Cedar Porch Homestead

Cedar Porch Homestead **Family owned and operated regenerative homestead focused on healthy soil, pastured livestock, and wholesome food for our table. See us in action on YouTube!**

Formerly Metcalfe Family Farm, we loved our time on the farm, but in May 2018, the Big Guy led us to sell and move into town. We landed on a half-acre lot with space for our home, a shop, and our business, Metcalfe Design Co., LLC. At the time, we thought we’d left farming behind… but God had other plans. Prompted to reconnect with our roots and take control of where our food comes from, we starte

d a backyard homestead. Now, we’re raising pastured eggs, chickens, quail, rabbits, and pigs, growing a garden, and even building a 50-acre regenerative agriculture property from scratch—expanding our mission to steward land, grow healthy food, and live intentionally. Follow along for faith-led homesteading, successes, lessons learned, and a little fun along the way—because farming isn’t just a job, it’s a lifestyle!

09/06/2026

**Mur is doing well… and that’s a BIG win. 🐮❤️**

She’s still not out of the woods, but we’re starting to see some really encouraging signs.

She’s drinking her **whole bottles**, she’s getting stronger, and now she’s even starting to **nibble on a little grass here and there.** 🌱

Because Mur is blind, we can’t just turn her loose and expect her to navigate pasture like a normal calf.

That’s why her **movable pen is so important.**

It gives her a safe, predictable environment where she can find her food, water, and shelter—but we can still move her onto fresh grass as we rotate the pasture.

So today, we’re moving Mur up to some fresh grass and letting her enjoy a little bit of pasture.

Is she completely out of the woods?

**Absolutely not.**

But she’s drinking.

She’s getting stronger.

She’s starting to eat grass.

And she’s getting to be a calf.

Right now, **that’s a success for Mur.** ❤️🐮🌱

And we’re going to keep taking it one day at a time.

09/05/2026

**We don’t just raise animals here… we put them to work. 🐷🐥🌱**

Today we got our mobile brooder repaired, cleaned up, and ready for a new batch of baby chicks.

Once everybody was settled in, we moved them out onto pasture.

But there’s a reason we put these chicks **behind the KuneKunes.**

The pigs go first and naturally disturb the soil as they forage.

Then the chicks follow behind them, adding their own contribution to the pasture while they’re raised just above the ground.

And instead of constantly bringing fertilizer onto the farm…

**we’re letting the animals help us build the soil.**

Pigs disturb.

Chicks fertilize.

The pasture grows.

Then we move the animals and let the land recover.

That’s the beauty of regenerative agriculture.

**The animals aren’t just something we’re raising. They’re part of the system.** 🌱🐷🐥

09/04/2026

**There’s a special kind of road rage that only happens in the South. 😂**

No cussing.

No obscene gestures.

No threats.

Just two people getting progressively more fired up while somehow keeping the entire argument completely Southern.

Because when you run out of polite ways to express your frustration…

**you bless their heart.**

And then you bless it again.

And again.

Until that little Southern blessing has somehow become a full-blown declaration of war. 😂😂😂

**Southern hospitality… with a little horsepower behind it.**

09/03/2026

**Tell me I’m not the only one… 😂🐮**

Does anyone else look at their calves and think to themselves…

*”Man, what a beautiful animal.”* ❤️

…and then your brain goes:

**”I’m gonna eat you and get in my belly!”** 😂😂😂

If you raise your own beef, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

It’s not personal, buddy.

It’s just… **regenerative agriculture.** 😂🐮🥩

09/03/2026

**Evening chores looked a little different tonight. 🌧️💨**

We’re trying to squeeze in our chores between feeder bands from this tropical storm, and so far, we’re thankful to say that **the homestead has held up really well.**

We’ve had about **9 inches of rain, high winds, a couple of trees down, and we’ve been running on the backup generator for roughly 18 hours.**

But all things considered...

**We’re doing pretty darn good.**

Even our little blind calf, **Mur**, did great tonight. She finished her entire bottle, which is a HUGE win for us. 🐮❤️

The one animal who doesn’t seem to be enjoying this weather very much?

Our Great Pyrenees. 😂🐕

Apparently, he has officially decided that tropical weather is not his thing.

There are a lot of folks in our area who are dealing with much worse than we are, and our prayers are absolutely with those families as they work through this storm.

We’re thankful for our family, our animals, and a homestead that’s weathering the storm.

**Here at Cedar Porch Homestead, we’re doing pretty good.** ❤️

We’ll keep riding this one out and keep you guys updated.

09/01/2026

**We might need to put an asterisk next to “blind” when we talk about Mur. 👀🐮❤️**

Something has changed.

While we were walking by filming Mur, we noticed her starting to **track us with her head and eyes.**

And then we noticed something else...

That white, calcified-looking part of her eyes appears to be **fading and clearing up a little bit.**

Could she actually be starting to regain some vision?

We don’t know yet.

And maybe we’re just being overly hopeful because we desperately want this little girl to have the best life possible.

But when you’ve watched what Mur has been through, seeing even the possibility of her eyes clearing up is HUGE.

She’s still dealing with a lot, but she’s getting stronger, she’s getting around better, and now we’re starting to wonder if she might be seeing a little bit more of the world around her.

And of course...

It’s feeding time. 😂

So whether she can see us or not, she definitely knows when the bottle is coming!

We’re going to keep watching her closely and keep giving her everything we’ve got.

**Maybe—just maybe—Mur is getting her sight back.** ❤️🐮

We’ll keep you guys updated.

08/30/2026

**This is what regenerative agriculture looks like. 🌱🌧️**

Regenerative agriculture is about making the most of what nature gives you instead of constantly fighting against it.

That’s why we have rain collection systems on our chicken coops.

Normally, Ashlynn has to haul **five gallons buckets of water every day** to fill the rain barrel that supplies the automatic chicken waterer.

But after a couple of nice little rainstorms over the last few days...

**She hasn’t had to haul a single bucket.** 😂

The rain filled the barrel for us, and now our chickens have water waiting for them.

It’s a simple system, but that’s the point.

Catch the rain.

Store it.

Put it to work.

And let nature do some of the heavy lifting.

**That’s how we make the most of what we already have.** 🌧️🌱🐔

08/29/2026

**I think I messed up again. 😂🚜**

I put my daughter in charge of shredding the pasture.

I thought I was giving her a job.

Turns out...

**I was giving away my tractor.** 😂

Now she’s out here running the tractor, shredding pasture, having a good time...

And apparently **I’M not allowed to play anymore.** 🤦‍♂️😂

I guess this is another one of those unintended consequences of teaching your kids how to work.

First she takes over the farm...

Now she’s taking my tractor.

**Where did I go wrong?!** 😂

08/29/2026

**MUR IS OFFICIALLY HOME! 🐮❤️🌱**

After all the blood, sweat, tears, storms, 104° heat, and apparently a little more eyebrow than I intended to donate... 😂

Our little blind calf is officially moved into her new **”mobile fixed” pen** out on pasture!

The whole idea was to give Mur a consistent environment where she always knows where her water, hay, food, and shelter are while still allowing us to move her around the pasture and let her be part of our regenerative homestead.

And honestly...

**She already looks happier.**

Bailey gave her a bottle out on pasture, and seeing this little girl out in the grass instead of confined to a small pen makes every bit of the work worth it.

The butterfly bandage over my eyebrow?

Apparently the cut was a little bigger than I originally thought. 😂

But that’s alright.

**Blood, sweat, and tears are worth it for Mur.** ❤️🐮

This little girl has already taught us a whole lot about perseverance, adapting, and doing whatever it takes to give an animal a chance.

Welcome home, Mur. 🌱❤️

08/28/2026

**They say when you rush, that’s when accidents happen...**

Well, apparently they were talking about me. 😂

I spent today playing **leapfrog with a bunch of storms**, trying to get Mur’s new mobile cattle pen finished before the next round of rain rolled through.

I was rushing.

I was trying to beat the weather.

And then...

**Yep.**

An accident happened. 🤦‍♂️😂

Sometimes you already know the lesson before you learn it the hard way:

**Slow down. Pay attention. Don’t rush just because you’re trying to beat the storm.**

The good news is, I’m alright—and the mobile pen is still getting finished.

Just apparently not as quickly as I had planned. 😂

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Wharton, TX
77351

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