Breagan sings
Topic: Family Life
I am posting this here for my mother.

This is an experiment in using audio mixing software on my laptop with a cheap microphone. If we figure this thing out, we may try to do some of our own recordings of hymns in four parts.

This is Jim singing STB, and Breagan (age 4) singing Soprano.

All glory to God!

And Can It Be That I Should Gain

At rest, for now...
I scarcely believe I need to make this entry, considering the length of time since my last entry. However, with the new job, and my desire to be sure I spend as much of my time at home with my family as I can, I need to stop blogging. I'll leave the site on, and in the event I need to release some pent up blog scribing, it'll be here for me.

Please let me encourage you to read I Chr. 28. David brings in all his people to make an important announcement. He will not build the temple. His son Solomon will. He encourages Solomon before the congregation. Then he proceeds to equip Solomon for this very important work by providing all of the material that will be required.

This is my vision. I want my children to take my understanding of what God wants for us (some call it Christian Agrarianism), and make it for real. I can make a hobby of it, but I don't know if I'll be delivered from my previous sins (debt for education). So I want to equip my children to do it.

That's what David tells Solomon: "...be strong, and do it."

So I will work diligently to provide for my children a place to build on this dream. We'll work together, side-by-side, while we build it. But I suspect I'll never fully immerse myself into it because I have too much to pay back. So instead, I'll work to get my children to the point they can launch the work themselves and be free from the burdens of debt and unconformity toward Christ's mind.

So my charge to my children is that of David to Solomon: "...Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work..."

Amen.

Transitions
Topic: Family Life
Is anybody still out there, reading this long-neglected blog? Get ready for a long post. I have a lot of pent-up things to write.

It has been a long process, but also one that is like a controlled whirlwind. My family and I have relocated to the St. Louis area. We have a lot of stories of blessing to tell about how God has providentially lead us to a home, a farm, a church, and a job.

Jurisdiction

We set about to move away from Iowa at the time Iowa law requires home-schoolers to file their Competent Private Instruction Form (CPI Form). After much prayer, study of the Word, and consultation with legal and experienced advisors, we determined that signing a form indicated that we submit to the jurisdiction of the state over our children's education. We do not recognize the state's (biblical) jurisdiction over this area. So we decided to stop filing the form.

We were also informed that the state has a history of finding test-cases to prove a point in court. Ours could have been such a case. With fear of state intervention, we determined to list our home for sale and move to Missouri, where the state does not (at least in blanket form) usurp the jurisdiction of parents over their children's education. It did not make sense to me to stay in Iowa where the authorities could knock on my door at any time and remove my children from my custody.

I may write more about this later, but for now, you know why we decided to move.

Decision to Move

So - The house/farm is on the market. I have a job in Des Moines. We also found a fellowship of like-minded believers in Des Moines, and had been attending there since August. We considered moving to just south of the Iowa/Missouri boarder. That would be about the same distance we were currently from Des Moines. Land is fairly inexpensive in Northern Missouri, so we began looking.

Lost Job

In the meantime, the company I work for decided to eliminate my position as of November 30. So I was now free to begin looking for a job in Missouri or other states friendly to our cause.

I had focused efforts in Kansas City, hoping to stay with my current employer. Nothing seemed to be going my way. I was certain the Lord wanted us to move to Missouri (or other points south) but I could not find a job. On November 30, my last official day with my company, after searching for 45 days, I had an interview in Kansas City for a position in St. Louis. My former boss had contacted his former boss and said I was a good worker, and that he should consider hiring me for an opening in St. Louis.

New Job

In the interview (this has never happened to me) I was offered the job. This was the first time I had met this man, but on my interview, and the recommendation of my former manager, he offered me the position, and agreed to pay to move us from Iowa to St. Louis. God is so GREATLY TO BE PRIASED! His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. I am so overwhelmed by His provision, I am tearing-up while I write this.

St. Louis Bound

So we began looking in the St. Louis area. Have you been here before? This is a HUGE city! The sprawl of the beast is amazing. The price of land is atrocious. Some places were $33,000 per acre for less-than-desirable grazing land. Plus, we have not sold our farm in Iowa. So we decided to look for a rental situation we could use as a temporary measure.

A New Home

After 45 days, we finally stumbled across a farm that had been purchased by investors. It was listed as 5 acres, and indicated the tenant must have equipment to take care of that much lawn. When we toured the place, we found out it was a 95 acre farm, which was being leased for the hay. We said we wanted to rent the house and cut the hay, and we wondered if we could have a few cattle on a pasture that had good fence on the property.

New Farm

After negotiating, the landlords were thrilled to have a "farmer" renting the place and taking care of all 95 acres. This is not a fully-functioning farm setup like we had in Iowa. There is only one barn, and no other outbuildings. The house is small (only 2 bedrooms). But we leased the house for a monthly rent, leased 10 acres of pasture for an annual rent, and are share-cropping the rest of the hay!

Once again, the Lord's provision is awe-inspiring.

New Church

While we were looking for land to rent in St. Louis, we decided to find a church to attend on the Sunday of our visit. We went to the NCFIC website at VisionForum.org and looked at the listings. We chose the most compatible listing and made a call. We were invited to meet with them in an office building on the south side of the city. This church turns out to be Reformation Christian Assembly. I had met one of its elders at the 2004 Uniting Church and Family conference! We had only spoken briefly then, but after just a short time together, we felt as though we had known each other for a lifetime!

We are planning to covenant with this fellowship at our next meeting.

God had provided, in the space of just a few weeks, a job, a church, a home, and a farm. Amazing love, how can it be?

More Transitions

So, this weekend we are traveling back to Iowa to pick up the hay equipment that the movers would not bring. Our cattle have remained at Shady Larch Farm, which is a blessing, because we had put up over a thousand bales of hay to make it through the winter. A young man, who is a good neighbor-friend of ours, was willing to regularly feed our cattle in exchange for some extra hay and oats that I had.

So the Lord is also providing for our cattle while we wait for our farm in Iowa to sell.

Business

We are working on setting up our business and preparing for the busy summer that is coming very quickly. We have settled on Pilgrims' Acres as our new farm name. Shady Larch Farm was very specific to our farm in Iowa. The new farm name should be portable - which also reflects our status as the Elect in this world.

Blessing

I'm excited about the future, and prayerfully seeking the Lord's continuing work in my family and me. I truly hope the Lord has shown His Grace and Mercy on you in this past year, and that you are seeking to glorify Him in your life.

St. Louis Bound
Topic: Farm
Well, I told you there were going to be changes. Here is the first step. We're moving to the St. Louis, Missouri, area.

Don't get your dander up. We're not going to live in the city. My new job is in the city. We're still looking for someplace to set up our new farm.

That leads me to this: Shady Larch Farm is for sale. If you are interested, please see this listing.

Here is a picture of the house when we bought it. No one had lived here for 15-20 years!



We did all the work ourselves, except the siding. New roof, addition, windows, doors, plumbing, wiring, insulation, drywall, floors (except the original maple floor in the living room, which we refinished), and much more.

If anyone has advice about the St. Louis area, we'd sure appreciate it! (I'm referring to a good place to buy land.) We're not interested in all the wonderful city ammenities...

I'll keep you posted as we progress.

X-mas, or not?
Topic: Family Life
Chad Degenhart has a wonderful story that helps take away the heart-felt pains we have when we consider that as Christians we should not be celebrating (sactifying) a day other than the Lord's Day, because it reveals just how absurd and error-filled our observance of the tradition really is.

I have been agonizing and (some would say) terrorizing my friends and family by telling them all about how X-mas is both pagan and uncalled for. They are as perplexed as Grandma and Robbie in Chad's story.

Many of my Christian friends say, “What do you mean Christians shouldn’t celebrate X-mas? Why wouldn’t you want to celebrate Jesus’ birthday?” Some even get a puzzled look like Robbie and just can’t imagine the blasphemy.

One thing that people don’t seem to get is that not celebrating X-mas (or Easter) is a breaking of the yoke of bondage that Christ promised. When we point to Romans 14, they say, “See! We can celebrate any day we wish!” What they fail to realize is the context.

Jewish Christians were still practicing the ceremonial appointments concerning meats and days. Matthew Henry says, “This, which had been bred in the bone with them, could hardly be got out of the flesh, even after they turned Christians; especially with some of them, who were not easily weaned from what they had long been wedded to. They were not well instructed touching the canceling of the ceremonial law by the death of Christ, and therefore retained the ceremonial institutions, and practiced them accordingly; while other Christians that understood themselves better and knew their Christian liberty, made no such difference.”

The Christian who points to Romans 14 as their license to celebrate Christmas misunderstands completely. They are the weaker brother, which is not a commendation from Paul! And in the context of the day, they are not being transformed from one godly practice to another. The original practice was never God-given in the first place.

In Mark 7:9b, Jesus said “Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.”

We all need to read Mark 7 and apply the “How is this me?” technique.

Quick post
Hello all, long time no post. Thanks for stopping by and looking around. I hope you will notice I have linked two more agrarian blogs. Please stop by and see TNFarmgirl and Sugar Mountain Farm (they got snow up there!).

We're still working out some transitional details. The Lord has been good to us, and we are rejoicing in His provision.

Thanks to all the agrarian bloggers out there. It's a big job to keep your posts up to date and fresh. I appreciate it.

Over on Northern Farmer's blog, he comments on debt. Amen to that! We are forced to be at the beck and call of the lender. Never any flexibility. We're bailing out of debt as fast as we can, but the water ran in a lot faster than we can bail it out. Best advice: no debt. Not ever.

We are awaiting the scrumptious pastured pork to be done curing and we'll be enjoying ham for Thanksgiving.

Our pastures are about done, so the hay is waiting for consumption by our 13 head of cattle.

It'll be time to move the layers up to the farmstead from the pasture soon. Boy it gets dark early now!

I'll check in again soon. You all take care, and God bless you and yours!

Where has the summer gone?
Topic: Farm
I have been busy. I'm sorry I didn't follow my fellow agrarian bloggers and let you know I was too busy to blog.

There will be some changes I'll let you all know about coming up during the winter. Your prayers are coveted for wisdom in our decision making process.

I'm going to continue the silence until I get some things worked out.

God willing, I shall return!

Links!
I finally figured out how to add links to the left side of my page. Thanks to the many other bloggers who have linked to my blog. I am humbled.

I'm also glad I got rid of the "default" links that were there. I wasn't encouraging you to "find a date" on some website on purpose!

Gold Nugget Wisdom - Marketing the Dream
Topic: Farm
I heard a bit of wisdom while at a trade show last week.

A gentleman told me he met a fellow that was making a white-collar living selling his farm products. The gentleman said he couldn't get his little farm to pay, and wondered how this fellow could be making such a good living from it.

"Well," the fellow said, "You have a job off the farm, right?"

"Yes," replied the gentleman.

"Well I don't," came the retort. "As long as you have something to fall back on, you won't do the marketing required to make your farm successful!"

Golden nugget!

Now, do I have the courage to bail out of corporate America and make this farm pay? We'll see. I may not have a choice! Layoffs loom.

Chicks arrive
Topic: Farm

Chicks have arrived at SLF. These little birds will be around 6 pound in just eight weeks! They grow so fast.

Our butcher date is September 21. If you want to place an order, just visit the Shady Larch Farm website and use our order form on the brochure.

This will be our first expansion of the broiler operation. We have enough orders on hand to run another pen through the field. That means we're up to two!

Salatin is right about our customers. We don't want satisfied customers. We want customers who are our best evangelists!

New Shady Larch Farm Hay Baler
Topic: Farm
I mentioned in an earlier post that my step-father had graciously given us a hay baler. He quit farming over 18 years ago, and had "stored" this baler at his buddy's place. He was listening to me talk about going to buy a baler as soon as we had the funds from the hay we were to sell. He said, "Hold on! I have a baler you can use."

Thank God for His many provisions!

Here is our vintage (1960-62) McCormick International Harvester 37T Twine Hay baler. We shined it up by running some of those loose bales through it until we got everything adjusted. The man in the forefront is my father-in-law. He is supervising, while I pitch hay into the baler, and my son Bryant, stacks the new bales on the trailer.

Harry Potter and the Lavender Brigade
Topic: Family Life
Read about the latest best-seller! Harry Potter and the Lavender Brigade

SLF in Photos
Topic: Farm

Shady Larch Farm

Errors
Topic: Farm
I've written about my errors on the farm before. When we make mistakes on our farm, real life consequences occur. Sometimes something dies.

We made a whole lot of hay last week. It was good weather. I have never made such good hay. It was rich, green and cured well. This was the first time I ran the baler. We borrowed a neighbor's instead of hiring the job done.

My two older boys, 15 and 12, were on the rack, stacking the bales. They did a great job. But I made a mistake. I should have gotten off the tractor and checked the bales more closely. It wasn't until I was helping unload them into the barn that I realized how loose they were.

Loose bales are hard to stack. They are difficult to move around because they blow apart easily due to the loose twine. But most importantly, in this case, is that we planned to sell them. That meant the buyer would have difficulty with our product. I don't like that!

I always want quality to be top of the list. We already are inundated with poor quality products in a Wal-Mart marketplace. Our products are supposed to be high-quality here at SLF.

But baled hay is already baled. It can't be redone (without an unacceptable investment in time and money). We sold a batch of it Saturday at the local horse auction. It brought an average of $1.90 per bale. I was hoping for $3.00. Loose, low-weight bales will not bring a good price. My mistake cost us 37% of our ask price.

The price we received was probably fair. The market called for $120 per ton for good alfalfa hay squares. Ours were "good" in terms of quality of hay. The bales were light, though. So if we averaged 35 pounds per bale, the 100 bales we took should have brought $210. Instead they brought $190.

The bales should have been around 50 pounds. If they were, that load would have brought $300. We still have the same amount of hay, even though its in lighter bales. But people want a 50 pound bale. Transportation costs, storage, etc. are all real costs.

The good news is that my step-father heard me lamenting my lack of a hay baler. I told him we were going to buy one with the cash we would get from the bales we just made. He said he has a baler that he left at a buddy's farm when he quit over 17 years ago! He also said I could use it for as long as I needed it.

Praise God for His provision. I am grateful for my step-father's willingness to let us use his baler.

Now if only we could overcome our spiritual errors and live as God would have us...

Buying the dream
Topic: Farm
Someone asked a question on Farmer Buie's blog to which I answered the following regarding purchsing a farm. I hope these thoughts and experiences are helpful.

-------------------

We found our farm, which had an abandoned farm house on it and old buildings. The ground is not “prime” farm land for Iowa. The original piece was 52 acres. Only 6-12 are considered tillable. We bought another 14 the next year that we planted to alfalfa for a cash hay crop. All told, we paid $80,000 for the 52 acres with the house, two barns, a machine shed, granary and garage. We paid an additional $2,000 an acre for the 14 acres of tillable land.

The house was not livable when we bought it. We gutted it, put on a new roof, put in new windows, insulation, wiring, plumbing, added a second story to the one-story addition, and have continued to finish it as we have lived here. We put in a wood-burning stove as our only heat source, because we have a lot of timber.

The appraiser took 14 acres with the house and told us it was now worth $135,000. That does not include the rest of the land that is worth around $75,000. We spent about $20,000 on the materials for the house by buying from auctions and other special sales. We did all of the work except trenching the electric service and putting on the soffit and fascia.

Our payment for this is $665/mo. Much less than we were paying for our previous 1 acre house worth $135,000!

All the old-timers marvel at our determination to reclaim this once-productive farm. Most of our 30 something acquaintances don’t have the work-ethic to do something like this.

We have not used 21 of our acres at all for three years. We will someday, but for now, we just don’t need it, and the fencing cost is too much to bear for now.

I work full time in the telecommunications industry, which I have done for the last 10 years. I hope to wean myself off of this work by making the farm successful. It also has meant continuing to pare down our expenses, and quit buying in the consumer mentality of the world.

Summer update
Topic: Farm
Just a quick entry to let you know we're still at it. First cutting of hay is in, but not very good. Got 6" of rain on it before baling!

First batch of chickens were great. We sold all but four of them - pretty good since we didn't have orders for that many. I'm still trying to train my customers regarding planning ahead. I'm not a grocery store...

Our pigs arrived and are now about 50 lbs. We have a dozen. They have a lot with dirt and grass to play in. We feed Fertrell's Swine Nutribalancer recommended ration.

We have had four calves. Three heifers! That's good when you're building a herd, starting with five bred cows. The other died during birth to a 2-yr. old heifer. Most would cull her. I don't know if I will. I like giving second chances. We have one more to calve in September/October.

Second cutting of hay should come down any day. Great weather for it! 90+ degrees.

Time to order our second batch of chickens. People have been asking if we were going to have more, so we might build another pen and expand our production. We need some in our freezer too. We're blessed to have a local locker that processes chickens by hand (except the picker). At less than $0.80 a bird, I can't do it myself given the time and capital needed. Maybe in the future. My customers can choose to have their whole birds flash frozen by the locker for an extra $1.50 per bird. We've been selling at $2.00 a pound for our whole broilers, fresh.

The cattle are on their third rotation over our best 6 ac. pasture. We use daily moves (See Salatin's Salad Bar Beef). We have wooded pastures that we use to relieve the open pasture when we need more time to rest it. We don't move them daily on those wooded pastures because it is too difficult to get a standardized paddock size.

My boys and I recovered some old galvanized roofing from a barn that was destroyed by a tornado in 1989 on our farm. We used it to cover our old, leaking garage roof, which we use as a shop. They did a great job cleaning and organizing the shop for usefulness.

We hope to sell our alfalfa hay for cash at a local auction. That helps offset the cost for the custom baling. We hope to set aside the extra cash to buy our own baler.

Successes and failures in the garden. Good crop of peas, but short-lived in the Iowa heat. Tomatoes are doing great this year. Last year we had none. We planted 90 cabbages in an extra plot to see if we can make some quality sauerkraut and can the rest. We love cabbage! Sweet corn is silking, and first cucumbers are on. The spinach and lettuce mix has been good eating. Potatoes, onions, garlic, winter squash, green beans, sweet potatoes, carrots, broccoli, asparagus, rhubarb, herbs are all doing well. First green beans were wonderful. Our pepper plans have stopped growing. We're brewing manure tea to try to give them a boost. We're also trying to keep our early cabbages from the bugs. The soap spray isn't working. We'd like to try garlic, but it is not available locally. We may try soaking garlic powder in water and spray it on.

That's the farm news from Shady Larch Farm. If you would like to visit sometime, let us know. We're thinning about putting up a "bunk house" for visitors.

God bless you!

selling your meat to Californians...
Topic: Farm
I received this very nice e-mail from a reader. She asks some very good questions, so I'm inserting the whole text here.

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2005 11:29 PM
To: jecutler@netins.net
Subject: selling your meat to Californians...

Dear Mr. Cutler,

I found you through Rick Saenz of Draught Horse Press and have been reading your blog since. I am impressed by Shady Larch Farms and have gained much insight on what is going on with animals in the factory farms.

Do you know of any Christian farmers in California who are doing what you are doing? I figured it would be pretty expensive to ship your meat from Iowa to California so I have been trying to find Christian farmers out here. I looked at the "Eat Wild" website but I can't tell if some of those folks are Christian or not. I know you're busy with your new baby, but if you get a minute I would appreciate any help you can offer.

Thank you for your time, and God bless your family and what you are trying to do out there on your farm.

Sincerely,

------My reply-----

Dear...,

Thank you for your kindness. We're still learning and growing as we venture through this "new" way of farming and ranching. I have learned a lot from many others, including Joel Salatin, whom you may have read about on Rick's website.

I am a member of another website, http://www.localharvest.org, which may have some listings in your area. I have not found a Christian organization that publishes this type of information yet. Most of the time, this method of production attracts two types: Christians (Bible-believing) and environmentalist/hippie/naturalist/pagan/new-ager. Quite an interesting mix!

Another option for you is to go to your local organic food store and find out who is selling them their meat. It may, or may not be organic, but it will likely be produced in a similar manner. If it is grass-fed, it's basically organic, unless they spray and artificially fertilize their pasture or hay. One of our biggest concerns is antibiotic use, and vaccines. We don't use them unless absolutely necessary (which vaccines are not). We try to stick to natural antibiotics like colloidal silver, hydrogen peroxide, oil of oregano, garlic, etc.

I believe you will know the Christians, because their purpose for doing it the "narrow way" is to serve God. They will give Him the glory!

We also believe, like Salatin, that local markets are the very best way to deal with our nation's food distribution (at least for most products). It is very expensive to ship meat cross-country. It is being done, however. You could try Niman Ranch. We are considering becoming members in order to move any product we have that our local market isn't buying yet.

We're operating on the "if you build it, they will come" principle. God will reward our work if He sees fit. We trust Him and will wait upon His perfect time.

Regarding my blog: Do you think it is of value? I wasn't sure if the time I was taking was well-spent. You might be the only one reading, so I would greatly value your opinion on that! I'm not a writer. I'm a farmer and a salesman. I often find that my writing makes people mad. So I'm not sure I should write! Please be brutally honest. I really need to discern if my time should be spent elsewhere, letting the experts like Rick do the writing.

God has been so gracious to us! We deserve nothing, but He pours out His love anyway. Praise Him, praise Him!

God bless you,
Jim Cutler, CEO
Shady Larch Farm
Union, Iowa
www.shadylarchfarm.com

Slowdown
With the new baby in the house, and other summer work increasing, I'm taking a bloggin' break. I may pop in every once in awhile and post, but for now: I'm on hold.

I recommend getting an RSS reader. This helps save time moving from blog to blog to see if someone like me has posted anything.

Bethany Pearl Cutler
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Baby/Pregnancy

Waiting a healthy two days before posting on the birth of my daughter...

Bethany Pearl Cutler was born on April 6, 2005, at 1:57 a.m. right here at home in Hardin County, Iowa, on Shady Larch Farm. She weighed in at 9 lbs. and is 20 1/2 inches long. Her and her mother are both well and resting. As you can see from the pictures, her brothers and sister are all proud of her.

"Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate." Psalm 127:1a, 3-5

We are truly grateful that the Lord is building our house and filling our quiver.

I highly recommend fathers catching their new baby. We actually delivered before the midwife arrived because the transition from 5 cm dilation to birth was less than an hour. This is a huge change from our last hospital birth which took nearly eight hours to go from 5 cm to birth!

We are very grateful to God for our midwife .

I blew it - again
Mood:  sad
Topic: Farm
Today, while we were at an auction to buy some bred cows, we had a fire. The pile of straw and yard waste we burnt Sunday night was rekindled in a heavy south wind and swept into a fence line that was nearby. The old board fence burnt, along with the dry grass that grew there.

Tragically, it swept into a pen/hut where a bucket calf was confined. The calf had nowhere to run. He died in the fire - surely a terrible death.

Thank God some neighbors saw the fire and stopped and put it out, for it surely would have consumed far more.

I am truly saddened and extremely guilt-ridden. The Lord put that little calf in my care, and I blew it. I foolishly left a fire to smolder while I was away. I carelessly let this calf perish in the flames.

I have been crying out to God, "What have I done? The correction I am receiving is grievous, but You are sovereign and correct those You love. Show me my sins that I may repent, dear Lord!"

Here is what I am convicted of:

Lack of fear of the Lord

Self-direction instead of Spirit-led direction

Inconsistent Leadership

Selfishness

Lack of honor towards parents

Disrespect of others

Undisciplined

Arrogant/prideful

Lack of servanthood

Irreverence toward God

Dishonesty

Inconsistent family worship

No wonder. I should have received far more severe correction. The Lord is merciful! His Grace abounds. I am loved by this God? Why?