When Rebekah Power’s sister-in-law asked her to take care of irrigation duties on her property while she was out of town, the task wound up igniting Power’s own decision to start a hobby farm.
“As we sat on her porch watching the water flow through the grass and the animals, we both knew we wanted our own piece of property,” recalls Power, who now runs Power Farms in Arizona alongside her husband. “That was the pivotal moment that spurred us into action to start looking at properties—which led us to where we are today, on 3.3 acres in Queen Creek.”
Taking a moment out from homesteading and hobby farming duties, we spoke to Power about the appeal of sunflowers and early hobby farming lessons. We also got into overwintered strawberries.
All in Together Now
View this post on Instagram
From the outset, Power recognized the importance of fencing when it comes to establishing and maintaining a hobby farm.
“One of my favorite memories from early on is when we’d load up the truck with snacks, water and the kids, and head out to work on projects in the back,” she recalls. “Since our main pasture didn’t have any fencing, we had to build it ourselves. Every Saturday we would head out and set posts until it was too hot or we were too tired.”
Eventually, week by week, Power and her family were able to complete the job.
“My oldest was a huge help running around to grab tools, and even the two younger kids could help here and there,” she explains. “But the most important thing to me was the fact that we were all out there together. I didn’t even care if my kids wandered off to play—just the fact that we were outside together working towards something for our property made it so meaningful for our family.”
Out of this experience, Power says she “learned to let go of the parental expectations and to treasure the hard work and time spent together.”
Spotlight on Sunflowers
View this post on Instagram
“Growing sunflowers was a new fun adventure,” says Power when asked about the prominence of golden-rayed flowers on her hobby farm. “I’ve always loved them: They are easy to grow in zone 9b, and my garden had plenty of space for them.”
Getting sunflower specific, Power says she started with Mammoth Sunflowers—”it’s so cool having them tower over our heads and droop down to drop seeds”—and that this year a friend gifted some Red Sun Sunflower seeds that resulted in “such beautiful colors.”
The Year of Strawberries
View this post on Instagram
Looking back over this year’s bounty, Power says that strawberries emerged as the stand-out crop.
“I planted one or two plants late in the summer last year and they overwintered and spread all over the garden beds,” she says. “It was such a treat to go out in the mornings with the kids and pick all of the strawberries.”
Admitting that it was “honestly hard to abstain from eating them all,” Power adds that the family wound up slicing a bunch of strawberries to top strawberry shortcakes.
Naturally, Power has already reserved spots on her land in anticipation for next year’s strawberry fiesta.
Full Cycle Fulfillment
View this post on Instagram
“I have found it so rewarding to have a project go full cycle for our hobby farm,” says Power when reflecting on the nourishing nature of Power Farms.
“When I plant seeds in the garden, grow greens that I can feed to the animals and then process the animals into food for our family, it is such a gift. It feels like we’ve been able to embody a practice that has been somewhat forgotten. We aren’t perfect by any means—but we try to do what we can and it is really enjoyable.”
Follow Power Farms on Instagram.
