Do you dream of gathering eggs from your own chickens? Milking a cow everyday? Sitting in the pasture watching your sheep chew their cud—or bottle feeding a lamb? Maybe you want to raise your own beef or Thanksgiving turkey. Do you dream of being a farmer? Have you recently bought property, but find yourself a little overwhelmed with exactly how to raise a chicken, milk a cow, feed a turkey, or even fence your property? Well, we have been farming for 30 years and we very well remember the questions and fears when we first began. We had no background in farming, but we did have five acres and four horses. So when Mom’s health got so bad the doctor told her to try raising her own food we decided to give it a try. We started with chickens, and our first chicken coup wasn’t much more than a tiny shack pieced together from the wood scraps from our new house. We then added sheep—and all our lambs died the first year. A few years later we tried meat chickens. Our first experience included about 20 broilers that we raised on dirt in a 4 x 8 enclosure. Eight weeks later they were knee deep in manure, and once we processed them they tasted nasty.
We learned a lot by trial and error, and we learned a lot from other farmers coming along side of us and teaching us the ropes. Thirty years later we now live on 65 acres, our chicken houses are on wheels and travel around the farm following the cows and sheep. Yes, our flock of sheep has grown from three to a hundred, and we are raising chickens on pasture and moving them to fresh grass daily—and they taste so good that we are selling them now.
We don’t know everything—for there is always something to learn, but we would love to share what we do know—with you!
We want to invite you to the farm, Saturday, May 14, 2022 from 1:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. We will share with you “why” we farm, “what” we farm, and “how” we farm. We’ll walk around and view our set ups and you will have a chance to ask questions.
$75 per person, children free
If you are interested in learning how to process chickens—we will be processing chickens the day before, Friday, May 13, 2022 from 12 noon till 3:00. The cost for this is $30 per person.
Get your tickets here: https://youcanfarminflorida.rsvpify.com