Though we run a traditional, regenerative farmstead-and believe in honoring and preserving tradition- we definitely take advantage of some of the modern amenities in our current society to make homesteading work in our favor a bit more easily. • I’m all about self care and grace and if there’s something that we can introduce into our set of homesteading systems that enhances, aides, or simply helps manage life more efficiently-we go for it! • This isn’t a competition on who has the “coolest” stuff or the most stuff. • This is about adding pieces to your homestead that benefit you, and your animals, the most. • Are red lights in the milk barn necessities? No. • That’s why we call them amenities. 💕 • Some can, and will, go without. • We could also go without. • And I should note that we HAVE gone without. 🥰 • What these modern amenities, like our red lights in the milk barn (and on my face 🤣) and milk machines HAVE done for us, is allow us to grow beyond what we were doing solely with our hands. • These amenities are coping mechanisms, helpers, relievers, and also even work horses, if you will. • For example, I was spending about 4 hours every morning hand milking, as some of you have witnessed through the years. • Hand milking is lovely. Especially when you have a few milking animals on your farm. • But if/when you grow that herd of milkers out- hand milking just doesn’t become tiresome, but the wear and tear on your hands grows exponentially- and- for me, most importantly, time is money and I just can’t/don’t want to spend half my day in the milking barn. • So the milk machine was introduced and it was really incredible. A real game changer and I welcome the help this little machine provides. • And the rlt was introduced to counteract the long hours spent in the barn. • It’s busy. It’s tiring. It’s dirty. It’s a LOT of work. • This time of year- the milk flows by the gallons and the time spent with the animals is endless. • So one day it came to me, as I was wrapping up a really long session in the milking barn, and longing for my red lights- couldn’t I do both at the same time?! • And my animals could benefit too?! • So, the biohacked milkbarn was born. 🤣