Ida Belle Meadows Homestead

Ida Belle Meadows Homestead 5 acre homestead in Louisa, Va

Porch sheep 😆🙄🤦🏻‍♀️
07/28/2025

Porch sheep 😆🙄🤦🏻‍♀️

07/26/2025

Volume up😁

It’s Fern’s birthday so she gets all of the sweet treats 💜

I added a totally impractical member to the homestead this past Sunday. Based off of this picture, any guesses as to wha...
07/18/2025

I added a totally impractical member to the homestead this past Sunday. Based off of this picture, any guesses as to what it may be?

Swipe to see the difference — both in color and quality.📸 Left: deep red, rich ground pork from our pasture-raised pigs📸...
06/29/2025

Swipe to see the difference — both in color and quality.
📸 Left: deep red, rich ground pork from our pasture-raised pigs
📸 Right: commercial pork sausage (Jimmy Dean)

The difference is undeniable.

👉 Color: Our pastured pork is naturally dark, thanks to a diet of forage, sunshine, and space to roam. That deep red hue means it’s rich in nutrients, especially iron. The commercial pork? Pale, fatty, and overly processed.

👉 Fat: Pastured meat carries healthy fat marbling from real movement and real food. Compare that to the commercial version—where you’re often paying for filler, water, and excess saturated fat from confined animals on grain-heavy diets.

👉 Texture & Flavor: Grass-fed and pasture-raised meat has a denser texture and bold, clean flavor. It browns beautifully and cooks up firm. The store-bought kind often turns mushy and greasy in the pan, no real bite, just oil.

🌱 We raise our animals with care, sunlight, and respect for what food should be. You can literally see (and taste) the difference.

My sweet Fern💜. She is my first Jersey milk cow, and she’s turned into a full-on pasture shadow. She follows me around t...
06/29/2025

My sweet Fern💜. She is my first Jersey milk cow, and she’s turned into a full-on pasture shadow. She follows me around the field like a giant grass puppy — curious, calm, and always just a few steps behind.

We’ve built a strong bond, the kind that comes from quiet mornings, feed buckets, and a lot of one sided conversation. She’s gentle, steady, and a little bit nosy in the best way.

Didn’t expect a cow to be such a big part of me— but here we are.

Remi’s out here supervising like he signs the paychecks. 🐶💼Thinks he’s running the whole show—and honestly, with that fa...
06/21/2025

Remi’s out here supervising like he signs the paychecks. 🐶💼

Thinks he’s running the whole show—and honestly, with that face, he just might be.

Zero actual help, 100% moral support.

I’m going to write a homesteading book about the adventures we have, good and bad here. I’m going to call it “Don’t lick...
06/19/2025

I’m going to write a homesteading book about the adventures we have, good and bad here. I’m going to call it “Don’t lick my hair, I have to go to work!” Title inspired by the one and only Fern. 💜

Some days it’s definitely like this 🤣
06/04/2025

Some days it’s definitely like this 🤣

When your animal gives you something, take your time with them. If the only interaction you have with them is when you w...
05/31/2025

When your animal gives you something, take your time with them. If the only interaction you have with them is when you want something, they may start avoiding you. I frequently go out just to be present with my animals, especially Fern. I expect her to stand politely and quietly when I’m milking her so I feel it’s only fair for me to spend time with her and want absolutely nothing from her.

She’s such an important part of the homestead, she needs to know she’s loved.

Cows > people
05/30/2025

Cows > people

I went to the grocery store for tinfoil, came back with this 52 quart pot. I couldn’t help it, it has cheese making writ...
05/27/2025

I went to the grocery store for tinfoil, came back with this 52 quart pot. I couldn’t help it, it has cheese making written all over it! Not only that, can you imagine the amount of sauce I can make and can with this sucker?!

This morning, Arlo went under the gate to the big field not realizing that Fern was in the same field. His body language...
05/23/2025

This morning, Arlo went under the gate to the big field not realizing that Fern was in the same field. His body language says it all, he was ready to run at a moment’s notice. Fern is not a fan of dogs but lucky for Arlo, she was distracted by the grain bucket. Happy to report he made it back through without incident.

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Louisa, VA

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