I didn’t start my career as a farmer, but I grew into one. My mom had one acre of tomatoes and every summer I would be forced to pick, weed and can them in our little house without air conditioning. So miserable – I swore I would never have a garden! Everything changed when I had my first child and wanted to give him the best possible nutrition. That’s where my real education began in the library, reading through the experiences of others in my now chosen field. The funniest part is that I now look for and grow over 80 different varieties of tomatoes every year, and in a plot twice the size as my mom’s!
My heart has always held special places for amphibious friends, turtles in particular, but all creatures large and small too. So I think I was always destined to adopt a large family of creatures. I run a closed loop operation – minimal inputs from outside of my own production. I grow thousands of flowers, vegetables, herbs and fruits. Each animal provides multiple functions and value added products. I have honeybees, dairy sheep and goats, kunekune pigs, great pyrenes (all adopted from homes that didn’t appreciate their barks) and – new this year – mini jenny donkey and alpacas. I also have a flock of geese, ducks, chickens, turkeys, guinea fowl and peafowl! As it turns out, my great-grandfather was also a bee keeper! I took classes at the U of M and began my first apiary about 15 years ago.
I oversee every aspect of my farm to ensure quality and provide the labor, growing hard to find heirloom varieties from seeds each season and preserving heritage breeds listed above. In the last five years I went from farming in my own back yard, to a 2-acre rental, and FINALLY I closed on 30 acres in Farmington. Raw land, I need to bring in everything from electricity and water to fencing and building my new dairy parlor! But I am so excited that i was able to find this perfect patch and make my big dreams bigger.
Products include fruit and vegetables, cut flowers, goat/sheep cheeses and milk/butter, eggs, fridge pickles and sauerkraut (all seasonal). I am very excited to be a part of this market and supported by like minded people. I also offer CSAs that can be picked up at market!
