Visit the Farm

Welcome to the Farm!

A large garden and orchard, chickens, lambs, and a huge Do-It-Yourself farmhouse build keep our hands busy, our tummies filled, and our hearts humbled. Life on our hobby farm is wonderfully messy.

I grew up in Southern Indiana and loved spending my summers picking sweet sun-ripened strawberries straight from our home garden, playing in the creek, and collecting fresh still-warm eggs. My mama taught me how to can, make bread, and to enjoy the simple pleasure that country life brings. Now that I’m married with 5 little ones of my own, we’ve chosen a country life so that we could give our children similar experiences. Bless this Mess is not just about food, we are also a hobby farm blog, we love to share life on our hobby farm and the joys of growing our own food!

January 2016 we broke ground.
April 2017 we have part of a house!

Follow Our Farm Journey!

Building our own farmhouse, with our own two hands

All Backyard Chickens Hobby Farm Our Garden Preserving the Harvest

November 29, 2018

Simple Maple Roasted Butternut Squash

Quick and easy recipe for maple roasted butternut squash cubes that are cooked in the oven – a perfect healthy side dish. I don’t remember eating a lot of hard winter squash when I was a...

Homemade Pickling Spice Recipe

A simple homemade pickling spice recipe to make refrigerator pickles, overnight pickles, canned pickles, and more! This recipe might not be one that you make tomorrow, but when you are in the middle of making pickles...

Sweet and Spicy Cucumbers and Vinegar

Sweet and spicy cucumbers and vinegar make the most delicious refrigeration pickles that only take about 5 minutes to make. Making your own pickles sounds like a whole lot of work and you might even be...

We MOVED IN!!!

We finally moved into the home that we spent so many years dreaming of and building! On January 26, 2018 we spent the first night under this roof, a mere 733 days after our official groundbreaking...

Quick Dilly Cucumbers in Vinegar

Quick Dilly Cucumbers in Vinegar are also called quick refrigerator pickles made with fresh cucumbers and a homemade brine. You won’t believe how crunchy and perfect these pickles are. I have loved pickles for as long...

January 11, 2018

DIY House Building Update: January 2018

House updates on our DIY house build are getting more and more exciting because we are to a point in the project where a lot changes visually day-to-day! It’s much more fun for me to share...

January 10, 2018

How to Roast Butternut Squash

Quick and easy guide on how to roast butternut squash in the oven. You can use the roasted squash as a side dish or in recipes that call for pumpkin puree! Butternut squash is one of...

December 6, 2017

House Building Updated December 2017: Floors, Cabinets, and More!

We’ve had a very productive few weeks at the house and I thought I better show you some of the progress we have made! If you are new to the blog or just tuning in, my...