My Favorite Four Plus One!: Rick and Amy

Because I am going to homeschool next year, my great friend, suggested I subscribe to the Tallahassee Homeschooling Site...basically homeschooling moms share ideas, sell stuff, brainstorm, share prayer requests, ask for ideas...anything from schooling to basic medical questions to political talk. It has been interesting but I have used it to sell some stuff, get some ideas, etc. I get like 20 emails a day but I scan through them quickly, delete what is not interesting to me, and use what I need. For the most part, homeschoolers are frugal people so I have found out about some great family days at different attractions that are free, family field trips to go on, etc etc. One of the moms posted that she had two baby lambs that were rejected by their mom and if anyone wanted to come and see them, let their kids play with them, or take pictures...they welcomed it. Well, I thought how neat!!! So I contacted her, read her blog and realized that they had a farm in Monticello and that they sold their produce and meat to buyers...it was all natural, organic, and sustainable. HMMMM...very cool...so I started to probe and we set a date to go visit. This past Saturday we drove out to Monticello and visited Heavenly Homestead...

Rick and Amy have 5 boys..They live on 5 acres in the very woodsy Monticello, Fl. They have goats, ponies, chicken, chicks, pigs, 2 steers, dogs, and rabbits. When we drove up, we didn't see anything or anyone...a very old looking house and wooded land. We kind of waited around and then saw movement in the barn...John yelled out...Rick came over and introduced himself...he was more or less expecting us. Rick is the Dad/Husband. He was a quiet type, had a cowboy hat on and work clothes...he had been under the house doing some fixin. Amy was at the grocery store. John being the talkative and friendly type started asking questions as we headed for the barn to see the lambs. John said, well I guess you grew up farming and stuff huh...Rick said, No, not at all...I lived in the city. He didn't offer much else but John kept on. In the end I learned that Rick was a very smart and imaginative man with many well researched views but was not the type to try and lead anyone in his direction...he would never try to convince you of his kind of life....John continued asking questions...Rick basically said that he read a book by a unconventional farmer and liked what the guy had to say and decided to find some land...Rick said that he wanted a place for his kids to be able to run out of the house, and he not have to worry about them.....Wanted them to be able to fix and build things.....try new things etc. So they found this land with a old, small house and decided to make it work. After asking more questions...we found out he works in Tallahassee (a real job) and the farming is his expensive, time consuming hobby :) So the goats were precious. Rick said that he was going to go inside and make their bottles...When Rick returned, he had a baby (human that is) on his back in a sling...The baby (later we found out his name was Quin and he is 1 year old) looked as if he rides on Daddy's back a lot as Daddy continues with his farm chores. It was like out of a Amish movie or something...very unconventional I guess. Rick tried to let my kids feed the lambs but the lambs knew Rick as "Daddy" and they were a little shy...Rick continued to feed the lambs, give them medicine, tell us about his chickens (more than I knew there was to ever tell about chickens) all while Quin quietly watched from the sling. So we found out that there are many different kinds of chickens...some for eating and some for laying eggs. You can have egg laying hens in the city as long as you don't have a rooster. All of his animals are organic. He tried pigs for the first time and sold everyone of them to families like us. Johnston's Meats in Monticello takes care of the butchering and prep for him. We looked at chicken coops and talked prices of meat and learned a lot! Rick was very hospitable. Amy came home from the store and I found out that she is the talkative one....we talked homeschooling and then did a little more farm talk all while their 2 year old son drove J.D. around in his John Deere Motorized Truck...this 2 year old could drive and shift gears!!!!! I asked if they could feed the family off what they have on the farm...she said they don't buy meat but their garden isn't huge. They are looking into buying more land. She said they had a little bit more pork left if we wanted it....and now there are two broiler hens running around their yard with our name on them...just getting fat until they are ready to be eaten...I can't wait to cook and eat my organic free range broiler chickens! Amy said if there is anything we ever wanted to ask, they would love to talk. They were very nice and so interesting! It looked like a lot of work.....and it is a full time job that reaps great benefits. Their house was certainly no dream house but they were doing what they want to do and you have to respect that! The kids left wanting ponies, I left wanting land, John left wanting chickens and pigs, and Molly just wanted to pet their big dog! John drove us to crump road and we sipped on Homemade Fresh Strawberry Milkshakes at Ali's Farmers Market while sitting on their porch swing as we planned our own farm! John has googled chicken coops and how to raise chickens...yes can you believe it...!!!!

Here is the link to their website:

http://heavenlyhomestead.com/shop/welcome