Welcome to the Farm Journal: Building Heathen Farms From the Ground Up
This farm is not finished—and that is exactly why we are starting this journal now.
Heathen Farms is a family of six in Newburg, Pennsylvania, working to turn less than an acre of rented ground into a productive farm, family workshop, outdoor classroom, and source of support for our community.
We did not inherit a finished homestead, arrive with perfect equipment, or begin with a large budget. We began with ordinary grass, reclaimed materials, seeds, stubbornness, and a willingness to learn by doing.
That is the story the Farm Journal will tell.
WHY WE’RE OPENING THE FARM JOURNAL
Social media captures individual moments. YouTube lets us show the work in motion. The Farm Journal gives us a place to slow down and explain the complete story—what we planted, harvested, sold, built, broke, repaired, and learned along the way.
This will not be a polished highlight reel pretending that everything goes according to plan.
Some entries will celebrate full market tables, successful harvests, new projects, and exciting milestones. Others will cover storms, pests, failed crops, broken equipment, financial realities, and the mistakes that forced us to learn something new.
Building a farm is rarely neat. We believe the honest version is the one worth sharing.
WHAT YOU’LL FIND HERE
The Farm Journal will include:
• Seasonal planting, growing, and harvest updates
• Farmers-market stories and lessons
• Farm-stand news and produce availability
• Building projects, repairs, and reclaimed-material creations
• Gardening problems, experiments, successes, and failures
• Updates from the Kids Grow Club
• Progress from The Neighbor’s Harvest
• Recipes and practical ways to use seasonal produce
• Behind-the-scenes stories from our family’s journey
Some entries will be educational. Some will be reflective. A few will probably begin with something breaking at the worst possible moment.
All of them will come from the real work happening here.
MORE THAN CROPS
Heathen Farms was never meant to be only a place that produces vegetables.
Our children help plant, water, harvest, build, create, sell, and solve problems beside us. Their curiosity and involvement helped inspire the Kids Grow Club, which has already welcomed its first local members into a program centered on growing plants, exploring nature, completing quests, and serving their community.
The Neighbor’s Harvest is helping us dedicate part of what we grow to neighbors facing hardship while creating opportunities for local families and children to participate in meaningful service.
These programs are not side projects. They are part of why Heathen Farms exists.
We want to grow useful food, but we also want to grow capable children, stronger community connections, practical knowledge, and something our family can be proud to hand forward.
FOLLOWING THE FARM FROM THE GROUND UP
Our goal is to publish one complete Farm Journal entry each week, with additional updates whenever the season, market, or farm gives us something useful to share.
Farming does not always cooperate with an editorial calendar, so we will prioritize honest and worthwhile entries over publishing filler simply to meet a deadline.
You can also follow the everyday journey on Facebook and Instagram, watch the larger story unfold on YouTube, or subscribe to Follow the Harvest for news delivered directly to your inbox.
Whether you have bought one squash, visited our market table, signed a child up for the Kids Grow Club, donated to The Neighbor’s Harvest, watched one of our videos, or simply offered encouragement—you have already become part of this story.
Thank you for being here at the beginning.
We are still building. Still learning. Still growing.
Build well. Teach freely. Serve proudly.
By Frey’s hand, bounty grows.