Welcome to the farm- BlackDog Farm & Orchard.
BlackDog Farm & Orchard, or “BDFO” as I’ve started to call it, is a little spot on the net to document my own effort to produce food for myself and my family, manage a 70+ year old home and acreage, and grow a brand… all at once.
BDFO follows from BDBC… BlackDog Brewing Company. I previously built the BDBC brand for many of the same reasons. I wanted the creative experience of making a website, and merch, and branding. But plans change. I bought my house and haven’t had much time at all to dedicate to brewing. I still have the site, and all of the equipment… one day I’ll get back to it. But for now, growing fruits and veggies, raising dogs and chickens, plus my day job… all fit in to a normal 24 hour day a little better.
I’ve chosen to start this online journey January 1, 2024 – but the work started long before today. Both the orchard and the vegetable garden have been growing year over year since 2017, and honestly I can’t even take credit for everything that’s growing on the farm today. For decades before I came to live here, Jerry and Sandy Freese kept this wonderful home going with their daughter, Lauren. By the time I came along there were already nearly twenty fruit trees on the property including naval and valencia oranges, tangelos, lemons, three kinds of guava, an apple, several bananas and two macadamia nut trees! I couldn’t do what I do today without the foundation they built before me. Sandy- thank you for allowing me to take on your beautiful home. I hope you enjoy following along!
So, take a look around. Check out our HOT PAWS hot sauce, or head over to the blog and see the progress we’ve made since the January 2024. To start at the beginning of 2024’s garden, check out this post. As time allows, I’ll go through pictures & videos of older projects, and add them to the site, too.
For now, it’s back to work for me!
