Breaking ground on June 23rd and working hard most extra time through early August, the family managed to erect 480sqft of covered space, less siding and roofing. Material prices jumped 30% in the middle of the project when materials for an extra 400sqft were purchased. Huge thanks to Eric for the help excavating. Scott, Chris, Jamen, and my dad all supported, but the kids have by far the most hours as they have learned and reinforced a bunch of skills. We still need to get the power installed and roofing on before pulling the RV in.
Note that this building style needs engineered since it is atypical....
We are looking forward to having access to the root cellar in the winter through an upright door!

1986 Chevy 1 ton with a 350 and two tone paint job? Yes please. This beast is geared to crawl up mountains with loads, but with a top speed of 67mph and at 10mpg, it is suited to only low-mileage tasks.
A million thanks to my sister and brother-in-law for their generosity in re-gifting this truck in better condition than it started to us!

Daryn taught Courage how to connect Shammie, launching a new era of charioteering on the farm. With Kyra not able to walk with me, I pulled Kyra briefly while carrying Shalom. Shammie is definitely tougher than me.

Modeled after Living Traditions Homestead's video, we built chicken tractors for the now 86 broilers. I should have followed the instructions more closely, but MBS did not have any 8ft treated 2x4's, so I went with 12ft boards and made them 12ft long. We had to do a board across the center to avoid it bowing out, but the board prevented moving the coop with the water in it (until we hung the waterer from the roof). We installed a latching function that differed from the video, and it ended up interfered with the tarps.... Overall, we should have done what they did.
Many thanks to Scott for the motivation to get the project done after two weeks of the parts sitting in the driveway!

After paying Perry the neighbor $100 to get the mower running, the boys teamed up to get an oil change done. After this, I came home from work to see Kellen driving a load of grass home (pictured below). We purchased this mower last July for this purpose for $300, it is finally running well, besides smoking a little. It starts easily and runs quietly. They have already earned over $600 in mowing funds from five yards, purchased a DeWalt electric weed eater and two 6AH batteries, a $100 trailer, and are considering other expansion/equipment options. All four of the oldest kids mow and are keeping records of income and expenses. It is exciting to see their skills forming and funds flowing!