Calico Cow Acres (2024)

19/02/2024

For a long time I dreamed of what our future farm would look like, where it would be, the sunsets it would have. Then when we were trying to buy this house & were shuttling back and forth every night from the campground in South Carolina to fix what we could to pass our appraisals, I would stand at the top of this sloped area, surrounded by grass nearly as tall as myself, and dream what my garden would look like here. The same happened as we mowed that grass down & started to map out beds. I always returned to that spot at the top of the garden & just…imagined how beautiful it would be.

And here it is. This messy, beautiful, work in progress that I could just stare at every evening til the moon comes up. I’m finding it harder these days to pick a favorite spot and view. They’re all my favorite!

Note to self: put seating in the garden asap🌅

12/02/2024

Embracing false spring with all the momentum we’ve got in order to get ready for real spring. It’ll be here before we know it!🌱🪚🪵💪🏼🐓🦆🌷🪻

25/01/2024

Seed starting with Marmalade the basement chicken 🐓🌱

24/01/2024

Facebook marketplace hates the word egg 😂 I know I’ve only got a few friends local to us, but if you or any friends are interested in eggs, I have 4.5 dozen duck eggs and 3 dozen chicken eggs for sale right now. We can’t keep up with our girls laying!🥚

We feed them organic feed & let them forage our garden/property.

Message me for details!

21/01/2024

A handful of farm skittles🌈

Probably the coldest day we’ll have this winter & our girls are still going strong with the eggs! So grateful for those silly little fluffy-butt dinosaurs.

11/01/2024

“Welcome to Tofu & Mango’s egg stand, how can we help you? 🐣

11/01/2024

What a dream. I have a hard time getting things done because I’m always gettin caught up with lovely views like this 🌅☺️🫶🏼

Stop by my house unannounced & there’s a 78% chance I’m standing outside, staring at nothing in particular, still in total awe of the fact that we get to live here😂

08/01/2024

When your winter pantry is nearly as colorful as your summer garden🙌🏼

We used a gift card we got for Christmas to build these shelves! They’ll eventually go down in our basement root cellar/pantry space when we get around to building that, but for now they’re brightening up our dining room walls😍

A handful of notched 2x4s, some 2x12s and some 1x3s & we have sturdy, upgraded canning shelves AND I can steal my wire shelves back for seed starting this week🌱

29/12/2023

Christmas week photo dump🎁✨

19/12/2023

Papaya❤️🐓

17/12/2023

This is a much more exciting picture than it seems🕺🐓🥳

Months of work & time put into this project. Still not done, but our flock got to camp in their new home last night for the first time ever🥹

15/12/2023

Realized I haven’t posted a single thing since November, so here’s a lil cozy holiday pic. Happy December, friends ❤️🎄

30/11/2023

coopin’ in the dark!

we’ve been out working in the chilly nights this week cutting hardware cloth & getting it put up. All we have left before we can get the birds into their bigger run area (finally!) is the doors!

I think us and the chickens are both ready for this labor of love to finally be complete so they can have a large, beautiful new space to live in💕🐓

16/11/2023

“There’s a duck in my boot!”
Isn’t that what Woody said?🦆

Mr. Bill got the all clear from his vet on Monday & he’s back to life with his ladies (and very happy about it). He’s really turned out to be such a puppy of a duck, follows you around and nibbles your toes, sticking his head in your boots, and loves a good snuggle with his head in my hair.

We’re so glad he’s all better☺️

09/11/2023

autumn color is in full swing around our property & it’s lovely🍂

(even if it’s also a hot mess construction zone😬)

05/11/2023

Crying. Grateful. Excited.

We’ve been building our YouTube channel the last couple years & it’s truly one of the things I enjoy most in life right now. I love editing & filming & connecting with you guys through video. It’s a creative outlet that I really needed in my life and so happy I took the plunge after literally years of saying “I should start a YouTube channel!” We couldn’t have made it to this point without all our friends (you guys!) cheering us on, sharing our channel with others, & following along!

Appreciate you guys so much ❤️

24/10/2023

Little glimpses of life lately🫶🏼✨

22/10/2023

Our first ever Premiere-style video is going live today at 5pm EST on YouTube! We both worked really hard on this one & we hope to see you there☺️

This video is a Timelapse style of our first year on our land & all the neat stuff we’ve done & progress we’ve made. It’s also a Q&A where we’re talking about how much money💰we’ve made on YouTube so far, babies👶🏼, and upcoming projects 🐐🐓 & plans 🔨 for the homestead! 👩🏼‍🌾🍅

We’re celebrating this video for another special reason, too…it’s our 100TH YouTube video! I’m stoked & I can’t believe I’ve made it this long - I usually tap out of new hobbies so quickly, but gosh guys…I seriously LOVE making these videos!

Feel free to share with anyone you think would enjoy watching, grab your popcorn & snacks, & we’ll see ya in the live chat!💚

20/10/2023

I want to be very clear...

I'm not hating on the experts here! It's just...

When you reach a certain level of notoriety, you get a lot of questions, messages, and people asking things of you. You get OVERWHELMED with people reaching out. (at least this is what I've observed😂)

All I'm saying is maybe you could look to those who are a couple steps ahead of you. Find those people and ask them! My guess? They're itching to help you!🤗

I know that when someone asks me a question on gardening, well, I just can't shut myself up! LOL We're here & we want to help you.

The best part is..we were recently in your shoes. We can explain things to you in ways that a beginner would understand because we still remember what it was like to be at that beginner stage! Also..why not make a new gardening friend while you're at it?!🌱

Just a thought🤷‍♀️

If you're a fellow beginner gardener or dreaming of starting your own garden, comment GROW for a free 7 Step Garden Blueprint Cheatsheet to overcoming analysis paralysis & starting the garden of your dreams.

✨ Follow if you want to learn more about starting a garden as a total beginner with just a pot, patio, or property!

18/10/2023

Still not done with apples🍎🍎🍎

Got these all prepped & jarred last night & canned while I worked today! Getting a roaster oven has changed the game for getting things canned efficiently for me without wasting water or waiting for the water to cool off for the next batch. I can keep the consecutive jars in the hot roaster & immediately swap them out!

When you have super limited timeframes to work on kitchen projects, the right tools make all the difference & idk how I lived without the roaster now haha canning multiple batches would take me multiple DAYS prior to this…so… 10/10 recommend. And apples - I recommend lots of those, too🤤🍎

12/10/2023

One year at CCA...

From the busyness of Metro Detroit to a swampy campground in South Carolina to our tranquil homestead nestled in the foothills, the past year has taken us on a remarkable journey of transformation and self-discovery

One year ago, we traded the campground life for overgrown land and the stress of tiny living for the soothing sounds of nature. It's been a remarkable journey of growth, learning, and just figuring it all out along the way.

We planted our first garden, nurturing tiny seeds into bountiful harvests. We pretty much re-built the inside of our home from scratch, a labor of love. Our evenings are now filled with tending to our chickens, practicing the art of canning, learning new skills, and finding joy in the simple pleasures of life.

But through it all, what shines brightest is our appreciation for each other and the shared dream we're nurturing. It's a reminder that every challenge we face strengthens the bond between us, propelling us closer to the life we've envisioned.

As we celebrate our one-year milestone at our little homestead, I invite you to join us on this beautiful journey! If you're a fellow beginner gardener or dreaming of starting your own garden, comment GROW for a free 7 Step Garden Blueprint Cheatsheet to overcoming analysis paralysis & starting the garden of your dreams.

Let's grow together, learn together, and embrace the simple, joyful moments that homesteading brings. 🌾🏡

✨ Follow if you want to learn more about starting a garden as a total beginner with just a pot, patio, or property!

29/09/2023

felt like this needed a permanent place on the feed✨still can’t believe we have our own flock of chickies & duckaroos!

10/10 recommend setting up your camera on video, changing it to 60fps & putting your phone on a tripod just out of view in front of the camera, also recording on the phone’s front facing camera so you can see yourself!

We just took a whole lot of new pics for:
1. Fall because why not
2. NEW website launching next week (now you have to hold me accountable bc I told you😅)
3. New branding on YouTube for our 1yr homestead anniversary…
4. Andddd this page is going to be changing a bit. You’ll be seeing a lot more of us on here soon👋🏼

22/09/2023

september evenings on the homestead✨🌿

21/09/2023

🌼blooming🌼

The garden is something that requires so much dedication and patience, but it offers so much in return, so many rewards. As a serial hobbyist, gardening is the thing I’ve stuck with longest & enjoyed the most. It’s always changing & there’s always something new to look forward to when you’re getting sick of the thing you’re currently focused on.

Something else that feels similar to the garden in this sense has been our YouTube channel. It’s required so much dedication and patience, in some ways more than the garden has! After 1 year, 7 months & 25 days of posting videos, the majority of that time being weekly posts, we got our first paycheck today.

It wasn’t a ton…and I promised you guys I’d be really transparent here. Our first check was $115.62 (before 30% taxes) And I’m not here to brag. I’m just here to say I’m so happy that I’ve stuck with it. It feels like this seed we planted so long ago is finally starting to bloom🥹🌼✨

Thanks so much to all of you who follow along on there & support us in such wonderful ways. We appreciate you!

20/09/2023

A year ago we had just moved our camper to upstate sc, were dealing with intense negotiations to purchase our homestead property, and just couldn’t wait to be able to spread out & start developing our new home & homestead.

This year I’m harvesting the last bits of garden veg from my half acre garden with random chicken “potatoes” laying all over the place bawkbawking happily near me. 😂 I’m kind of sick of the garden right now honestly, I mean I have been working on it nonstop since December to get it going from scratch, but I’m no less grateful for it because of that fact.

I’m excited to put it to rest for the next month, get some garlic & onions planted, and start dreaming about what it will be like in another year from now.😌🌿

19/09/2023

A year’s worth for $12🌽

Hi it’s me, here to preach the salvage grocery store to you again!🤑

I didn’t think we were going to be able to afford to purchase a bulk supply of corn on the cob to preserve for the winter. At Walmart it’s 50 cents an ear on sale (not organic). Locally, it’s 78 cents an ear (organic). When you’re trying to buy a year’s worth at once it can add up & sometimes it’s not in the budget (like right now for us!).

Earlier this summer I scored 20 ears at our local salvage grocery store for 25 cents each! Only thing “wrong” with it was the outsides were starting to look less than ideal to the average shopper - inside it was perfect. We hadn’t seen more there all summer though & I wished I had grabbed more…

Then we went again last week & they HAD SOME! So what did I do? Grabbed 61 ears. What did it cost? $7 total.😱

My goal for the year was to preserve the equivalent of 32 pints. We got 43🌽🎉!!!

Shopping like this is what’s allowing us to can a year’s worth of food, invest in lots of jars since it’s our first year doing this, and to practice our preserving skills without breaking the bank.

Had I purchased 43 cans of corn at the store it would’ve cost me about $70. Even with purchasing jars that I can reuse over & over, this cost me $55 total. The corn was $12 overall. SCOR(n)E.🌽🌽🌽

17/09/2023

went foraging & found a bebé in the woods🌲

08/09/2023

That’s a wrap on tomatoes over here on our little homestead!🍅

We got 22 quarts + a half pint out of our garden this year & that feels like a huge accomplishment for a first year garden that definitely got neglected 🫣

I don’t really have a good gauge for how many quarts we’ll need for the whole year, because I’ve never measured our meals in “quarts”. If we use 1 quart per meal, this might be a solid year’s worth! I have a feeling we might use more than one jar per meal though (because I always cook enough for 2 people for 3 nights), and in that case I’ll definitely need more next year! We’ll see how it goes😁

Help me gauge this! How many quarts of sauce is your goal for the year? How many people is it for? Im so curious. I love this stuff! 🍅🍅🍅

03/09/2023

*adds toaster oven to my list of canning necessities for next year*

This is the last of our large harvests of garden tomatoes. They’re barely hanging on now, and I think we’ll use the rest for fresh eating. I think overall we got probably 25 gallon bags (maybe a little more than that) this year and I’m pretty happy with that!

Thawing these out today so I can turn them into a nice yummy sauce tomorrow!🥰🍅

29/08/2023

life lately…🐓🍅🫙🐈🍑

I can feel the days shortening, the garden to-do list lightening a little (or at least my motivation to deal with it), some of our longer term projects coming to an end, and the excitement for fall starting to creep in.🍁

I’m ready for maybe not a full season of rest, but a less demanding season. For cooler weather. And for new projects! ✨

Calico Cow Acres

19/02/2024

12/02/2024

25/01/2024

24/01/2024

21/01/2024

11/01/2024

11/01/2024

08/01/2024

29/12/2023

19/12/2023

17/12/2023

15/12/2023

30/11/2023

16/11/2023

09/11/2023

05/11/2023

24/10/2023

22/10/2023

20/10/2023

18/10/2023

12/10/2023

29/09/2023

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29/08/2023

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