About
Meet Jamie & Rex
Happy to make your acquaintance!
“It’s the job that’s never started as takes longest to finish.”
– Samwise Gamgee
We’re two millennials from the Deep South’s suburbia (Mississippi & Alabama) who decided to YOLO into gaining sovereignty and self-sufficiency on a small homestead in Tennessee.
It can be difficult at times to start new ventures and to remember the old ways of homesteading but we agree with Samwise Gamgee in that sometimes you just have to start.
We make mistakes, fix them, and learn from them how to improve going forward.
We believe in…
- Local food
- Sound money
- Strengthening community relationships
- Healthy and happy animals make healthy food
- Healthy land makes healthy and happy animals
- Healthy food makes healthy humans – food is medicine
- The right for each individual to choose his or her own destiny
- Regenerative agriculture and working in conjunction with nature
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Our background and experience is not in agriculture or animal husbandry. Rex comes from the medical field and Jamie comes from an accounting/finance background.
While this has made starting a farm daunting without prior knowledge, we’ve found that our unique talents help us out in other ways.
We focus on rare and/or heritage breeds to sustain those populations and to preserve hardy breeds for future generations.
We strive to help strengthen the local food community so that everyone can enjoy healthy food that is always available no matter what global issues are occurring.
To get to know us more, follow us on Instagram! We’re most active there.
Our Place
Our homestead is situated on 20 acres in Northwest Tennessee. We’re in USDA growing zone 7b.
On average our first fall frost occurs on October 25th. Our last spring frost is on April 13th.
We raise mini fainting goats for land management, chickens for eggs and meat, and we grow a garden to reduce our trips to the grocery store.
We hope to raise heritage breed turkeys and honeybees in the future.
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On the homestead we have…
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With egg prices on the rise, it’s become apparent that getting closer to your food is key. Chickens are known as the gateway drug and best beginner animal to raise for those interested in increasing their control over their own food.
For us, chickens are great composters and help to keep the fly population low. They’re fantastic at scratching through compost or manure to spread it around and to eat larvae laid by flies which keeps those pests a low threat. We intend to rotationally graze our chickens by following behind the larger ruminant animals at a speed that allows them to eat fly larvae to their hearts’ content.
After a few years we’ve settled on our flock of Svart Hona (Swedish Black Hen) chickens. This is a rare, landrace breed related to the Ayam Cemani but with the adaptation of being cold hardy.
Svart Honas are a fibromelanistic breed so everything is black from their feathers, feet, and combs to their muscles and organs. However, no chicken lays black eggs so don’t get fooled! Svart Honas lay on average 200-250, large, tinted eggs per year per hen. The males reach around 7 pounds and the hens around 5 pounds.
This docile breed has been known to show affection for their caretakers and perching on shoulders. So fun!
Our flock is fed a soy and corn free diet. We source grains as local as possible and choose organic when available.
Tennessee NPIP is pending as we just moved from Wyoming where we were NPIP certified. So when purchasing from us, your mind can be at ease that your chickens are coming from a healthy flock.
A genetic disorder that’s beating natural selection
Mini myotonic (or fainting) goats appear to be an aberration of nature. And honestly they really are because what animal would survive to pass on its genes if it fainted in the face of death? Well apparently the fainting spells really amused someone way back when so these goats are still around to grace us with their presence.
Their fainting stems from a genetic disorder called myotonia congenita which makes them stiffen when startled or excited. They’re not actually fainting, just freezing up, but they’ll fall over which makes it look like they’re passing out. They can faint from simply jumping.
“Fainting goats are thought to have appeared in around 1800 in Tennessee, USA, but there is no conclusive evidence as to their origin. Experts aren’t certain whether the genetic mutation that has caused their myotonia congenita appeared spontaneously, or whether it was introduced from another breed.” – Natural History Museum
The goats aren’t hurt from freezing up as long as they don’t fall on something dangerous or something isn’t looking to eat them. The beneficial side of this genetic disorder is that the goats tend to be meatier. The disorder that affects their muscles also makes their muscles grow. People keep them as pets and as meat goats, but not dairy goats.
Now offsetting the growth in muscle is that ours are mini in size so your meat production won’t be as great as larger goats. But this is also beneficial because they’re not escape artists and they aren’t climbing and jumping like you’d expect from a typical goat. They make for much easier handling this way.
Our goats typically serve as pets.
We originally moved to Arda Acres without a plan to have a dog soon. We changed our mind when we were told of the predator load in our area and how chickens had already gone missing before we moved in. So we researched different livestock guardian dog (LGD) breeds and determined which one would best fit our needs.
We decided on a Maremma Sheepdog.
The full breed name is Maremmano-Abruzzese Sheepdog and they are indigenous to the Abruzzo and Maremma regions of Southern Italy. They’ve been partners with shepherds for thousands of years defending their herds from predators like wolves. They greatly resemble Great Pyrenees but are different in multiple ways.
We chose Maremma Sheepdogs for the following reasons:
- Typically roam less than other LGD breeds
- Typically bark less than other LGD breeds
- Smaller than your typical LGD ending at around 88lb on average tops for females and 120lb for males
- Tend to be more defensive in nature (circles back to less roaming) – so more barking and standing their ground than going after a predator. However, this doesn’t mean they won’t fight if need be.
- Like other breeds, their coat is self-cleaning
Juno came from a working farm on the east coast and grew up around goats and chickens with her working parents. We received her at 12 weeks old and she is still a bundle of energy. We also recently added Jove from the same working farm.
Juno is named for the Roman goddess Juno (Greek, Hera) who is the Queen of the gods and protector of Rome.
Jove is named for the Roman god Jupiter or Jove (Greek, Zeus) who is the King of the gods.
LGDs are not your typical dog. They’re more independent as it’s ingrained in their DNA to think for themselves and make decisions on their own when protecting their charges. We stick to basic obedience training for her safety, but she won’t be playing chase or tug-of-war or rolling over for us.
One trait that is the same across all LGDs is that they’re built for ridiculous winter weather. Their coats have become so thick that you can’t see their skin and it’s hot if you stick your hand in it. Even now they will rest in the shade if it’s sunny out and in the 30s. It’s been wild seeing them both chasing snowflakes in negative temps and walking around with me in -50 degree windchill like they’re ready to play. I wish I had her coat.
So if you see a dog outside with a herd in the winter, don’t assume they’re freezing. Juno and Jove prefer to be outside and become super frisky and playful when the temperatures drop.
From Mice to Companionship: Our Cats Make a Difference
These perfect killing machines shrunk into an adorable little package are so beneficial for our homestead and for our hearts.
We have three boys who are excellent mouse catchers around our homestead which helps to increase cleanliness and decrease wasted livestock feed. Each of our boys are FIV+. Years ago, FIV+ cats were euthanized as they were seen as a hazard to cat populations and a hazard to their own quality of life.
FIV stands for feline immunodeficiency virus and is similar to human HIV. It weakens a cat’s immune system and decreases their life expectancy due to higher susceptibility to disease and illness.
Today’s veterinarians do not recommend euthanasia for FIV+ cats because they can live long healthy lives if well taken care of. What you’ll hear from many veterinarians is that you should keep these cats inside for their entire lives so they can’t spread the disease.
We wholeheartedly disagree with this.
Quality of life and length of life are improved by allowing cats to be cats. Of course there is always some sort of danger being outside (especially with our predator load), but keeping a cat inside and disallowing their cat nature is not healthy. Plus, they help us by keeping the mice and rat population low and they love doing it.
FIV+ typically occurs in male cats because they fight more and the disease is passed via deep bites (saliva and blood transfer). It cannot be passed to humans. Once neutered or spayed, a cat’s desire to fight and be possessive tends to drop off and leads to fewer fights.
Betcha didn’t expect to learn about a feline disease today.
One last special thing about our cats is that they eat a raw meat diet. The boys love chicken, duck, rabbit, and occasionally beef (roast from our meals or our homemade jerky). We purchase from multiple sources based on timing of need, cost, and the ability to purchase ground meat and bones without organ meats (also another topic for another time). We hope to grow our own pet food in the future.
Now of course this diet is not recommended by most veterinarians because these cats are more susceptible to health issues, but have you seen the ingredients on kibble? It’s trash. Cats are obligate carnivores and should be eating meat – not cheaply made kibble. Most kibble has an inappropriate ratio of carbs to protein which causes pets to overeat (become overweight, diabetes, health issues, etc.) to reach the proper protein intake level. Don’t fix what ain’t broken with what cats have eaten for thousands of years – meat.
Our cats are an absolute joy (mixed with some mischievousness) for us and were our first animals together before moving to Arda Acres. It’s adorable watching them roam the land as a little gang keeping things safe from tiny rodents while exploring. We hope with them being able to express their “catness” and their healthy diet that they’ll all have long and happy lives with us.
Monty
Monty is named after Inigo Montoya (named by my brother) from The Princess Bride. He is our eldest cat and who we describe as a grumpy old man. He’s definitely the leader of the pack and disciplines the other cats if they aren’t behaving to his standards.
He would be the scariest of our cats if he was the size of a tiger. He’s fast and efficient when hunting and was the first one to catch mice when we moved to our homestead. He’s also our most cautious and intelligent boy who thinks things through properly before making a decision.
He’s the sweetest old man who loves scratches on the side of his face and affection absolutely only when he wants it.
Mr. (Rugen) Thumbs
Mr. Thumbs is named after Count Rugen the Six Fingered Man because Thumbs is polydactyl (extra digits on all paws). He is the craziest cat lacking any sense of self-preservation. Where Monty is cautious and discerning, Thumbs is spontaneous and dives into anything without a second thought. He’s squared up against our goats and Juno and doesn’t seem to think it’s an issue that he’s far less than half their size.
We liken Thumbs to a dog in a cat’s body with how he behaves and follows us around. Live is definitely more entertaining with him around.
Thumbs acts as though he’s eternally starved for affection and will happily invade your personal space for attention. He also loves for any human to blow air in his face. No idea why.
Dread
Dread is named for the Dread Pirate Roberts and is our newest and youngest addition. He’s still getting used to the older bonded boys, but is the sweetest cuddle buddy out of all of them even if he does step on my throat in the middle of the night. He doesn’t seem to have any sense of personal space.
His cute meow sounds like a cartoon New York gangster voice but you’d have to hear it in person to fully understand.
It’s adorable watching him watch Thumbs and Monty interact as he learns from his older brothers. His desire to wake me up in the wee hours of the morning to snuggle under the covers with me is precious (excluding the sleep interruption). Being outside and following them around is one of his favorite activities besides demanding affection at 3am.