New flier below was uploaded 10-20-20. As animals/bundles are sold, we’ll update this page.👍🏼
1-28-15: A bit of history…
Before our cousin Ernie died, he wrote this paper up for us. Genealogy – an area we haven’t gotten into much yet, so we are thankful he took the time to write this for our family.😊
As time goes on and I find dates & pictures to add, this page should grow.👍
In 2004, we began with free-range egglayer chickens. I’ll add pictures when I find them. They were quite a learning experience, and we made TONS of mistakes. Can definitely say we learned what NOT-to-do very well.😁Probably because we started backwards…should start with a few birds and grow more, NOT start with 100 birds! Lol. Oh my.🐔
That was also the first year we raised grass-fed beef. We bought yearlings from a neighbor’s farm and rotationally grazed them around the farm. We have never fed any grain; though in those early years, we did feed them hulls from soybeans right before butchering. We no longer feed the soy hulls, and have been 100% grass-fed since 2005.🌾
We raised portable-range-sheltered meat chickens and turkeys for about 5 years during those early years, as well. They were a lot of work, and when our local processor closed, it became too difficult to continue. We just weren’t ready to process the birds on our own here – nor are we yet. Perhaps someday…😉
[We ate LOTS of humble pie, those beginning years of farming. The Lord exposed the true motivations of our hearts…and it was pretty ugly. We SAID we were committing our lives to following the Lord, but we were really pursuing a lifestyle steeped in pride and debt and hypocrisy.]
In 2006, we began to prepare to milk cows.
For our 10th wedding anniversary, Mike & I “practiced” milking the herd we would eventually purchase. Mike had milked many times before, but I was a first-timer…😏
We went to an auction in September of that year and bought a retiring farm’s pipeline and milkhouse “stuff”. (If Mike were writing this, he’d use the correct terms, lol…)😉
Next step was to add a milkhouse onto the existing milking barn at Mike’s parents’ house. (We live next door.)
Bought an old bulk tank that had been sitting in someone’s barn for a l-o-n-g time! But it cleaned up really great and still works aok…😊
After milking a few weeks, we realized headlocks would be a valuable addition, both for our safety, and for our girls. Such a blessing to have a more secure setup and these are still appreciated now!👍
Roberts' Farm Blog 
🙂
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Oh! You’re in Ohio, not far from us! Even more exciting that I found your page. Wonderful! 🙂
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Hello! I actually grew up in Summit County & have a lot of family around where you are, too. Nice to “meet” you… 🙂
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Hi Dawn, I just read through quite a bit of your wonderful blog, after having found you through Local Harvest via Facebook. I think I talked with you awhile back about milk, and you were amazingly friendly and willing to share farm knowledge to this Summit County girl who moved from suburbia to a 5 acre place near Waynesburg.
Now I’ve got another excuse, other than farming questions, to visit: we can talk about home schooling and home church. My husband and I home schooled our son in the 90’s through his graduation in 2004, and now are taking our sabbath at home, having not found a fellowship down here. It has been very refreshing and challenging in a good way, as we are fully relying on our Vine.
The rub is finding the TIME (chronos) … but it will happen in His Time (kairos)
Jesus bless you!
Lynda Rimke
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What a wonderful note to wake up to! Thank you for your kind words. 🙂
I know what you mean about “time”, lol.. Looking forward to when it works out for us to meet. 🙂
We worship pretty regularly with 2 other families at 10am, here at our house. (6 adults + 9 children ages “almost born” to 13) We begin with sharing a meal together (each family just brings/shares what they have…), and then share communion followed by a time of praise and worship which can include sharing where we have seen Jesus in our lives throughout the week, sharing testimonies, singing songs, etc. Very Spirit-led… Our doors are always open for more Worshippers! 🙂
Also wanted to say that I LOVE your self-portrait pencil sketch. I see the Lord has blessed you with a beautiful artistic ability – thank you for sharing it!
Blessings to you and your family. 🙂
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The boys were so little!! How cute:) Not sure why I haven’t read this before now:) Love it!
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Lol – now I’m gonna have to go back and look at that page again!! It’s been awhile and it’s sooo fun to see how much they’ve grown… Thanks for reminding me!❤️
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