Obviously, our story begins quite a bit ago, but you’re probably not here because you want to know where we grew up, how we met, or the odd twists and turns that helped us grow closer to each other and (most importantly) to the Lord. You also may not care to know that both our families came from farmers generations ago (but if you do, you can check out our “Our Farming Legacy” videos). What you REALLY want to know is how two middle-aged adults from Atlanta ended up in Upstate New York raising pastured poultry and goats, so that’s where we’ll start.
During the summer of 2022, we made some detours on our annual trip to visit Nicki’s family in Pennsylvania. We toured the Fredericksburg National Battlefield Park, walked through D.C., saw some history and worshiped with friends in Philadelphia, and ended up at PA Lamb Farm in Mansfield, PA. We knew Nathan (a.k.a. Mr. PA Lamb Farm) from our college days, but it had been quite some time since we had seen him and his family.
While at the farm, Ryan asked to be put to work, and Nathan obliged. He spent a couple days helping with the end of lambing, brush hogging, and tagging along, learning as he went. Ryan loved spending time outside, working with his hands. He was especially impressed with how farming allowed for continuous interaction between husband/father and family: the kids helped with various tasks, and Nathan was able to join them for meals and participate in their studies.
The vacation ended, as they always do, and we returned to Atlanta to work and (at the end of the summer) school. Our trip to the farm was never far from Ryan’s mind, though. He began researching regenerative agriculture, listening to podcasts and reading articles by Joel Salatin, Allan Savory, and others. A couple months later, Ryan approached Nicki with a proposition: “what if we moved north and started raising pastured meats?” Since everyone knows Ryan hates the cold weather, Nicki laughed in response.
Once we were both on the same page, we put together a two-year plan that looked something like: start saving money, pray, figure out if we *CAN* farm, pray, keep an eye on real estate prices, pray, figure out a new job situation, and pray some more.
The first answered prayer came about a month later while Ryan was helping our friend, Luke Fiser, build a chicken coop on his property in Lawrenceville, GA. Ryan spoke about all he was learning about chickens and mentioned (jokingly) that, based on what he had read and the size of the property, they could run 5,000 meat chickens on Luke’s pasture in a year. Two days later, Luke called Ryan and said, “Let’s do this!” And so, New Hope Farms was born.
Together with the Fisers, we raised 500 Cornish Cross chickens (in one batch) out on pasture in the spring of 2023 and sold them at various farmers markets and delivered throughout the northern metro area. We learned a LOT during that time about both the farming and the business aspects of raising meat to sell direct-to-consumer. We saw what a joy it was to be able to provide locally raised, high-quality food to our community, and it was a huge blessing to work alongside Luke and Mel in this endeavor.
The Fisers moved to KY at the end of 2023, so we dissolved our LLC and continued with the next steps of our long-term farming plans: deciding where to move and how to sell our house. Ultimately, we chose to focus on the Twin Tiers area of NY/PA because land prices were very reasonable, we knew of a strong congregation in the area (that we visited during our 2023 summer trip), and we would be close enough to Nathan that he could be a useful resource.
We began collecting cold-weather farming gear and shedding possessions. Ryan began working out his job situation, placing various irons in the fire. Thankfully, the company he was already working with allowed him to take a fully remote position. We slowly told our Atlanta family our plans (truly the only part of the city that we miss- if you’re in the area, PLEASE meet them here) and found buyers for our home who are near and dear to our hearts. Mid-April, we packed up the things we didn’t sell and prayerfully moved north with a place to live for the summer and a house under contract that we had never seen in person.
The Monday after moving, we visited our 1850s farm house set on approximately 113 acres for the first time. As always when dealing with real estate, there were things about it that were even better than we expected…and several things that were worse, namely: the pastures were overgrown, and the soil was depleted. Overall, we decided that it would be a great place to begin our farming adventure. We purchased the property at the end of May, fixed up a few things, and moved in at the end of June. At the beginning of July, we brought the first members of our herd to the farm to help us control the multiflora rose and autumn olive that seemed to be everywhere. We started rotationally grazing them, hoping to impact as much of the acreage as possible, clearing out unwanted foliage and amending the soil.
At the end of 2024, we added five pregnant does to the group. They kidded in early 2025, right around the time we were building chicken tractors and preparing to run our first batch of 100 meat birds. After we processed the chickens, we began selling our pasture-raised chicken and goat to local customers at the Painted Post Farmers Market.
We have been extremely blessed by this experience so far. Looking back on the past several years, we can see God’s hand in our opportunities and in His people who provided for us when we needed help. He is good, and His mercy endures forever. We hope you’ll join us as we continue our farming journey, looking forward to whatever lies ahead.
