Chicama Run Family Farm

When a couple gets married, they think about "putting down roots".  It doesn't happen right away - but you think about it.

Joe and I were no different.  16 years ago we wanted a place to call our own.  Our journey started in Winchester, VA with our first "real house" we bought (we lived in a town house first).  1/4 acre which backed up to a farm - perfect.  Then after a few years, and 2 kids, the commute became difficult and it wasn't working for us.

Then, we moved to Leesburg.  Honestly, we thought this was it.  We custom built the house in a great neighborhood, good schools, and lots of kids.  We were there awhile - and we liked it a lot - however, it wasn't what we wanted.

We started house shopping - and fell into this property.  It wasn't perfect - the house is definitely 30+ years old.... and the property needed a lot of work.

However, here we are.  Some days we would trade it..... but not for a long period of time I think.  We like that we are here.  It's opened up so many doors we never knew about or never seriously considered.

Our house is now becoming, after 5 years, a home.  So we aren't just planting vegetables and raising animals, we are planting our roots and raising kids.

Many people know we are foster/adoptive parents.  We are able to now open our doors to the permanency we are striving to have.  This in itself is a blessing and giving kids the opportunity to share "getting dirty" with us - experiencing losses, seeing the joys in births, and so much more.

We are here........ and we are home.

Some things make you think twice and look back further...

I made fermented ketchup a few months ago.  My family wasn't thrilled - and I have now decided they will get over it and I will start making it again.  How did I come to this conclusion?  Easy..... and believe it or not - I have my own mom to thank for this memory.

My mother didn't make ketchup (that I remember) - it was always store bought.  But she did cook all the time - and I don't think a ton of it was from a box as "instant".  Anyway, she bought the ketchup.... then one day we switched to a "new brand" - THEN we went back to the other brand and we all said "EWWWWWW"

Guess what?  The new "improved" brand was probably some sort of high fructose sugar loaded type of ketchup which we readily ate.  The older brand was probably something without all the additives!  How can I tell?  It took me awhile, but I figured out where I had tasted REAL ketchup before - my mom's kitchen!!

Amazing how a taste can take you to a strange/weird place in your past.  I guarantee my mother doesn't remember about this change - why would she?  It wasn't significant in anyone's life - yet it was.  This change was the moment I now associate with a noticeable change from traditional type foods to the HFC variety that have become such as staple in our households today.

BTW - in case you are wondering - no the ketchup in my house no longer contains HFC per my insisting (though this is still a HUGE battle - and yes it is over ketchup)....

I don't like numbers.  I don't care that I got an 'A' in Algebra or that I got another 'A' in accounting (to Joe's amazement)  - I don't like to run numbers at all - I give that work to Joe.

Last night I went to look at the pricing at the grocery store to see what prices are for meat.  I was astonished.  Sometimes I wear blinders as I can't tell you the last time I had to BUY my own beef or pork.  If we didn't raise our own meat, no way would I ever have a Delmonico steak - why?  I'm feeding 7 at this moment.

Our goal when we decided to start raising animals was to have meat for our family - period.  I wanted it to be the best we could give to our family....THEN as we grew I wanted to offer the best we could to our customers.

However, we need to do the best we can and keep it at prices people can afford to pay.

Then we have to go with our beliefs.  I don't think that "organic" is best - it's definitely not cost effective for that special word.  (3x the cost for the feed)  I think that seeing is best and knowing who you are buying from is worth a million bucks.  THAT is the backbone of knowing what is best (remember the hardware stores where the people knew you and actually KNEW what you were talking about? I remember that when I used to go with my dad to the store - they knew him and could actually help him find various items).

This is what I stand by and I know my husband does to as we look at this as our business - if we will not offer it to our family - we will not offer it to yours.