Welcome to MCRanch! My fiancé and I moved to the "country" about a year ago and haven't looked back since! Having always loved animals and gardening, moving into the country was a natural step for me but suddenly being surrounded by a farming community and miles of vineyards, cows and cabbage I started questioning the locality and quality of the food I was buying from the grocery store.....
Why
wasn't anything local? How did I know that chicken I was buying had actually felt the sun on its back or tasted a blade of grass? How did I know if the cows who produced the half and half for my coffee were actually happy? This led me to begin studying the practice of sustainable agriculture and its alternative: industrial farming. Suddenly my ideas about food, where it comes from, and the effects it has on our culture, health and the well-being of the planet were radically changed. I decided then and there that I would begin to grow as much of my own food as possible and work towards complete sustainability. sus·tain·a·bil·i·ty
səˌstānəˈbilədē/
noun
--the ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level. "the sustainability of economic growth"
--avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance. "the pursuit of global environmental sustainability"
We started out with 15 laying chicks and 15 meat chicks, very soon after we adopted a few goats and before we knew it we had pigs, sheep and what undeniably could be called a farm! Since my love of animals comes first and foremost I decided that their "happiness" was paramount. I pride myself on giving them the best lives possible, feeding as organically as we can, and letting them have plenty of room to run, scratch, peck, root and play! We currently are selling organic, pasture raised eggs and whole chickens on the farm and are looking forward to getting on board with the local farmer's market! I also have a growing family of registered Nigerian Dwarf goats, the intention is to make cheese but for now we are just enjoying their playful antics. We even have just acquired two handsome, young bucks who will soon be available for stud service (email me for details).
