The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.
— Alfred Austin
Our dream is to create a diversified organic farm with ethically treated livestock who are allowed to exist in as natural a state as possible, while improving the soil and the overall ecology of the land.
So we bought a somewhat neglected 45 acre farm in central Kentucky and jumped right on into the deep end to fulfill this vision. My husband and I are Los Angeles born and raised so our learning curve has been steep to say the least.
We had a lovely garden back in Long Beach. I was able to produce a surprising amount of food from it considering it was only about 15 by 4 feet. The successes we had with that little garden fueled this desire to expand. We wanted bees and chickens. We wanted to see what we could accomplish in the right situation. We have a little more space to work with now, as well as a whole new set of challenges.
The land we purchased was a very productive thorn tree and poison hemlock farm. Neglected is a word that comes to mind when I look back at the state it was in. When you think of a farm in Kentucky one envisions long clean rows of white wooden horse fences and lush soft grass flowing from hill to hill like green velvet draped across the land. Most of our fences are just covered in brambles. There is so much work to be done. So. Much. Work.
I love it.
It’s like a blank canvas, and we are creating the world we want to live in, the childhood we want our children to have. Every bit of overgrown weeds I chop down creates a space for something beautiful to emerge. This place was a mess, mostly it still is, but when we first walked the property all I could see were the possibilities. Now, well over two years in, I see my children playing, exploring, learning. There are fat chickens making me breakfast, ducks eating the pests in my vegetable garden, and little goats kicking their heels up while keeping the weeds down. The fruits are just beginning to show themselves. The possibilities are still plentiful, and the vision ever expanding.
We just needed a little room to breathe.
Swallowhurst 