We’re Carrie & Patrick. We didn’t grow up homesteading – we spent many years doing long commutes to corporate jobs in the city. As part of that former lifestyle, we ate mostly food we didn’t cook: restaurant take-out and processed food from the grocery store. We didn’t look or – more importantly – feel good. Wanting a healthier lifestyle, we began shopping at natural food stores and food co-ops, graduating to doing the bulk of our food shopping at farmer’s markets.
When we moved from the Pacific Northwest to Kentucky and found our property, we seized the opportunity to produce the kind of food that we want to eat, raised the way we wanted. Now, we rarely eat out, trading convenience for wholesome, home-cooked food that makes us look good and feel good.
While we have yet to put in our vegetable garden, we have successfully farmed microbes – and we’ve personally experienced improved health and vitality through our many ferments, including sauerkraut, milk and water kefir, kombucha tea, jun tea, and sourdough. We also make our own country wine and beer, wildcrafting and foraging where possible. Our animals also benefit from the byproducts of our ferments, enjoying fermented fruit and many a SCOBY as treats, as well as raw vinegar in their water. We believe we’ve all benefited from probiotics!
What Homesteading Means To Us
Homesteading offers something that can be elusive in other types of work: tangible results that are a direct outcome of our efforts. It also honors a proud heritage that’s been unfairly marginalized in today’s society. Farming is productive, meaningful, and important work that takes skill and grit, and not everyone is suited to it. We get rained on, snowed on, sunburned, bug bitten, scratched by animals, covered in mud and other matter – all part of the job (and you can read about it in our blog). We know our animals rely on us for their well-being, and we take that commitment seriously.
Our Philosophy
We believe food is the key to health and that it should be local; raised and processed humanely; eaten in season when possible; and free of antibiotics, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), herbicides, and pesticides. Further, we think everyone should know where their food comes from and take responsibility for their choices…like eating meat.
Of particular importance to us is treating our animals with the respect and caring that they deserve as complex, feeling creatures. Yes, these are food animals, but we believe – based on our experience – that providing the appropriate environment for their physical and psychological well-being results in an exceptional product; happy animals = good food!