Our Philosphy…
Health, both of the land, and of the human, are enhanced when we observe and mimic nature, and act as stewards, instead of masters. At Hock Newberry Farm, we believe in putting the animals to work in the way nature intended; rotationally grazing multiple species through planned, planted, and tended orchard and grassland. Allowing the animals to express themselves results in a low-input, high yield system; one that produces some of the most delicious and nourishing food available. Our farm aims to be something like those of the people we believe are really changing the way we produce food – for example, Miracle Farm in Canada, and New Forest Farm in Southwestern Wisconsin. We practice organic, regenerative principles and are students of permaculture. Our farm is in its early stages, but we are very excited to expand our vision and watch our dreams become reality.
Meet the farmHer…
Hi, I’m Erica, the farmer, webmaster, admin team, strategist, landscaping crew, hare-brained idea generator, and chief pooper-scooper! I farm 60 beautiful acres, with the assistance of my husband Brian, in Culpeper, Virginia.
How It All Started…
When I was 11, my family moved from the suburbs of Los Angeles to the middle of the desert (literally… my school was 45 minutes away from the house), onto an ostrich farm. My family raised pygmy goats, and we got our first dog. My love for, and natural way with animals were apparent, and I was fortunate enough to have some great people helping me along.
One of those people was Lester Hock. “Uncle Lester”, as I knew him. He was in his 80s when I met him, and he taught me how to ride and work with horses. My very first lesson horse was a 16hh Thoroughbred/Quarter Horse mare named “Merry Merry Miss”. She was bred for racing, but never raced, and was very green when I started riding her. She and I learned together, and I loved both her and Uncle Lester like family. For my 13th birthday, I got my two Mustang mares through the BLM’s wild horse adoption program, and have had horses ever since.
Uncle Lester passed away when I was 15, but what he taught me has stuck with me and those lessons have been the guiding principles behind my interaction with animals. Treating them as nature intended, and allowing them to express their natural tendencies, means we work together to make things better, and produce delicious, healthy food.
Our farm sits on nearly 60 acres, a mix of woods, pasture, streams, and ponds, about an hour and a half south-west of Washington, DC. I got here through the Coast Guard, from which I was honorably discharged in 2010 after 10.5 years of service.
In honor of “Uncle Lester” Hock, I named my farm “Hock Newberry Farm”, after his Quarter Horse breeding operation in California. I still have the old farm sign from his place – we are working on restoring and preserving it so that we can display it in the farm store.
A lot has changed since I started the farm in 2009. In 2011, I met Brian, and we have been working hard to make our homestead farm everything we want it to be. Our aim is to grow and raise food as naturally as possible, to produce the healthiest, most nourishing products possible. We started out with the goal of feeding ourselves, but were quickly overwhelmed with requests from family and friends once they knew what we were doing! We are working hard to bring new and exciting products to market so we can share the good stuff with all of you. Check out our other pages to find out more about how we do things, what we have to offer, and where you can find us.
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