Our Story
Jim and Sara are a creative and talented pair, who are ….. proud to offer you farm-to-table, meats, and dairy.
Meet Jim – Sara will tell you, he is truly her better half, hardworking! Just keep him away from a computer, LOL…His skills are strong from the old school…he will tell you..He can build anything, fix anything!
Meet Sara – Jim describes his wife of 16 years…(in August 2023) through puppy eyes, that she is the creative genius behind it all!
Sara has drive and passion like no one else I’ve ever know…her care is is unmatched for her livestock. She never rests.
We are NOT generational farmers….and have worked for what we have…….We moved to Arkansas in early 2009 from Grand Rapids Michigan.. – a total leap of faith…married one year….with plans on adopting children….little did we know…we were about to be stragners in a strange land…that was not keen on outsiders….our little place…was a tear down on 7 and 3/4 acres….we took on ordinary everyday jobs….our adoption plans were never fullfilled….and today that is a closed chapter for us and were very OK with it….you learn so much during painful times…..We joke we were Green Acres from GR….with our balcony plants in a fancy high rise apartment…..Sara had an aunt that was a Diary Farmer ….so was it an accident…no… Our Farm is OUR PURPOSE!
This is the story of our goats and how we fell in love with them!
But It’s important for us to say that we started with chickens…yup…25 chicks flown in 12/2012 from a New Mexico hatchery. We have always had chickens…and will continue as a Farm to Table producer!
Welcome
I can still remember bringing our first goats home…a lovely group of 2 does, a buck and wether. Nigerian dwarf dairy goats bought locally from two different farms in Arkansas. They were found the old-fashioned way…by asking others and internet search..long before I was on Faicebook..
The months of prep work that went into bringing them to our place was really something…you’d had thought we were buying a huge herd with huge intentions! We were chicken farmers, we raised beautiful birds and sold free-range eggs. I had over 100 layers at one time. Gardens and bees too. I also worked full time… full time at a job I despised very much…..but full-time jobs become who you are…and leaving isn’t easy or quick..it wasn’t for us at all…So …This is where OUR STORY starts ….A leap of Faith…..Everything in his Time and Everything has a Season and Everything has a Purpose …As the changes came together to allow me to come home full time..several things took place…making financial arrangements in preparation for me to leave was challenging. We built a small barn, and put up goat-proof fencing..now that is another story…
Being home full-time was not an easy adjustment at all…(2016)…When you’re used to being on the run 50 plus hours a week, in a very high-stress, fast-paced environment, that is loud and full of people…The quiet weekends I used to cherish became all the time..the time home became all…My house and farm felt so big suddenly…I saw things I never noticed before …I remember not knowing what to do…I didn’t have to go anywhere…I don’t have a schedule…or a lunch, papers to get ready for work…I heard phones ringing, the chatter for weeks…we were also about to live with one paycheck …But I was home…with my chickens, cats, dogs.
Our first goats moved in, late August. They were a much-loved group!! We were very excited. Nigerians are BIG on cute and FUN!! I soon found my “time” filling up.
I remember sitting at my desk and reading, highlighting everything I thought was pertinent through all the pamphlets I had ordered through the extension office in Little Rock, AR. An excellent resource for farming and goats. I learned so much in those early days, based on the research they had, on dairy cattle and meat goats. The calendar of care and sales, production, feed, nutrition, and breeding information, lots of basics. Ordered many second-hand books from Amazon and the library too.
I love to read!
I was also criticized (still am) and was told I was wasting my time and money etc. for pursuing dairy goats…What are you thinking?? I could say more…but why…? I was Home after all..and Happy!
Built our first website – everyday goat milk soap .com –
Gosh, that was SO much work! I remember spending the next year on it… as well as experimenting with soap recipes…oh my goodness…I get asked now about that..you just have to try everything..all sorts of recipes and make your own! I took classes, traveled, and learned…We still have dial up internet here in rural Marion County!
We sure loved those Nigerians. Unfortunately, they just didn’t give us the quantity of milk we wanted…..So back to the research….locally, and asking people I knew…I sat with a gal (in her dog grooming studio) who had Alpines and Boers, They were really nice, really big, tall. She told me all about milking 10 months, dry 2. For some reason, I remember that, well..I am sure it was because I had these little producers…I was impressed!!
This is an OLD picture….you cou’dnt pay me Today to bottle raise exclusively……We let our mamas raise their kids, they do a better job, it’s humane, kind and the right thing to do! AND less work over all – we still have bottle kids, their always some. The picture with Sara on the bench – right behind me is Gracie and Sprinkles…two foundation does….retired now…they are the mothers of our herd…they own my heart – that space where they stand is where our “up top” barn is now. It was part of a circle gravel driveway.
I went back to the extension office and asked Mike – and he said the magic word…Nubian’s!!
He said it was the long ears..AND he was SO right!!! These big, beautiful goats have wrapped their long ears around our hearts.
Around the same time – a friend of mine was in the process of selling down her herd….I already owned several from her…She then contacted me as she was about to disperse the rest…… I was dumbfounded.. honored and overwelhmed…..I was soon to be the new owner of over 15 Six M Galaxy Nubian does and Blue – our name changed – …this friendship would dissolve later on with public spectacle and much disgrace to my liking….ended up in a legal battle…4 years…over papers…and a several other things…never to be fully resolved….I made a promise….to preserve these genetics….( I lost the battle, but won the war 💙 )
Today I have the largest dairy herd in the state and the 3 rd in the US with my genetic lines.
Blue Paradise Dairy – Reflects the name of a buck here, my foundation herd….(Veteran’s Blue Lightning) AND something my parents say….Your goats live in Paradise…Our beautiful Ozark valley.
A lot has changed since the days of quiet homesteading, we are a large farm today. Our land and building have grown – but most of all we are here to stay. Love makes us very good at what we do!
Grateful For the EveryDay! ,
I’ll love you forever Blue
Timeline info – Our Pastured pork enterprise was added during COVID..2019…with a few hogs…very challenging time…but we had extra milk and the continued desire to produce high-quality foods – 2022 – D3 drought hit our area…a small area overall… bordered AR, OK and some into MO – lost our field of grass…burnt to a crisp…sold our cows…loss of older and younger…learned quick…while I was working off farm FT…(WM)….to put in IV lines….. brought in out of state hay…to latter deal with in 23 ….various virus/bacteria…nothing ever confirmed… despite… multiple labs and multiple testing….loss of life…
We added a Holstein who was in need of a good home, so we had cow milk available, Breed her ( Sassy) to Angus – We have serveral Jersey, Gurnesy and Holstein cows
More to come!
