Interview with Cheryl and Justin from Crooked Tree Farm
Up today I have an interview/ chat with my friends from Crooked Tree Farm. Justin contacted me after he heard me on TSP . Justin, his wife Cheryl and their five children moved to a farm to become Punk Rock Homesteaders. I really dig what they are doing and wanted to share with all of you their move from city life to farmers.
James: Ok so tell me a bit about yourselves.
Cheryl: Well I grew up in a suburb outside Denver, CO. Parents, three sisters, the usual. Got into punk and hardcore when I was 11, was your typical 15 year old in bondage pants and a purple pixie cut when I found out I was pregnant. Long story short, I decided to ditch that life and raise my daughter. Down that line I realized I could still like the music i liked AND be a good mom. Met Justin at my sister’s wedding, we got engaged when he came home from Iraq. I became a CNA at an inpatient hospice facility, then when we had our 7 year old daughter i became a stay at home mom. My dream was always to go into small-scale agriculture even at that time.
Justin: I grew up in southwestern Michigan. I joined the Army at age 17, so between my junior and senior year I went to basic training under their split option program. It seemed like a good idea at the time but I ruined my last summer. When I was stationed in Korea I met some guys who were into punk and hardcore music and it just went from there. I did a short tour in Iraq and, when I got out I became a patrol deputy.
James: Awesome and how did you two make the transition to the farm life?
Justin: It was slow, we first started getting into prepping. Things had happened in our lives that made us want to change the direction of our lives. We started to get smothered in a subdivision constantly told what we could and couldn’t do. Its tough when your ideas are restricted by what others are interested in. The gateway book into it was definitely the encyclopedia of country living, that one put all kinds of ideas in our heads. We started canning and raising chickens. Those two things really boosted are confidence that we could do some of these “country” kind of things ourselves.
Cheryl: we also got tired of being so dependent on the grocery store for every single thing. As we had kids we started asking ourselves ‘what happens if the stores are empty?’
James: I know for me I never would have imagined moving into the country when I was younger. I wanted to be in the city but it seems that the punk evolution of wanting more freedom sorta leads to it.
Cheryl: I agree. I know when I was 14 I thought I was sticking it to the man by dyeing my hair blue; now 15 years later we’re learning how to not need ‘the man’s’ products and services, and teaching our kids the same.
James:Exactly! Being self reliant is the ultimate finger to the man!
Cheryl: There’s a freedom in sufficiency that I never dreamed was possible, as cliche’ as that sounds. We laughed our asses off at the twinkie going extinct, we don’t eat them and our kids think the word ‘twinkie’ is yet another nickname for ‘penis.’ That took some explaining…
James: Lol awesome. I never really liked them and don’t eat them. Both are creme filled though! So what all do you have going on on your farm?
Cheryl: But only one would truly survive a nuclear holocaust though, right? Well right now we have a herd of 7 miniature dairy goats, 5 nigerian dwarfs and two mini-alpines. We’re working on getting our 5 does (females) bred for spring kids, between one and three to go. We have a flock of chickens, 10 hens and 2 roosters, who kust kinda run the place. They roam all over, they come visit us on the porch and will jump into the car if the kids leave the door open too long. We had 12 turkeys, 2 kicked it early and 2 received a stay of execution. We butchered the other 8 in the end of September. We’ve got our garden areas plotted out and are composting our dirty barn straw for next year. Trying to talk Justin into some hunting in our woods, I want some venison loins to grill! We’re planning to start beehives next year, and I’m interested in fiber sheep. Really excited for baby goats in the spring, and plenty of milk for soap and cheese
James: Wow you guys are a carnivorous bunch! I like it. It seems that you are centered on meat production over grains? How much of the animal feed do you grow on farm and how much do you bring in?
Cheryl: We buy our feed in, but our animals all have lots of area to forage. The goats have pastures, the chickens and two surviving turkeys free-range for bugs and so forth. We’ve seen them catch garden snakes and frogs. We have alfalfa hay laid in for the winter, the goats arent eating much right now since there’s still plenty of green on the ground.
James: How much land are you working with by the way?
C: that’s actually something we’re researching right now, growing our own grain for goat feed. We’re going to plant legume in the pastures for next year to help our does’ milk. We’re looking at planting one or two of the three acres of open space beyond the barn with alfalfa next year. We have 11 acres total. The house, barn and ‘yard’ are on the first 3 acres off the road, there are 3 acres of pasture beyond that and then 5 acres of woods.
James: I’m jealous of all that land. So far the home buying process has been the worst. From the pictures I’ve seen you guys are all about the DIY spirit. I loved your creative use of old wooden pallets in your barn
Cheryl: We hear you there, the move from Colorado to here was the hardest thing we’ve ever done. Between selling the old house, the move itself and getting in here, I’m surprised we’re sane sometimes. I’ve given birth to 5 kids with no drugs and I’d rather do that all over again than move again. Thanks! we’d rather repurpose something than start from scratch. There’s so much more room for creativity and its an awesome lesson for our kids at the same time. It really doesn’t take a million dollars to do this if you’re willing to put the time and effort in and get a little creative. Our goats don’t care that the walls of their pen used to transport landscaping rock
James: Your kids are getting some great lessons! What else have you repurposed?
Justin: Using pallets we made an elevated nesting box for the chickens, we used cable spindles and old worn out tires to make a playground for the goats. We also made hay feeders from old wire and scrap lumber. We have plans to make a composter out of salvaged materials as well. Its saved us a lot of money and its also fun to make something out of junk basically.
James: Junk is my favorite building material.
Justin: Its always available for a good price.
James: Moving from city to country what problems did you have? Any disasters?
Justin: The most difficult part was getting the courage to do it. Financially it was challenging because we had to maintain the cost of two households simultaneously. Another challenge was maintaining the drive and commitment to see it through. Being we were rookies to the homesteading thing there was never a shortage of people telling us we were crazy. I know Cheryl and I sacrificed a lot of friendships and I sacrificed my law enforcement career. The move from city to country is really against the grain these days and that became very apparent during the process.
James: Congrats on having the courage to go through it! Is it everything you hoped?
Justin: For me its even better than I hoped. We went from being in a neighborhood where I had the fire dept. called for a small campfire, to shooting firearms, drinking beer and throwing a piss are all front yard activities.
Cheryl: Its everything and more. Walking out on the porch in the morning and looking out over the place, that alone is worth it. There were so many times we talked about taking the plunge but didn’t have the balls to do it; I’m so thankful we finally saw it through. If you want it bad enough, you really can make it happen. If a couple of newbs like us can figure it out anyone can.
James: That’s so awesome! Getting ready to wrap up here do you two have any advice for the newbie farmer?
Cheryl: If you’re really devoted to making it happen, you can do it. You don’t need a pedigree for this, the desire to learn and get your hands dirty is more than enough. This place teaches us new things every single day and we’re all better people because of it. If you want to unglue yourself from the shopping cart handle and start providing for yourself, go for it- it is SO worth it.
Justin: I would recommend starting small and seeing where it goes. There a ton of homesteading things that you can do without much of an investment. Most of all be willing to learn and be prepared to make mistakes.
Cheryl: Oh, and hit up the resources. There’s so much info out there, and you can never learn too much!
James: Good stuff. Can’t wait till I’m in my homestead! Last question just a fun one. Cheryl, Justin favorite punk band currently?
Cheryl: As a mother of 5 kids who repeat every freaking thing they hear at the worst possible moment, I’ve been listening to a lot of Social D and Tiger Army lately. Gets the littles rocking with minimal dropping of the f-bomb around Grandma, and psychobilly has a good barn-raking beat.
Justin: Anti-Heroes, Tiger Army, Discipline.
I’ll have to look up the ones I don’t know. I’ve been stuck in the Irish punk scene for too long lol. Well I’ve got links to your Facebook and Youtube I’ll share anything else?
Just kicked off a blog that’s linked on Facebook, posted an entry with more about our whole journey-to-farm fiasco. Thanks so much for having us, we love the blog!
James: Great I’ve poked around your blog a bit. Thanks for chatting I had fun. Talk to you guys later
Here are all the way to get in connect with Crooked Tree Farm. Swing by and let them know you enjoyed them being on survivalpunk.
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