About us:
Welcome to the Diaz Tribe—party of nine! Our journey toward raising our own food and creating handmade soap began many years ago in a neighborhood in Northern California. Owning land for farming felt like an impossible dream, but God had other plans!
In 2016 and 2018, my husband Richard suffered on-the-job injuries that ended his career as a Firefighter Paramedic and forced him into early retirement. In the summer of 2020, with no job tying us to California, we took a leap of faith. Trusting in God, we moved across the country to Eastern Tennessee, even though we didn’t know a soul.
We were blessed to purchase raw land and began building our homestead from the ground up. Those first two months were full of hard work—grading the land, installing water, power, and septic systems, purchasing a trailer to live in temporarily, and building a shipping container barn/utility shop.
Eager to start raising our own food, we jumped in during the spring of 2021 with egg-laying hens, Cornish Cross meat chickens, two KuneKune piglets, and a small garden. We chose KuneKune pigs for their gentle nature (perfect for our young children to help with) and their minimal rooting compared to other breeds. Plus, we’d heard their meat was incredible—and it is! While KuneKunes take longer to reach processing weight, their primarily pasture-based diet made the wait worthwhile for us.
Over the last three years, we’ve continued to grow. We’ve built a barndominium (still working on the finishing touches!) and now raise multiple KuneKune pigs, egg layers, meat chickens, and turkeys. Along the way, I (Kara) fulfilled my dream of making handmade soap using lard from our pasture-raised KuneKune pigs.
Thank you for joining us on this journey!
If you own raw land and aren’t sure where to begin, we now offer consulting services to help guide you. Benefit from our experience—learn from our mistakes and discover what we’d do differently. If you're local and interested in scheduling an appointment, fill out the form on our contact page.
Our farm Practices:
At our farm, we believe in regenerative farming and prioritize rotational grazing. Our pigs, chickens, and turkeys are pasture-raised year-round, except for a brief brooder period for poultry.
We feed our animals organic, non-GMO, soy-free feed and do not use antibiotics, hormones, or vaccines. We only use an herbal dewormer monthly.
• Meat Chickens & Turkeys: These birds roam freely inside electric netting, which we move every few days to give them fresh pasture and space to forage naturally.
• Egg Layers: Our egg-laying hens live alongside two livestock guardian dogs. They’re housed in a mobile coop, and their electric netting is moved every few weeks.
• KuneKune Pigs: These gentle pigs are rotated to fresh pasture every 10 days or so and are trained to electric netting.
We avoid chemicals on our pastures and only use non-sprayed hay for bedding. Our goal is to raise our animals as naturally and sustainably as possible.
soap making practices:
Our soaps are handmade in small batches here on the farm, and they’re always palm-free. We use high-quality, organic ingredients whenever possible, and you’ll never find synthetic fragrances or colorants in our products.
We scent our soaps with premium essential oils and use natural clays and plants as colorants. The star ingredient in our soap is lard from our pasture-raised KuneKune pigs, which creates luxurious and beautiful bars.
Thank you for supporting our farm and our family’s dream!
