10 Years at Fallen Branch Farm

Remarkably, it has been ten years since June 2015 when we relocated from downtown Kitchener to our first homestead in Howick County. After enjoying a long and rewarding career in education, Paul and I chose to embrace rural life. In the years that followed, we built a working farm complete with livestock, an orchard, gardens, and a flourishing farm business. Farming suited us so well that we quickly outgrew our land, prompting us to move to a larger property. We were fortunate to find a new location for the farm just 10 minutes away near Mildmay.

Over the past four years we again set up a farm from scratch, renovating a home, outbuildings, and land. We added to our range of livestock increasing our flock of Icelandic sheep, raising Berkshire pigs, and White Galloway cattle. In addition we grew our production of poultry - laying hens, geese, runner ducks, meat chickens and a variety of turkeys.

With our success has come the realization that as we are aging we can no longer realistically keep up with all the challenges facing us. Not only are we facing rising costs of feed, processing, veterinary care, and fuel prices but we have also become aware that we cannot physically keep up with the demands we have placed on ourselves. Of course we still love our country life and our farming life. It brings us satisfaction and a sense of happiness that can't be explained.

After many discussions and much soul searching, we have decided it is time to make some major cutbacks in the operation of Fallen Branch Farm. Firstly, the website will go down December 12. We may still be accessed through Instagram or contacted at the farm. These cutbacks will take place over the next one to two years but will include no longer raising sheep or cattle. Our goal is to return to our homesteading roots and focus on other interests in this next stage of our retirement.

We are truly amazed by the support we've gotten from friends, family, customers, and community members. We have astonished ourselves with what we've learned and achieved, and we eagerly anticipate many more years at the farm. Remember to drop by and say hi!