In 2016, we left our little house in the suburbs, hoping for a more rural existence. We brought with us six tiny cuttings from the huge unnamed fig tree that had been a part of our family for over fifteen years. For almost a year we nurtured those fig cuttings while living in our travel trailer looking for the right place to plant them. We were looking for a place our family could put down roots and grow, and we found it in Good Hope, in Walton County, Georgia.
Our family of four pulled our travel trailer up to our property on 4/2/2017. We started by planting our six fig trees, which turned out to be Celeste, then expanded with some elderberries. We kept planting, and at some point realized we had way too much for just ourselves. We feel so blessed to have the opportunity to work side by side as a family, at something we are all passionate about.
We use regenerative agriculture and permaculture principals to build our soil, which is the cornerstone of everything. We raise our animals with compassion and give them a species-appropriate life, with access to fresh air, clean water, and plenty of organic feed in addition to what they find on pasture. We raise our fruits and vegetables organically and sustainably. We will strive always to improve the land that we love.
We are growing figs, elderberries, asparagus, blueberries, muscadines, and garlic. In 2022, we added Fuyu persimmons, strawberries and aronia berries. We harvest wild blackberries from our property, and support pollinators by planting and maintaining as much pollinator habitat as possible. We sometimes have annual produce available. In addition, we keep honeybees, and have chickens, ducks, and geese for eggs.
Six Figs Farm is
Mikkel, Sunday, and our two kids. We are grateful every day for the opportunity to work alongside each other as a small family farm.
In 2021, we were honored and grateful to be chosen as Conservationists of the Year in Walton County. You can read more about our conservation efforts here and the Walton Tribune article is reprinted with permission here.
Perfect life for a family. I sure am thankful I grew up on farm. Sure go miss it now.
I pray goodness and blessings for you.
Hi Pauline! Thank you so much! We are very grateful for this life. Praying for good health for you and yours.
I’m watching a video right now on back to Eden gardening techniques. is that what you’re doing at your farm? I would so love to be able to learn more about that.
Hi Lynda,
We use a number of techniques, including a lot of the things from Back to Eden. It’s an amazing film. We move our ducks or chickens into each area post harvest, and then mulch heavily after. We do a lot of other things, as well, but that’s because we’re working at a larger scale. The two things I would say with doing the Back to Eden method is that you should not mix the mulch in with the dirt the plants are growing in- that causes problems. The mulch should lay on top. Also, make sure the plants’ roots get water. Mulch can soak up a ton of water, so if you’re watering the mulch, it may or may not make it through to the roots of the plants. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Best of luck!
How do you make sure the roots get the water? And I don’t understand about the watering because it seems like initially he said he never watered, but now maybe he does?
Hi Lynda, I can’t remember what Paul says to do. However, he’s been doing it for years, if not decades, so his soil is amazing and will retain a tremendous amount of water. In addition, he’s not in Georgia, where it can be 100 degrees and no rain for weeks. So, we water, just nowhere near as much as we would have to without mulch. As far as watering the roots, you can apply a whole lot of water to the mulch, and if it’s been thoroughly dried out by weeks of drought, the water will be sucked up by the mulch and never make it to the actual plant. We use drip line under the mulch now. Before we had drip line, we would just check to make sure the soil under the mulch had received water- just moving the mulch aside in an area or two, and digging your finger into the soil gives you a lot of info. I was surprised at first, when I would set the sprinkler for an hour, and come back. I’d move aside the mulch and only the top 1/2 inch had gotten any water. Everything below was bone dry, and the plant was wilting. There’s a ton of good info in the film, but keep in mind he’s been doing this for a very long time. He does say somewhere that while you are building your soil, you should still fertilize, for instance.
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Hi ปั้มไลค์! Thank you so much for your comment! Have a lovely day.
It was great meeting you on Saturday at the Monroe Farmer’s Market. I enjoyed being next to you at the market. Wanted to thank you very much for the 2 dozen eggs. Know we will enjoy them.
Unfortunately, the Saturdays I will be at the Monroe Farmer’s Market will not be the weeks you are there. I will surely miss seeing you both.
Want to wish you the best of luck and hope your sales keep increasing. Please let us know if we can be of help or assistance to you. Pray that we will again be at the Monroe Farmer’s Market again together.
BTW, from just the short time we were next to each other, must say you are doing lots of the things you need to succeed correctly. Keep it up.
Ann and Fred Harri, Legacy Bakers
Thank you so much. We enjoyed being next to you at the market so much. Letting us borrow your shade sidewall saved us from a brutally hot day- can’t say thank you enough for that! We are thoroughly enjoying all the yummy goodies you gave us. Knowing your experience, your kind words mean a lot. We’re going to try to be at the market when we are able on our “off” weeks, so hopefully will work with you again soon!
We should be thank you for your honey and eggs. BTW, we just used your honey in our Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Triangles. Your eggs are delicious. We appreciate and think if you when we are eating them. We wish you all the best and great success. Take care. Be safe and sound. Continue to be yourselves. Email us at LegacyBakers@Hotmail.Com and we will send you our Monroe Schedule. You also might want to think about being a vendor at the last Monroe Market of the season on October 30th, if you have stuff to sell. It is Monroe Fall Fest that day and there is a huge, huge crowd that shows up. They even block off 4 blocks of Broad Street.
Looking forward to seeing you soon.
Ann and Fred Harri
Wonderful, thank you! I’ll send you an email shortly! Thanks so much for the tips!! Have a great week!
It was great seeing you this past Saturday at the Monroe Farmer’s Market. Your eggs are the best. We are truly enjoying them. Do you want the egg cartons back. We know how much they cost.
Again, thank you for your generosity. Have a wonderful couple of weeks. We hope to see you again when we are back at the market on August 27th.
just tried some of that elderberry jam, its soo amazing!!
So happy you’re enjoying it. Thank you so much for taking the time to let us know!