It wasn’t always this way, we did not come from a farming background. In fact I grew up in the ‘burbs! Our journey started not even as a wish - but a distant, “maybe that could be us”.

Hi Everyone! Thanks for stopping by…Janine here…so glad I can share our story!

We started our family young and living in a small 2 bedroom townhouse “in town”. It was there we were blessed to welcome our two beautiful children home and raised them for several years, we were cramped but we made it work through the good, bad and the ugly.

Al is your handy guy extraordinaire - he worked HARD…and I mean HARD. He pulled lots of physical labor and long hours in his various jobs that he had (mostly - hahah) passion in what he did, he continues to bless us with his work ethic to this day, not only with his “day job” but running the farm with me AND working as a volunteer fire fighter/Emergency Medical Responder.

For myself I spent years and years juggling motherhood and climbing the technology corporate ladder. I took my career in tech from entry level to VP over the course of 20 years, soaking up every bit of knowlege along the way. Then one day…it happened…

In April of 2018 our dreams became a reality as we purchased our new home in the “Sticks”! Wild Country Acres was founded later that year!

Ya’ll…(yes I am Minnesotan but this Ya’ll is warranted) to preface - chickens…the gateway drug to farm animals…AND chicken math is REAL :-)….Ok back to the story…Here we are living our best life, we purchased a house on 11 Acres, let’s just say it had some good potential. Over the course of the next 4+ years we did a lot of, fencing, digging, cleaning, fixing, learning, building, growing, weeding, chopping and celebrating successes and making some mistakes along the way. Now our house is not trendy or updated…but it is functional (most of the time ha!)…Someday the pretty updates will come…I think ;).

We dove in head first and started a farm on our little homestead…our own unique, simple and imperfect home…We started with a goat that needed a home, then he needed a buddy, so we got another goat. Then that turned into some free chickens that needed a home. Then came a few Scottish Highland Cattle. Then more chickens (see chicken math ya’ll), then some Dwarf Nigerian Goats…then a few more goats (ok maybe goat math is also a thing)….then more chickens a few turkeys, and some guineas….Then came some Mangalista Hogs too…oh and we also had ducks for one summer…

During this time we learned to not only grow a pretty ok garden but how to raise our own meat with our cows, chickens and hogs…then you have the farm fresh butt nuggets…EGGS…and…yes oh yes we learned how to…

MILK A GOAT (tell that to my 13 year old self back in the burbs HA!)

BAMM spring of 2020 happened…we had to make a decision…who will stay home to teach our children…the fiscally logical decision was made and it was Al that stayed home. Al had started a sub-contracting biz a year or so back but had to shut it down to take care of the “distance learning”… The next year a very different decision was made…

Al was going to HOMESCHOOL the kids…we pulled our kids from the public school system as of the fall of 2020. I continued to work in tech….and also played weekend warrior farmer on the side. This is when we GOT SOME LOOKS…seriously…first off a women in leadership that lives on a farm…and yes she milks goats, cooks from scratch, gardens, cans, raises animals and still works her tail off for an international tech company…then you have a man being a stay at home dad and homeschooling the kids, as well as taking care of the farm 24/7.

Fast forward to late 2022…I was pondering and praying a LOT…something needed to change...the MOST important people in my life…were getting nothing but the leftovers of me. Not to bore you with the gory details so i’ll do a quick fast forward…As of January of 2023 some major changes took place…I am now leading the homeschooling and the farm/home logistics and Al is back working outside of the home. We COMPLETELY flipped roles….well…mostly ;)

Enter the revival of Wild Country Acres… an educational farm! Here we are now…adjusting to change, living our best (but different), nowhere perfect, and simple life…recreating some portions of our routine and sharing it with you all along the way. So…by the way…. if you are STILL reading this rather LONG intro….Thank you…from the bottom of our hearts. Words can not explain the support and love so many have shown us. Now it is our turn…let’s build something exquisite and beautiful - and have a real simple life along the way.

~Blessings my friends