Welcome back to Female Farmer Friday! I’ve taken a few weeks off because of the craziness that is fair season, calving season, and harvest season. I’m so excited to introduce you to Jackie from Head Waters Farm and @farmgirl_at_last on Insta! Jackie is one of the first female farmers I started following on Instagram, and she is still one of my favorites. And not only is she an awesome female farmer, she is also a real life superhero – she is a nurse for her off-farm job. Please welcome Jackie!
•Sara Beth

Please briefly introduce yourself.

Hi! My name is Jackie and I live in Vermont with my husband and two kids. We have 2 kittens, 2 farm dogs, 3 dairy goats, a flock of egg laying hens, and 5 beehives at our house!

What type of farm do you have?

We are currently running and managing Head Waters Farm in Newbury, Vermont. It’s a small farm that produces grass fed beef and lamb, and has a 3,000 tap sugar bush for maple syrup. This year we made about 940 gallons of syrup which we sell mostly in bulk to a wholesaler. We rotationally graze our livestock and hay our fields. In the winter they eat the hay we have made. My husband and I also raise pastured poultry and we do the processing ourselves. We have 3 pigs we are raising this year for meat. We have never done pigs before and so far it’s going well. I will also be harvesting honey for the first time this year from one of my beehives. We are hoping to expand on the bees and make honey a regular product that we sell!

How long have you been farming?

In 2015 we bought our first flock of laying hens while we were living in Connecticut. Those 7 hens and 1 rooster started it all. From there we started homesteading. We raised meat birds and turkeys, tapped the few trees we had for maple syrup, and I bought a beehive! We bought a house in Vermont in December of 2016 and moved up here full time in May of 2017. From then we have kept expanding and last summer as my husband was getting out of the military he was offered a job to manage the farm that surrounds our house. Soon after talks came about of taking over and purchasing the farm from the people who own it. We never dreamed we would really own a farm. We were happy with homesteading but are over the moon excited that our dream is really coming true!

Do you have an off-farm job?

Yes. I am a registered nurse and have been for the past 12 years. My husband farms now exclusively but unless we made it big I think I will always have to be a nurse in some capacity. I currently hold all the benefits for myself and my children. I have Crohn’s disease and am on a very expensive monthly injection. Not having that is not an option. My dream and goal with the farm would be to make enough money so I could cut back on my nursing hours.

Please share with us one of the biggest struggles you have with farming.

The biggest struggle is the expense and the income. It seems with farming it is very hard work, equipment is expensive and always breaking, and the price of local homegrown food is unfortunately not valued as it should be. I do believe that is changing, and the power of social media has been amazing for marketing purposes and for educating people on what really goes into making food.

What is something about your farm life that you think would surprise most people?

It’s not all fun and games haha! Farming is hard work. Inevitably something is always going wrong, equipment is breaking, animals get sick etc. Forget making plans because farming is your life. It’s a great life but it can be a challenge for sure.

Can you share one of your long-term goals for your farm?

I would love to expand on the beehives and host a farmers market. I would also like to teach classes about something someday! Haven’t figured out what yet though 🙂

If you had the chance to tell one thing to someone without any first hand knowledge of the farming industry, what would it be?

I would tell them to learn all they can about where their food comes from and to visit local farms and talk to the people running it. Farming can be a thankless job and there are a lot of food misconceptions out there. People farm because they love the lifestyle, not because they are getting wealthy doing it. Most farmers care about the welfare of their animals and the quality of their food. The media and animal activists try to portray farmers as the bad guys, but if you actually talk to them and learn about their practices you will see for yourself that couldnt be farther from the truth.

What do you think is the biggest misconception about agriculture?

I guess I got ahead of myself! I think there’s a lot of misconceptions about animal welfare and how crops are grown. A huge one is that farming is bad for the environment. That is simply not true! Regenerative farming and permaculture actually sequester tons of carbon!

What is something you are deeply passionate about?

I am passionate about educating people about where food comes from and how it’s processed. I think people are so disconnected from their food today and it’s really sad. Part of the reason why we started homesteading and wanted land to expand on was so we could raise our children to understand this. Death is unfortunately a part of life and it’s a hard lesson to learn. Understanding that food comes from a living animal makes you much more respectful of the animal and the food it produces. We don’t waste food in this house and that’s a big part of why. We are thankful for every home raised meal we eat. We ensure each animal has a wonderful life. I really feel this is important for kids to understand.

What are some farm related resources you think everyone should check out?

There are so many amazing people out there! Joel Salatan is like the farm guru. His book “You Can Farm” is a no BS book about how to get started. That’s what we read at first and then started getting ideas. I don’t listen to a ton of podcasts but I was featured on The Rural Woman Podcast. My friends Whitney and Kylie made their own podcast called Midwest Farm Wives and it’s very relatable as a mom and wife. I’ve also enjoyed Azure Farm’s podcast. If you’re more into homesteading @themoderndaysettler on Instagram is a good page to follow. For gardening inspiration you have to check out @rootsandrefuge . For honest talk about dairy farming and fighting back against activists I love @tdf_honest_farming. I also love @iamcountryside for general farm posts.

If people want to follow your farm journey, where can they find you?

My Instagram page is @farmgirl_at_last I try to post about farm related things most days! Our farm FB page is called Head Waters Farm. I also have a facebook group for any and all women who homestead/farm/ garden called The Farmgirl Community. I have all the links in my profile on instagram. Our website is headwatersfarmvt.com and we sell our maple syurp online!