Tiny Steps. Big Rewards. 🌿⚡🐐
Progress on a ranch isn’t always dramatic.
Sometimes it looks like weeks of lopping back weeds along a fence line. Tightening old weed mats. Hauling lava rocks. Clearing one fence post at a time. The kind of work that doesn’t make for flashy before-and-after photos, but quietly builds toward something that makes everyday life just a little bit better.
When Val returned home at the end of June, the three of us started a new rhythm: Monday Meetings and Tuesday Do-Days.
Monday afternoons, when the Hawaiian sun is at its hottest, we gather around the dining room table to talk. We share ideas for projects, discuss anything that might be creating friction, brainstorm better ways for the ranch to flow, and decide what we’d like to accomplish together. It’s become a really refreshing way to begin our work week and make sure we’re all rowing in the same direction.
During one of those meetings, Joshua and I shared the progress we’d made while Val was away on vacation. Little by little, we’d been reclaiming the front pasture fence line. I’d been lopping back the thick weeds growing into the electric fence, while Joshua tackled the old weed mat beneath it—pulling stubborn roots, stretching it back into place, and weighing it down with lava rocks to keep everything secure.
With everyone caught up, we decided our next Tuesday Do-Day would be dedicated to finishing the job together.
Despite a week full of rain showers and a few unexpected hiccups, it felt like Mama Gaia smiled on us this morning. The skies stayed clear, the weather cooperated, and we were able to work uninterrupted from start to finish. By 10 a.m. we were completely sweat-soaked (as one should expect in Hawaiʻi 😆), but we stood back looking at a fence line that, after weeks of steady effort, was finally complete.
Now all that’s left is securing a couple of electrical connections before we can finally energize the fence—for the first time since moving to ʻĀina Iki.
That means our Biggies will soon be able to graze the front pasture with a much safer boundary, giving us a little more peace of mind and far fewer worries about escape artists wandering off or uninvited visitors wandering in.
I’ll still spend plenty of time out there with them—there’s no shortage of weeds and brush to trim back—but it’ll be such a relief knowing I can focus on improving the pasture instead of playing full-time referee for whichever mischievous goat is convinced the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. 😆
It’s funny how often ranch life reminds us that meaningful progress rarely happens all at once. It comes one weed, one rock, one fence post, one shared work day at a time.
And those tiny steps? They really do add up to big rewards.
If you’ve been following along with our journey, thank you. Every improvement you see around the ranch—whether it’s a repaired fence, a safer pasture, healthier animals, or another corner of the land brought back to life—is made possible by people who believe in what we’re building here.
If you’d like to help us keep creating a safe, thriving home for the animals of ʻĀina Iki while continuing to restore this little piece of Hawaiʻi, we’d be incredibly grateful for your support. Every donation, no matter the size, helps turn another tiny step into meaningful progress.
Mahalo for walking this path with us. We truly couldn’t do it without you. 🤎🌿
