The Gorham Homestead

12/27/2025

We all need to attend this!

12/26/2025

Join us for our Winter Preserving - Soups & Stews workshop where we celebrate the bounty of the season by preserving delicious homemade soups in beautifully sealed jars. Our farm-fresh ingredients are carefully selected to ensure the highest quality, resulting in vibrant and flavorful soups that will warm you up on those cold winter days. Whether you're a seasoned canner or a beginner looking to learn a new skill, our workshop is the perfect opportunity to immerse yourself in the art of preserving while enjoying the camaraderie of like-minded enthusiasts. Don't miss out on this unique and rewarding experience! (We MUST have a minimum of 12 people enrolled to have the workshop)

Join us for our Winter Preserving - Soups & Stews workshop where we celebrate the bounty of the season by preserving delicious homemade soups in beautifully sealed jars. Our farm-fresh ingredients are carefully selected to ensure the highest quality, resulting in vibrant and flavorful soups that wil...

12/24/2025

FEBRUARY 7, 2026 REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN FOR THE FREEDOM FOR FARMERS SUMMIT IN LOUDON, TN!!! IT'S FREE TO COME AND BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION ABOUT THE LAWS AND REGULATIONS THAT AFFECT US!

It’s happening.February 7, 2026, small farmers, small dairies, homesteaders, and consumers will unite as one powerful voice. This isn’t just another gathering — it’s a movement built on conviction, courage, and community. Together, we’ll stand for food freedom, farm freedom, and the right ...

12/23/2025

State Representative Michele Reneau is a huge blessing to our entire state but also to homesteaders, farmers and small businesses!

At the Make Tennessee Healthy Again Dinner in Chattanooga, surrounded by supporters, farmers, and grassroots advocates, I officially announced that I am running for reelection as your State Representative for District 27.This special evening brought together Tennesseans who care deeply about medical...

12/22/2025

Merry Christmas (early) from The Gorham Homestead family!

12/22/2025

UPDATE: SOLD! ❤️

For discussion- Full blooded Jersey heifer from disease free dam. Could be A2A2 but not tested. Sire is JX Goals (A2A2) from Select Sires. Born today- 12.21.25. I just don’t have room to keep all the babies. I wish I did.

💲7️⃣5️⃣0️⃣.0️⃣0️⃣

12/20/2025

The Christmas Goose

Long before plastic wrap and supermarket freezers, Christmas dinner had a story.

In old farm kitchens and candle-lit homes, the Christmas goose was a symbol of plenty…raised slowly, fed well, and saved for the one meal of the year that truly mattered. It wasn’t rushed. It wasn’t trimmed down to uniform cuts. It was a whole bird, meant to feed a family gathered close, with drippings saved for potatoes, bones kept for soup, and leftovers stretching the blessing just a little longer.

A Christmas goose meant the year had been good enough.
That the land had provided.
That hands had worked, and God had been faithful.

Charles Dickens captured this perfectly in A Christmas Carol. The Cratchit family’s Christmas goose wasn’t extravagant or showy, it was cherished. It was the very best they had, saved all year, celebrated not for its size but for what it represented: love, gratitude, and a table surrounded by family. Long before turkeys filled ovens and magazines, the goose was the Christmas meal.

Somewhere along the way, that tradition faded. What was once common farm fare became rare. What every household once knew slowly became something few still taste, until the Christmas goose quietly earned the name delicacy. Not because it was meant to be exclusive, but because it was never meant to be mass-produced.

This year, we aren’t selling the Christmas goose.

We’re gathering our own family around the table, roasting it slowly, honoring the old ways, and remembering why food like this mattered in the first place. Not for novelty. Not for trends. But for gratitude, for tradition, and for the simple joy of a meal made from land you know and animals you raised.

Not just dinner…
but a memory made.

“God bless us, every one.”
— Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

12/19/2025

Christmas goose! 🪿🎄🪿🎄
We are hoping to be able to provide these next year for our customers!
This year was our learning year.

12/18/2025

“Your milk costs HOW much?!” 🥛

Let me preface this by saying:
👉 This is an average breakdown. Not everyone has the same setup, land, cows, or expenses.

Here’s what it looks like for one good dairy cow:

• A good dairy cow nowadays: $4,500
• Milking machine: $2,000

Monthly costs per cow:
• Feed: $150
• Hay: $80
• Cleaning & sanitation supplies: $100
• Minerals: $30
• Milk testing: $100

➡️ Monthly operating cost: $460 per cow

Now let’s talk milk.

A cow averages 4 gallons per day
4 gallons × 30 days = 120 gallons per month

$460 ÷ 120 gallons = ~$3.83 per gallon

But wait — that’s just the milk.

Packaging costs per gallon:
• Half-gallon glass jars: $2 each × 2 = $4.00
• Lids: $0.62 each × 2 = $1.24

➡️ Packaging total per gallon: $5.24

$3.83 (milk) + $5.24 (jars & lids) = $9.07 per gallon

And that’s BEFORE:
• Labor
• Electricity
• Water
• Equipment maintenance
• Vet bills
• Breeding costs
• Time (every. single. day.)

So when someone asks why farm-fresh milk costs more than the grocery store…
this is why.

You’re not paying for milk.
You’re paying for animal care, safety, infrastructure, and consistency.

And no — this still doesn’t pay the farmer a wage.

🥛🌾

12/16/2025

Last one. She really did let me put the sleigh bells around her neck.
Prissy is just darn pretty and she KNOWS it. She’s also sooooo well behaved. She is a gem. ❤️❤️❤️

12/16/2025

Merry Christmas!

12/16/2025

This is the best life! 🎄🎄🎄