03/30/2021
Hello,
Graze Free Farms Family here.
Just wanted to post how and why we got into small farming and why we decided to share or journey here creating a social media page.
Well a little over a year ago we got the notice that our kids would be spending more time at home and school would be virtual for awhile. At this point it all seemed a bit overwhelming and unsure of what was to be expected in the next few weeks, months?
However, instead of panicking we decided that weekend we should head to our local feed store and get our first ever batch of chicks. We had talked about wanting to have chickens for eggs for years, but always put it off as we wanted to ensure we had a safe and well built chicken coop ready. Well, getting baby chicks you have a few weeks until they are ready to be placed outside and to even start producing eggs. So with baby chicks in our living room loving every second of caring for them we also built one incredible looking chicken coupe. It was the best decision we made and as a family our weekends were filled with learning to built a solid coupe to house the chickens we loved so much.
Well, as much as we loved having our chickens and eggs that followed we wanted to try something new. We saw how meat prices in the market were rising and thought what if we tried our hands at getting a pig or two? So that lead to us finding our two girls who are American Guinea Hogs. No one could have prepared us for the adventures we have had with these two girls, sisters! First of all we had no idea they'd be as small as a chihuahua when we got them... adorable! and shocked. We made sure they had a safe and secure shelter from predators and checked on them a few times during the night(felt like we had a baby).The thought of raising pigs was a bit intimidating however we love those silly pigs and enjoy sitting outside with our free ranging chickens and rubbing those silly sweet piglets tummies. Again another great adventure and lesson gained.
Next for our family was really enjoying the youtube videos we'd watch on families starting to farm, or families that were farming on farms that'd be in families for generations. These families and their stories just seemed to speak to our hearts and pull at their strings. We felt compelled to keep going and try raising another new animals to us. That is when we started to dive into the rabbit hole of youtube videos and books of a man and his farm, Joel Salatin. He struck a strong cord with my husband and I on regenerative farming. The knowledge we gained and inspiration was powerful. My family was so excited to take this time we'd been handed in our societies chaos to make this a positive and productive time for our family. We dove into learning about how to raise meat birds, Cornish cross broilers to be exact. The simplicity and flexibility in scaling was one of those moments when you feel a light bulb go off in your head! like ah ha I can do this! That was when our family made the decision to expand our learning and take on raising meat birds as food for our family. What better way to use our time and teach our children and ourselves valuable lessons on how to care, tend to and raise animals that then will bless you with food in your freezer and provide meals on your families table. I can say that since the start of this virus and chaos in society our family has grown and learned so much. We have chosen to take this time to enrich our lives and teach our kids and ourselves what it is to raise your food and see it thru, to reap what you sow. It has been a powerful and wonderful Blessing as a family to use what means we have and learn to raise food for our family. We encourage anyone out there that may be considering doing the same on whatever scale that maybe. Since we've started over a year ago we've met some of the most amazing people who also started as we have small, but we are all here to support and share our experiences with one another. We have met other farmers who have lived on their farm passed down from generation to generation and what wisdom we have gained from them.
I hope that even though we are starting small and learning what to do and what not to do we can share those victories and failures so that maybe someone can learn something. Also, what an amazing feeling it is to know the food on your table comes from the hard work and love you put into it.
We humbly thank you for joining our page and look forward to networking with more and more amazing people out there.
God Bless from our Family to yours.
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