Elk,WA

Simple Acres Ranch

Welcome to the Farm

ABOUT SIMPLE ACRES RANCH

At Simple Acres Ranch, we are passionate about farming with holistic and regenerative practices in mind. We have a strong desire to leave our land better than we started and to teach our children how to carry on that legacy.

We strive to create exceptional farm products that are thoughtfully crafted with your family in mind while also being good stewards of the land and animals God has given us.

OUR STORY

Getting back to our roots since 2020

Hi Friends!

I’m Emily of Simple Acres Ranch. My husband and I both grew up in various forms of farming. After we got married we spent 10 years in the city in Western Washington and eventually built a tiny less than an acre homestead out there. In 2022 we moved and now live on 10 acres in the mountains of Northeast Washington State. We raise Icelandic sheep, Mini Nubian goats, Aussie and Aussiedoodle puppies, Bielefelder chickens, Coturnix quail, Ancona ducks and feral children. We love homesteading and enjoy sharing our journey and products we are able to create from the life we live.

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#SimpleAcresRanch

Living the dream… 5 cute puppies still looking for homes. #aussiedoodlepuppies

Buddy also found his forever family and we are so excited for him to head to his new home at the end of this month. It’s always so fun when people are so excited for their sweet additions.

Sweet Mistletoe, now Emi, will be heading to her forever home in Alaska soon. 🥰

These sweet Valentines are still looking for new homes and will be ready to go Saturday.

We are also able to deliver along I90 from Spokane to Seattle/Monroe,Wa February 28th.

Marvis is looking for a nee pasture if anyone is interested. He’s done a great job assisting in lamb creation so he needs to find some new ladies to mingle with.

Pups are getting big and loving running around the farm exploring. (Also cracking up at the second picture where it looks like the puppy has thumbs 😆)

Finally got the puppy’s picture taken. Introducing the Holiday litter, Annie’s sweet Aussiedoodle babies were born December 20th and will be ready to go home mid February. They are being raised with Puppy Culture curriculum and a whole gaggle of kids. Message me for more info.

Puppies are doing great. Most everyone’s eyes are open and they are all growing so well.

Hoping to get individual pictures soon but we’ve been busy with the holidays (unfortunately sprinkled with sickness between all the fun).

7 sweet pups for Annie… Names and more pictures to come soon!

Spent the day making the most of a no power day. Wild winds that much of the northwest experienced meant a session with the chain saw for Mat to get to work but all fences and buildings (and peoples) are intact.

(Also if you to experience extended power outages grab some solar powered party lights. They come in clutch when the generator is off)

Blue girl is backkkk. She’s been gone for 13 whole days to get bred and the magic finally happened. I had hopes to use the trailer to bring her home but it’s not the most reliable so the van it was. I was grateful that I tied her short because she reeks to high heavens and her desire to give me kisses was strong 🥴. Excited to have her home and have sweet little goat kids this spring.

Puppy exercise pen set up in case the ground freezes again. We don’t put them out here until they are much bigger and it’s attached to a heated insulated shed but it provides a great safe place for them to explore the outdoors without getting into trouble.

Sent Mat a Marketplace ad for a hay feeder and asked if he could make me a similar one soon. The next day he threw together this with what my mother in law likes to refer to as readily available materials(aka repurposed junk) and it’s better than the original and outside of my terrible filling skills it doesn’t add VM to their fleeces.

We did an ultrasound on Annie and we are officially expecting Christmas puppies!! So excited for puppy snuggles and all the crazy that comes with them. 🥰

I was fresh out of an abusive relationship and had a ticket booked to go visit my best friend in Alaska. Her brother in law, who I stood up with in her wedding, was living with them to help start their construction company. She told me he was perfect for me and I said no way but God had different plans and what a wild ride it’s been. Nothing I ever dreamed my life would be like growing up in a tiny Midwest town but boy am I glad I said Yes.

Not human but sure loving the campfire. Missed him turning from side to side to warm up all over. 😆

#llamasofinstagram #dramallama #homestead

Finally planting my garlic…better late than never I guess.

Good things to come.

Last fall winter I couldn’t tan because I had a terrible case of tendinitis but I’m so dang excited to get these all done up soon.

Butcher Day… always a little bitter sweet but this year with such a heavy ewe crop and everyone looking so nice it was hard to make choices. But our freezer will be full and we will have some gorgeous pelts available to help feed the slightly larger than intended flock this year.

Spent the day hauling llamas down to a buyer and grabbing a new ram for breeding this fall from @beebefamilyfarm . 10 hours of road tripping gave us some much needed uninterrupted talking time and checked 2 big things off our farm to do list. Win, win.

Our annual 25 pound blueberry pick up at @piperfarms . Thought we were going to miss this year but we made it and now summer feels complete.

Up for discussion north of Spokane Wa. 2 gelded llamas halter trained and started with packs.

Zero(spotted)- almost 3 and 46 inches tall. Has a go getter attitude and enjoys packing. (Does not enjoy smaller animals pulling shenanigans so he wouldn’t make a good guard llama 😆)

Thumper(brown)- almost 2 and 47 1/2 inches tall. Very curious and has done great with the limited time under the pack that he’s had. Still growing he’s going to be a big boy.

Willing to separate but prefer they go together.

#packllamas #backcountryhuntersandanglers

Our poor calendula crop has been repeatedly decimated by blister beetles all summer long. Usually my favorite flower, the minute they bloom the petals get consumed by an overwhelming number of blister beetles. Apparently the only way to control them are removing them by hand and using beneficial nematodes. Here’s to hoping the work this year lets us keep some beautiful blooms next year.

We still have 2 ram lambs and a handful ewe lambs (possibly an experienced ewe as well) available to new farms. Registered Icelandics from a clean tested herd. We’ve been working on parasite resistance and have been pretty pleased with this years results. Ready to go now.

LGL…Livestock Guardian Lamb

(And yes the pen is gross we shave begun the annual deep clean and it’s nasty nasty.)

Today Peanut Butter went to his new home as a breeding buck. The rest of the boys leave tomorrow and while it will be sad to not watch them all hopping around the pasture one less chore(separating every night) will be a welcome change. Now to wean our keeper doe June Bug. 😅

Checked this ewe that “didn’t take” 10 days ago because she was looking mighty wide and nothing no udder development didn’t feel lamb movement so I assumed she was just chonky. Fast forward to 3 days ago when I was walking behind her to go rescue a goat kid that couldn’t figure out the gate and holy hot pink lady bits. Checked her again and sure enough her udder was developing quickly. And then this evening I noticed her acting labory and sure enough within 3 hours new baby lamb. First and hopefully last summer lamb but she’s cute as a button so I guess we will just enjoy the off season blessing.

Always something🙃. This is why I try to have my livestock kit fully stocked because you never know when something is going to happen.

Happy 1st Birthday to Annie’s Aussie litter. 🎉🎉

The worst semiannual chore on the farm…quail coop deep clean day. Always disgusting and stinky but so satisfying once it’s done. Thanks babe for taking one for the team 😆.

#coturnixquail #farmlife #springcleaning

We currently have 2 litters of kittens being coparented by the mama cats and it’s been a game of musical hiding spots trying to keep track of where they currently are. Sure are cute little things though.

Meet the Farm series-Ducks

Our very first actual farm animal we added to our homestead were actually ducks since we needed an alternative to chicken eggs ( and quail weren’t on our radar yet). I wanted a hearty breed that was good at foraging, great layers and a decent meat bird. Bonus points were given for a breed on the @livestockconservancy list.

Enter Ancona ducks. This breed met all those things with the bonus of having retained the desire to raise their own ducklings and being ridiculously cute. They keep an eye towards the sky even as ducklings and it’s hilarious to watch them give you the side eye as tiny little fluff balls.

They are messy little things but they make up for it with their hilarious antics.

Would you ever raise ducks?

Meet the Farm Series-Cats.

Let’s talk cats… they are the pest control of the farm. From mice to gophers and every rodent in between they take care of them all.

When we moved into our current farm every building was infested with mice which was a terribly unpleasant surprise. There were so many mice you could stand outside the chicken coop and watch them skitter around. *barf*.

Mice carry diseases and eat the food that’s out for other animals and can poop and pee in it making it completely unusable and unsafe for consumption.

We had two cats when we moved here and between the two of them they were leaving 8-10 a day in the driveway and I was catching just as many inside. So we grabbed another kitten for the boys to teach their ways and then a week later someone dumped a cat and kitten at our house and the kids tamed them. And somewhere along the line we collected a whole gang of cats and problem solved.

#farmcats #workingcats #lifeonthefarm #pestcontrol #cats_of_instagram

Meet the Farm Series- Dogs
I thought it might be fun to do a fun little series on the critters that make our farm what it is.

These paws keep the farm safe—meet our hardworking pups!

Annie is a purebred Australian Shepherd and while she’s not expertly trained in herding sheep she is the bestest mom to the litters of pups we have had and she’s the keeper tracker of all the children. She keeps our yard free of turkeys and stray dogs and barks at all the birds of the sky and the delivery men of the ground.

Ellie is our Great Pyrenees and she keeps the barnyard predator free and her barking has kept both the coyotes and cougars away from next to the barn. She’s sweet as pie and fluffy as can be.

#meetthefarm #homesteadlife #dogsofinstagram #workingdog

Mat knocked out the trellis for the hardy kiwi vines coming in 2 weeks. I still need to paint it but the hard part is done. The garden is coming together beautifully and I can’t wait to see it full of life and good food this summer.

#homestead #garden #slowfoods #homegrown #homesteading #livingthedream

Onions haphazardly in the ground finally. 🙌🏻 This bed has a thick layer of mulch so yes I’m digging deep. Feels so good to be in the garden on this beautiful evening.

Ran a batch of eggs using our new @patientmeadowshomestead incubator egg trays and dividers and it was a game changer. Finally was able to track down a problem coop and check hatch rates per pen. 10/10 recommend grabbing them@from their Etsy store!

Lambing season means lost sleep but snuggles like this are freaking perfection. Lil miss got rained on over night and didn’t mind one bit getting wrapped in a towel and snuggled this morning. Did I need to…no. Icelandics are extremely hearty but she’s the only baby on the farm right now so why the heck not.☺️

It’s a GIRL!!! Meet Clover 🍀

#icelandicsheep #homestead #lambingseason2025 #lambsofinstagram

3:30 am this baby was finally born. The longest and latest labor on our farm. I still don’t know if it’s a boy or girl 🤣 I didn’t care last night I was just thankful baby was alive and well and looking to nurse so once it’s belly was full I went to bed. Baby sure is a cutie either way…and tall!!

Yesterday I took a beautiful 3 hour round trip to drop off our goat buck to his new home. He’s now living his best life at the place we got our girls from and having major dude time in the bachelor pasture with her other bucks. He was so happy to have someone to roughhouse with and the girls were happy that he’s not pestering them anymore 😆. I can’t wait to see the babies he’s produced and since we traded him for breedings to her bucks we will be able to do it all again if we must have more of his babies. A perfect win win for all.

Before, during and after shearing. We have the best shearer who puts up with Tiny’s constant badgering like a pro. 😆

And spud bar here doesn’t ask me stupid questions about my feelings…

#countrygirls #farmtherapy #wintervibes #homestead #icequeen

Winter sowing…
I couldn’t help it. I needed to get my hands dirty and get some things planted before I went crazy from this terrible all rain and ice and no snow winter. I tried winter sowing 2 years ago with mixed results and it turns out I had very mixed information. Since then I’ve looked into it more and my biggest issue was trying to start things that need a little more heat to grow and depending on winter sowing to get those things started. However it turns out that winter sowing is great for things that need cold stratification (think hardy perennials) and cool weather crops. So I’m giving it another go and hoping for the best. So far I’ve got poppies and pansies, catmint and a colorful yarrow mix as well as a tobacco that’s suppose to be huge with gorgeous flowers that I decided to grow for fun. We shall see how it goes but for now the winter blues are being held at bay.

#wintersowing #garden #gardenseason #springplease

Energy was getting spicy in the winter paddock so I let them all out to run out their energies and everyone was much more settled and happy tonight.

When we first talked farming I wanted beef cattle but Mat suggested we start with sheep and I’m sure glad we did. I freaking love these little floofs bouncing around our pasture. 🥰#homestead #icelandicsheep #winterfeels #sustainableagriculture #farmlifebestlife #shepherdsofinstagram

Sometimes the best laid plans just don’t go as we plan. Intended to fill the barn with hay today and the hay elevator keeps shorting out so hopefully we can figure that out. For now the kids can party on it. 🤷🏻‍♀️

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Simple Acres Ranch

ABOUT SIMPLE ACRES RANCH

OUR STORY

JOIN US ON INSTAGRAM

Details

Store Policy

Simple Acres Ranch

ABOUT SIMPLE ACRES RANCH

OUR STORY

JOIN US ON INSTAGRAM

​

Details

Store Policy