What a fun weekend! For the past few years, three of Amy’s close college friends have been bringing their families to the valley for a weekend in the spring. Currently at 15 kids between the four families. 23 heads sleeping under one roof. And honestly, it wasn’t near as chaotic as you might imagine. 4-wheeler rides, checking out the farm animals, playing in the creek, backyard games, porch sitting…

A busy Saturday filled with herd share deliveries, the Abingdon Farmers Market, and bush hogging. Our day of rest didn’t slow as much as we’d like. Ms. Desiree helped get cows in and pigs sorted and loaded for Monday’s ride to the processor. I got up at 2:00 Monday morning and was loaded and on the road by 3:00 bound for NC with 8 cows and 8 hogs…

A warm week for this time of year. We could use a few more April showers. Another batch of newly hatched chicks in the brooder. According to Hallie, we’re up 16 spring calves on the ground. Amy took all 5 kids with her the Abingdon Farmers Market on Saturday. Sunday afternoon …

Baby Leon made the farming rounds with me Saturday morning while Amy was at the Abingdon Farmers Market. She’ll be there again tomorrow 8-noon. Friends from NC came up the the valley for a fun Easter weekend. I haven’t fed a roll of hay since last Friday. With an inch of rain over the weekend, grass is coming on strong. The kids are helping me keep…

Our first baby calf of the year came this week. Hopefully many more to follow in the weeks ahead. The first batch of baby chicks comes next week. No, we’re still not ready for them. Welcoming new life on the farm is always exciting…

Jumping into spring mode. This is my favorite time of year. And the most overwhelming time of year. Too many things on the list. I think I need about 12 months of just spring. People ask how I’m sleeping with the new baby. I think the baby might be sleeping better than I am. Ha. Can’t seem to get my mind turned off at night…

Amy here this morning. Can I just tell you how sweet our new baby is? He sleeps a lot. He lets his siblings hold him all the time. I’m trying to slow down soak up all the baby snuggles while I can. I’ll be honest, I don’t know what all happened on the farm this week. I know we bought some heifers from a neighbor over the weekend. Will is single handedly doing all the farm chores…

Green. I love this time of year. The dormant ground coming back to life. Grass is growing but still not fast enough to stop feeding hay. Almost 150 of the 200 recently purchased hay rolls have been fed. Thankfully, I’ll be feeding less and less from here on out as grass comes on. The beautiful days early in the week probably should’ve resulted in this farmer being more productive than I was…

Leon Tate Campbell made his entrance into the world just before midnight on Monday March 2nd. He and Amy are both doing well. Tuesday morning was a special time as the kids all made their way down stairs to meet their new little brother. We are thankful. And blessed beyond what we deserve…

Saturday was a long day. A good day, but long. After loading all coolers for the Abingdon Farmers Market and Marion delivery, I followed Amy and the kids down to the market to help unload coolers and get set up. Then to Marion to deliver shares and orders while Hallie and Hasten helped Amy at the market. The little girls and I made it back to to Abingdon to help with the last hour or so

A rainy winter week. An abundance of mud but a shortage on hay. We still have a couple weeks worth but will likely need to purchase a couple hundred rolls before spring.  After some extra feeding, I was able to make the trip to deliver meat to families in Knoxville on Monday with Amy and the kids. It was good to see smiling Tennessee faces…

Amy here this week. Spring has sprung. At least that’s what we’re telling ourselves. It’s hard to believe that Friday began with 3 more inches of snow. Wren helped Will make sure all the cows had plenty of hay to get through these cold, windy days. On Sunday afternoon, we loaded up 15 of the biggest pigs to head to the processor on Monday…

Last Saturday was our biggest meat delivery day of the month with herd share drops to both Abingdon and Marion. Thanks again to all who made an extra trip out in the cold to do your local grocery shopping. I miscalculated our transit van’s hauling capacity. We filled coolers on Friday, but when I went to load Amy’s coolers in the transit Saturday morning for Abingdon, they wouldn’t all fit…

A rainy weekend. An inch and a half of steady showers softened up the fields for a few days until freezing temperatures firmed the ground back up again. It didn’t get much above 20 yesterday. The cold is one thing, but the wind is what makes it rough. We’re thankful for our old drafty farmhouse, but when that cold wind gets to whipping…

Amy here today. Will made two long road trips this week, so I told him I’d send out the email today. On Monday, I had an “office day” to do the admin side of the business and close out the 2025 books. It was a long stressful day, but feels good to be done. The next day Will took a full gooseneck trailer load of cows to Northern VA…

Another year in the books. Feels like the quickest one yet. Each trip around the sun seems to go by a little faster. If anything, the New Year brings a reminder to make the most of our time. To be intentional with it. Which means prioritizing how best to spend our time. In 2025 I made about 15 measurable personal or family goals. About half of them I completed in full…

Christmas in the 60s is fine by me. Not much farm news to update on. Last weekend was busy with markets and meat deliveries. No market this Saturday.  On Monday Hallie and Hasten got back in the calf pen to help push calves up the chute to the head gate for my dad and brother. That afternoon we had a cattle drive, bringing a group of our heifers to the barn from a mile out the road…

…They weren’t as excited about the task as I hoped they’d be. Fearful and tearful, they didn’t want to do it. Their fears were legitimate. Baby calves often kick. Would some of those kicks land on the kids? Perhaps. Would it be challenging for them? Absolutely. Could they do it? Absolutely. And though the possibility of acquiring minor bumps and bruises, there was no threat of serious injury. The obstacle to overcome was not the calves, it was their fear…

A snowy week on the farm. The kids loved sledding and building snowmen. I didn’t mind the snow but didn’t love it as much as they did. More hay feeding for me. Lots of cow work this week. On Wednesday…

We had cousins in over the weekend for Thanksgiving who helped block the road to get cows, and then they helped get pigs in the barn to sort and load for Monday’s trip to the processor. I went to check Amy’s broth Tuesday morning while it was raining to find over 100 cows in the barn lot where much of our hay is stored…