Slow Farm

Slow Farm Slow Farm uses crops & critters to build topsoil and restore natural fertility from the microbes up!

We’re trying to summon fall with our newest shirt design, drawn by the same hands that harvest the herbs, feed the pigs,...
08/27/2026

We’re trying to summon fall with our newest shirt design, drawn by the same hands that harvest the herbs, feed the pigs, and mend the fences— mine!

I call the work we do here ‘wholehearted agriculture’ because it’s about more than soil, yields, or acres worked. It’s a commitment to an entire web of relationships. It means choosing care over convenience, accepting the vulnerability of working alongside natural cycles instead of trying to dominate them, and treating every animal, plant, and acre as a living partner.

It’s farming with your whole heart.

Proceeds directly fund the daily feed, lifelong herd care, and ongoing stewardship of Slow Farm, with 5% donated to Kiss the Ground to support national soil advocacy.

Shop here: https://www.bonfire.com/slow-wholehearted-agriculture/

08/24/2026

We need to balance out our duck flock and find homes for some of our young drakes. Hatched 4/24/26. Second generation Ancona x Silver Appleyard. Beautiful feathering, nice size, savvy foraging abilities. Would be great for homestead breeding experiments or just barnyard buddies.

Good homes only. $10 ea, discount for 3+. Located in Cameron NC.

08/18/2026

At the monthly farm meeting, Howdy proposed a bold strategy for coping with the rest of August. The plan was met with rousing support and the initiative passed with immediate effect.

08/17/2026

Are pigs difficult to work with? That’s the popular opinion, but I think it’s the wrong one.

Now admittedly, managing a creature with hundreds of pounds of strong opinions can be an adventure. My girl Cookie Monster kept me on my toes every single day of her life. I regularly gave thanks that she didn’t have opposable thumbs, or she’d have been unstoppable. 😆

But the fact is, when pigs understand expectations and feel like they have agency, most of them will bend over backward to cooperate. (The promise of snacks definitely hustles things along too.)

Rescue data shows up to 85% of non-commercial pigs are rehomed as adults, usually due to behavioral friction. In my 30 years with pigs, those issues almost always trace back to four root causes:

1. Pain or Illness: Sudden behavior changes—aggression, lethargy, or agitation—often mean physical discomfort. Give them a good look over for obvious stuff and then grab a livestock thermometer (and l**e). Baseline temp is around 101.5°F; any real deviation warrants a vet call.

2. Hormones: Sows cycle every 21 days with notable mood swings. Intact boars have powerful mating drives and can accidentally cause serious injury with just a toss of their head. Spaying/neutering eliminates hormonal friction and is recommended. But at minimum, understanding and respecting pig biology is key to your safety and their happiness.

3. Boredom: Evolved to be wide-ranging foragers, understimulated pigs turn trapped energy into frustration, anxiety, and destructive habits without enough space and mental challenges. This is the most common issue by far.

4. Insecurity: Pigs that feel physically or emotionally insecure will often act out. Physically, chronic stressors like extreme temps, dehydration, poor feed, or slick footing put them in survival mode. Socially, pigs need a clear hierarchy. Without calm, consistent human boundaries, they’ll try to become the boss—leading to pushiness, screaming for food, and nipping ("Spoiled Pig Syndrome").

Simply put: Meet their needs, give them clear expectations, and you won’t get a battle of wills—just a happy herd sprinting home the second they hear you call.

08/14/2026

When I named this place Slow Farm, my plan was to focus on sustainable soil and food. I thought that like on all farms, success here would be measured in bushels and pounds per acre. I certainly didn’t plan on becoming a lifelong sanctuary for a herd of 54 pigs that would change me and this land forever.

Pigs are complex, intelligent creatures that the world loves to misunderstand. Most companion pigs face a revolving door of rehoming once people realize they aren’t big, hooved dogs. Two years ago, after looking closely at my own impact and the realities of my herd, I realized I couldn’t keep participating in a cycle that failed them. I stopped my breeding program and made a quiet, permanent commitment: every single one of these 54 pigs would live out their natural lives right here, safe, loved, and never having another bad day.

It wasn’t the blueprint I drew up. But as I’ve learned over a decade of working this land, your calling isn’t something you choose. It’s something you hear.

Stewardship isn’t about forcing your will onto a piece of dirt or an animal; it’s the art of paying attention. You look at what’s in front of you, you see the need, and you answer it. And if you do it right, it will heal you in ways you didn’t even know you were broken.

Watching these 54 friends lean into their face scratches on a quiet summer afternoon, I can’t say this is the life I would have ordered off a menu. But it’s the one that asked for me, and I’m so thankful. When you finally learn how to listen, you realize the work that chooses you is always better than the one you planned.

07/30/2026

Today marks 11 years since we bought this farm, and my single favorite teacher on the property (besides Carl) is a bush I spent three years trying to kill. 😆

A decade ago, a bird sat on the fence above a pasture hydrant and pooped out an elderberry seed. In the soil below, moistened by a leaky hose, the seed grew with great enthusiasm.

But having a bush here wasn’t in my plan— it would block access to the hydrant and make fence maintenance a pain— so I declared it a nuisance and cut it flat to the ground with a pair of loppers.

The next year, the elderberry came back. I cut it down again.

Year three, I got distracted and missed my window. By August, the bush was huge and casting cool shade that the pigs were snoring away in. Overhead hung heavy umbrellas of berries that I hadn’t had to coax or baby at all. It wasn’t just sustainable food— it was invincible.

This untamable native plant taught me a very clear, very funny lesson about getting out of my own way and listening when the land talks. Working with nature will always be smarter, easier, and more successful than trying to micromanage it.

Eleven years in, and our enthusiastic volunteer is one of the most productive elderberry plants on the farm—and a daily reminder that sometimes the best things are ones you didn’t plan.

WHAT AM I MAKING?
After soaking a couple weeks in alcohol, the berry solids will be strained out and the liquid reduced till no alcohol or water remains. This deep red essence (with all its healthful goodness) will be used to make our elderberry tinted lip balm. It’s a beautiful dark maroon balm and will be available in October’s product drop in our Slow Goods store!

It always sells out quickly, so make sure you’re signed up for our emails: https://www.slowfarmnc.com

07/24/2026

When high summer forces a slowdown, the farm moves by moonlight. Survival means saving the heavy work for after dark—midnight chores, a cool breeze, and the stillness that comes after the world goes to sleep.

And as much as I miss my bed, I kind of love it.

Night chores are a mix of sweaty practicality and romance. The dark closes in your immediate surroundings only to open up the stars overhead. The heat breaks, the air lifts, and a landscape I know by heart becomes new again.

07/12/2026

He told me I was doing it wrong. I told him he was missing the point.

Today a stranger pulled into the drive and—without stepping out of his car—gave me a 10-minute lecture on how to run this place. (Spoiler: He wasn’t a farmer. He just wanted cheap eggs. We don’t sell those.)

He’s the kind of person I’m glad my farm doesn’t make sense to. He sees labor. I see art.

As Louis Nizer wrote, working with your hands makes you a laborer. Adding your head makes you a craftsman. But this farm? It runs on hands, head, and heart. That’s what makes it art. And art isn’t efficient—it’s effective.

What’s something you’ve put your heart into that maybe doesn’t make sense to others, but you don’t care?

07/09/2026

Managing a farm through a historic summer of heat and drought requires a very specific kind of steady, daily maintenance. When your days are consumed by hauling water, adjusting infrastructure, and pouring out extreme care to keep animals comfortable, your view of the world naturally shrinks down to the immediate labor in front of you.

But last night at dusk, I caught sight of the wild cherries ripening perfectly on the branch. No hauled water, no human intervention. Just a native tree quietly doing its job, enduring the record heat entirely on its own.

I felt a sudden, distinct sense of camaraderie for that tree. It was the comfort of recognizing a quiet partner in endurance. A reminder that the landscape isn’t just something we have to labor over—it is actively holding the line alongside us.

The world demands a lot of our energy right now, and so many of us are carrying heavy, quiet loads in our own lives. But endurance doesn’t have to be a solitary act, and it doesn’t always require us to search far for answers.

If you look closely at the world around you today—whether it’s a native tree or a tough herb thriving in the dry dirt—take a second to just notice the things that are standing strong with you. There is a deep, steady peace in realizing we aren’t carrying the weight of the season entirely alone.

06/11/2026

I’ve read that to live your best life you should remember your favorite activities as a kid and figure out how to make a career out of them. And I’ve got to say, I’m frickin nailing it.

Today I’m harvesting and processing mimosa flowers, and little me would have been SO excited. They’re pink, fluffy, smell nice, and have magic powers.

Once dried, these blossoms will be milled into a fine powder along with elderflower and then formulated into a brightening facial mask that repairs UV damage like sun spots. (I’ve made this for myself before but this will be its debut in our shop— exciting!)

As a regenerative farmer and herbalist, I’m absolutely living my five-year-old dream life. What was your favorite game or activity as a kid? Do you see aspects of that in your adult life?

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Stanton Hill Rd
Cameron, NC
28326

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