We came into farming, not through a family history, but through a desire to feed ourselves. Having grown up in North Carolina, as a young married couple, we took off for Los Angeles to make our mark on the Entertainment Industry. We began to question where our food comes from after living with the Rodney King riots, the Northridge Earthquake and multiple earthquakes, fires and floods. We realized, especially after the Northridge Earthquake we were heavily dependent upon our grocery stores. That earthquake shut down all bridges in and out of the Los Angeles are until they could all be inspected for safety. That meant no food in or out for several days. Not too long after that we started a small children’s garden and had four laying chickens we hatched from eggs as a homeschool project.
Eighteen years after moving to Los Angeles, we decided it was time to head home. Our sons were middle school age, Mike was the “old guy” at 45 in the Film and TV studios and we were ready to get out of the rat race. After moving to Apex and then to our little Homestead, we finally got the chance to try and feed ourselves as much as possible. This little dream of ours grew into our business which is Andreas Homestead today.
Our mission envisions a lifestyle that creates health: healthy land with healthy animals making a healthier you. Health is tied not only to what you eat but the quality of that product.
Here we raise and process chicken, duck, turkey and goat. We raise them on pasture with an organic soy free feed and use floorless pens to protect our birds. These pens protect the birds from predators like raccoons, fox, coyotes, opossum, roaming dogs and hawks. The pens are moved often so the birds are always on fresh ground. The by product of having the birds in these movable pens helps us to regenerate our pastures. They are putting down manure which helps to feed the soil, which grows the grass, which draws the bugs that feed the birds.
Raising the birds on pasture allows them to be, well… birds. They scratch, peck, eat bugs and grass. In movable, floor-less pens our chickens live happy, healthy lives. Happy chickens lead to healthier meat. A healthy environment eliminates the need for antibiotics creating a better product for the consumer. We do not use GMOs or commercial feed! Keep in mind that organic means non GMO but non GMO does not mean organic.
We are registered with the NC Department of Agriculture as a Small Poultry Producer, which allows us to process all our poultry on farm. Processing by hand on our farm, our birds avoid the stress of transporting, waiting at the processor and exposure to possible contamination of pathogens from birds from other farms. We are able to avoid exposure to any chemicals used at the processor and are able insure our birds are handled humanely.
Our goats happily graze on forage in the fields and woods. Moved as needed to allow the fields and forage to recover from grazing, the goats happily follow us from pasture to pasture especially when we bring a few little treats along as rewards. They love to nibble on the blueberry bush as we walk by and eat apples, sweet potatoes, and pumpkins from our hands.