✨Soil 101✨
Is there anything better than going to the backyard to pick the ingredients for dinner? Grocery shopping has always been my least favorite chore, but going to the garden to harvest fruits and vegetables that I have spent all season tending to is so rewarding. Not to mention, they’re much tastier than the produce at the grocery store!
Most people we speak to want to learn to grow their own food, but when asked why
they don’t, we usually get the same answer: “I can’t even keep a houseplant alive -
there’s no way I could grow my own food!” Does that sound familiar? It does for us!
The first time we tried to grow anything, we harvested exactly NOTHING. It was such a disappointment, especially after building planters, spending loads of money filling
them with soil, and tending to the plants. I couldn’t understand why my plants
suddenly seemed to plateau in their growth and why their leaves were turning
yellow.
We have learned a lot since then. Our biggest lesson? There is no such thing as being
bad at gardening - there’s only bad soil!
🌱SOIL HEALTH🌱
It really is quite simple: the health of your soil is the determining factor of your plant’s strength and productivity. This means that if you have amazing soil, your plants will grow large and juicy fruits and vegetables for you to harvest.
The richer your soil is, the more nutritious your harvest will be. The plants will be able to grow stronger and bigger fruits. Think of the soil as your plants’ food: if your soil has the bare minimum amount of nutrients, how can you possibly expect a good harvest? Similarly, nutritious food will help your plants to grow strong and produce
large yields.
Let’s dive in…
One of our favorite TikTok’s we’ve made!
✨Butchering Process✨
Here’s a quick example of how we process chickens here on our farm! If you’re interested in joining our list for the spring butcher weekend please let us know.
This is a skill that will last you a lifetime! It’s well worth it.
..And now you know where your food comes from! 😉
✨The Top 3 Meat Chicken Breeds✨
((In Our Opinion))
Broiler and meat chickens are birds that are raised primarily for meat production. There are many different chicken breeds to choose from for your broiler flock. It is important to lay out your unique needs so that you can make the best choice for your homestead.
Here is a list of the best meat chicken breeds, and a few dual purpose breeds:
1. Cornish Cross Chickens
Cornish Cross birds are the most well-known of the broiler breeds. Chicken sold in the grocery store most often comes from Cornish Crosses. This breed is a hybrid of the Cornish x White Plymouth Rock breeds. They are poor layers that are bred specifically for meat purposes. Cornish Cross broilers grow very quickly and can be harvested between 8-10 weeks of age.
If you choose to raise the Cornish Cross, it is best to raise them on pasture with an enclosure. They don’t do well as free range chickens because they cannot move quickly enough to evade predators, and if they are confined they will require much more feed to be productive.
Age at Maturity: 8-10 weeks
Avg. Mature Weight: 9-12 lbs (with about a 5-10 lb processed weight)
✅Pros:
Fast growth rate
Heavy meat production
Profitable
Good disposition
🛑Cons:
Health problems (like heart problems and leg issues)
Not recommended for reproduction
Require a lot of feed
Not sustainable for the long term
2. Freedom Rangers
Freedom Rangers are a broiler chicken, created to forage and survive pasture-fed. Those who focus on truly organic meat chicken breeds often pick these ones because they are excellent at foraging.
Freedom Rangers thrive on bugs, corn feed, and whatever else they find on their daily searching. While some birds, especially meat chickens, won’t survive from foraging, these ones will.
Age at Maturity: 12 weeks
Avg. Mature Weight: 9-12 lbs (with about a 5-7 lb processed weight, depending on the bird gender)
✅Pros:
Excellent at Free Ranging
Easy to Keep
Low Feed Costs
Great Tas
✨Time to Market Weight✨
Are you in a rush to get meat in your freezer or do you want to take your time the old-fashioned way?
While the old-fashioned way is a nice thing to consider, a slower-growing bird eats more feed, requires care for a longer period, and with a longer period comes an increased risk of something happening along the way (illness, predators, etc.).
On the other hand, a slower-growing chicken results in more time on pasture. And more time on pasture means more opportunity for nutrient-dense meat (vitamins D and E, plus a better omega 6:3 ratio).
How long does it take?
Fast: Dual Purpose breeds (16-24 weeks)
Faster: Ranger broilers (12-16 weeks)
Fastest: Cornish Cross broilers (6-8 weeks)
*Note, broilers need to wait until they are 3ish weeks old to move to the outdoors, weather permitting. Therefore, if you’re raising the freaky fast Cornish Cross broilers, that means there are only a few weeks left for them to obtain those vital nutrients from the grass, bugs, sunshine, etc. before harvest day.
Personally we shoot for 8-9 weeks old when we process!
It’s butcher week on the farm! This week our educational post will be focused on all things butchering chickens, so stay tuned for some great content! 🍽️🍗
✨Small Scale Livestock✨
Raising coturnix quail can be joyful and rewarding. As a bonus, they REQUIRE a small living space in order to thrive. When quail are in too large of an enclosure, they are prone to jump which may lead to injury such as a broken neck or broken legs.
Cages range from wire to plastic, some people go as far as building an aviary. If you have the means, then this is a beautiful and functional way to keep quail. But it is not a necessity.
The necessities are as follows:
🪶Quail must always have access to food and water
🪶Quail require a high protein food source for them
🪶There needs to be some form of shelter if they are kept outside. To help protect against elements like too much sun, rainfall, or snow. In most cases this can be a piece of cardboard or plastic.
Otherwise, quail are low maintenance. They are for the most part quiet, however males crow and females can have a morning call. Keep this in mind when assessing
your space for quail.
Rabbits are a wonderful addition to the homestead, providing an excellent turnaround for meat and fur. Upkeep and dispatch is cleaner than poultry; ultimately
low maintenance. The initial investment can be slightly more than with quail.
A pair of does can bring in over 115lbs of meat per year with a low-to-moderate breeding schedule. They can be very valuable as an asset for your family!
The necessities are as follows:
🐰Rabbits must always have access to food and water
🐰Rabbits require alfalfa pellets for food as well as "Timothy hay"
🐰There needs to be some form of shelter if they are kept outside. To help protect against elements like too much sun, rainfall, or snow.
🐰Compared to other livestock, rabbits are easy to keep indoors.
🐰Rabbits should be kept separately to prevent fighting or breeding.
🐰Provide wood or other chewing sources to keep rabbits teeth filed.
If you're interested in rabbits and are located in South Central Kansas, we encourage you to contact Jorge with
We don’t want to leave out the creatures that got us started in this craziness of homesteading along our introduction! 🐓🐥
The birds!
We could say chickens but that would be a lie. 😂 if you’ve made the drive to the farm you will be greeted but many birds!
We have 14 breeds of chickens, 2 breeds of ducks, 2 breeds of geese, 2 breeds of quail, turkeys, guineas, and pigeons.
Our chicken breeds change yearly as we’re always evolving and changing with the demands of chicken world. We raise several thousand birds every year and sell to people like you! We enjoy hatching chicks in the late winter-early summer. During the heat of the summer we raise out any chicks that don’t sell and then sell them when they are laying age.
We have owned chickens for 8 years now and if you’re lucky enough when you’re here you might see our 2 oldest hens (Karen & Pretty Girl) wondering around. Karen thinks she owns the place, but after moving multiple times with us she can think what she wants 😉
We will start hatching again for the 2025 season in February! Stay tuned for our price sheet after the first of the year.
Up next on our introduction is the American Guinea Hogs! 🐽
They are some of our favorite animals here on the farm, they are so sweet and love lots of attention! They will follow you around like a dog whenever you’re in their pen.
We have 5 sows and 1 boar (Wilbur) and have had many piglets over the years of having them. We are the first to admit these girls are the BEST mothers and we have very low death rates when they have litters.
A quick overview of why we picked AGH for our homestead 🫶🏼
•temperament
•size- weighing max of 250#
•lard hog
•good foragers but don’t root
•the most amazing flavored pork 🤤
•mothering- easy to manage and farrow easily
Here’s a sort clip of “Mama” living her best life! 🤩
We love posting content for you all, but sometimes we need a break from social media. We are checking out for a couple weeks, but we will return October 1st with a refreshed mind! 🫶
THANK YOU for your continued support, we appreciate you all!
Check out our breeder pen set up here on our farm!
Little man is growing like a weed as well! He’s not so sure about us though. It’s interesting to see the different in personalities of these two calves born days apart.
He’s for sure a mamas boy and doesn’t seem too interested in us yet. Hopefully he will be eating treats out of our hands before too long! He’s going to be a handsome boy, his coloring is simple but stunning 😍💙
