I used to read Cosmopolitan. Now I read Backyard Poultry and love it. My, how life changes!

I was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky and was very much a city person. My only contact with farm animals was either in books or on an occasional school field trip. I do remember a few times growing up driving on the interstate from Louisville to some other city and seeing cows out in fields. That was really my only exposure to livestock. We always had a dog and cat and I loved them, perhaps more than the average child, but I never really enjoyed the outdoors or getting very dirty.

At this point, some of you may be wondering how in the world a city girl like me ended up moving to the country and running a sustainable, family farm. The answer is a multifaceted one that has led me along quite a winding road.

I ended up going to college at Eastern Kentucky University which is located in Richmond, Kentucky, right on the edge of the Bluegrass Region and the Mountain Regions of eastern Kentucky. The location drew students from all areas of the state and from all walks of life. Eventually I became friends with people who had not grown up in cities, but were from very rural locations. It was interesting to me to hear their stories about where they lived and I loved the occasional weekend trips home with them. Mostly out of the need to create conversation, I asked questions about their livestock and crops. I soon found that my conversation starters had turned into a genuine curiosity about the workings of a family farm.

Eventually, I began to think that maybe someday I would like to live on a farm. Now mind you, this was a thought kind of like “Maybe one day, I’ll swim the English Channel...” It is something that sounds fun, but not something that I am really likely to ever do.

My way of thinking changed about four years ago: The bottom dropped out of the real estate market, making my business less secure. About the same time, my mother was diagnosed with cancer. Those things caused a great deal of soul searching on my part. All of sudden, I felt an overwhelming need to simplify my life. I really started thinking about what was truly important to me and how I could make do with less. Producing our own food

We started looking at farms and found this one which was going to be auctioned. It included a large farmhouse that dated back to 1894. It was in terrible shape and needed the replacement of most all major systems. Whether we were the biggest suckers around or very shrewd investors has yet to be determined, but we like to think we bought the farm and got the house for free.

After our purchase, we first concentrated on making the house livable and later began improvements on the land itself. Along the way, we became firm believers in the benefits of healthy, natural eating and began to produce most of our food here on the farm. We now offer our products for sale to others in hopes that they will enjoy our harvest as much as we do.

I used to have perfectly manicured nails. Now I am lucky to have nails that are not covered in mud. I used to wear heels to work and now wear work boots or go barefoot. I used to read Cosmopolitan. Now I read Backyard Poultry. My, how life changes and I wouldn’t have it any other way.