We’ve been gathering since summer 2025, swapping wins and flops in the panhandle shade. Here’s a quick look at the last couple:
May 10, 2026
Had a good group of about 18 people, love to see people involving their kids in homesteading! We did an around the room with everyone talking about what they’re doing and asking questions of the group before settling into multiple side conversations with topics such as wild plums, homemade wine, solar powered freezers, best fruit trees for the area, growing the soil with local inputs versus hauling them in by the pickup truck full, Goldbacks and junk silver, how to get goat milk that isn’t “goaty”, rooster pros versus cons, how to grow corn in this area, and whether or not there are places that are just too sandy to grow things.
April 18, 2026
We met at the fellowship hall at Dorcas Baptist Church. Lots of new faces, people in all stages from dreaming of buying property to actively raising their own food. We had visitors from as far away as Pensacola. No unifying topic, the conversations ranged from CSAs to how everyone’s chick hatching was going to how much Okra is too much.
March 14, 2026
We met at the fellowship hall at Dorcas Baptist Church again. We had a jam making demo in the kitchen with Debbie walking us through the process and sending us all home with a jar of Blueberry Jam (thank you!). There were a couple of new people from another homestead and garden group join (welcome!) and we talked about chickens, the amazing process of hatching an egg in 21 days, Del’s adorable baby goats, the upcoming Farmhouse Fair in Milton (3/21/2026), why we have to “ask permission” to build on our own properties, and any other topic that anyone wanted to bring up.
February 21, 2026
We met at the fellowship hall at Dorcas Baptist Church (Thanks for space, Chris!) There was a lot of socialization as well as discussion around how to incubate chickens, brooding versus incubators, what you have in the ground already (peas, onions, and potatoes mentioned). We met several new faces and talked about another homestead/gardening group that gathers in the area and might want to join forces.
January 17, 2026
We talked with the Duffy Brothers about their homesteading services from building enclosures to homestead development. It was a lively group with topics ranging from Goldbacks and bartering to animal husbandry to water glassing eggs. The group discussed better ways to swap information including using the GroupMe app (stay tuned for an invite). Next gathering will likely be at the fellowship hall at Dorcas Baptist Church (near Poverty Creek and Highway 393).
November 8, 2025
We talked about whether it is possible to be self-sufficient in 2025, what a community would look like, using Goldbacks as a store of value, barter, planting greens in November, what a co-op would look like, whether it was possible to specialize in one thing and trade with a larger group, gardening without external inputs. Chris also mentioned that Dorcas Baptist Church would be willing to entertain hosting these gatherings in the future and his dream for a church shared garden and community outreach.
October 18, 2025
Jeanette and Ronnie shared their experience with rabbits. The group discussed various methods of raising them, from hutches to colonies to Salatin’s Raken House where chickens and rabbits share a space. A couple of books that came out of the discussion: Feeding Meat Rabbits for Free, Restoration Agriculture, and Raising Pastured Rabbits for Meat.
September 13, 2025
Amber joined us to share her bee-keeping journey—from starting a hive and collecting that first honey, to dividing them before swarms take off. She brought some honey and lotion.
August 16, 2025
Billy Bailey drove down for a local foraging deep-dive. We strolled the property edges where he pointed out over a dozen “weeds” with food or medicinal uses. He had copies of his book on hand for anyone interested, a great trail companion.
If you don’t want to miss the next one, click the Join Us button for more details!