 degrees) for 20-40 minutes. Or you can spread them on a plate lined with a paper towel to air dry overnight.

I’ve enjoyed dehydrated wild garlic bits in homemade ramen, stir fry, and smashed potatoes. Fresh wild garlic can also be substituted for store-bought garlic or ramps in just about any garlic butter recipe.

Allium canadense does have similar nutritional value to humans as allium sativum — the garlic you see every day in stores.

Happy foraging!

04/16/2024

When you’re trying to bottle feed the babies and all of a sudden you have no bottle!

04/15/2024

Jackson, to say you humbled me doesn’t describe yesterday.

From 10 am to 11 am all I heard was “I came here early because I saw that you would be here.” I heard that statement at least 27 times and honestly there were so many of you that I don’t think I properly thanked everyone in person.

So thank you, for the support, for the encouragement and for the inspiration. You all make me better and make me strive to continue being better. You are appreciated.

04/13/2024

Back for tomorrow!!!! The Great Lakes Summer Scents!

NEW for tomorrow, three nut free scents made with apricot oil. Available in scent free, tea leaves & to***co as well as Lilac & Lemon 🍋

See you in Jackson!

04/13/2024

Here come the chocolate drops!!!!

Chocolate sweetgrass turkeys!!!! YAY!!!!

04/13/2024

Freep Film Festival and Frame did NOT disappoint tonight!

What an incredible experience and the best ending ever with the viewing of Common Ground.

04/12/2024

SUNDAY!!!! Come check out Jackson!!!

04/10/2024

It’s poult season! We have 15 so far