OUR STORY
The Carritt family started when 2 young active duty Marines met in Pensacola, FL in 1996. Tiffany is from Irving, TX, and Quentin is from Onawa, IA. We were wed in February 1997 in Orange County, CA, and added Daltin and Kelsey to the family over the next 3 years. Tiffany spent 10 years on active duty, and Quentin retired after 24 years on active duty travelling the world and deploying multiple times. During those years, we lived in Miramar, CA-Jacksonville, NC-Dallas, TX-Okinawa, Japan-Kailua, HI-Yuma, AZ, and finally ended our military travels back in Miramar, CA.
When deciding what to do after retirement, we discovered and were drawn to the practices of Joel Salatin in sustainable and regenerative farming. This includes practicing humane animal husbandry, regenerative agriculture, local food sourcing, and knowing what goes into producing the food you consume. Quentin decided that he liked the principle of being a "grass-farmer" and creating a transparent-to-the-consumer oasis that fostered biodiversity and symbiosis between the animals and the land. Next we had to decide where to locate our little piece of heaven.
Being from the Midwest and an agricultural family, Quentin was familiar with the importance of location in setting up a farm. After looking for months, we happened upon a property in Crescent, IA with 17 acres and a beautiful house. We went to visit the property and immediately were able to envision our farm coming to life here. We set about putting the principles of Joel Salatin into practice by replanting the former row-cropping pastures with grass seed and getting our first batches of chickens in the tractors. We raised and processed 75 chickens and 8 turkeys our inaugural season, and we believe we have found the chapter two in our journey. We started a garden and added honeybees the second year, and we are loving this life more and more as we go. We are hoping to add more livestock as we learn and grow as well as increasing the garden and adding fruit trees. We are so appreciative to have so many supporters join us in this journey. Our source of food is extremely important, so this is as much about you as it is about us and the animals we will raise.