Six Figs Farm LLC

We are what we eat, that’s pretty common knowledge. But, we believe we are also what is eaten by what we eat. Food that is fed crappy feed only can give us so much in terms of nutrition. It only has so much to give. Soil that is depleted can not grow nutrient dense food. Depleted soil with added fertilizer only has the things in the fertilizer to offer- things that have proven over time to grow plants well. What if there are other nutrients in healthy soil? What if people need other nutrients than what is in the fertilizer?

Our story

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 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.

When we arrived at our property in 2017, we planted our six fig tree cuttings, and began to try to improve our Georgia red clay soil for our small garden. At first, we carted in compost, and mulched over it with wood chips. This worked well for our first small area. We struggled with finding a source of compost that was both local and reliable, as well as high quality. We got our first chickens in 2018, and thus began our journey toward regenerative agriculture.

We found that when we brought our chickens into an area, we could watch them dig up grubs, spread their manure, and scratch out and eat the weeds. When we moved them out of an area, the grass that regrew was deeply green and rich, and the pest population was lowered. Since we do not use any non-organic pesticides, this helps us tremendously.

As our farm grew, and we planted more, we went to the USDA, and from there, the NRCS. Jose Pagan, from the NRCS, has been a huge resource for us. From helping us with information and finding resources, to assistance with our high tunnel, irrigation, and pollinator habitat, he has helped us navigate this journey from suburban living to regenerative farm. If you are considering starting a farm, start with the NRCS.

Why we do what we do

We want to grow food, without pesticides, that is highly nutrient dense, and improve the earth we live on. That’s a tall order. Sequestering carbon, reversing climate change, sustainability, all those things are important. But, more important than that- we want the food we produce to be the healthiest possible food that you can eat. It needs to be delicious and insanely healthy.

We grow how we grow so that everything you eat that we harvest is extremely nutrient dense, with no harmful pesticides used.

What we do on our farm

Our family works together on our small farm, and we are all passionate about our work. We have a system now where we bring our chickens or our ducks and geese into each growing area, right after harvest. They scratch and fertilize, eat pests, and dig up weeds. We empty the duck pools, nutrient rich water, into a different area each night. We also compost the products of our coop. After we move the animals from each area of our orchard, high tunnel, and garden, we add a bit of compost, and mulch with wood chips or plant a cover crop. Everything breaks down into a rich soil. We are, at this point, focusing on perennials- plants that root down deep and help form the initial level of the ecosystem. In time, we will add more annual plants to continue the process, as well as other animal species.

We use electric fencing to keep our animals in the part of our orchard we want them in, until it’s time to move them to the next area. This is the biggest reason we use certified organic feed from a small regional farm. In addition to wanting healthy clean eggs for our own family, we want to know what the chickens are spilling out and scratching into our soil.

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 vegetables organically and sustainably. We will strive always to improve the land that sustains us.

Our farm goals

A healthy farm ecosystem is our goal, and no ecosystem exists without animals. Rotational grazing works to mimic nature with its migratory patterns of grazing animals. We are striving to build a farm ecosystem in which animals and plants work together to build, not strip topsoil, and minimize irrigation needs. We want to give more than we take from the land that sustains us. In turn, that gives us back more and more, in the form of nutrient dense food. We just want to produce the healthiest, most nutrient dense food possible, for our family and yours.

The video below is the topsoil we’ve added in our asparagus field, just by rotating the chickens through, cover cropping, and mulching, twice. We started with Georgia red clay, and so many rocks in this field.

“Regenerative Agriculture” describes farming and grazing practices that, among other benefits, reverse climate change by rebuilding soil organic matter and restoring degraded soil biodiversity – resulting in both carbon drawdown and improving the water cycle.” from Regeneration International

Six Figs Farm is

Mike, Sunday, and our two kids. Welcome to our small family farm.