outside of Greensburg, Indiana. Although he’s a first-generation farmer, he’s been interested in the industry since his youth when he was asked by a dairy farmer in Pennsylvania to help him milk cows in the afternoon. “I made $7 a day, but would have done it for free because I love being close to nature, working with the animals and working with my hands,” says Freed. As a teenager he read “Pastured Poultry Profits” by Joel Salatin, a guidebook on how to profit by raising chickens on pasture. In his 30s Freed was CEO of Moyer’s Chicks, a hatchery that ships commercial-quality, day-old chicks throughout the U.S. and eastern Canada. The job gave him an inside look at the poultry industry, and it reinvigorated his love for the backyard pasture poultry model. Around this same time, he and his wife started raising 50 to 100 chickens on his acre-and-a-half farm in Pennsylvania. In April 2023 they moved to Greensburg, eager to live a slower-paced life and connect daily with nature. “Something feels simple, right and human about being close to the land,” he says. “This year it felt like forever for winter to turn into spring, and I think it’s because I’m so much more aware of what’s happening with the earth. It used to be more of a glance as I’m rushing off to work, and now I’m in sync with the rhythms of nature.” McKamey feels that these days, more people are showing an interest in growing their own food and having a few animals like chickens in their backyard. “Even though there are a lot of advances in the field, regenerative farming is also about people who are coming back around and doing it the old way,” she says. Freed notes that there are small steps everyone can take to make a difference, whether it’s buying products from a local farmer, planting a small garden on your property or putting a tomato plant in a pot on your deck. “There’s value in working in harmony with nature,” Freed says. “In doing so, we help ourselves, the environment and the world that we live in.” 6 / HOLISTIC MAGAZINE
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