Welcome to Better with Thyme
Whether you’re an established homesteader, dreaming of homesteading or here for homestead produced nutrient dense food, you are welcome to join us in our holistic homesteading journey. We offer:
- Holistically raised livestock, including Mini Jersey family milk cows, Babydoll Sheep, Heritage and Rare Breed Poultry, and Great Pyrenees Livestock Guardian Dogs
- Pasture raised and grass fed meat, milk and eggs holistically produced on our homestead
- Education on holistic animal husbandry – our mission is to empower you to homestead holistically too!
What we share about holistic animal care is based on more than just research, we’ve poured into our blog and course the years of lessons we’ve learned and the experience we’ve gained through our own homesteading experiences. We’ve been on a continual learning journey we’d love to take you along on – so we can all keep getting better with “thyme.”
Start here
Find out more about the background of our farm, our farm management practices and our current offerings and educational resources below.
Background
Moving from the NYC area, and the tiny urban food forest we learned so much by starting, our family purchased farmland in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. We spent a year observing before getting to work transforming an old hay field into a productive homestead.
Our farm is primarily pasture but we have begun to add gardens, a small orchard and shade/nut trees as well as starting to manage the wooded edges of the farm with the assistance of animals.
We are raising a variety of animals who work together as a cohesive whole, including rabbits, chickens, ducks, turkeys, guineafowl, sheep, goats, cows, a pig and livestock guardian dogs. With the progress we’ve made, we’re well on our way to providing much our family’s food as well as offering pasture raised meat, milk and eggs to local families.
We also offer livestock for sale to help other homesteaders build their flocks and herds around the country. Breeds we raise include heritage & rare breed poultry (our primary focus current is Magpie ducks, Lavender Orpington chickens, Silkie chickens and Blue Slate Turkeys), Babydoll Sheep, Mini Jersey Family Milk Cows and Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dogs.
…and Dreams
Our long term goal is to blend the pasture and wooded areas, to provide both forage and shade for the grazing animals plus a forest harvest of fruit, nuts and wood. Our dream is to contribute to building God’s kingdom here on earth; to leave behind a legacy that serves many with a variety of useful and beautiful plants and animals along with the knowledge of how to work with God’s design for wellness and abundance for generations to come.
Holistic Homestead Management
If you’re like us, you probably want to know whether the farm you’re buying from is going to provide the healthiest possible food and/or livestock. We are not certified by any third parties, but you are welcome to ask us any question you have about our land and animal management and we will be happy to answer.
- Our farm had been used for cut hay for 15 years prior to us buying it, so there were no monoculture crops or spraying on our property long enough for any previous chemicals to likely have broken down in the soil.
- Since we took over managing this farm in 2016 we have been working toward building biodiversity in the soil, plants and animals to make a cohesive, healthy and whole system, without imports.
- We don’t spray anything on our plants or add anything to our soil besides the nutrients from breaking down plants and animal manure.
- We feed our animals from our land as much as possible and any feed we purchase from off site is certified organic or from a local farm that uses non-GMO and sustainable practices. We do not use any corn or soy feeds.
- We also offer our animals sea salt, kelp and other natural minerals and vitamins. In our garden areas the only additions we have used are cedar mulch, wood chips, ashes from our wood stove and our own compost from our animals’ manure.
Current Offerings
Livestock and Guardian Dogs
- We offer hatching eggs both for local pickup and shipping throughout the US.
- We sell chicks and chickens locally.
- We occasionally have Great Pyrenees puppies available as livestock guardians, family companions or both (typically we have one litter every year or two).
- Our Olde English Babydoll Sheep typically have lambs born once per year and they are available in the spring or early summer after weaning.
- We will have miniature and midsize calves and cows available from our miniature dairy cattle once every year or two, either as weaned calves or trained family milk cows.
Pastured Meat, Eggs and Dairy
- Chicken eggs and duck eggs are available in the spring and summer.
- When there is interest in gras-fed lamb meat, we can butcher lambs in the fall at a USDA approved butcher. If you are interested, please join the waitlist on the product page(s) for lamb meat.
- As of 2024, West Virginia allows the sale of raw milk directly to consumers without a herdshare program. We offer a weekly pickup of grass-fed A2 raw milk.
Garden
- We offer seeds, seedlings and plants from our garden in season.
Educational Resources
One of our greatest joys is the work we’ve been called to do in providing education and support for those interested in holistic wellness and holistic homesteading. We offer a comprehensive Holistic Homestead Course and we also have many free resource pages and blog posts with information about natural and holistic wellness topics and tools such as Natural Rearing, traditional foods and essential oils – one of the tools we use as natural remedies only as needed.
