Grace, Goats, and a Dairy Cow: How 2 Self-Taught Farmers Turned Rejected Land Into Their Dream Homestead

Shawn and Beth Dougherty found a path forward in the old way of farming, creating a self-sufficient farmstead where both the land and their family could thrive.

Shawn and Beth Dougherty have been farming together since the 1980's. They live in eastern Ohio, where they manage 90 acres of land. Landon Troyer

When Shawn and Beth Dougherty bought their farm, The Sow’s Ear, in 1996, they didn’t intend to stay long.

“It was not really the farm that we wanted,” Mr. Dougherty said.