Welcome,
Thank you for visiting Ellis Family Farm where we strive to recreate the family farm of yesterday by combining some of our predecessor's techniques with today's knowledge. We began our journey in the Spring of 2014 with 1 dog, 2 cats, 12 chickens, 6 acres of U-Pick vegetables and 3 acres of "old style" open pollinated white corn. Our goal is to create a sustainable farm which produces bo
th superior products and a lasting experience for our visitors. Welcome to our journey! History:
Ellis Family Farm is situated on 80 rolling acres located near the intersection of US 331 South and US 84, on the south bypass of Opp, AL. The property was purchased by my grandfather, William Ellis, from First National Bank in the year of 1937. The property included an old wood framed farmhouse and a hand dug well. The farmhouse was likely constructed prior to 1906 due to the fact that the lumber is true to size and the Yellow Pine Manufacturers Association did not adopt dimensional sizes and grading rules until January 1906, when an actual 2"x4" was reduced to 1-5/8" x 3-5/8" then later reduced to the 1-1/2" x 3-1/2" that is used today. The current farmhouse was constructed in 1946 and is framed with much of the lumber from the original house. Upon inspection of the attic and crawl space it is evident the lumber was reclaimed. Recycling is not a new concept, at one time not long ago, it was a necessary way of life for Americans...and it still should be! A small portion of the land had been worked for crops and Granddad spent the first few years clearing more land for crops and pasture. With help from a few local men, they cut the trees by hand, pulled stumps and logs with mules. For many decades the farm produced beef, pork, poultry, eggs, milk, vegetables, fruits and berries. He also planted approximately 30 acres of commodity crops such as field corn, cotton and peanuts. During the 1950's, quail and pheasant were hatched and raised at the farm to be released into the wild to repopulate. A fairly progressive idea for the times. Future:
A man much wiser than me once said that we can never plan the future, but you can set future goals. As we stated earlier our goal at Ellis Family Farm is to create a sustainable farm operation which produces superior products and a lasting experience for our visitors. The long term vision for the farm is to have U-Pick fruits and vegetables, broilers and layers, pigs and cattle all working in unison to increase the natural fertility of the land. We are also researching ways to give our visitors a family farm "experience" via corn maze, pumpkin patch, chose and cut Christmas trees and educational tours. We are well aware that we are embarking on a journey of constant trial and error, research, experimentation and change...and we love it! To achieve this dynamic polyculture, it will require the introduction of one or more new livestock, crops, tillage methods or soil building practices each year. On our timeline we will post photos and videos of our current methods, practices and offerings. Our timeline will act as an archive showing the chronological evolution of our practices and applications. Due to our personal desires to be great land stewards and to eat nutritious foods free of chemicals, we will be using mainly natural production methods, heirloom varieties of produce and heritage breeds of livestock. Thanks again for visiting our site and following our journey. We look forward to seeing you along the way! Sincerely,
Chris Walden
Ellis Family Farm
26230 Hub Brown Rd
Opp, AL 36467
