Our farming adventure started in 2018 when we bought a 100-year-old fixer-upper farmhouse in North Carolina. Much like everything else in our lives, there was no plan. And there is still, really, no plan. Which is ironic, given that we both are planner-types. But, when “you know, you know, you know.”
One thing we know is that farming both fuels us and wears us out. Being outside is in our blood. And turns out, so is farming. In fact, ancestors on both sides of our families had farmers. So, it seems inevitable that (much) more of our time has been spent working outside on our land rather than on renovating the inside of our house. But that is another project (or two, or more) for another day.
During the first summer in our new house, we built two raised beds and planted fruits and vegetables; added several olive and fig trees; and planted a ton of berry bushes. We started with foods that we wanted to eat as our goal was to replace the produce we had to buy in the store. There’s really nothing like biting into a juicy tomato that has been freshly picked in the hot summer sun grown patiently from a seed in your own dirt. Or, blueberries, or strawberries, or figs, or…. you get the idea. Then, we purchased 12 baby chicks so that we could have fresh eggs. One of the hens turned out to be a rooster. His name is Ernan, and he is now head of security for the coop. [insert picture.]
Our second summer was also the first summer of the pandemic. With everything and everyone else around us shuttered, we spent more of our time in our little corner of the world, which meant more time outside. We added eight raised beds for a new total of ten, and experimented with new vegetables, beans, and fruits. By the end of the summer, we had more than enough produce to feed our table. In addition to our bellies, our hands were full of all the garden tending, ensuring the right bugs were helping and the wrong bugs weren’t hurting. All this on top of the regular yard maintenance. Oh, and the watering….
So, we were surprised, ourselves, when the next summer we purchased three male pygmy goats from a local farm. Our daughters, having just been exposed to the world of Star Wars, named them Luke, Han Solo and Anakin, [insert picture]. We didn’t realize it at the time, but these boys would mark the beginning of our farming foray into the small livestock realm.
After the pandemic started, Courtney started weaving (thanks to an unused Christmas present given to our 11-year-old daughter, Claire). This involved acquiring lots and lots of yarn. So, with our farmer hats on, we looked up options for sourcing the materials ourselves. This led us to the fiber gift that is alpacas. So, of course, we didn’t waste any time getting four boy alpacas. And, to close out the summer, we brought into our collective flock, 30ish more hens and 6 ducks; a coffee tree; and more fruit bushes, including one of our favorites, elderberry. Together, these plants and animals comprise the working family farm that we have today. But that’s only part of the story.
At some point during the pandemic, we decided to take the leap from homesteading to farming as a family business. The pandemic has reinforced for us the notion that time is precious. Our time is precious, and where possible, we want to focus our time on what matters. Paradiso la Caria was born! Translated from Italian, paradiso means “paradise.” Our paradise in our little corner of the world.
We researched the market, looking at farms in our area and how we might fill in gaps. Turns out what we already had was a great start! We also joined every webinar, conference, and meeting that could help us learn. One of these, which was hosted by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, helped us carve out the path we are on today.
During their multi-week-long virtual conference in November 2021, we were exposed to regenerative farming and silvopasture, which embody the values that we have for our farm: to care for and preserve the land that supports us and do our part to protect our planet. And, as we learned, these practices are not only good for the land and animals, but the synergy created also leads to business efficiencies. We also met some cool farmers doing amazing things and left energized to be part of this new community.
Forging ahead at full speed, we continue to grow. Most recently, we have added new livestock and expanded our array of produce, some of which will be raised in a hoop house. While we have a better sketch of what’s next than when we first started, we remain open to new twists and turns in our adventure.
Most importantly, as we grow, we stay rooted in the crazy lucky love that started it all. We chose the hummingbird, the bird of joy according to the Cherokee, to represent our farm.
Robert Frost penned the poem, A Prayer in Spring (below) which references the hummingbird or “darting bird.” In it, Frost conveys this sense of joy, the kind that comes with seeking pleasure in the little things; and the love that is born again and again and again.
Vendor Biography
Our farming adventure started in 2018 when we bought a 100-year-old fixer-upper farmhouse in North Carolina. Much like everything else in our lives, there was no plan. And there is still, really, no plan. Which is ironic, given that we both are planner-types. But, when “you know, you know, you know.”
One thing we know is that farming both fuels us and wears us out. Being outside is in our blood. And turns out, so is farming. In fact, ancestors on both sides of our families had farmers. So, it seems inevitable that (much) more of our time has been spent working outside on our land rather than on renovating the inside of our house. But that is another project (or two, or more) for another day.
During the first summer in our new house, we built two raised beds and planted fruits and vegetables; added several olive and fig trees; and planted a ton of berry bushes. We started with foods that we wanted to eat as our goal was to replace the produce we had to buy in the store. There’s really nothing like biting into a juicy tomato that has been freshly picked in the hot summer sun grown patiently from a seed in your own dirt. Or, blueberries, or strawberries, or figs, or…. you get the idea. Then, we purchased 12 baby chicks so that we could have fresh eggs. One of the hens turned out to be a rooster. His name is Ernan, and he is now head of security for the coop. [insert picture.]
Our second summer was also the first summer of the pandemic. With everything and everyone else around us shuttered, we spent more of our time in our little corner of the world, which meant more time outside. We added eight raised beds for a new total of ten, and experimented with new vegetables, beans, and fruits. By the end of the summer, we had more than enough produce to feed our table. In addition to our bellies, our hands were full of all the garden tending, ensuring the right bugs were helping and the wrong bugs weren’t hurting. All this on top of the regular yard maintenance. Oh, and the watering….
So, we were surprised, ourselves, when the next summer we purchased three male pygmy goats from a local farm. Our daughters, having just been exposed to the world of Star Wars, named them Luke, Han Solo and Anakin, [insert picture]. We didn’t realize it at the time, but these boys would mark the beginning of our farming foray into the small livestock realm.
After the pandemic started, Courtney started weaving (thanks to an unused Christmas present given to our 11-year-old daughter, Claire). This involved acquiring lots and lots of yarn. So, with our farmer hats on, we looked up options for sourcing the materials ourselves. This led us to the fiber gift that is alpacas. So, of course, we didn’t waste any time getting four boy alpacas. And, to close out the summer, we brought into our collective flock, 30ish more hens and 6 ducks; a coffee tree; and more fruit bushes, including one of our favorites, elderberry. Together, these plants and animals comprise the working family farm that we have today. But that’s only part of the story.
At some point during the pandemic, we decided to take the leap from homesteading to farming as a family business. The pandemic has reinforced for us the notion that time is precious. Our time is precious, and where possible, we want to focus our time on what matters. Paradiso la Caria was born! Translated from Italian, paradiso means “paradise.” Our paradise in our little corner of the world.
We researched the market, looking at farms in our area and how we might fill in gaps. Turns out what we already had was a great start! We also joined every webinar, conference, and meeting that could help us learn. One of these, which was hosted by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, helped us carve out the path we are on today.
During their multi-week-long virtual conference in November 2021, we were exposed to regenerative farming and silvopasture, which embody the values that we have for our farm: to care for and preserve the land that supports us and do our part to protect our planet. And, as we learned, these practices are not only good for the land and animals, but the synergy created also leads to business efficiencies. We also met some cool farmers doing amazing things and left energized to be part of this new community.
Forging ahead at full speed, we continue to grow. Most recently, we have added new livestock and expanded our array of produce, some of which will be raised in a hoop house. While we have a better sketch of what’s next than when we first started, we remain open to new twists and turns in our adventure.
Most importantly, as we grow, we stay rooted in the crazy lucky love that started it all. We chose the hummingbird, the bird of joy according to the Cherokee, to represent our farm.
Robert Frost penned the poem, A Prayer in Spring (below) which references the hummingbird or “darting bird.” In it, Frost conveys this sense of joy, the kind that comes with seeking pleasure in the little things; and the love that is born again and again and again.
Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.
Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.
And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.
For this is love and nothing else is love…