Home From Africa — And a Dad Asked Me the Hardest Question

We’ve barely landed from Africa and I’m already picking up 100 new chicks on the drive home, checking on surprisingly tough turkeys, and trying to figure out why an aerial predator started picking off our layers while we were gone. As rain finally breaks a drought, we separate bawling calves from their mamas, re‑train a fresh heifer to the stanchion, and discover that travel really does confirm my place in the world—same soil, same sun, different continent.

A visiting family from Ohio joins us for a full “farm experience” day, and their big question is how we actually get kids involved without losing our minds. I walk them through our four levels of responsibility—from simply wanting your kids with you, to giving them small tasks, to unsupervised jobs, all the way to them “bossing you around”—while their son helps haul water, move a pig tractor, untangle hoses, and fix problems even if it takes longer.

Meanwhile we tackle a high‑tunnel reset: moving chickens out, wetting and raking down deep wood chips, rebuilding beds, pulling old posts and weed fabric, and shifting precious manure to the woodchip pile for more nitrogen. There are escaped chickens threatening Rebecca’s beloved sunflowers, a broody hen that finally hatches nine surprise chicks while we’re in Africa, and plenty of humbling moments where I have to let the next generation lead.

If you’re into real‑life homesteading with kids, integrating guests into the work, and seeing how we use chickens, pigs, cows, and compost to reset a high tunnel after winter, this episode will feel like you’re right here in the rain with us—like, subscribe, and share it with someone trying to raise hard‑working farm kids.

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