The Friday Farm Letter · September 25, 2026
The hands that hold a farm together
A new hand in the pasture. Friends beginning a new chapter. A little Highland preparing to leave the herd.
Good Friday morning, friends. We hope you have a warm cup of coffee and a moment to sit with us. This week at Löshá Farms has held the kind of joy that makes us stop in our tracks and the kind of goodbye that makes us wish a moment would last longer.
We are Keisha and Logan, and this is our family farm. Our days are guided by faith, stewardship, and hard work—and by the people who show up beside us to live those words. This week, one of those people deserves the first story.
Family farm · New farm hand
The hands beside ours
Keisha’s mom spent her career caring for people as a registered nurse and Air Force civil service employee at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. After retiring, she and her husband moved to Elk to join the family on the farm. She could have chosen a slower chapter. Instead, she pulled on her boots and chose to help build this one.
Service runs through this family: Keisha and her brother both joined the Air Force, he later retired from the Army, Logan served as an Air Force dentist, and her mom’s husband served his Arkansas community as a county judge. They are proud of that history. Keisha is especially proud of her mom, whose years of nursing and steady love showed the family what it means to care for others.
Most mornings she closes the gates that need closing and opens the ones that let the horses reach the back 20 acres. She walks the farm, feeds the baby cow, checks the hay, and looks over the animals before coming in to tell Keisha what she has seen. There is no fanfare to it. There is simply the peace of knowing someone loving and watchful has been there.
When time allows, mother and daughter work out and sit together for Bible study. Then the day begins in earnest, often side by side with Logan in the work of their family farm. To Keisha, her mom is a mother, a friend, and now a farm hand. Getting to build a future together is a gift, and Keisha hopes her mom knows how proud she is of her.
Welcome to Löshá Farms
Strong hands. Soft hearts.
We are Keisha and Logan, building a family farm in Elk, Washington. The Highland, horse, and goat on our emblem are part of the life we care for. The mountains are home, and the Celtic knotwork and Viking touches are a joyful nod to our ancestry. We chose Faith • Stewardship • Hard Work for the sign because those words guide what we do after the sign goes up: care for the animals, honor the land, and show up for one another.
A little good news
Harley is finding his way back
Our old dog Harley gave the family a fright when trouble in his back made it hard for him to get around. Then he surprised Keisha by coming through the dog door. Now he is eating with everybody and looking much more like himself. He is not running much, but every ordinary moment together feels like a gift. We are grateful he is still here with us.
In the incubator
Seventeen little possibilities
We are watching 17 eggs in all different colors. On Thursday there were ten days left before the expected hatch, and seeing signs of life inside has made the waiting feel very real. Not every egg we started with continued developing, so we hold these possibilities with hope and patience. We are growing our laying flock one little life at a time.
What is growing
The roses chose their season
Keisha planted flowers and trees instead of making a traditional garden this year. Now the cooler air has brought out some beautiful late roses. Their timing is its own small lesson: growing does not always follow the calendar we imagined. Sometimes beauty arrives just as a season begins to turn.
Did you know? · From the poultry yard
Good food, colorful eggs, and a hard lesson
We love seeing our birds come running for a bowl of fresh watermelon, tomatoes, greens, and red peppers. Those bright scraps are a treat alongside their complete poultry feed, not a replacement for it. We want the birds to have a balanced diet and the chance to enjoy the little extras. Colorado State University Extension recommends keeping treats to no more than about 10% of a chicken’s daily diet →
Did you know? Red peppers contain natural carotenoid pigments that can deepen the color of a hen’s yolk. The color is fun to see, but it is not a promise that an egg is more nutritious. Pepper is food and enrichment; it is not a treatment for disease. See the research on red pepper and yolk color →
Last year we lost Little Foot, a turkey we loved, to blackhead disease. Blackhead, or histomoniasis, is caused by a parasite carried in the eggs of a cecal worm. Chickens can carry the infection with few signs while turkeys can become gravely ill. Since then we have paid closer attention to where turkeys and chickens spend time and to the worm cycle. Red pepper cannot prevent or cure blackhead; there is no approved treatment or vaccine. Read the FDA’s explanation →
And here is one egg myth we would love to retire: duck eggs do not automatically taste fishy. Flavor can vary with the bird, its feed, and other factors. Duck eggs are usually larger than chicken eggs, with generous yolks and a richer taste; they supply protein and fat, and that richness makes them lovely for baking. They are not a magical upgrade for everyone, and a fishy off flavor is possible in some eggs. Learn about duck eggs from Cooperative Extension →
Our chicken and duck eggs have been finding their way into local kitchens, and we often sell out. We are hatching more chickens to grow our laying flock. If you are nearby, you can ask about egg availability through the farm.
Ray & Selia · Family in every way that matters
A goodbye with a boatload of memories
Ray and Selia are family to us. We shared one last meal before they left for their next chapter, with a baby due next month. We are excited for them. We already miss the ordinary days we could spend together without planning for them.
Ray has shared his outdoor skills with audiences on Alone and Mud, Sweat & Beards. We have been honored to learn from him and meet people through him. He is also Keisha’s best fishing partner. He talked her into a mud motor, took her jumping over beaver dams in his boat, and shared those bass-fishing days that turn into stories at the dinner table. When Keisha caught the tiger musky Ray had wanted while he was away, he was the first person she texted. Selia has shared so much more than the big occasions with us. We have photos of her and Keisha smiling together and of the two of them painting outdoors, with farm animals wandering nearby. Those ordinary, creative afternoons are part of the family we built together. Her love of gardening gave us another way to talk about what grows and what comes next.
And Ray was there for a harder farm day. When our bison Doug was processed for food, Ray and Logan prayed together and worked hard to make sure he was treated with respect. We knew how Doug had lived and what he had eaten. His life mattered to us, and the food he provided nourished our families. We are grateful for Doug and for a friend who understood that love for an animal and raising food belong together in honest stewardship. Ray showed up for the joyful days and the difficult ones. That is why he and Selia will always be family to us.
Ray and Selia, we cannot wait to meet your baby and hear about the adventures ahead. We will miss you dearly. There will always be a place for you at our table and in our hearts.
“To every thing there is a season.” — Ecclesiastes 3:1
Our little red king
Ruairidh’s next pasture
Ruairidh has grown from the baby Highland we watched so closely into a young calf preparing for his new home. His pickup is about a week away. He will be the first animal sold from Löshá Farms, and that makes this milestone both hopeful and hard.
We want him to be loved and well cared for wherever he goes. We are excited for his new family, and we will still miss the familiar sight of him in our pasture. This is one of the honest parts of raising animals: pouring care into a life, then opening the gate when the next chapter is ready.
