Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy Fitch.
Hi Amy, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Our farm started from a love of Scottish highland cows. When we moved to the country, I knew I wanted a couple “fluffy cows”. During the time it took to build a shelter and fencing, I decided to also get a few goats. Within our first year of moving to the country, we had a few goats and a couple cows. By the following year, I was hauling home nearly 30 baby goats in the back seats of my suburban and found myself bottle feeding said goats that were housed in my gazebo. I jumped into farming with both feet! The goat herd grew, the Scottish highlands had babies, which are even more adorable than you can imagine. We were farmers, at least by our definition. I planted a large garden, a pumpkin patch, hosted Christmas on the Farm, had fall fun days, kid days, which was full of goat and human kids alike. The country life was filling my heart and bringing to the surface all the hobbies I never knew I needed.
We continued to grow our farm, recently moving to a new place, 80 acres of farm land and the perfect spot to build a homestead in rural Foley, MN. A new barn, a chicken coop, a house, high tunnel greenhouse and a farm store; all within the first year. We continue jumping both feet into everything we do.
Our latest adventure is a farm store. We offer produce, meat, eggs and products made right here on our farm. We host kid classes to teach kids about growing food, taking care of animals and sustainable farming. Our goal is to provide our community with locally grown food and products that are locally made, along with opportunities to learn about homesteading/farming, and an environment for kids to get their hands in the dirt at the ranch.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Many of the things we do are trial and error. I grew up on a dairy farm and my husband had no exposure to country life prior to moving. Neither of us knew anything about goats, I learned a lot by joining Facebook groups, reading everything I could about them to best care for them. We learn by doing, sometimes we do it right the first time, usually we don’t. Our motto is, at the Fitch Ranch we like to do everything twice. We first do it how we think it should be done, and then we do it right.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about The Fitch Ranch?
At The Fitch Ranch we offer farm to table meats, produce, eggs and fresh sourdough bread to our local community. We make goat milk soap, lotion and tallow products that are also offered in our farm store, using products raised here as well. Our goal would be that our community could stop in for some farm fresh meat, a loaf of bread and a bouquet of flowers; all grown right here on this land. We also offer day camps and classes to teach kids about farming and growing food. We are a small farm trying to make a big impact in our community.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I learn a ton from tik tok. Making sourdough bread was exclusively learned by watching exactly 1 million tik tok videos. Facebook groups have also taught me a lot about caring for animals.
Contact Info:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/16Ms26yCz8/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@fitch_ranch
