The Gorham Homestead

10/31/2025

Only 20 seats left!

ONLY 20 seats left!

Join us for the Raw Milk Summit! 🥛

We’re uniting farmers, legislators, health experts, and advocates to protect food freedom in Tennessee and beyond. Our mission is simple …to preserve your right to choose real, unprocessed food straight from the farm.

📅 November 8, 2025 | 1–4 PM CST
📍 10584 New Cut Off Rd, Bon Aqua, TN

Let’s stand together for raw milk and food freedom! 💪🐄

The event is free but reservations ARE REQUIRED and can be made at thegorhamhomestead.com

10/29/2025

I’m beginning to think food stamp benefits were running up the cost of groceries just like federal aid ran up the cost of college and Medicaid ran up the cost of healthcare.

Watch how the price of groceries fall in the next month if benefits are cut off.

*** please understand that I’m wishing no hardship on anyone. It’s just an observation and hypothesis that I made during my fall bulk shopping today.***

10/29/2025

And just like that….grocery prices are gonna drop in November. They are already slashing prices in anticipation. Everything I bought today for my fall bulk shopping was drastically on sale. I’m definitely not complaining.

10/29/2025

I put in all my prompts of my preferences/rhythms and had ChatGPT help me create a 30 day meal plan to eat from what I have in my pantry based on what I told it that I have and that I wanted to lean more carnivore very few simple carbs with only an occasional complex carbs. These are the cool things that I personally like to use ChatGPT for. Helps so much in organization. I won’t stick to it exactly, but it will help me in my planning. This is what it came up with:

🥩🍅 The Gorham Homestead 30-Day Meal Plan — Pantry Challenge Edition

Hearty • Scratch-Made • Farm Freezer Focused • No Grocery Store Dependence

⸻

🌄 WEEKDAY RHYTHM (Mon–Fri)
• Morning: Fast (black coffee, tea, or splash of raw milk).
• Lunch: Light and simple — leftovers, kraut bowls, or soup mugs.
• Dinner: Hearty, home-cooked meal from your freezer or pantry.

⸻

🧈 WEEKEND RHYTHM (Sat–Sun)

Saturday Breakfast (always):
• Eggs cooked in butter
• Crispy bacon and sausage
• Sourdough toast with butter
• Coffee with cream or raw milk

Sunday Breakfast (rotating):
• Steak and eggs
• Duck-egg omelet with cheese and herbs
• Cottage cheese & tomatoes
• Yogurt or kefir with honey and freeze-dried apples

Lunches: Light or skipped — leftovers, soup, or kraut
Dinners: Follow weekly plan below

⸻

🥘 WEEK 1 — Warm Start

Light Lunch Ideas:
• Leftover chili or stew mugs
• Kraut bowl with sausage or cheese
• Tomato & cabbage soup cup
Chicken broth.

Dinners:
1. 🦌 Venison Chili — tomato base, purple hull peas, onion, chili powder
→ Side: corn on the cob or kraut
2. 🐖 Pork Chops — pan-fried in butter with onion & tomato gravy
→ Side: roasted butternut cubes
3. 🐟 Blackened Salmon — butter, salt, pepper, paprika
→ Side: Brussels sprouts or asparagus
4. 🦐 Garlic Butter Shrimp Skillet
→ Side: sautéed cabbage or spaghetti squash
5. 🥩 Beef Steak Night — simply seasoned, seared in butter
→ Side: turnip greens
6. 🐖 Pulled Pork BBQ — with kraut and green beans
7. 🍳 Breakfast-for-supper: eggs, bacon, sausage, and sourdough toast

⸻

🍲 WEEK 2 — Hearty & Nourishing

Light Lunch Ideas:
• Leftover chili bowls
• Stew mugs
• Warm kraut & sausage bowl

Dinners:
8. 🥩 Beef Stew — beef, carrots, potatoes, onions, and tomatoes
9. 🐖 Pork Tenderloin Roast — with tomato onion gravy
→ Side: green beans
10. 🦌 Venison Spaghetti Squash Bake — tomato meat sauce over roasted squash
11. 🐟 Seared Tuna Steaks — salt & pepper with tomato butter sauce
→ Side: asparagus or green beans
12. Meatballs in Tomato Cream Sauce — served over spaghetti or butternut squash
13. 🥣 Vegetable Beef Soup — beef, green beans, corn, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes
14. 🌮 Taco Night — ground beef, bison, or venison with homemade salsa, cheese, and kraut
→ Side: corn on the cob or purple hull peas

⸻

🍖 WEEK 3 — Comfort & Color

Light Lunch Ideas:
• Butternut mash with cheese or chili
• Kraut bowl with sausage or tomato gravy
• Leftover soup mugs

Dinners:
15. 🥩 Lamb Chops — rosemary & tomato-butter drizzle
→ Side: green beans or mashed butternut
16. 🐖 Pork Chops in Tomato Gravy — with mashed potatoes
17. 🦐 Shrimp & Sausage Skillet — tomato base with corn and purple hull peas
18. 🦆 Duck Breast — seared in butter
→ Side: roasted butternut or Brussels sprouts
19. 🐄 Beef Stir-Fry — peppers, onions, and tomato paste base
20. 🦌 Venison Chili Leftovers — topped with cheese or sour cream
21. 🍳 Breakfast-for-supper: eggs, sausage, and sourdough toast

⸻

🪵 WEEK 4 — Preserve & Rotate

Light Lunch Ideas:
• Venison spaghetti or stew bowls
• Cheese and kraut plate
• Leftover soup mugs

Dinners:
22. 🥩 Beef Sirloin Steak — tomato-pepper butter
→ Side: green beans
23. 🐖 Smoked Pulled Pork BBQ — over sautéed cabbage
24. 🐑 Lamb Stew — tomato broth, potatoes, onions, carrots, and butternut
25. 🐟 Blackened Salmon — with asparagus or Brussels sprouts
26. 🐖 Pork Tenderloin Roast — with carrots and onions
27. 🌮 Taco Night (Repeat) — venison or beef, homemade salsa, kraut, cheese
→ Side: corn on the cob or purple hull peas
28. 🍝 Venison Spaghetti Squash Casserole — baked with cheese and tomato sauce
29. 🦃 Turkey & Tomato Soup — potatoes, carrots, and green beans
30. 🍳 Clean-out Casserole: eggs, leftover meats, cheese, and greens

⸻

🧀 Snacks (Optional)
• Hard-boiled eggs
• Cheese cubes
• Jerky or leftover roast
• Yogurt with cinnamon
• Cottage cheese with kraut
• Freeze-dried Honeycrisp apples (1–2×/week)

⸻

🌾 Occasional Carbs (1–2×/week)
• Sourdough toast or sandwich
• Butternut or spaghetti squash
• Potatoes (stew, mash, roasted)
• Purple hull peas
• Corn on the cob

⸻

🥫 Sunday Prep Routine
• Thaw meats for the week (1 steak, 2 pork, 1 seafood, 1 “other”)
• Pull frozen veggies (corn, Brussels, asparagus)
• Rotate canned tomatoes, green beans, and peas
• Make butter, yogurt, or cream
• Start a soup or chili base for lunches
• Feed sourdough starter
• Label freezer jars or bags
• Check root vegetables and squash storage

10/29/2025

Apple processing day on the farm! Rae and I were rocking it! 🍎🍎🍎

10/28/2025

🧐🥛🥛❤RAW MILK KEFIR STOPS ALLERGIES: In a study looking at kefir's benefits on allergies, "Only raw milk kefir suppressed the acute allergic skin response to the food allergen ovalbumin in sensitised mice. These effects coincided with differences in the T-cell compartment, with lower percentages of activated Th1 cells and IFNg production after treatment with kefir made from heated milk. The results of this study indicate specific properties of raw milk kefir that may contribute to its additional health benefits."

LEARN MORE HERE👇👇👇 : https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2023/fo/d2fo03248a

10/27/2025

I normally do the pantry challenge in January (where we only eat from what we have stored for the year) but I’m thinking of doing it in November just so I don’t have to step foot in a grocery store.

Anybody wanna do it with me? I normally stock up in October on products to get me through the winter and I will do my normal fall purchases, but I’m not gonna panic buy. Then we will live the entire month of November (including Thanksgiving this time) from our pantry.

The rules: No trips to the grocery store, but you can barter/borrow from your neighbors and you can buy from farmers markets…especially if you normally do that anyway. Write down any challenges or holes in your preparations. Make note of how you solved the problem and what you didn’t have that you might need for 30 days stuck in your home involuntarily.

***The attached photo was from last year. So who wants to do it again? I’m thinking November might actually be a good time.***

10/27/2025

Dear Herdshare Family,

As many of you know, farming moves in seasons …times of abundance and times of scarcity. We’ve now entered an unexpected milk drought this fall.

I had been operating at around 80% capacity intentionally, to maintain a cushion in case production dipped. Unfortunately, this year’s drop was significantly greater than expected, and that cushion disappeared much sooner than planned.

Because of this, I’ll need to temporarily reduce everyone’s share to one gallon per family for the months of November and December.

For those whose full orders were not filled in October: you will receive credit in November and will only be billed for one gallon per month during this temporary adjustment.

If you would prefer to pause your subscription for the months of November and December, I completely understand and am happy to accommodate that as well. One of our herdshare members has already chosen to do so since it’s a long drive for just one gallon and I want everyone to do what works best for their family during this season.

As owners and caretakers of these cows, we share not only in their abundance, but also in the challenges that come with nature’s rhythm. This is part of what makes our herdshare so meaningful …we’re connected to the real cycles of life, not to industrial systems that force production beyond what’s natural.

If production picks back up or I'm able to add another milk cow to the herd, I will notify everyone immediately and hopefully progressively get everyone back up to their full orders ASAP.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support. Every gallon you receive is a reflection of the love and care we pour into this herd. I’m confident that once our cows freshen again after the new year, we’ll be back in full abundance together.

With heartfelt gratitude,

Dawn Gorham

10/26/2025

Update: we are officially sold out!

Reminder that today is the last day for my herdshare customers to reserve their Thanksgiving turkey. ($4.50 lb for herdshare members)

10/26/2025

Packaging day! We ended up with about 10 pounds of Muscovy duck breasts, 1 lb duck liver, 1/2 lb hearts and about 70lbs of packaged whole Pekin ducks.

Not too bad. We believe in protein diversity in our freezers.
🦆🦬🐓🐮🦌🐟🐑🦃🪿🦐

10/25/2025

Today was duck processing day.

Our team processed 10 jumbo pekin ducks to package whole and a bunch of Muscovy ducks as just breasts. (I lost count) It was our first time processing ducks and man was it an experience. We definitely learned a lot today.

We are so excited to add this highly nutritional meat to our farm freezer for us and the MooCrew team. These are for personal use and not for sale.