Meet Josh & Jordyn Kelly

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Josh & Jordyn Kelly. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Josh & Jordyn, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
Being faced with a medical diagnosis that could render Jordyn paralyzed, we felt immense urgency to change not only our diet but our lifestyle as well. Back in 2019, Jordyn was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and after much research, we read that improving the focus on diet could help with symptoms. That is what lead us to purchase our home, begin our first garden and buy our first chickens.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Together we raise working Australian Shepherds as well as organically grow produce in our 10,000sqft market garden. We raise a variety of livestock through holistic practices and rotational grazing for our own consumption as well as for the use of training our dogs. Jordyn offers herding demonstrations using our critically endangered Gulf Coast Native sheep with the help of our dogs. We will be attending Mountain Readiness in May in Harmony, NC along with The Homestead Festival in June in Columbia, TN, and Homesteaders of America conference in October in Front Royal, VA. Jordyn is also working on publishing a book titled, Herding on the Homestead: Start Where You Are, which should be available later this year.

We raise one to two litters of Australian Shepherds per year and keep a waiting list. We dedicate our time and efforts to raising healthy, well-balanced puppies by using Avidog and Puppy Culture protocols as well as focus on socializing. Our puppies are from health tested and titled dogs, proven to be great examples of this versatile breed. To further help new puppy owners, Jordyn launched an online course of modules and printable PDFs available for purchase through our website. It was created to cover common problem topics such as potty training, leash training, nutrition, bonding games and troubleshoot naughty behaviors. We also offer tried and true dog products such as leashes, treats, bones and toys along with helpful books regarding getting started in herding.

Josh is a Master Gardener and loves starting seeds, expanding our garden every year from the initial 1,000sqft when we first purchased our home. He has learned to use a variety of methods to create the working market garden we have today. Josh also stays home with our young daughter who was born at home in December 2022. Josh is the muscle and brains behind the infrastructure on our homestead and enjoys canning to preserve the harvest.

We occasionally offer classes, such as butchering, canning or preserving, as well as offer photography for hire.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Determination, seeking knowledge, and resilience. Life gets hard and some days are tougher than you think you can handle. Josh always says, ‘how bad do you want it’ when it came to determination and our work ethic. Seeking knowledge helped us learn skills that became critical in our journey. Taking free classes, volunteering at other farms, attending conferences and workshops to give us more insight on how we wanted to operate our homestead. Being willing to get our hands dirty helped us learn and grow so much faster. Resilience is thrown in the mix because we hit so many bumps and roadblocks in this journey but we kept pushing on. We learned that sometimes learning the skills and gaining the knowledge to do something ourselves was better than seeking and waiting for some one else to help.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
When we feel overwhelmed, it is helpful for us to grab a notebook and a pen and take a walk around our property. We love our little 1.24 acres and sometimes we forget that this space is supposed to bring us joy and not make us feel overwhelmed. As we walk, we point out specific details on our property either exciting or some thing that needs attention. We make notes and afterwards sit on our patio and discuss the notes. We break down all of the details that make us feel overwhelmed into small tasks that can be broken up more easily. We sit down every Sunday and plan out the week ahead – the tasks would then be assigned to a day or week depending on the level of importance. Our feelings of being overwhelmed usually stem from us believing everything must be done at the same time, when in fact, that is not true. This is usually just an un-calculated shift in priorities and we regroup so that we are on the same page and can create an action plan to remedy the feeling.

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