Red Gate Farm

01/18/2025

I’ve been trying my luck at gardening here in FL—-a whole different climate than IL. Bugs really decimated most of my garden TWICE this year, so we had a very sad harvest of a handful of sweet potatoes, a few okra, some green beans, 2 lemons, and a few herbs. I finally gave up in mid fall, walked away from the pitiful garden, and decided to try again next season. Of course, FL Climate allows for a much longer growing season than what I’m accustomed to, though, and I didn’t realize that as the winter rains and cooler months arrived, some of the plants sprung to life. Over Christmas, I noticed a few more potential harvests on the horizon. Now, we have a major (for FL) freeze and possibly even SNOW!!! coming, so I just went out to check on things. I was surprised to find the reward of the beautiful and absolutely delicious batch of carrots ready to pull!!! YUM!!! It isn’t much, but gives me a renewed hope for the coming season!

12/20/2024

Rosa, the farm dog, has a long back. We believe she’s part dachshund. She never ceases to amaze us with her interesting sitting positions. Tonight, she offered one we have never seen before….

12/06/2024

Our college girl has gone and found herself an impressive young man, who arranged a very special surprise for her this evening. I got to chaperone, but he definitely didn’t have to ask me twice!!! Seeing the sheer joy in her eyes when we pulled up to the riding stable and she realized the plan, was awesome! We had so much fun, and it was great to be back in the saddle!

11/27/2024

Did you know that the name "Mustang" comes from the Spanish word "mestengo," which means "stray" or "castaway." It reflects their feral, free-roaming nature!

11/26/2024

He may not be actively farming right now, but Sean still finds ways to do what he loves, teach the next generation, and make a great impression while he’s at it.

11/06/2024

This is how the cat lays on his cat tree once he outgrows the platforms!🤣

07/16/2024

Our latest video wraps up our one-year experiment with our Life inTents Timberline Exchange Bell tent. Stay tuned to the end to hear our final verdict! And for those wondering, the tent will likely be open for renting again very soon! We are just working out some final details!

Timberline Exchange Bell Tent: 1 Year Review and Final Thoughts

After a full year of use and testing, we finally had to do some real maintenance on our bell tent. We discovered a few little issues, but now we are ready f...

06/22/2024

PLEASE READ DETAILS before messaging!

We have decided to sell our horse panels/round pens/gates. We had planned to keep our fencing, but we've decided they will be better off being used rather than sitting while we have paused our training program. We are offering a set of round pen/panels. Made of 2 inch tubular steel, 6 feet tall, and approved for the BLM wild mustangs, draft horses, cattle, etc.

Dark gray powder coat, heavy-duty Priefert brand Mustang panel. There are 13, 12-foot long panels and 1, 4-foot wide gate with a ride-through, slide gate latch (easy to open while mounted). This round pen can be assembled into a 50-foot diameter pen, a variety of other configurations, or added to another seet of heavy duty livestock arena panels. It is in nearly perfect condition, and Priefert HD panels are some of the best on the market! These are HEAVY and tough! Even the drop-pin connectors are welded tight and extra sturdy. Purchased new in 2021. Will only sell as a full set. $3500

Again, I won't sell it piece-wise.

Located in Creal Springs, IL. Cash only. No delivery, sorry. Will not hold without a deposit, sorry, just too many past no-shows.

Im sorry, we didn't get good photos prior to disassembling, so this is the best I can offer. You are welcome to come take a look though! PM if interested. Cross-posted. FCFS.

06/22/2024

This life journey God is leading us down is just full of twists and turns. For you men who were asking earlier, as it turns out, Sean has decided to sell his lumber mill after all. So, here’s the details:

Woodmizer LT-15, with extra accessories including extra bed extension (4 bed sections total which allow a roughly 24 ft log), cant hook, log ramps, extra log clamps, trailer gear, head cover, and 15 blades (we think 13 are new and 2 are used, but he needs to double check). The particular blades he ordered are the specialized (aka more expensive and heavier-duty) hard wood blades. This mill cuts up to 28” diameter logs and has a 25 hp Koehler engine. The Lumbermill is portable and easy to tow, however, you will need a truck for the additional bed sections.

He’s heading back to Illinois this weekend if any of you are seriously interested, you can pick up at the farm in Creal Springs between Monday and Friday next week.

To save you the trouble researching, this mill purchased new with these extras runs about about $16,900 plus shipping. This is used, but in excellent condition, with several components recently replaced/updated. He’s offering it for $10,500. Let us know soon!! Just PM if interested.

If you want more information, he has made several videos featuring this mill, which can be found mixed into the playlist here:

Logging, Sawmilling, & Lumbering
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8Jas0x_z1bIw6qQ0xamajj7jvXUUfzkw

He’ll only be in town for a week if you want to work directly with him on site, so don’t delay!

06/15/2024

We’ve been busy settling in to our new home down in FL. Turns out our realtor and new friend here has a deer farm. We got to start today off with a visit to feed the deer and help tag the new fawns. As a bonus, he also has a handful of alligators that he uses for several things. Really cool place, and the neatest part is that he uses the property for ministry projects with local churches! What a great way to spend a Saturday morning!

04/02/2024

Hello friends! We are praising God this morning that our family and home are safe! I (Danielle) got to spend a lovely Easter weekend back in Illinois, visiting the family, and left to return to Florida yesterday. For those who haven’t heard, a tornado struck our area in the wee hours this morning. The damage is still being assessed, and many roads are impassible at this point due to downed trees and power lines. It sounds as though we lost a restaurant where Sean and I have had a few date nights at just outside our little town, and it passed very close to our property. Sean heard the roar, and saw the crazy winds and horizontal rains. It appears to possibly have touched down on the other side, near the next small town, though we haven’t heard how bad that damage is yet. My family is totally fine, having sheltered in our now-even-more-loved concrete home basement, and our power and water are fine since we are not connected to the grid. Please pray for all those involved, though. Tornadoes are no fun!

02/25/2024

A few weeks ago, I promised a video of my larder project. We actually posted it last week, but I just haven’t had a chance to put it on here. The larder is not 100% finished, but it is finished for now. I am absolutely thrilled with it! 

Setting Up an *AWESOME* Larder for Food Storage!

This week, we are making some serious progress in our underground larder! We are creating lots of practical storage spaces for canned goods, shelf-stable it...

02/12/2024

Have you ever wondered why your electric bill is so high? Or maybe you know why it’s high, but need some ideas to reduce it? Sean has been working on a project around the farm, experimenting with energy. It’s resulted in our most recent video, which is a bit long, but very informative, regarding Home energy needs! Check it out!

Understanding Home Energy Usage and Needs: Planning to Go Off-Grid
https://youtu.be/zBD1t5kW7pE

Whether you're trying to decrease your monthly energy bill or preparing to move off-grid, this video will help you understand how the average American home u...

02/09/2024

The last large item we have to sell is our much-loved truck. Please share!

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/938751303890947/?mibextid=6ojiHh

01/30/2024

Two barn cats managed to talk their way inside this morning. Dad was gone🤣🤣! In this photo are Rosa the dog, Sunny the orange cat, and Copper the torti cat. None of these 3 trust each other, but all are vying for my affections this morning. Which one do you think is actually the boss, and decides how close the others are allowed to get? Take a guess—it’s probably NOT who you think!

01/24/2024

I’m rather intolerant of the cold, so I get cabin fever pretty intensely this time of year. I finally found the perfect project to keep me busy! With help from Sean (who’s doing the outside work of sawing and planing the wood) I’m finally getting my larder put together!! It’s coming together beautifully, and I can’t wait to show the final product in an upcoming video!

01/11/2024

While visiting over the holidays, our 19 year old college boy found our Timberline Exchange bell tent to be a relaxing, peaceful escape from the holiday chaos, and spent almost every night from Christmas to New Years out there. Despite outside temps in the 30’s and even dipping into the 20’s a couple of times, he said he never bothered to use the portable heater. He just spent the late evening stargazing, then wore warm PJs and snuggled into the thick blankets for the night. He reported it was so cozy that he slept great all week! He even sent me this unique photo he took of the tent while playing around one evening.

Although this coming week might be a bit cold for comfortable camping, we are still open for reservations! We do offer a portable heater as an extra to ensure you are nice and cozy!

https://www.hipcamp.com/en-US/land/illinois-red-gate-farm-llc-1-lz9hwndn?shareid=falgjwf92o

01/11/2024

For those who recall the 2 kill pen rescue horses we took in at the last minute to help the new owner, here’s more of the story:

Helping with 2 KILL PEN Rescue Horses!

This video was filmed a couple months ago, and we debated whether to post it due to the nature of the topic. That said, we decided to post it as an educatio...