Myron
I grew up in Gaithersburg, Md and have lived in the area since 1970. I have about four years of college, but I never completed a degree, nor have I really needed one. While in college, I worked in an accounting department and discovered that working behind a desk was not for me. I worked for 14 years in the Washington DC area as a finish carpenter and cabinet maker working on high end custom homes and additions. That gave me experience to be able to restore the house on our first farm and the house on our current farm.
I am the farm manager. This year, we have made some changes since we have a lot of good help on the farm. I am freed up from some of the day to day work to put more focus on planning, taking care of the finances, feed formulation for the hens, writing the newsletter, and other management responsibilities. I am a farmer at heart and still spend a significant part of the week working with the guys on various aspects of the farm.
As you may have realized from reading my articles in the newsletter, I love to research various subjects. We have a number of websites where I have published my research. In addition to farming and health related research, I have also done considerable research on spiritual subjects and issues facing the church. I am currently writing a book exposing the rampant sexual abuse of children and other failures among Amish and conservative Mennonites. Cathy and I both grew up in the Mennonite Church, but we no longer consider ourselves “Mennonite”.
I love farming and producing high quality, health giving food. I love learning, and what I am finding about the soil, farming, and how it relates to health, is like an unexplored pioneer frontier and adventure to me. Like George Washington Carver, I keep asking God to teach me and it is amazing the things that He reveals is the oddest places. I don’t feel like I have all the answers, because the more I learn the more I realize that life and farming is not as simple as I thought it was.
Daniel
Age 18
Daniel is our third oldest son and is working full time on the farm. His responsibilities include raising the broiler (meat) chickens, and taking care of the new baby chicks. While all of us guys do mechanic work, Daniel is the one with the most intuitive knack for seeing what is wrong with a machine or motor and how to fix it. It is great to have his mechanic skills here on the farm. He bought a fixer upper tractor and has been working on it and learning a lot about diesel motors. He is also a natural at doing electrical work.
He also built a blacksmith shop that we featured several years ago in a newsletter.
Daniel is musically talented and plays the accordion and sings baritone and bass. He also follows in his father’s footsteps by being a natural tease.