Meet Kenneth & Abby

In the summer of 2021, we uprooted our lives in Central Florida and christened our new 18 acres in Tennessee “Blackberry Flats Farm.” Blackberry because they grow wild just about everywhere here and Flats because Ken taught me how to eat chicken wing flats “the right way” on our first date. We settled into a 5th Wheel and started to plan the future of our homestead. Since we both work full time jobs, we are making the most of evenings and weekends to make our dreams a reality. Not surprisingly, our goals are always changing and evolving but we are having such a good time learning and experimenting!

 

In 2021, we…

• Packed up and sold our Florida home

• Moved halfway across the county in a UHaul caravan

• Oversaw the building of a 30x40 pole barn garage

• Began enriching the soil with cover crop

• Started clearing ~8 acres using the forestry mulching approach

 

In 2022, we…

• Cultivated an orchard with 40 fruit trees (and growing!)

• Created a raised bed garden

• Started fencing in cleared land

• Raised and trained two Great Pyrenees puppies

• Developed an egg laying flock of chickens and geese

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With big things coming - including planning for a house, getting livestock (sheep or goats? That is the question!), finishing out the garage, and hoop houses, the to-do list never seems to end - in the best way!

 

We are learning every day and having fun in the process. We'd love to have you follow along our journey as we turn this property into our dream space.