Come Grow with Us 

Stephanie and Daniel gifted me the opportunity to experience many different avenues of land based living/ land stewardship. When you come with a open heart and mind, you can dive into many different things. 

My biggest take away for myself while being at New Story Farm are basic herbalism skills. Since i’ve left I’ve continued to build upon what Stephanie shared with me. Being on the farm has been a pivotal experience for my life and discovering how I want to deepen my relationship with the earth.

From basic animal care, food preparation, gardening, pasture rotation, wild crafting, herbalism, and rearing of children, New Story is a magical place. My visit showed me how content and satisfying life can be and how important it is for me to live a land based life.

 After Studying Ecology for 3 years at University, I learned more in my first 3 weeks at New Story Farm than I did at college. I spent 3 months as an intern at New Story Farm and got to experience growing of food, fermentation, some cooking, how to care for baby trees, medicinal plants and wild foraging. I also got to help out with all of the animals there such as the cows, turkeys, chickens and pigs.  New Story Farm was my first experience on a farm and since then, I have interned and worked on 3 other farms/homesteads to further my learning.

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I loved living and working on their farm. Stephanie and Daniel were amazing hosts with a wide variety of knowledge and skills. I learned a lot every day. Regenerative agriculture, cows, poultry, vegetable gardening, homesteading, and a ton of other things. The farm is a beautiful mix of pasture, prairie, forest and wetland that I loved to hike through with my dog. Stephanie’s meals were all made with ingredients harvested on the farm and tasted so good. It was an awesome experience I will remember.

A truly special oasis of a farm! Steph and Daniel are remarkable, caring, pragmatic and conscious agrarians who are actively making a difference in the world. Not only are they stewards of the land, they also are stewards of people, our children in particular. Empowering us with the knowledge, wisdom & skills to live as ecologically responsible human beings.

They have impacted and inspired me in such a short amount of time to begin walking the path of radical self-resilience and learning the skills and tools necessary for the times we live in. I was beginning to feel the shift in my beliefs that the most important ability needed at this time is to know how and be able to grow our own food in a regenerative way, and after experiencing this farm, I’m convinced that this is the way I need to live my life!

I’m now currently planning on taking my first permaculture design course and looking how to make it more available for my family, friends and community to have greater access to learning about and supporting our local farmers.

It’s time to exponentially increase the value that we place on our food and the healers who spend their lives growing it in a way to leave the planet better than we found it. Thank you so much Steph and Daniel! I whole-heartedly look forward to learning more from them in the future!

My 3 months at New Story Farms with Daniel and Stephanie was a catalyst for a new chapter in my life. Thinking I knew a lot because I bought “organic” food at an urban grocery store, I found I was completely unaware how the existing food system works. I learned how brittle and unsustainable modern agriculture is. How regenerative systems can feed each other and provide abundance without the need for industrial inputs. From Stephanie I learned about a very smooth, compassionate and personal approach to raising and caring for both plants and animals. From Daniel I learned a way of looking at life, systems, and infrastructure. Both Daniel and Stephanie have such a deep knowledge pool, a great resource for those looking to learn. Spend 3 months with them and you will leave with a new perspective, activated senses, and great memories. Much gratitude for you both!

Now I just have personal notes/thankfull thoughts that may or may no be usefull. They are more just for you and Daniel on a personal level.

Stephanie I didn’t know what words to use. You have an - Organic, feminine, intuitive, smooth, firm, compassionate, purposeful, powerful, thoughtful, kind, friendly, living, respectful way of doing something, and there really is no word except for all of those words together. That’s the way I saw you treat all the living creatures and plants on your farm. There is a feeling that goes with it too. And I don’t have any way to describe that one. But thank you for that, experiencing that and witnessing that way of doing something opened my eyes to it. I guess you don’t know something till you see/experience it.

Daniel you are a role model and archetypal hero for me. I have experienced very few strong men in my life and I think you for being one of those few. I wish we lived closer to spend more time working and conversing with you. I admire your intellect and fearlessness. You see right through the bullshit and confidently ask hard questions. Qualities I admire and I strive to be.

I love you both, Please keep doing what you are doing.  You were/are a catalyst to me and I’m sure of it for everybody who has spent time with you at the farm.

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My first experience at a regenerative farm was at new story farm. I started showing up each weekend to learn more about their way of living. I had been contemplating getting land and wanted to ensure that I had some hands-on experience before financially committing to land. At New Story Farm, Steph and Dan taught me so many things hands on. We butchered chickens, turkeys and I even helped skin a pig! I learned about the values of composting. I learned the values of land management, importance of animal rotation on the land. We protected saplings from wildlife and I learned the value to planting a tree that I will never sit in the shade of, but that those after me will surely benefit from. 

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The meals, were amazing in many ways, it was a experience to eat what the land provided you with and a chance to connect with each other after a day of hard, rewarding work! 

Dan and Steph helped build my confidence so that I could live in harmony with the land! Today we own ten acres, we have ducks and chickens and pigs all of us working together to regenerate the land so that it continues to provide for generations to come!

It was an amazing experience I’m so glad they are doing this work and teaching others how to be successful doing it for themselves.

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Steph and Daniel are fantastic educators, dedicated stewards and hard workers. They shared their knowledge of the land, animals, and farming skills necessary to live a land based life. They are truly advocates for a better world, and have taught me so much in my mere two week stay with them.

From fermenting to herbalism to putting up fencing and harvesting and processing various vegetables for winter, Steph led me through each step with compassion and patience. Between helping butcher chickens and talks about the climate crisis, Daniel and worked together less but that made each interaction and conversation all the more impactful.

Go to New Story Farm if you’re looking to build your resilience in an ever-dependence ridden culture.

Pulling out the crisp and bright purple radishes that were seeds just a few months ago, now ready to be our dinner, a sense of pride flowed over me. When I arrived at New Story Farm back in the early summer of 2022, I had only recently heard the words “permaculture.” At the age of 34 I had never successfully grown a plant or used an electrical saw, but something was telling me that it was important to learn. I grew up in the city and never dreamed of producing my own food or building my own structures.

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Stephanie and Daniel, the heart and soul of New Story Farm, welcomed me not just as a student, but as family. Their generosity went beyond the farm-fresh, organic meals (though those were certainly delicious!). Witnessing Daniel bite into an apple from a tree he planted as a child, savoring the connection to generations past, sparked a desire for a deeper understanding of myself and the natural world. Even feeding a gentle cow brought a sense of connection I never knew I craved.

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Hooked on permaculture and regenerative agriculture's promise of resilience, I devoured every challenge at New Story Farm ever since. I’ve built with reclaimed bricks, planted and harvested in the hoop house, rotationally grazed cattle, repaired and expanded a water system, planted medicinal herbs using agroforestry, cared for poultry, sown cover crops, and more.

New Story Farm and Resiliency School are not just educational institutions; they are catalysts for personal transformation. They offer individuals like me, yearning for a deeper connection to the earth and a more sustainable future, a space to learn, grow, and contribute. Their holistic approach, encompassing practical skills, ecological awareness, and community building, equips us with the tools we need to thrive in a world facing immense challenges.

While I’m still a pupil with New Story Farm, I now spend my time sharing what I’ve learned with low income, diverse communities around the world. I’ve shared what Stephanie and Daniel have taught me with communities in Jamaica, Costa Rica, California, North Carolina, Mississippi, and Alabama. They have been willing to share their knowledge with communities whenever I’ve asked, always humbly reminding us that the ecology is always local—proving general truths while directing us on how to find the most relevant local knowledge to succeed. 

It is now my goal to learn further skills like carpentry, animal husbandry, wild crafting, foraging, and soil management in order to share that with those that do not have the means to travel to New Story Farm themselves. Their mission means the world to me and I’m so grateful that people like Stephanie and Daniel exist!

I had a wonderful time with Stephanie and Daniel at New Story Farm. I learned much and greatly enjoyed the beautiful community space, prairie, birds, farm animals...really the list goes on. The farm raised food was incredibly delicious and just what my travel weary soul needed! The Zetah's were incredible hosts and very thoughtful, I highly recommend them and hope to come back to visit and help out again.