Becoming farmers began when our first child was born.  We watched his discomfort after eating and were frustrated when his skin problems would not go away.  We changed our diets, eliminating foods and experimenting with gluten-free, dairy-free and even going vegan for a few months.  We studied food, tried new things and finally asked ourselves, "What did people eat before all of these health problems plagued our society?"  This took us to a time before diets, highly processed foods and countless chemicals, among other things.

We decided to source as much of our food from the places we had seen it produced, or knew about their practices.  Working for a meat packing company at the time, this was a complete reversal from the way we had sourced food for our entire lives.  We didn't want to spend all of our money on food, or be obsessed with eating only high quality food; we just wanted to know where it came from and how we felt after having eaten.

The changes were noticeable almost immediately.  The kids' health improved and they started to gain weight and look more lively.  They started begging for raw milk at every meal instead of slowly sipping a small glass of a non-dairy milk substitute.  The stomach aches after eating conventional meats and grains went away.  We made relationships with farms around us that we could source nutrient dense food from.  They were located less than two hours away, would deliver it conveniently to our area, and some had been producing food this way for generations.

At the same time, we felt God was calling us to a different life, where we could be together as a family, working outside and learning skills where we used our hands, producing food and interacting with His creation. This led us on a journey of meaningful education.  Visiting over 40 farms, reading books, volunteering and getting to know more farmers to learn what it takes.  We saved, planned, prayed and ultimately God led us to a small farm in a town we had never heard of, two hours from Detroit: Nashville, Michigan.

Our story is still being written.  We are learning about food every day and what works best on our farm.  We are committed to raising real food for our family and yours.