Floral | Spring Inspiration

Spring Wedding Inspiration

Spring has never been one of my favorite times of year, the weather is so unpredictable, one day it's beautiful the next it's snowing. Am I right?!

However, after this incredible styled shoot, I had the privilege of being a part of my mind has changed a bit. Look at these amazing colors that spring weddings have to offer!

In early March I was honored to collaborate with a few lovely ladies to put together an inspirational shoot for brides searching for a fresh spring look. It was refreshing to see green again and get my hands designing with such incredible spring blooms.

I had such an incredible time working with these creative ladies and I'm sure you will too!

Styling and Planning | Relax Event Planning

Photography | Emily B Photography

Stationary | Peninsula Creative

Dress | Monirose

Venue | Charlie's on Main

Farm | Homestead's First Lambs

We welcomed Homestead's very first lambs!

Well, the day finally came! Erma welcomed two healthy lambs yesterday evening. Meet Cain, the firstborn son at Homestead, and Eva his sweet little sister.

While I wish I could say I watched the birth of my FIRST lambs, I was out running farm/house errands when I got a call from my brother-in-law asking if I knew about the lambs. Then a phone call from Matt shortly after letting me know 'they are super cute'... I asked all the good Mama questions, are they standing? Are they dry? Are they nursing?

Pulling in the driveway my heart was racing, there they were! The sweet faces of newborn lambs. I helped dry them off, though it wasn't too cold yesterday, as a first time lamb Mama I wanted to do everything right. Erma is an incredible mama, delivering these sweet babies on her own and is caring for them so well.

We have six mama's yet to deliver, who wants to make a guess at our final lamb count?!

Homestead | New Logo

Introducing our new logo!

With the move to a new farm and the collection of our business under one name it seemed an appropriate time to rework our logo. I must admit, at times it's hard to connect my meat business with pretty flowers and design work. It makes logos challenging but I'm in love with end result of our new brand image.

How the tree came to be.

When Matt and I were contemplating an image for our new logo we wanted to capture something uniquely ours. The topography of our farm was considered; however, even with our landscape architecture backgrounds this image just didn't seem to stick. After hours of frustration on my part, again trying to find an image that would blend these businesses together isn't a walk in the park, Matt mentioned 'the tree'. As soon as those beautiful words came out of his mouth, I knew we'd found our image. Since I'm a woodworker's daughter and Matt a sawyer you'd think that would wrap up the story of adding a tree to the logo, but there is more to this story.

Is there something special about the Homestead tree?

Yes, there is something very special about this tree. I'm the daughter of a woodworker and tree nerd, which means that I grew up recognizing that certain trees were extra special. These 'special' tree's were the most figured trees, the largest trees, and trees that meant something special to a family or company. Think American Girl, that iconic symbol of a bur oak on their logo. It happened to be a 'special' tree on their main location. Much like American Girl, Homestead Wisconsin has a special tree.

  Homestead Wisconsin is home to the state's largest black walnut tree. Yes you read that right, it's recorded in several books published by the state's arborists and is a tree that my father has known about for years. In fact, he knew it so well that when Matt pulled up the listing for this farm my father knew it as the farm with the largest walnut in the state. Now, I can't say it had everything to do with us purchasing this place, but I think it played a big role in Matt and my father's decision making.

We're pretty proud to have this specimen in the Morrison/McCoy family and we hope for many, many more years of it gracing our farm.

And just in case you are also a tree nerd...

You can learn more about storied trees and how Matt helps give these special trees new life at The Wood Cycle of Wisconsin.

Recipe | Grilling the Perfect Grass-fed Steak

It's grilling season!

Today I'm sharing how to perfectly cook any of our delicious Homestead steaks. I can't seem to keep steaks in the freezer so I thought it seemed appropriate to give you some how-to on cooking this incredible cut of beef.

Grass-fed meats are lean (you already know this) which can cause them to become dried out and tough rather quickly on the grill. To avoid this I cook our steaks on in-direct heat and only until medium-rare. This keeps Homestead steaks perfectly juicy and I'm sure you won't be disappointed with the flavor.

How to cook your perfect grass-fed steak

First pat your steak dry, this will allow your steak to sear and give you those beautiful grill marks.

Lightly season with salt, pepper or your favorite steak seasoning.

Place your steak over a flame to sear, about 2 minutes per side.

Remove steak from flame and place in an unheated area of your grill, just get it off the flame.

Cook on indirect heat for 5-7 minutes per pound.Do not open your grill during this time. Allow your steaks to reach interior temperatures of 120-130 degrees.

Remove your steaks and allow to rest 5 minutes.

I hope you enjoy your grilled steak as much as I do!

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Floral | What to bring to your first floral consultation

So you’ve found a florist you’re dying to work with.  Your florist is probably ecstatic about working with you because she knows if you can’t wait to work with her you’re probably her perfect match. So what is your florist going to need from you during your first consultation? Here’s an un-exhaustive list to help you and your florist create something beautiful together.

Details of your venue and pictures if you have them!

Venues pop up every day. Expecting your florist to have been to every venue is like asking if someone has seen every Disney movie, they may have seen a lot but probably not every one.

Details of your floral vision.

Again pictures are SUPER helpful here. While your favorite flower colors are absolutely important it is more helpful for us to see your vision in its entirety. Are you going for a modern, bohemian, classic, rustic or a blend of these styles on your big day?  Are you after flower walls or just some simple centerpieces.

Pictures of your bridesmaid dresses and your’s.

If you have pictures and the colors of your dresses it really helps give us a sense of colors and how we can best compliment your attire.

Colors of the groom’s and groomsmen attire.

Just like it’s helpful to know what color dress we’re looking to compliment let’s make sure the men look just as stunning.

Guest count estimate. Knowing roughly 200 people is helpful.

We can figure out how many tables based on these rough counts and can give you a more accurate proposal. We understand that 200 invites doesn’t mean 200 guests but it gives us a good place to start.

Details that are important for us to incorporate.

Lace from your grandmother’s gown you want to be wrapped around your bouquet - things like this will help guide some of our discussion on these details.

An idea of your floral ‘dream’.

Centerpieces, arbor garlands, swooping garlands behind your head table, sprigs of green on every chair. Let us know what you’re looking for!

Your target budget

Now, this isn’t last on my list because it’s the least important thing to bring to your meeting. It’s the MOST important piece of information you can bring to your initial consultation so I wanted to end with this so it’s fresh in your mind. Knowing your budget helps us help you craft a design that is within your budget. We’d hate to send you a proposal for the $20,000 Pinterest wedding when your budget is $2500. Pinterest is the queen of stunning, over the top, unique arrangements and floral installations, but they don’t fit every budget. If you know what your target budget is we can help craft a beautiful day and give advice on ways to cut costs if necessary. If you don’t tell us we can’t help but propose everything you ask for, and we’d hate to give you unnecessary sticker shock.

So, while this is not an exhaustive list it can help guide your thinking. It will also give you and your florists a good place to start discussions about what is going to make your day uniquely yours.

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Renovations | We're Ready for Lambs!

One week until lambing!

We're 1 week away from our first lambing season here at the farm. I can't believe it's almost here!

We've been working hard on our basement remodel, so hard that we've waited until the last minute to transition to necessary barn improvements for our growing flock. We spent a wonderful Saturday and Sunday in the barn and while it was a bit chillier than I would prefer it was nice to be working on our farm projects again.

On the project to-do list was building lambing jugs (small pens) for our ewes and their lambs to bond after birth. Our new families will spend 1-3 days in the jug to make sure mama and babies have a chance to bond so when they are let back out with the flerd (flock + herd) baby knows exactly how to find Mama and her milk.

The jug also allows us farmers to make sure that the new lambs are growing and getting the nutrition they need from mama. If for some reason the ewe cannot provide for the lamb it is easier for me to evaluate the need for bottle feeding if they aren't out roaming with the flerd.

I also spent some time at my sewing machine making lamb jackets. These jackets make me happier than a kid in a candy shop, they are so small and totally cute.

I'm so anxious to snuggle our new lambs and I can't wait for them to arrive. Our first due date is Easter so I'm praying for some lovely time celebrating The Lamb and hopefully adding a few lambs to our pasture!

Recipe | Red Wine Roast

Red Wine Beef Roast

Roast season is coming to an end, but don't let this recipe sit on the shelf until fall!

Ingredient List 

3 lb Homestead Roast (Chuck will be shred-able)
1 cup flour, for dredging
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 large red onion, sliced thin
3-4 cups beef broth
1 cup red wine (Shiraz or Cabernet) *
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon sage
1 bay leaf

To Make This Deliciousness

 Dredge your roast in flour then sear in olive oil. Once seared remove your roast add your garlic and onion to the pan and saute. Once your garlic and onion are soft add your white wine and bring to a boil for 3 minutes. Add your remaining ingredients and cook for 3 hours at 275 degrees.
Let sit for 20 minutes and serve with your favorite red wine.

Farm | Our First Shearing Day

Our first shearing day

There are a lot of new experiences when you bring new animals to the farm. Today was our first experience with shearing and I can't help but laugh at how funny the girls look without their winter jackets.

Unlike cattle sheep are not easily corralled... so getting them in the barn and ready for the shearer was probably the most comical experience I've had with these ewes, mom even jumped in to help.

Once the girls were settled into the barn Jerry went to work shearing them and clipping their hooves, what an incredible process. These girls are squirmy and I'm glad I wasn't the one with the clippers.

So in the next few weeks we will be delivering our first wool to the mill to have the wool cleaned and crafted into some comfy mattress pads. I can't wait to sleep on my own wool.

With temperatures getting warmer and lambing only a month away I'm sure these girls will appreciate the extra weight off their backs.

Florals | For the Love of Flowers

Photo by treasurepeople.com

the details

As a landscape designer I've always found myself drawn to the details. The textures, materials and colors of a space. Which is also why I've focused my design business on creating more than just the space, but also the details of the space. This love for details translates directly into floral design as each and every bloom is thoughtfully placed to create the masterpiece. I love getting lost in the blooms, one minute it's 7am and the next the sun is setting. It's true bliss.

my love for events

I've always been an entertainer. I love hosting events and I love each detail that goes into making an event spectacular. Something as simple as hosting a Christmas party or something as complex as a wedding. Each event is an opportutniy to create something beautiful. Flowers for these events demand detail, uniqueness and creativity. No event is the same and I look forward to each opportunity to create something special, whether for a wow factor or a quiet appreciation of beauty.

my love for weddings

Each weekend throughout the year is an opportunity to create something beautiful that speaks to the individuals that partner with me. My creativity thrives on a Friday in the floral studio as floral dreams come to life in a matter of 48 hours. This fast pace allows me the opportunity to fully invest in the creative process as each bloom is taken from the bunch and carefully arranged. The beauty of this industry is that each wedding is unique so there is no opportunity to get stuck in a creative slump. It's an honor to be selected to take a bucket of specifically curated blooms and create the bouquets and arrangements for such special celebrations.

when you do what you love you never work a day in your life

This is the truest and most overused statement for small business owners. But it's so incredibly true. I'm blessed to have found a creative medium that continues to excite me and make Fridays one of my most favorite days of the week.

Farm | Female Grass Farmer

Sharing my story

I was approached by Alyssa with Alyssa Bloechl Photography to write a guest post on her blog. Alyssa captures farmers and farm life through her camera lens and I was thrilled to be apart of her series of guest blogs.

For this post I decided to focus on sharing my story in hopes of inspiring other women with no farming background to push through the fear of not knowing as much as the woman/man that grew up on the farm. I wanted to share if their is a passion there is a way and that small beginnings are better than never beginning.

Read my story on Alyssa's blog and if you are an inspiring FarmHer I'd love to chat with you!

Recipe | Hungarian Goolash

Hungarian Goolash

Ingredients |

1 package Homestead stew meat

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons of all purpose flour

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons paprika

Dash of pepper

2 onions, sliced and diced

2 bell peppers, sliced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 can of diced tomatoes in juice

3 cups beef stock

2 tablespoons corn starch

How to Make This Deliciousness |

In your dutch oven heat olive oil. Coat stew meat in flour and sear. Add garlic and onions to soften and bring out the flavor. Once the meat is browned add in diced tomatoes, paprika, pepper, tomato paste and beef stock. Cook at 325 degrees for 3 hours stirring occasionally. After 3 hours remove from oven and add bell peppers and corn starch. Cook for an additional 30 minutes. Let sit and thicken prior to serving. Serve on a bed of noodles and top with cilantro, of course.

I hope you enjoy this as much as we did!

Renovations | Settling In

Winter on the farm

There are so many blessings for a farmer, florist and designer this time of year. The biggest blessing is a slower season to catch up, reflect and prioritize a new season. After the snowfall a couple days ago I couldn't resist taking the time to get out with Banjo and breath a little. It felt good to actually soak in the beauty of this place that took my breath away on a snow covered January day a year ago. As I am starting to settle into this slower season I am sitting back today with my cup of coffee (hot coco + coffee + milk), to reflect on the last five months that we've called this valley home.

Since day one there has been project after project here at the homestead. The month of August we spent getting our home cleaned up and to a point I felt it was truly liveable. September, October and November were spent putting up our barn, moving livestock and bringing new livestock home. In December we started on our basement remodel where we are putting in a laundry, mudroom and a guest suite. As the finish line approaches on the basement reno I will be sure to share the final result with you.

While it is inspiring to sit back and look at all we've accomplished in these few short months I think both Matt and I are looking forward to a season of rest yet this winter. We have our eyes set on finishing our basement remodel by March 1 and then clearing our calendar of projects until April. It seems crazy to think that the last five months we've taken less than ten days away from a project, a stark difference to the last home we purchased together. We knew when we first visited this property that there were a laundry list of to-dos, but we are slowly learning that it's going to take time, and I am going to need to learn patience.

Life in this valley has been an adventure so far and I continue to appreciate the opportunities before us, 2018 is going to be an exciting year.

Recipe | Cuban-Style Shredded Beef

Cuban-Style Shredded Beef

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Here is an easy recipe that spices chuck roast up a bit.

Ingredients |

6 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 lb. Homestead Chuck Roast

2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

4 chilies diced

2 teaspoons dried oregano

2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/4 cup chopped cilantro + more for garnish (I LOVE cilantro)

How to Make this Deliciousness |

In a skillet heat oil and garlic, sear roast until brown on each side. Since I like to keep things simple, slice, dash and dump all the other ingredients in your crockpot and mix. Add your roast into the crockpot and cover with sauce.

Cook on low for 8 hours. Shred and serve over rice or in a tortilla shell.

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I'd love to share an amazing compliment to this recipe. Cuban-style beans. I admit this is almost the best part of the pair and they are SO SIMPLE.

Ingredients |

1 tablespoon oil

1 medium red onion, diced

1 jalapeños, seeded and diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 cans of black beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup warm water

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin (I love this spice and I think an extra dash is delicious)

1 teaspoon chili powder

3 tablespoons cilantro

3 limes juiced

How to Make this Deliciousness |

Heat oil in a saucepan and saute the red onion and jalapeños until soft. Dice, mince and dump all the ingredients into the pan. Heat the beans, garnish with extra cilantro and serve. Yes, it's that simple and again so delicious.

Serve on the side of your cuban-style beef.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as Matt and I did. Who knew that a simple chuck roast could be so tasty.

Homestead Update | Hello 2018!

Cheers to a new year!

The holidays felt like a whirlwind between gathering with family and friends, and working on our recent basement remodel. However, I didn’t let the New Year slip by without some thought on where these businesses are going to take us in 2018.

A new year offers a new beginning and I am always thankful for that. I’m learning more about business and finding renewed passion, and new passion, as each year passes.

So like all years I sat down, pen in hand and wrote out goals and dreams for these little businesses. It always amazes me how inspiring this process is and I am on fire to get things rolling!

So, what am I looking forward to in 2018 with these businesses? Here’s a little sneak peak!

• I look forward to opening up more available dates for weddings and events.

• I’m excited to develop our online shopping experience of our meats.

• I look forward to being more active on the blog to share more stories, projects and recipes with you.

• I’m excited to host an open farm and studio day where we can share more of our business with you.

• I look forward to growing our flerd (flock + herd) and am excited to welcome our own lambs this year.

• I am excited to show you more of our farm so that you can feel a connection with us and our livestock even if you only ever experience our farm online.

• I look forward to offering four season planter design.

A New Year wouldn't be the same without a resolution right? This year my resolution is to prioritize intentionality. It's easy when running three businesses to feel like I need to do anything to just keep my head above water. However, I've learned the last year that it doesn't help to just do, it only helps when I find intentionality behind the do. So this year I aim to be more intentional about business direction, customer experience and connecting with each and every one of you.

As always thank you for supporting this dream and I look forward to what 2018 has to bring!

Farm | Our Flerd

Our flerd

Well, it happened, we are now shepherds! It’s not too much of a surprise that we now have eight fluffy ewes, they’ve been on the farm radar for quite a while. After raising a couple lambs many years ago I knew it was a significant possibility that they would be added to our farm someday, because who would not want a lamb?!

So this weekend we brought home North Country Cheviot's, a dual purpose breed. We will be raising them here on the farm primarily for meat but I'm exploring ideas for using their wool as well. While the ‘cuteness’ factor was a heavy player in getting sheep for our farm (of course) they also come with some amazing farm benefits.

Sheep graze differently than cattle, so adding them to our pastures is super beneficial to the establishment, growth and maintenance of our new pastures. Sheep will graze what the cattle do not and are amazingly effective ‘mowers’. With the steep slopes on our farm they will be able to graze where we simply would not be able to mow with our tractor. Mowing is a crucial part of naturally keeping weeds in the pastures to a minimum, and is also essential to pasture regrowth; we are glad they will be taking the majority of this chore away from us.

Having sheep and cattle on the same pasture also allows us to better utilize our pounds per acre. Since both animals graze differently than each other we can get the most return for pound of meat to available grass.

We are also very excited to offer a new product to YOU. Grass-fed lamb has amazing flavor if you haven’t tried it yet we highly recommend you do!

Now to give you background on my new favorite word, flerd. We will be running our sheep and cattle together as a ‘flerd’ (flock + herd). When the lambs are young we will attempt to bond them to cattle, that way when a coyote ventures into our pastures they will run to the safety of the cattle. We have a lot of coyotes lurking around and since neither Matt or I are too keen on a guardian dog we are going to try this approach to keep our new wooly friends safe from predators. There have been many studies in which ranches have had great success with 'flerding' and we hope the same is true on our farm. Wish us luck!

Our flock will play an important part in establishing the pastures on our farm this coming spring. We have a lot of work ahead of us to best utilize this new addition but we can’t wait to see how quickly they change our landscape. We look forward to our first lambing season in April 2018 and offering you Easter lambs in 2019.

Recipe | Slow Cooker Barbacoa Beef

Barbacoa beef

Ingredient List |

3 lbs Homestead Chuck Roast

2 Tbsp olive oil

3 - 4 chipotle chilis in adobo

1 cup beef broth

4 cloves minced garlic

1½ Tbsp ground cumin

1 Tbsp dried oregano

¾ tsp salt

½ tsp ground black pepper

¼ tsp ground cloves

¼ cup fresh lime juice

How to Make This Deliciousness |

In a large pan or cast-iron skillet, warm the olive oil. Place one thawed chuck roast in the large pan, searing both sides. In a bowl combine the rest of the ingredients. Once seared place the chuck roast in your crockpot. Pour the contents of your bowl of goodies onto the roast. Place the roast on High for 6 hours or slow cook on low all day (8-9 hours).

Shred your delicious beef and serve in a warm taco shell with fresh cilantro, corn, tomatoes, and red onion. This recipe has just the right amount of hot spice and I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as Matt did last night :)

Enjoy!

Renovations | The 'Cows' Came Home

The ‘cows’ came home

It’s been a little quiet around the blog since the purchase of our homestead. We have been spending every spare moment, between work away from the homestead as well as running our small businesses, to revive this old homestead into a working farm and a live-able home. We finally reached a milestone here on the homestead and I am happy to share it with you!

This week the ‘cows’ came home

We are thrilled to finally have them here with us. Three of the steers from our old farm have made their way home. This week our herd has grown with the addition of three new Highland calves and in the next few weeks we will be welcoming home three Hereford calves.

Rocket - Our Red Highland & Brisket - Our Brown Highland

Picket - Our White Highland

It’s been an adventure, as most farm start-ups are, as we’ve spent the last month and a half building a home for our cattle. There was not a barn on our homestead when we moved in, the old barn had been buried some time ago; but we did find a picture of it through the cleanup, YES! With a lot of work and several willing souls, we constructed our first barn, the cattle lean, as well as a winter lot.

We are thankful that the cattle are home with us again and we look forward to cozying up the barn and the house a little bit more before winter. Below is a digital timeline of how the barn came together... (it isn't quite finished)

Renovations | Our NEW HOMESTEAD!

photos by Wild Mulberry Photography

So we did it, we closed on our homestead!

I am still in the ‘pinch me’ phase as I get to share this exciting business and personal news with you! We can’t wait to see where this journey takes us!

It has been a dream of ours since before we said ‘I do’ to start a homestead together. Long drives back from Iowa State chatting about each and every farmstead we passed... the barns, the house, the land, the gardens, we talked about it all. When we said ‘I do’ we had refined the vision of what we wanted for our lives. A simple piece of land to grow into, finding that middle of nowhere feeling,  to build a ‘home’ with our own hands, to someday raise a family in a simpler place and to settle in a place where we could point our rocking chairs towards the west; any Tim McGraw fans out there?!

It’s been a journey to get to this day... so here’s a little background...

We bought our first home on a quiet street in the town of Evansville just before we got married. We knew it wasn’t a  forever home, but we also didn’t realize how quickly our hearts would yearn for our ‘home’, the one we’ve dreaming of and talking about since our relationship budded on those long drives. The following spring we put up fences on my parent’s land and brought a couple calves home because I couldn’t wait any longer.... Hours and hours and blood, sweat and tears (literally) later we knew we still wanted to pursue this dream of raising meat. We knew someday we would have our own homestead and we would be starting this grueling and yet exciting process of building it all from scratch all over again.

We sold that little home in Evansville last fall to fully pursue this dream. Those two short years in our first house taught us a lot about us as a couple as we worked on projects to improve it and prompted us to take the leap of faith even though we didn’t know where we would be going.

After months of searching we started to feel a bit overwhelmed by the market and lack of options. We tried an nontraditional route and contacted a farmer directly about purchasing an abandoned farm but still didn’t come up with anything. Thankfully Matt, bless him, has a desire to look at everything that hits the market; I however am the filter queen. I wasn’t interested in finding ‘the perfect place’ only to find out it sits on 2 acres (enough for chickens, not cattle) or blows the budget out of the water.  When Matt saw our now homestead I immediately shot it down... our banker would laugh, what would we ever do with the multiple homes that came with this property, it just ‘wasn’t realistic’. However, God and Matt had a different idea…

Four months later, after Matt bringing up the property again and again (bless him) and realizing that my parent’s were interested in downsizing to one of the other homes on the property I was convinced we could make this property practical. We finally booked a showing and walked the property for the first time in the snow. We fell in love; this place felt like home. Tucked in a valley (hurray middle of nowhere feeling), with a white farmhouse and near our target spot of New Glarus; we couldn’t have asked for much more.

It was a very long process of finalizing details and I will save you the long story. The short story is it took us just shy of 6 months after visiting this property to finally get us to closing day.

photos from our first showing

We have HUGE plans for this place, it has been rather un-kept for a long time and needs our loving touch. The barn fell down and has since been buried and there is no fencing; so building a place for our cattle to call home is first priority. There is space for a studio and I already anticipate the first client meeting I get to have in the space. Flower gardens are on the horizon and I am anxious to use the blooms in my floral designs!

While there is quite the laundry list of ‘to-do’s’ we can’t wait to get started building our home together in this sweet little valley. This dream has carried the name of our businesses, now we are blessed to wake up here.. on the homestead.

We never got the cute 'family photo' on the front steps, perhaps later after we get the pile of old carpet off our front stoop!

FOLLOW US on Instagram @brit.homestead to keep up with what is happening! More relevant blog posts to come!