What is "The Hatchstead"?
take a seat - here is our story.
Creating this online presence for what we enjoy doing has been a longtime dream of ours. Over the years we have grown our little hobby farm and are looking forward to growing it even more with you!
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Who are we?
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We are the Hatch family, residing in southeastern North Carolina. Being that our last name is Hatch, we thought it would be fun to create a play on words with the term "homestead" to include our name - and so The Hatchstead was formed.
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The brains behind the operation is my husband, Jonathan. He grew up helping around his family's farm and has gained a lot of experience in the homesteading and farming realm over the years. An avid lover of trying to see if he can grow new things, he does not like to be defeated and will not stop until he can claim success over everything he sets his heart on! Sometimes the worker bee behind the scenes (a.k.a. me) has to crush the dreams and save our wallets.
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I am Sara and I also grew up on a family farm, spending many summers shelling beans, shucking corn, planting crops, and feeding animals. I didn't appreciate any of that work at that time but now I realize that there is nothing more satisfying than being able to live off your own land and hard work. In my mid 30's, I am officially turning into my grandma with my canning, preserving, and "Susie homemaker" ways.
We have a 6 year old firecracker of a daughter named Kendall who loves getting her hands dirty and helping out wherever she can. You can find her in some sort of princess dress and bare feet at all times prancing in the garden and around the farm. She also enjoys eating the fruits of our labor and demands her favorite foods to be planted - specifically strawberries and green beans.
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Last but certainly not least, we have 2 pups, Bella (a puggle) and Clyde (a GSP), who pretty much run the show around here. You can find them napping, eating, barking, and getting into things they shouldn't.
GARDEN - ORCHARD - VINEYARD
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We started out with a little garden - just a few varieties of summer crops that grow well here in zone 8a. The next year we expanded and again the next year and so on. We now have a half acre garden bursting with over 15 types of yummy fruits and veggies to support not only our family but several more in our area. Although we love our normal gardening, we have added a mini orchard with some peach and tart cherry trees. They sit happily alongside their existing apple, pear, fig and pecan tree friends. New this year is our mini vineyard. We have planted some Noble muscadine grapes and two varieties of scuppernong grapes - Carlos and Higgins. I'm excited to enjoy these in the coming years!
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All of this plant stuff aside - on to where our passion lies...the animals!
ANIMALS
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Chickens - On our little piece of heaven reside 40+ laying hens and several roosters. We are getting at least 2 dozen eggs every day from our little fluffy butt posse. These eggs are for sale in our store!
Goats - We welcomed 3 does, 2 buckling and a registered buck to our farm in 2022. We are due to have some kids soon and I am so excited for all things baby goat and goat milk!
Pigs - My husband's pride a joy - 3 berkshire/yorkshire pigs made their way to the farm in December of 2022. They are almost ready to be processed into yummy bacon, pork chops and sausage.
Rabbits - Also another of Jon's grand idea. We breed and raise New Zealand rabbits for both pet and meat. They are the cutest little things with the sweetest temperaments.
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When COVID rolled around a few years ago and you couldn't find any meat in the store, my husband had the bright idea to order meat chickens and raise them to slaughter. I at first was thinking he was crazy but quickly came to realize that it might be the only way we would get a huge chunk of our protein if things stayed like they were. We bought the chickens then they were delivered to our local post office and boy were they glad to see me there to pick them up after listening to little chirping chicks for hours prior. Once home they were fed, watered and warmed and several weeks later they were transferred into a modified versions of Joel Salatin's chicken tractor. Once old enough they were slaughtered. We have repeated this process several times over, learning new tricks and purchasing new equipment along the way but they have been such blessing to our bellies.
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That's all for now folks. I don't know how much more I can say about our little farm and family. Stay tuned for more fun things!
