They say that chickens are the gateway drug to homesteading, or maybe it's just my husband, Naveed, who says it. Anyway, one thing led to another and now we are a fully grown farm with a passion for everything from gardening to honeybees to our wonderfully wooly sheep!

It started off, of course, with a few chickens. Those chickens soon turned into more than 60 as we kept wanting to try out new breeds, from Easter eggers to Silkies to the elegant Asils that reminded us of our home country. How could we resist?!

Having set up a garden, we naturally progressed, as one does, to honeybees. Anyone who has ever tried starting an apiary will tell you it takes a few years of losses (bees and in the bank) to get honeybees right. And it took us several, but we remained at it, and by year 4 we finally had enough to start selling...mostly to family members.

Sheep was my own personal interest, as I had an ever-growing desire to move away from synthetic fiber. After visiting a few farms and countless hours researching different breeds, it was the unpredictability of fate that led us to Hope Yankey and to the Coopworth breed. Gorgeous and shiny white locks that dye beautifully and a breed that gives back an ample supply of meat with a delicate, mild flavor, this was the breed that we were looking for.

We are thankful each day to be blessed with the beauty of nature that surrounds us. Every creature, big and small, and even the land itself has much to teach us. We strive to follow the principles of permaculture, in both gardening and raising animals, taking care of the land so that the creatures that live on it are taken care of as well.

-Raheena Malik