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About Our Farm
Heritage & Rare Breed Poultry
Livestock Guardian Dogs
Holistic Wellness
- Traditional Foods
- Essential Oils
Shop Our Farm

About Our Farm
Heritage & Rare Breed Poultry
Livestock Guardian Dogs
Holistic Wellness
- Traditional Foods
- Essential Oils
Shop Our Farm

Home / Shop / Products tagged “Recommended Reading”

Recommended Reading

Natural Rearing: Breeding and Raising Dogs The Way Nature Intended

Buy on Lulu
Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture

Buy on Amazon
Livestock Protection Dogs: Selection, Care, and Training

Buy on Amazon
Free-Range Chicken Gardens

Buy on Amazon
The Complete Herbal Handbook for Dog and Cat

Buy on Amazon
How to Immunize Your Dog without Vaccines

Buy on Amazon

About Our Family

About Our Family — We are passionate about intentional living and wellness. Our family values include holistic wellness, nonviolent communication, self-directed education and gentle parenting. We strive to implement permaculture principles in all areas of our lifestyle.

We Love Thyme

Thyme and rustic scissors — We love thyme. With seemingly endless varieties of this aromatic, delicious, medicinal, flowering evergreen ground cover we thought it was a perfect namesake for our farm. We especially loved creating a play on words that reflects our values of hope, regeneration and abundance.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. -Lao Tzu

Our Heritage & Rare Breed Poultry

Ameraucana ~ Bresse ~ Cream Legbar ~ French Black Copper Marans ~ Lavender Orpington ~ Silkie ~ Silverudd’s Blue Isbar

Recent Reviews

Colorful Egg Basket Hatching Eggs
Rated 5 out of 5
by margaret.biddle
Colorful Egg Basket Hatching Eggs
Rated 5 out of 5
by opera_griswold
Bresse Hatching Eggs
Rated 5 out of 5
by Elisha Cram
Bresse Hatching Eggs
Rated 5 out of 5
by Elisha Cram
Lavender Orpington Hatching Eggs
Rated 5 out of 5
by Cathy
Colorful Egg Basket Hatching Eggs
Rated 5 out of 5
by Shari G.

Hours & Info

Located in Shepherdstown, WV

Phone: (240) 805-3618

Email: send us an email

Hours: by appointment only

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betterwiththyme

I realized our sheep haven’t made an appearance

I realized our sheep haven’t made an appearance in a post for way too long.

We brought home our first babydoll sheep in the fall of 2019 (in the back of our minivan 😆) and we’ve been strategically growing our flock the last two springs when new lambs were born.

This lamb is the first that was born on our farm a little over a week ago. 😍

We rotationally graze our sheep with portable fencing and plan to have lambs for sale in the future, as well as raising some for our own meat consumption. Eventually we like to learn to use their wool too.

Check out my babydoll highlight if you’re interested in learning more about the breed and our experiences so far with keeping them.

#lamb #babydollsheep #babydollsouthdown #sheep #rotationalgrazing #permaculture #permaculturesheep #farmlife #homesteadmama #oldeenglishbabydollsheep #southdownbabydollsheep #oldeenglishbabydollsouthdownsheep #farmkids #bornonthefarm

I’m still waiting on the calcium hydroxide I ord

I’m still waiting on the calcium hydroxide I ordered from Etsy so I can water glass some eggs, but in the meantime we’re putting the eggs to good use...

We’re hatching lots of chicks under broody hens and in the incubator. Anyone who is close enough to drive and pick up, we’ll have chicks available in June.

#chickens #chickenmama #chickenfarm #petchickens #chickenlife #chickenkeeper #lovemychickens #chickenkeeping #backyardchickens #homesteadinglife #homestead #crazychickenlady #spoiledchickens #permaculture #permaculturechickens #pastureraised #splashmarans #ameraucana #fbcm #marans #silkies #silveruddsblue #silveruddsblues #isbar #lavenderorpington

Every day is bee day for us. 🐝❤️ We love t

Every day is bee day for us. 🐝❤️

We love to include all kinds of flowering plants in our garden and we let almost everything that sprouts in our pastures grow - to feed the soil, insects and provide medicine to our grazing animals. We do dig out wild roses and thistle, by hand, because rose thorns hurt in the hay and none of our animals eat thistle. #pesticidefree #handweeding

These are a couple of my favorite bee photos I’ve taken. Bees seem to love borage. We also eat the flowers and they self-seed so you can plant borage once and have it forever. ❤️

What’s your favorite bee feeding flower?

#worldbeeday #permaculturegarden #homesteadingmama #homesteader #homesteadfarm #westvirginiahomestead #edibleflowers #herbgarden #borage #borageflowers #borageplant #borageofficinalis

Our dogs know how to preserve eggs and I thought t

Our dogs know how to preserve eggs and I thought this year we should learn too.

Beau retrieved the duck egg in the second photo from wherever he stored it, who knows how long ago and it was perfectly fresh. I ate it myself to test the flavor! 😆

Since we started keeping chickens we’ve eaten a lot of eggs in season and way fewer eggs during the winter. Or we end up buying them and it’s not easy or cheap to source corn free soy free eggs.

Here’s how we’re storing eggs for next winter:

1. Washed eggs are cracked into a small mason jar and frozen for baking etc. you can also pre-scramble them, freeze them in ice cube trays and then transfer to Ziploc bags. I’m only storing a small amount this way and the eggs that need washing during the rest of the season we will eat or feed to the animals.

2. Unwashed eggs will fill an extra refrigerator in a cool place (so that it uses less electricity). They should keep for a year.

3. Next I’m going to try water glass preserving for the first time. It requires no refrigeration and may keep up to two years! 😮

Are you ready to try preserving eggs? Or if you have already, what’s your favorite method(s)?

#homestead #homesteading #homesteadmama #preservingtheharvest #foodsecurityisfreedom #freerangeeggs #offgridfoodstorage #offgridfoodsecurity #greatpyrenees #akcgreatpyrenees #beauofbetterwiththyme #cornfree #soyfree #soyfreelife #westvirginia #westvirginiafarm

Show & Tell! ✨ Lately we’ve been eating a lot

Show & Tell! ✨

Lately we’ve been eating a lot of alliums both wild and from our garden and it’s got me thinking about this book.

This is my number one book for ramping up the nutrition in your fruits and vegetables.

Whether you’re buying most of your food, growing most of your food or somewhere in between, there is information for you in this book!

Eating on the Wild Side walks you through each category of produce, giving a history of the wild relatives that the modern garden varieties were derived from and then breaks it down into shopping lists, so you know which varieties offer the most nutrition for your dollars at the store or when shopping for seeds or plants.

There are also a lot of awesome tips like this one:

Did you know that there is a compound in formed in garlic called allicin that can help with infections, heart health, protecting against cancer formation, protecting the brain from oxidative stress and warding off insects and microorganisms?

🧄 Allicin is formed when garlic is crushed, minced chopped etc (because it’s the plants defense against injury - which then gets passed on to you!)
🧄 It takes about 10 minutes for allicin to fully form
🧄 If you heat garlic before the allicin forms, it won’t happen
🧄 So, for any recipe that calls for garlic… start by prepping your garlic and then setting it aside for 10 minutes before cooking

Tell me your best tip for maximizing nutrition/medicine in your food!

#homegrownmedicine #garlicpatch #ediblegardening #permaculturegarden #eatyourgarlic #lymesdisease #cancerprotection #readinglist2021 #favoritebooks #realfoodrecipes

There are two things that I think every mother (re

There are two things that I think every mother (really every woman) needs in her life.

The first is a garden. 👩‍🌾 No matter how big or small, the garden is a place of peace and joy that adds so much to your life and wellbeing. My first “garden” was a shelf in a skylight, with a few pots of herbs (because our apartment didn’t even have a balcony)!🪴

When we bought our first house one of the only plants in the yard was a rosebush, planted by the previous owners in the 1950s. It was so special to continue tending that beautiful plant. 🌹

This weekend Peter bought me a new rosebush, with pastel yellow flowers to add to our garden.

It’s hard for me to pick a favorite flower to grow, but roses might be it. Here’s some rose info plus two others flowers that are blooming in our garden right now:

1. Roses: So many cultivars and colors, heavenly scent, edible petals and rose hips, useful for home remedies and cut flowers.

2. Baptisia (false indigo): several hybrid cultivars with gorgeous flower colors (vanilla, chocolate and pink truffles are my favorites). Also a nitrogen fixer to support other plants.

3. Aquilegia vulgaris (purple columbine): stunning nodding flowers set above blue-green foliage. I love the deep purple color and that they bloom spring through summer. Edible flowers.

Tell me in the comments what your favorite flower is, and be sure to check out my stories today for the second thing I think every woman needs.

Happy Mother’s Day!

#happymothersday #rosegardening #thegardenismyhappyplace #edibleflowergarden #flowersaregoodforthesoul

Lorelei is so happy we have ducklings to love agai

Lorelei is so happy we have ducklings to love again!

I love our ducks because they are excellent foragers (earlier and later than chickens), they don’t scratch up young plants and they always lay their eggs first thing in the morning.

I wonder why ducks are synced to a 24 hour cycle but chickens are not?

#chickensvsducks #permacultureducks #welshharlequin #welshharlequinduck #ducklings #freerangeducks #freerangeducklings #farmkids #homesteadmoments #homesteadmama #westvirginiafarm

I don’t know who needs to hear this today, but t

I don’t know who needs to hear this today, but this was refreshing to my soul & I wanted to share it with you!

“Comparison is the death of all joy, and the only person you need to be better than is the one you were yesterday.” - Rachel Hollis

Yesterday was a rough day. Rushing to get everything done before leaving and getting frustrated when things weren’t going according to the plan left us all very cranky after the long day of driving and being at the dentist. It’s easy to fall into the trap of wishing for something else but today we’re back home and slowing down again. Their little faces remind me to just keep going and making today better than yesterday. More on the ducklings in my stories.

Drop a “🙌” below if you needed that reminder today & tag a friend you want to encourage!

#ducklings #homesteadkids #farmlife #farmkids #gentleparenting #intentionalparenting #intentionallife #permaculturefarm

Love your face! 🌸 I’ll be honest, I’ve bee

Love your face! 🌸

I’ll be honest, I’ve been pretty lackadaisical about taking care of my skin most of my life. I was a lifeguard for many years, then I started learning to grow a garden and then we started our farm which is all pasture with very few trees for shade... so I spend a lot of time outdoors in the sun.

Every year in March, my freckles start to come out and usually throughout April and May I get at least a little sunburned a few times until my skin gets darker. Last year when I got a new phone (with super detailed photos) I was a little shocked at how much my skin had aged since the last time I took a good look at myself. 😬

I committed to doing better. If you can relate, I have some tips for you!

1. Wear a hat outside! And if it doesn’t cover your shoulders with its shadow,
2. Wear a shirt with sleeves (but don’t rely too much on clothing, you can burn through it).
3. Getting sun on our bodies is incredibly important for our health, but knowing your limit is just as important. Seek shade!
4. Grow Aloe Vera as a houseplant to use the gel on your skin.
5. Get your hands on some good, clean products that will nourish your skin. I swear I’ve been aging backwards since I started actively talking care of my skin. 😆

I started with using some of the oils that came in my starter kit from Young Living to create a “glow serum” (eg Frankincense and Lavender) and then each month I started adding one more oil or product to my routine. I had also been struggling with breakouts since we added dairy back into our diet. I thought I was going to have to give it up again, but I was happily surprised when one of the new supplements I started made that disappear! 🥳

Here are some of my top favorites (more info in my stories):

- CBD Beauty Boost
- Royal Hawaiian Sandalwood Hydrosol
- Mint Satin Facial Scrub

What are your favorite skin routine tricks?

#homsteadmama #gardenerslife #naturalbeautytips #simplebeautyroutine #aloeveraskincare

We’re in the season of birthdays around here. Ou

We’re in the season of birthdays around here. Our oldest recently turned 10! His birth feels like yesterday and a lifetime ago at the same time. 😭

We’ve learned and grown so much in the last 10 years and much of it inspired by him. The experience of going from a homebirth to the NICU gave me the clarity I would need to be the parent he needed in this world.

He usually requests a watermelon cake, but this year he wanted a baked cake. I made a cassava flour chocolate cake with real buttercream frosting on top and it was delicious. 🧁 And the sweet bees wax candles from @joyinthewilderness were perfect!

Do you have a favorite type of cake for your birthday? I’d be happy to pass on the recipe if anyone needs a good gluten free chocolate cake recipe.

#glutenfree #homemadebirthdaycake #homemaking

It’s been 3 weeks since Stormy (the bull) went b

It’s been 3 weeks since Stormy (the bull) went back to his farm, and we haven’t seen any signs of either of the girls cycling again!

Stormy was a pleasure to have here; he was quite the gentleman and made our little herd feel complete. We’ve really missed him since he left, and he convinced us that we would like to keep a bull in the future.

For now, we have one less animal to haul water for and each paddock gives that much more grass to the girls. We’re appreciating the slightly diminished workload as we continue to reign in our overall commitments to match the plan we came up with.

In other news, Mulberry has been making more milk since going back to eating pasture (no more need for hay for about a month). When we started milking her last July, we were getting 1.5 gallons per day. After a few months it was a gallon, then over the winter it dwindled to 1/2 gallon. Now it’s back up to 3/4.

We’re also getting more (and richer) cream. I didn’t notice how mild the flavor had gotten over the winter until I started wondering if something was off with my tastebuds in the last couple of weeks. I realized it’s all the diversity and fresh spring growth in the pastures. You can even see it in the yellow color of the cream and butter, much like a pastured egg yolk.

Mulberry has maintained her condition really well, and we plan to continue milking until a month or two before she is due to calve. I can’t wait to milk Moonbeam for the first time too.

#minijersey #minijerseybull #permaculturefarm #familymilkcow #rotationalgrazing #a2a2 #grassfeddairy

Do you ever unplug? 🔌 This week I decided to u

Do you ever unplug? 🔌

This week I decided to unplug intentionally for several days. We had a deadline for a lawsuit that took a lot of time and energy and after that I spent extra time focusing on investing in my family. Rather than being frazzled after an extra stressful week, we’re connected, grounded and we also knocked a bunch of things off our our wish-to-do list that had been on there for a long time!

I would like to extend this challenge to YOU!

Pick a block of time when you will put away the screens and be truly present! (I plan to continue unplugging every Sunday, and spending as much of the time as possible outdoors with my family, preferably in the garden!)

Comment below and let me know if you ever unplug or if you will now.

PS In the photo is one of our pear trees; it’s a little worse for the wear after three nights below freezing, but the flowers are hanging on for now. 🤞 for some fruit this year!

#unpluggedfamilytime #intentionallife #gardeningismytherapy #peartreeblossoms #permaculturegarden #springonthehomestead

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