Rock Candy Mtn Farmstead

06/03/2026

I still have a lot of planting to do! Thank goodness for this deck!

05/23/2026

05/23/2026

After what felt like the longest wait ever, our first French Lop litter has officially arrived 🐇💙 10 healthy kits! Honestly, I was NOT expecting a litter that large! They’re tiny little things!

This spring has definitely reminded me that there’s a learning curve when transitioning from colony breeding to cages and nest boxes. For the last 4 years we’ve primarily bred rabbits in controlled colonies, and due to the move, I had to temporarily switch many of the rabbits into cages over the winter and spring until we can get our colony setups rebuilt. It’s been… an adjustment. Nest building, kindling behaviors, timing… all much more stressful than what we experienced in colonies.

One thing I’ve really noticed is the difference between the breeds. Our Silver Fox rabbits are incredibly functional production rabbits, hardy, practical, calm mothers, and very “do their job and move on” personalities. The French Lops, on the other hand, have been a little more dramatic and unpredictable 😅 But seeing this first successful litter on the ground makes all the waiting and second guessing worth it.

Now comes the fun part… watching colors develop and trying to figure out what everyone is going to look like 👀

05/22/2026

They’re almost 4 weeks old now and he still can’t tell they’re chicks!!

05/07/2026

Going Amish Day 252 🚜🌱

Apologies for being MIA lately. Between work, more work, baseball season, and a little 4H sprinkled in, time is absolutely flying by!

No major updates on the house other than the basement that “never had water in it” has flooded with every rain 🫠. It’s definitely been frustrating. We never planned to finish the basement, but the majority of our possessions are stored down there, so we’re really hoping the new gutters help solve the issue. If anyone is in the market for gutters, let me know, there’s a great Amish company down by us that does fantastic work with quick turnaround times. He told me I could take a picture, face blurred out of respect.

One thing we continue to learn is that “Amish built” does not mean the same thing across the board. However, there are definitely a few businesses and families from the area that we would recommend. We’ve had quite a few good laughs with some of the local families. They call our house the “good enough” house 😂😬☹️. Luckily, our upgrades and fixes have come a long way, and I suppose it gives the place character!

Our turkeys have started hatching, and another batch is already in the incubator! I don’t necessarily have a set processing goal in mind… feels easier to meet the goal that way 😂

I also had a short work trip this week, which meant J.T. got thrown into doing a lot of chores he normally doesn’t do (aka all my added animals 😂), but thankfully it sounds like both the animals and human children are all thriving.

Huge thanks to the Gehringer family for loaning out Bubba & equipment to get my garden tilled! I can’t wait to finally start planting. My porch is overflowing with plants!! I used some airport time to sketch out the garden plan.

And lastly, I got notification today that the correct cabinets have finally arrived, which means the kitchen and bathrooms can finally be completed by Framing™️ (trademark pending 😂) the contractor I’d recommend time and time again, and the one who has somehow managed to turn most of my ideas into reality.

Even with the setbacks and constant curveballs, we remain incredibly thankful for this unexpected opportunity that started last year. It’s been a wild ride, but one I (not we) wouldn’t trade for anything. Ask J.T. In 5 years how he feels.

Signing off from 33,000 feet somewhere above the Midwest skies ✈️🌤️ Cheers to airplane WiFi 🛜

04/18/2026

Welcome to the farm, Rosalita (Rose) 🌹🐄

We added a bottle calf to the chaos today… because why not, am I right? 😅 My son has been saving his money for a bottle calf, we needed a feeder for our 2027 locker, and honestly who doesn’t love a bottle baby? Wins all around.

This little peanut was the twin sister to a bull calf, which likely makes her a freemartin. A Freemartin is a heifer twin to a bull that is usually infertile due to shared hormones in the womb. She’ll be perfect for as a feeder.

And can we talk about that beautiful Charolais cattle coloring? She is going to be fun to watch grow out. Welcome home, Rose 💛

04/17/2026

04/17/2026

Candling eggs is hands down one of my favorite parts of hatching season!

Out of my turkey eggs, 12 were fertile (about half), which honestly isn’t uncommon for early season eggs, especially with first-year layers still figuring things out. I’ve also got a broody girl committed to another clutch, and I’m still collecting eggs because apparently self-control isn’t part of my farm plan. 😂

Meanwhile, 3 out of 4 dozen chicken eggs are developing nicely, so the incubator is staying busy. Do I have a plan for all these chicks & poults? Absolutely not. But around here, that’s just how we roll in crazy town. 🐣🤪

04/14/2026

Jumping on the “snail” trend 🐌🌱

I’m starting tomatoes fashionably late this year… so instead of my usual setup, I decided to try seed starting in “snails.”

If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s actually pretty clever. You take a strip of material (I used feed bags), layer on soil, roll it up like a cinnamon roll, and plant your seeds right along the top. Simple, space-saving, and kind of satisfying to make 😅

Best case? I’ve got a compact little setup holding 78 tomato seeds (with room to spare!) and a new favorite method.
Worst case? I’ll be making a quick trip to the garden center and calling it a lesson learned 🤷‍♀️

Either way… we’re rolling with it this year 🌿

04/06/2026

Easter was a success 🐣🌷

I’ll be honest, I had some concerns hosting with 1/4 of a working kitchen and only one bathroom with a door 😅 but it went smooth! We had plenty of space… and way too many Easter eggs (if that’s even a thing 😂).

For a little background, one of my daughters is obsessed with egg hunts. We do a Halloween one for her birthday 🎃🥚and she’s constantly hiding eggs, filling them, recruiting siblings… or just hiding empty ones for fun. This girl will choose an egg hunt over just about anything.

So when my husband told her she could plan Easter… well… she went ALL IN. We’re talking all the eggs, special plates, balloons, you name it. I might be extra, but she’s a whole new level of extra 😆

With Iowa weather being unpredictable, we decided to host the egg hunt in the timber, honestly the best decision. It’s always warmer down there and no wind 🙌

Enter: HUNDREDS of eggs for 5 kids 🤯 Parents and aunts/uncles were carrying bags so the kids could dump and keep going. I managed to talk my mini-me down from 100 golden eggs to 42 (still a lot 😂)… I had to map out where all the money eggs were hidden.

Needless to say, it was EPIC.

Now my only concern is making sure everyone comes back next year for round two 😉

Memories were made, laughs were had, and those kids hit the timber HARD 💛

🐰🌿