Hey y’all!
Welcome to the Weekly Wrap-up, a short weekly newsletter where we wrap up our week and share some of the things we’ve been doing and what’s on our mind. Feel free to share this with someone you know or add to the discussion in the comments section!
Update on a product we tried
A few weeks ago in the weekly wrap-up we talked about using the AlpineReach Garden Bird Netting as a way to keep our chicks inside the Premier1 netting. For the most part, it has worked really well and served its purpose. We still have a few escapees everyday as they learn to fly, but everybody is staying close to home and roosting back in their coop at night, so that’s a win! For the price, we are really pleased. It won’t serve many purposes around here, but we will keep it around to use whenever we have chicks! I’m sure any brand would work as long as it is a similar style bird netting.
Book I’m currently listening to
I drive about 45 minutes each way to work, so I have a good bit of time to listen to music and podcasts. Recently though, I have been knocking out some audiobooks on my commute. This week, I started “A Bold Return to Giving a Damn” by Will Harris. Harris is the owner of White Oak Pastures, a regenerative ranch in South Georgia. The book chronicles the history of the ranch and why Harris changed over from a centralized commodity beef operation to a thriving, multi-faceted regenerative grazing ranch. Whether you are interest in farming/ranching or not, this is a great book that breaks down some of the flaws of the centralized, commoditized food system that currently dominates our nation. Check it out if that sounds like something that interests you! Bonus: Will Harris narrates the audiobook. Personally, I love when the author is the narrator, it’s just a special connection to hear the words directly from their mouth – especially when the author has such a deep, slow, and extremely southern accent like Harris!
Purchase we almost made
This week we came so close to buying a few cows! In particular, we almost bought two Pineywoods cows, one that was heavily bred. In the end, we decided to hold off until we finish some more fence, but dang, I’m kind of regretting it! We’re looking to get more into the yearling/feeder calf side so we can fatten them up on good grass and good grazing and then pretty quickly fill our freezers and sell some delicious grass fed beef, but, I love the Pineywoods breed!
The Pineywoods is a very old and rare breed of cattle that are more or less native to the Southeastern United States. They descend from cattle brought to the US by the Spanish settlers in the 1500s. Pineywoods, along with Corriente, Texas Longhorn, and Florida Cracker, belong to a group of cattle called Criollo cattle which means they originated in Europe but were born in the New World. They are a slightly smaller breed of cattle, but they are remarkably adapted to heat, humidity, and pest pressure. They also live long lives and are able to breed successfully for longer. We decided that now wasn’t the best time to make the move, while also deciding that we are definitely going to get a few in the future!
Thanks so much for spending some time with us! As always, feel free to give us feedback in the comment section or on social media. What do you want to see more of in the weekly wrap-up? Any suggestions or comments? Please let us know in the comments or on Instagram @the_hollyhomstead.
Have a great week y’all!
With love,
-Zach & Robbyn
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