Ever wondered whether it’s possible to use your own living space to produce enough food to feed your family? You might want to look to Dayna and Josh Geraghty for inspiration.
Five years ago, the couple was living in a townhouse in downtown Winchester, Virginia. One day, as Dayna recalls it, they “realized it’s shocking to live in a society where it’s normal not to know how your food was raised and where it came from.”
So they decided to take measures into their own hands.
After growing vegetables and herbs in their back garden, they added three Bantam Silver Sebright hens to the mix. Since moving outside the city and founding Geraghty’s Microfarm, they’re now “close to raising just about all the food our family eats,” along with being able to provide for other local families through a CSA program.
We spoke to Dayna about the challenges involved in becoming first-generation farmers, documenting and sharing their adventures through social media and the adorable appeal of KuneKune pigs.
Starting From Scratch
“Our biggest obstacle was starting with practically nothing and never actually farming ourselves,” recalls Dayna, when asked about deciding to become first-generation farmers.
“We bought a property that had zero fencing, zero structures and we had zero livestock. But in return we learned so much from the process and got to make our farm suit our needs. Now we’re able to share our successes and failures with others.”
Don’t Be Afraid To Ask For Help
Dayna and Josh place a lot of faith in the words of farmer and author Joel Salatin. “We took a seminar this past fall and he spoke about something that hit home with us,” says Dayna.
“If you aren’t proficient at something, ask for help. Homesteading and farming is starting to become more popular and there are people in your community that will be more than willing to help you.”
As an example, Danya says that they planned their first-year farm garden themselves—”and let’s just say it didn’t turn out too hot!”
“Lucky for us, our great friend is an amazing gardener and agreed to help us this past year. Guess what? It was an amazing success. Everyone will need help at some point—don’t be afraid to reach out to someone and ask for it.”
Meet The KuneKune Pigs
Along with growing produce, Dayna and Josh have populated Geraghty’s Microfarm with eye-catching KuneKune pigs.
Josh was initally more enthusiastic than Dayna towards the animals—”My instant reaction was there is no possible way we are getting pigs [because] they’re dirty, smelly and destroy everything, right?” recalls Dayna—but after chancing across a KuneKune sow and her piglets, Dayna changed her mind.
After Josh in turn surprised her with “three of the absolute cutest KuneKune piglets,” they now count almost 20 KuneKune pigs among the ranks.
That KuneKune Personality
When it comes to the KuneKune pigs, Dayna says “they are gentle, talkative and absolutely love attention. Their unique colors, long hair and short upturned snouts make them unlike any other breed of pig.” She adds that they have a social streak and will come running as soon as humans are in sight—often angling for belly rubs and ear scratches.
“Since they’re so docile they’re the perfect small homestead pig, especially if you have children,” says Dayna.
Get Inspired to Feed Your Family
Dayna maintains that if you’ve been considering trying to directly provide the food to feed your family via your own property, definitely go ahead and take the plunge.
“Our biggest advice is that it doesn’t matter how small you start because everyone has to start somewhere,” she says. “That somewhere is different for each person—personally, we started with three chickens. If you want to grow your own food, there’s never an amount that isn’t worth the effort.”
Follow Geraghty’s Microfarm at Instagram.
