Providence Farm

On the livestock front, our lush pastures are home to a small cattle herd from which we produce pasture-raised, 100% milk- and grass-fed rose veal. We have a fledgling flock of Gulf Coast Native sheep, from which we will be offering cuts of lamb for the first time in spring 2019. We raise a variety of table poultry on pasture, with a focus on well-fatted ducks, though each year we also raise a few small batches of slow-grown heritage breed chickens, the delicious and slightly gamy guinea fowl, and very slow grown geese.

In what we call the "big garden" we are focusing primarily on long-keeping staple crops, including heirloom corn (for amazing and nutty cornmeal and grits), a variety of fingerling potatoes (home grown is always best), garlic, shallots, and onions, and winter squash that will keep up to a year at room temperature. Filling in the gaps will be a variety of heirloom green beans, late-season summer squash and cucumbers, a rainbow of tomatoes, and roots for fall and winter.

We utilize slow-growing heritage breeds of livestock, all of which are raised outdoors in the fresh air and sunshine. The cattle and sheep are entirely grass-fed. The poultry is all pasture-raised, free-range, and supplemented with non-GMO grains.

Our gardens and fields never see an ounce of synthetic fertilizer. We don't use herbicides, fungicides, or insecticides, relying instead on physical pest control (such as knocking Japanese beetles off the green bean vines), hardy plant varieties, and the practice of planting enough of everything to allow for some loss to critters or disease. We are in the process of transitioning the entire garden to a no-till system, utilizing deep mulch, appropriately-timed cover crops, and animal impact to avoid the problems of excessive soil tillage.