Know Your Farmers
Chris and Amy have been growing together for over 20 years after having met as science educators during college. Over this time they have built a more sustainable agricultural system on their 30 acre farm in Kentucky. They spent four years of their marriage in Asia working in agriculture, and from this experience comes the name of their farm, drawn from the Pearl Buck novel “The Good Earth.” They are Christian homeschoolers that love history, literature, and classical education, adhering to Cicero’s opinion that “a garden and a library are all a person needs.” The whole family may be found in the wilderness, backpacking or hunting, or in the library or museum, but mostly they’ll be on the farm doing what they love–growing great food for their family and yours!
Chris has been farming since he was old enough to toddle into the garden, and has spent most of his life growing things. He diversified the family beef cattle farm to vegetables, fruit, and flowers in the early 2000’s and has been going strong ever since. Chris holds a B.S. in Wildlife Management, and a M.S. in Plant and Soil Science and loves to teach and write about agriculture. He has worked in the nursery and greenhouse trade, in wildlife biology, and as an educator, but his love is plants and the systems they grow in. He also spent two years doing PhD research on biochar and sustainable agriculture at the University Putra Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and does development work in both Asia and Africa. Chris is also a Permaculture Design Consultant having completed his Permaculture Design Certificate with Geoff Lawton, and loves to help people build their homesteads and grow their own food. Chris wrote “The Complete Guide to Survival Gardening” in 2015 to be a comprehensive guide to growing all the food you need to be self-sufficient. It has proven to be more relevant today than ever before! Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/149272534X/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1
Amy grew up in Indiana and married Chris in 2002, joining the farm life. Soon after, they started selling their produce at a local farmer’s market and have slowly expanded ever since. This expansion included the births of their three children, Asa, Ruth Anne, and Elsa, who are a big part of the farm operation and can be seen helping out on the farm and at the farmer’s market booth every week. Amy has a B.S. in Anthropology/Archeology from Purdue University and has worked as an archeologist, teacher, librarian, and is a history buff. In addition to being an expert homesteading mom who grows, prepares, and preserves all the farm produce, she currently home schools the children.