“We pride ourselves on humble beginnings and hard work to run Smart Growth Farms.”
-Josh
It Started Small…
After well over a decade of military moves, our family finally found a place to plant our roots. The ability to build a sustainable, comfortable life through tough work and determination is getting our family closer to our dream.
After our final relocation to Devine, Texas, in 2019, we were able to settle into a piece of land to begin our adventure. The twelve-acre property gave us the ability to grow our own pasture-raised chicken and pork, with a specialty in lamb.
We quickly got to work with the goal of establishing a family farm to teach our kids and new community about ethics in food production. As the market began to tighten and Bidenomics took hold in 2023, we decided to reduce operations a bit and focus on lamb. We reserve the right to expand again in the future, but for now, we’ll stick with what works and what keeps the farm paid for.
While we are still growing and rehabilitating our twelve-acre farm, we have carefully designed what we call our “six-year plan”.
Infrastructure is very expensive, but as we build out, we will have increasingly more to offer. A sheep herd takes a long time to grow, especially with the “baby baking” part… but we’re getting there.
We currently lack the space for cattle, as we learned via an astronomical hay bill for our last batch.
Local Partnerships
We are the only farmers in the metro to grow pasture-raised lamb. San Antonio needs more like us. Our friends at Smith Pasture raise premium quality chicken the same way, so we team up with them frequently to develop that same high-quality, ethically raised meat.
Improvements
From our first day on the farm, we aimed to improve the soil. About a year later, we feel pretty good about our progress.
Thanks to the rotational grazing of our grass-fed St. Croix sheep, the farm’s ecosystem is coming back to life.
While we’ll never get the rainfall, Joel Salatin gets at Polyface Farms. We can do our best to mimic as much of his systems as possible and create a more robust ecological community.
What’s Next?
While we’re not ready for farm visits, you’ll likely see the sheep grazing next to the street. Our farm is situated in the middle of Devine, TX, which turns out to be perfect for spreading the good word about pasture-raised, sustainably grown meat.
In a time of empty store shelves and never-ending supply chain issues, we want to be here to help others learn to produce some of their own food. The mystery and perceived hurdles are taken out of the production model by allowing neighbors to see the animals.
Our goal is to see every home in San Antonio grow a garden and sustainably produce its own chicken. We expect the greener grass will also be a pleasurable benefit.
Pasture-raised lamb for San Antonio. Come get some!
Check out our product availability today! *Please feel free to shoot us a line for any questions!
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