Echo Ridge Farm – Featured
Location: Collinsville, AL
Photographed by: Breanne Brazeale, Dr. Frannie Koe, and Tim Martin
For Dr. Koe, food, farming and medicine are inextricably linked. She completed medical school as part of the Rural Medical Scholars Program, and always knew she wanted to live and work outside of an urban environment. Her home and farm, 70+ picturesque acres about 4 miles and only one stop sign away from her clinic in Collinsville, AL, is the culmination of many of her dreams and years of hard work. She shares the property with her partner of 20 years, artisan, craftsman and woodworker, Tim Martin.
I’ve visited Dr. Koe’s farm many times, sometimes with my three children in tow, so the rutted gravel drive is familiar to me. Her property, named Echo Ridge Farm, is both constantly evolving, and a reflection of her own health goals and personal beliefs. The way she’s chosen to make her home is about as far from the stereotypical doctor’s abode as you can imagine. It is as warm and unassuming as her personality and self-sufficiency and utility are Dr. Koe’s priorities.
I’ve visited Dr. Koe’s farm many times, sometimes with my three children in tow, so the rutted gravel drive is familiar to me. Her property, named Echo Ridge Farm, is both constantly evolving, and a reflection of her own health goals and personal beliefs. The way she’s chosen to make her home is about as far from the stereotypical doctor’s abode as you can imagine. It is as warm and unassuming as her personality and self-sufficiency and utility are Dr. Koe’s priorities.
*Above is the hand painted sign gracing the shed near Dr. Koe’s chicken coop.
Dr Koe and Tim are mostly self-sufficient. Echo Ridge Farm has well water, uses a composting toilet system, and solar panels to power the buildings on the property.
*Above is a photo of the array of solar panels in a sunny field beside Dr. Koe’s home.
In the winter, Dr. Koe and Mr. Martin heat all their living quarters, including Tim’s artisan woodworking studio, with woodstoves. The property, besides having acres of pasture, is also densely wooded in areas, so they cut and haul their own firewood for heat.
*Above is a photo of the woodstove in the cabin.
Tim Martin is a skilled craftsman and artist by trade, with his current focus being handmade, artisan chairs. He uses joinery, antique hand tools, and skills he hopes to preserve as a 4th generation woodworker.
*Above is a photo of some of Tim’s chairs and tools in his woodworking shop on the property.
When she’s not in one of her two medical clinics, Dr. Koe gardens extensively. Some years, she grows much of the food that she and Tim eat. However, this year, Dr. Koe’s focus is on improving the soil health and viability on her property. In addition to materials sourced on her property, Dr. Koe had enormous truckloads of woodchips delivered. She is mulching her garden and other permaculture areas of the property heavily to discourage weeds and improve the soil structure and microbiology. Deep woodchip mulch also balances soil temperature and retains moisture. She also has plans to build two biochar pits on her property and wants to teach about the subject in workshops and educational classes.
*Pictured above is Dr Koe’s garden in a past growing season.
Echo Ridge is set up with permaculture and regenerative farming practices in mind and is ever evolving. Her small garden near the Barn, (the affectionate nickname for their main cabin) is divided into permaculture zones, and they have spent many years building the soil health to the rich black earth they enjoy today. The farm currently has chickens, Muscovy ducks, sheep, goats, and Dr. Koe and Tim also have a handful of farm dogs and cats to keep them company.
*Pictured is one of their pups, always eager to greet visitors.
They have also raised meat rabbits in the past. During one visit with my family, she had my children, much to their delight, help feed her ducks who’d just had chicks.
*Above is a photo of my children, who were much younger at the time, tossing feed to the ducks and chickens in an enclosure on Dr. Koe’s property.
Besides the garden area, Dr. Koe has plans to turn the hillside surrounding the tiny house she calls home into a food forest. There are already pecans, blueberry bushes, and rosemary. They have other fruit trees and berry bushes on the property, including figs, pears and elderberries, but have experienced a lot of problems growing them.
*Above is a photo of a tree on Dr Koe’s property which provides shade for her home.
Dr. Koe emphasizes the importance of the learning process with homesteading. When they first bought the property and began planting fruit and nut trees, they planted many of them too deeply and they died. They went to a homesteading conference and listened to a talk held by a tree expert where they learned you must plant trees shallowly.
I asked Dr Koe a series of questions about her farm and the choices she’s made about the way she lives. What follows are those questions, along with her responses.
How long have you lived on your property here in Collinsville? What was it like when you purchased it, and what improvements have you made?
I bought my property in 2006. I looked all over north Alabama above I-59 for a place to practice medicine. My focus was more on the northeast and northwest parts of the state, with my favorite location being in the northeast corner.
I originally put down Section, Alabama as my destination for the Alabama Rural Medical Scholarship I received in medical school. It was beautiful in Section, overlooking the Tennessee river. Unfortunately, the land ended up being a lot more expensive per acre than I could afford. I wanted 20-40 acres, and it was impossible to find this for a reasonable price on the ridge itself.
I found a realtor, new and unemployed, who was eager to make money for his family. His wife was working, and he was home, taking care of his three children. He looked long and hard all over the eastern corner of the state for me. He showed me several properties one day, with Collinsville being the last stop. When I stepped on this property, I was smitten! We walked all over it and found the bluff and waterfall, which just cinched it for me. I put my money down right then! It is 76 acres total. I never imagined I would buy that much land, but most of the land was forested, so I felt it would be perfect.
When I purchased it, the only thing on the property was an unusable farmhouse and an old barn across the street (a county road splits the property). There are a little over 50 acres on one side of the road and the remaining 20-something acres on the other side.
At the time of purchase, a local family was using the land to farm corn and soybeans. There were 14 acres of corn growing. This meant that there were 14 acres of already cultivated fields we could work with and did not need to clear for pasture.
The view from the bluff was incredible. You could see for miles across the valley over to Lookout Mountain on the other side of the interstate. It was so peaceful and private. Trees surrounded me everywhere. I was so excited.
Since moving here, we have built a barn for our tractor that ended up being my house! Tim did not have time to build a barn and a cabin for me to live in. We put a small apartment in the existing barn with a little loft bedroom so I would have a place to come home to and sleep! We also built a woodshed that burned down and had to be rebuilt. Then Tim built a little tiny cabin on the creek for himself.
Over the years we have added more tiny cabins, a tiny house from Brilliant, Alabama to house my kids when they came to visit, a tractor shed (my original barn became the workshop and house) although we still call it the barn. We have added fences and will add goat barns and shelters for the animals we are working to raise here. I also have long-term goals of building a small community and conference center to teach families about dementia, health, and regenerative farming practices.
You are a medical practitioner and a farmer. Why is it so important to you, as a doctor, to grow food, raise animals, and run a self-sufficient homestead?
This question is what my whole life has become. It is my passion to be an example to people how important it is to know where our food comes from, grow as much as we can ourselves, even if it is in a small pot, and keep myself healthy by being very active on my farm.
In my medical practice, I’ve seen how, as we age, we lose so much of our muscle tone, our agility, balance, and general health because of inactivity. This happens so much more now than it ever did in the past.
When you have animals on a farm, they must be taken care of. I cannot forget to feed them. I have to keep moving. There is a lot to do to keep up a place like this. Not everyone can have a farm, but for me, one of my priorities is to have a long and healthy life, so this is what I always wanted to do.
I also felt it was important to eat well. I wanted to grow as much of my food as possible. Being a busy practitioner, I don’t have a lot of time to go shopping. Especially since most stores are several miles away. Gardening was one of my solutions to this problem. When I made my plans to grow my own food many years ago, the availability of organic vegetables was extremely limited!
It might seem that gardening would be more time-consuming than going to the store a few miles away, but for me, it is more about the complete picture. It takes a lot less time than people may realize to grow your own food. I have been able to do it for many years just working in the garden during the weekends. I have the help of my husband, but we both eat the food! Going to the store for groceries can take half a day or sometimes more if you live very far from a store or have several places to go.
But there are so many other reasons to choose to be self-sufficient, live on a farm and raise animals. Time has passed since I made these decisions, and we have learned that there are many more important reasons that drive my passion. I have learned that regenerating the soil is important for the future of our children. Having animals is a big part of this process. Eating healthier meats is important as well, although it is not always easy. I want to grow these foods for my kids and grandchildren who live in suburbs and cannot have animals. I want to produce foods for my local community as well.
I don’t think my profession has a lot to do with all these goals. I can have them without being a doctor. But it helps that I am in the healthcare field so I can have a platform to teach, I can hire people to help me, and I can model healthy habits for my patients.
Could you speak a bit about the reason you have avoided synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and other harsh chemicals on the food that you and your family eat?
I decided many years ago when I began to garden that it was better to avoid chemicals as much as possible. It just seemed a natural choice to make. When I first read about gardening, it was in organic magazines and books. Then I also felt it was better to put fewer chemicals in our bodies. That just seemed to make sense as well.
Have you noticed a difference in your own health or the way you feel when you eat primarily food that you’ve grown or sourced personally (no processed food items)?
I have definitely noticed a difference in the way my gut feels when I am not eating processed foods. I have always had some issues when eating out or eating foods that are high in carbs or highly processed. Because I have Rheumatoid Arthritis, I can have a flare when I eat badly, which includes consuming unhealthy fats and too many carbs or processed foods. Because of menopause, I will have more hot flashes when I eat a carb-heavy diet.
When I was younger, I had significant issues with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) when I ate out and ate unhealthy fats. When I was young, I noticed worsening acne. During my 20s, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I did not know what that was 35 years ago. But I knew my symptoms would improve when I ate healthier foods.
What is the most important investment you’ve made on your property in terms of self-sufficiency?
I think our solar panels are the most important investment we have made. When everyone’s power is out, we still have power. Even during ice storms and tornados, we have always had power. However, we have to be more careful when it is raining a lot. But we have never run out of power. Although it is an enormous investment, it saves so much money over time because I do not have a power bill.
What are your dreams or goals for the property in the future?
My plans are to build a small community across the road from my home to help people with dementia, expand our animals on both sides of the road to produce grass-fed meat and improve the soil, build a small vegetable stand, and set up B&B type rooms to rent out to people who are HAM radio operators, cyclists, or hikers, etc. I want to have multiple tiny homes so that I can host practitioners and hold conferences. Educating people is my passion.
What is your favorite thing to grow?
I don’t think I have a favorite thing to grow; I love it all. It is so exciting when I can get a basket of many foods out of the garden at once! I feel like it is a scavenger hunt every time I go in the garden. My favorite food to grow may be cherry tomatoes as I like to pick and eat them. But they can cause the RA to flare if I eat too many, so I must cut back on the number of plants I grow!
Homesteading and gardening are not without challenges. Could you talk a little about some problems or setbacks you’ve faced?
Our greatest struggle on a farm this size is finding people to help with the work. We have hired several people along the way, but there have always been issues with not being able to be home to direct the work that needed to be done. Having a partner who is an artist and has limited interest in farming for a living means that he is not ready to manage employees constantly. We only have so much time per week! I have worked to slow down on my goals until I am ready to direct employees better to get our goals flowing in the right direction.
You raise a lot of animals and have plans to expand your menagerie even further. What do you raise, and why do you think it is so important to have animals when creating a regenerative farming ecosystem?
We have chickens, Muscovy ducks (actually waterfowl), sheep and goats for now. We hope to have calves, and possibly pigs in the future. The chickens and ducks are currently for eggs only, but we may try other birds for meat in the future. We have tried to raise Cornish hens for meat, but it is a lot of work to clean these birds. We have had rabbits for meat and Tim (my partner) grew up hunting, so he is very good at cleaning animals.
Over the years, I’ve learned the biggest benefit to having animals on the property is the manure! The animals put a lot of fertilizer back into the soil as they eat. I had planted cover crops over the years, but they don’t do even half that job that well-rotted animal manure can do to regenerate the soil. If we move them daily to small plots, the land works well to grow very healthy foods for these animals. Then the chickens and birds can help do the work of tilling the manure into the soil by scratching and pecking as they feed and move around.
Aside from a food source, would you explain a little about how you use animals (all parts of them) to build not only soil health, but your own?
I was a vegetarian for 17 years. But I learned I needed healthy fats and protein in my diet to reduce inflammation and be healthier overall. It is hard to study the best diets for humans, but I have found in my personal experience with my health that reducing fruit, of which I was eating large quantities, reducing grains (also originally in large quantities), adding healthy fats, and increasing protein has significantly improved my health.
Could you name your top three favorite resources for learning about regenerative farming?
Justin Rhodes’ website, Abundant Permaculture, is my top resource! I get so excited when I see his documentaries and he has an incredible library to learn from. He is my mentor as far as building AgroshareMD. I don’t want to reinvent what he has done, but he has certainly inspired me to move forward.
Another resource I am very involved with is ASAN, the Alabama Sustainable Agricultural Network. They hold conferences every year in our state and I can connect with others who are growing food and learn so much from the workshops I attend.
Lastly is a Permies, an online forum that has the answers to questions across a vast range of homesteading-related topics. It is an excellent resource and has many creative ideas. We will work to build a community here on our AgroshareMD page we hope will be useful for the state of Alabama and we may try to model it after permies.com.
What is one simple thing you suggest anyone can do to live a little more self-sufficiently?
My suggestion would be to learn to grow some of your own food and herbs, as the quality far surpasses what we buy at the store. I grew up with frozen vegetables and hardly ever ate fresh food. When I did, I could not believe the difference in taste, flavor and quality. I actually liked vegetables so much better when I tried fresh, home-grown food!
Where do you usually source your livestock? And have you had any challenges or problems raising animals?
Raising animals is challenging! I have only started with a few of each animal so that I can learn as I go. I have mostly gotten them from neighbors and a few from the flea market in town. We have occasionally had gotten chickens from Tractor Supply Company in Fort Payne. Several times, I have taken animals others could not take care of any longer.
Hungry dogs that people dropped off killed my small flock of chickens on one occasion. Coyotes have gotten another entire flock of chickens. I have lost birds to raccoons and weasels. I have had snakes eat my eggs and baby chicks and ducks. We built fences to keep some animals out, but we cannot protect them from everything. It is part of homesteading. One thing we have done to help reduce wild animals from getting my flocks is to have dogs. That slows them down. Occasionally we lose animals for a reason we cannot determine, despite working hard to keep them healthy and happy.