One Accord Farm

BY JESSIE SHOOK

The act of cultivating your own food and feeding your family from your backyard has become a rewarding experience for families. With this same desire to provide fresh, homegrown food for her family, Pam Stephenson started One Accord Farm in March 2016, a 15-acre hobby farm.

One Accord Farm is located in Arab, Alabama and is home to many different animals, of all different breeds and with their own purpose on the farm. There are Jersey cattle for milk, beef cattle for meat, hogs, sheep, goats, chickens and ducks. You will even find a flock of Guinea fowl running around, whose purpose to is reduce insects around the other farm animals. Two big, white dogs with wild, curly hair roam the goat pasture and watch over the herd to protect them from predators. Everything on the farm has a purpose and they all go hand in hand.

Stephenson’s inspiration behind having a hobby farm started from growing up helping on her family’s farms. “My grandfather and uncle were traditional Alabama farmers,” Stephenson said. “Papa raised hogs and Uncle Arnold raised cotton and beef cattle. I spent summers and weekends helping on the farms and I fell in love with the day-to-day operations and all the work involved.”

The work that Stephenson loved so much growing up is now part of her everyday life. Each morning begins by feeding all of the animals. “This time of year, it takes about two to three hours a day but in a few months when the lambs and kids start arriving, we will begin to milk the goats as well as the cows,” Stephenson said. “Time in the barn will increase to about five hours a day.”

Farm maintenance also must be kept up with. “Staying on top of fencing and housing for the animals is ongoing,” Stephenson added. “We recently developed a pasture on newly cleared land, this encompassed getting the Marshall Farmers Cooperative to do a soil test for us and then add the necessary missing elements. They recently spread lime on the pasture, and we planted the recommended rye grass to provide a good winter pasture.”

Besides feeding, the animals also have maintenance that must be performed regularly for their health and well-being. “Animal maintenance requires the most work and time,” Stephenson said. “I really need to know each animal and their quirks.”

The animals need a daily hands-on survey to ensure there are no signs of injuries or parasites. “I need to have a working knowledge of a wide variety of species-specific illnesses and parasites – how to spot them and treat them,” Stephenson said. “My farm is only as good as the health and well-being of these animals I have in my care.”

One Accord Farm also has a sustainable, no-till backyard garden with a variety of vegetables. “My crowning achievement was 175 ears of corn in a plot of just 12x12 foot,” Stephenson said. “That food was canned or frozen to preserve.”

Stephenson doesn’t have much on her grocery list, thanks to her farm. “We grow every bite of meat we eat and most of our vegetables,” Stephenson said. “Really, the only thing we buy at the grocery store is junk food, coffee and flour. We use a portion of our produce to feed the hogs as well.”

While it’s all hard work, Stephenson enjoys every part of it. “I love the daily interaction with my animals,” Stephenson added. “Getting to know them, their personalities, it is so satisfying to be able to care for them and meet their needs. I like keeping their lives as stress-free as possible and to be honest, they keep my life stress-free. It is my happy place to go to the pasture and have Nada, my big white goat lean on my leg for an ear scratch or Josie the Jersey comes up to have her chin rubbed.”

Stephenson’s favorite thing to do on the farm is hand milking her goats. “The bond we have and the symbolic relationship between us is special,” Stephenson added. “I need them, and they need me.”

It does take more than just one set of hands to operate this hobby farm. Stephenson has help from her husband who picks up feed, drives the tractor and distributes hay. Her son milks the cows and helps with other maintenance chores. She also shops at her local Co-op, Marshall Farmers Cooperative in Arab, Alabama. “We shop at the Co-op because of the quick response and friendliness of the employees that work there,” Stephenson said. “They are knowledgeable and seem to like their jobs, which makes a difference when you enter a store. They seem to be interested in making sure we succeed on our little farm.”

Overall, for Pam Stephenson, spending every day on a hobby farm is a rewarding day-to-day process. “My time is not my own, it belongs to this farm,” Stephenson added. “The benefits of sustainability, the knowledge and ability to provide for my family in hard times far outweigh anything else.”