Do you want to see a working, horse-powered, sustainable farm in action?  Interested in using livestock to clear your forests, or raising free-range chickens?  Do you need ideas for edible landscaping or gardening?  Have you wondered how draft horses are used in a farm setting today?  Perhaps you'd like to learn more about intensive management rotational grazing, or how to keep animals without turning your yard into a dusty, smelly, manure-filled lot?  You can learn all this and more during our guided farm tour!  

Prices are a set fee, so you can bring as few or as many (up to 10) as you like at one price!  In addition, we offer occasional Group Tour events, which is the same format as our Standard Farm Tour, but allows you to share the cost with others.  See our events section below for dates. 

Customizable to your interests, we will take you to each station on the farm, and describe, in detail, how we manage that aspect of the farm and why.  We can focus on the Biblical principles behind our practices for church groups, tailor it to children for homeschool groups, discuss the practical farming and business aspects for current or future farmers, host family reunions, or just take you as a single family or individual.  Contact us to discuss your desires.

Please note:  In most cases, we recommend scheduling farm tours between late April and September, due to the seasonal nature of our farm.  During the colder months, we have very few animals on the farm, and it is difficult to get the full picture of how a sustainable farm is run.  Please check our farm event calendar to help you plan your tour date. 

Standard Farm Tour .................................................................................... $40*

This tour is about 2 hours long, and is ideal for small groups and families who wish to learn more and see the overall picture of a sustainable farm.  If we have others interested, then we are happy to open your scheduled tour to others to share the cost if you'd like.  

Custom Tour .................................................................................$30/hr* (2 hr. minimum)

This tour is designed for individuals who are interested in learning about particular aspects of sustainable farming.  We can offer demos in draft-horse logging, draft-power around the farm, milling lumber, small-scale hay-making using a scythe and hay stack, designing and building a walipini (pit greenhouse), the basics of dairy animals, using animals for forest and woodland management, and more!  We can even arrange for a horse-drawn wagon ride during your tour!  Most tours run 2-3 hours in length, depending on your preferences.  Feel free to e-mail an inquiry regarding your desires for more information.

*Please note that tour price is based on a group of 10 or fewer.  Additional attendees are welcome for an additional $2/person (age 2 and over).  Some tour options may require an additional fee.

The following events are scheduled for the 2018 season.

Who can refuse a pad of fresh, homemade butter?!  Maybe you'd like to find that perfect soft-cheese topping for your crackers.  What if you could stop paying the high prices for yogurt and just make your own?!  You can learn all this and more at the Dairy and Cheese Clinic.  We will work with both store bought and farm-fresh, raw milk to create a variety of delicious treats, using standard kitchen tools that you likely already have at home.  Clinic topics include:

• A brief discussion on proper, hygenic management of dairy animals
• Safe handling of milk and dairy products
• Store bought milk/cream vs. raw milk/cream
• Separating cream to make butter and other cream products
• Methods of culturing cream for flavor
• Best ways to store butter for best flavor
• How to make butter, yogurt, and soft cheese start to finish
• Tips to increase health benefits of dairy items

You will be directly involved in making the items, so you will be mentally prepared to go home and try it on your own.  This class begins with an opportunity to try at your hand at milking a live goat, and concludes with an opportunity to sample your creations of the day at a little brunch!  This is a unique clinic you don't want to miss!  Class size is very limited to 6.


Dates:    June 16   (all classes 9am-12pm)

Click HERE to register for one of these clinics

 Are you considering using horse power on your farm or homestead?  Do you dream of pleasure drives through the countryside?  Have you outgrown or gotten nervous about riding your horse, and thought about driving it instead?  Or do you just want to check "Drive a team of draft horses" off your bucket list?  Whatever your reason, this clinic is a very unique offering in the central IL area, and is sure to please! 

Our Beginner Horse Driving Clinic is a 2-day event, with an intense focus on the basics of draught horse power.  It has proven to be one of our most popular clinics!  Clinic topics include:

• How a horse can help
• Setting up your farm for work horses
• Selecting the right horse for your needs
• Selecting the right harness
• Selecting and caring for equipment
• Safety
• Basic Horse Care
• Learning to handle the lines
• How to harness a horse
• Ground driving
• How to hitch a single and a team
• How to drive a single and a team

Friday morning begins in our dining room, where we will dicuss the basics of horse power, preparedness, and safety.  We will head outside where you will learn about the harness and its functions.  After lunch, you will get hands-on with the horses themselves.  You will get to actually harness and ground drive a horse for the first time!  Finally, before the day is over, you will get to drive a horse hitched to a forecart!

Saturday morning starts with a brief review of safety and harness, and then the fun really starts!  You will harness the horses, then we will hitch the team up and go for a drive out on our country roads.  After lunch, you will get to practice harnessing again, and then you will test your skill by driving the team through an obstacle course! 

After the clinic, you will leave much more confident with the knowledge and equipment necessary for driving your own horse, and you will actually take home an assortment of resources to help guide you.  

This clinic assumes you already have basic horse care and handling knowledge, and already own, or are intending to purchase, a horse already trained to drive.  Clinic has a maximum of 6 participants.  You will share harnessing and driving time with other participants.  If you are interested in more individualized instruction, want to become more familiar with horses in general, wish to audit this clinic, or desire private driving time for additional practice and training, visit our Horse and Driving Clinics page for more details!

Date:  April 20-21 or November 2-3     (9 am - approx. 4 pm, lunch is provided both days) 

Click HERE to register for one of these clinics

If you've ever considered raising backyard laying hens, meat birds, or just a few fun pet chickens, this is the class for you. Even if you're already raising chickens, you will find all sorts of useful information and insights in this class.

Topics to be covered include:

• Different methods, pros and cons, for raising chicks
• Different breeds of chickens
• Feed options
• Pest and predator control
• Housing options
• Differentiating between birds from different years
• Identifying active layers
• Molt
• Pests and Diseases
  
• Egg Care
• Mixing Poultry species
  
• MORE!
  

After the class session, we'll take you on a first-hand tour of our chicken facilities, including our chick brooder, portable meat bird tractors, and layer coop.  We will discuss the reasons and risks involved with the way we raise our chickens, and the many services and products that derive from home-raised chickens. 

Dates:   Sorry, we are not offering this group clinic for 2018.  We are happy to offer the same information during a custom tour, however!  Just contact us for information!

Click HERE to register for one of these classes.

Have you considered adding (or maybe already did add!) a few goats to your homestead, but aren't sure where to start?  Are you interested in drinking raw goat milk, or supplying your family with goat meat? Do you have thick brush or the dreaded Illinois honeysuckle you'd like cleared, but don't have a lot of time?  If you answered "yes" to any of these, this class is for you!  Topics include:

• Breeds of goats and their practicality on the small homestead
• Miniature, standard, and large breeds
• Selecting your goats
• Breeding and kidding
• Culling to meet your goals
• Horns...or not
• Hoof trimming
• Using goats for brush clearing
• Kid goats and their requirements
• Milking dairy goats
• Management to prevent "off" or "goaty" flavors in your milk
• Using dairy goats for meat
• MORE!

This educational class involves hands-on opportunity to play with kids, milk dairy goats, test your hoof trimming skills, and witness the practicality of goats on the homestead first-hand!  You will leave this class well-prepared to add goats to your homestead or farm.  The class concludes with an opportunity to sample different items made from goat milk. 

Dates:  Sorry, we are not offering this group clinic for 2018.  We are happy to offer the same information during a custom tour, however!  Just contact us for information!

Click HERE to register for one of these clinics.

This class is a great opportunity to really learn the details about raising pork in an unconventional manner!  When most folks think of raising hogs, they often think of the overwhelming stink, flies, disease, pollution, and filth that accompanies it.  This class will show you firsthand that there is a better way; how raising hogs can actually be a very fun and enjoyable experience!  Topics of this class include:

• Breeds and types of hogs
• Sources for pigs
• Choosing a location to raise your hogs....or not!
• Housing options
• Fencing options
• Management methods 
• Reduce or eliminate flies and stink!
• Feeding options
• Using hogs for land improvement
• Knowing when to process
• More!

After the classroom session, you will get to tour the farm and see first-hand how we raise our hogs.  You will see how we have used hogs to convert portions of our woodlands into other uses.  Note that, although we do occasionally breed and farrow outdoors, and the topic is likely to be briefly discussed, this class does NOT detail the topics of breeding and farrowing.  Its focus is limited to raising feeder hogs and pork production.  Class size is limited.

Dates:  Sorry, we are not offering this clinic for 2018.  We are happy to offer the same information during a custom tour, however!  Just contact us for information!

Click HERE to register for one of these classes.

Every year, on the first Saturday in May, Lincoln's New Salem State Park in Petersburg holds an antique farming day, which includes preparing the fields for spring planting using draft horses.  In 2014, we began using our team of drafts at this event.  We plan to do the same this year.  The park requests a donation for entering, but the plowing demo is FREE! Come join us for a great day of fun and history!

Date: May 5 (10 AM- 4 PM) 

Date and times are subject to change and event is weather-dependent.  There is no registration required for this event. Visit the Lincolns New Salem State Park Website for details.

Are you considering purchasing a farm but need some advice?  Do you have a farm and want to make it more sustainable or permaculture-oriented?  Do you dream of homesteading, but need ideas to help you get set up efficiently?  Are you stuck in a rut with your farming beliefs and desire assistance to get you thinking "outside the box?"  

Whatever your desire, we can help!  We have been studying and involved in permaculture and sustainable farming for over 10 years.  Sean has a degree in engineering, and Danielle even has a degree in farm management.  We can come to your farm, take a look around, give you a feel for your options, and help you develop short and long term plans to help you get started on the right track to be successful in your dreams!  

Consulting services are arranged by appointment, so CONTACT US today to get started!