Farm History and About the Name "Paradise in Disguise"

 

 

It started when I was just a little girl, and family friends would take me to the local feed store where my dad worked at the time. In the spring, they would have baby chicks & ducks that customers had ordered, and I got to hold them - a favorite of mine!

A few years later, we went to the local Delaware County Fair, and there's a picture of me bending over & looking closely at the chickens and other animals. I loved going to zoos, especially the ones that had pigmy goats. 

Later on, we moved as a family into an old trailer located on our landlord's farm, which at first just had cows. But as the years progressed, horses, a pony/donkey, cows, chickens, Muscovy ducks, cats, dogs were added to the landlord's farm, and our family enjoyed them. My Dad had always desired my brother & I to experience "growing up on a farm", which in some ways we did, but just without the work and responsibility that usually goes with it. Though our home was nothing to brag about, we had 150 beautiful acres in the country at our access and many animals to enjoy. All of this, I believe, helped lay the foundation for my love of animals and the outdoors. These wonderful memories were etched in my heart, just as My Mom painted the words "Paradise in Disguise" on a large flat rock, which graced the trailer's deck for nearly 7 years. 

 

Years later, in August 2008, I was given 5 Red Star pullets as a gift from the same family friends who'd taken me to the feed store when I was little. As a family we used recycled materials to built the first coop, part of which I still have to this day. "My first five girls", as I called them, opened the door to what is now "Paradise in Disguise Hobby Farm". Since that time, I have learned a lot about chickens through BackYardChickens.com, and even more through trial and error. They say experience is the best teacher, and that's so true!

I wouldn't be who I am today, if it weren't for all the things I've gone through - and I'm thankful for that.

 

  To this day, I am still learning daily what "Paradise in Disguise" truly means.

I believe Philippians 4:11-13 adequately describes this life atttitude:

 

"I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am in. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every cirumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundane and suffering need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

 

 So, really, anywhere I go can be "Paradise", as long as God had led me there, and has given me the grace to walk through it. It's been said that "Home is Where the Heart Is", but my belief is that "Home is Where God Wants You to Be". Therefore, even if my "heart" would rather be somewhere else, I can trust and believe that in God's plan, I am exactly where He wants me to be, aka, "Paradise in Disguise".

 

We moved to 0.6 acre Delhi, NY homestead in November 2014, and I decided that it was time to unofficially name this "hobby farm". 

That's when I created this website originally. I bred many chickens there, then in 2020 briefly expanded my poultry using farm land in Bloomville. From there, I moved my farm to Betty Acres Farm for about a year, before returning to my brother's property of 0.6 acres.

In April 2022, my brother & I purchased 23 acres in Franklin, NY, requiring us to "move the farm", tear down old buildings and fences, and set up electronet fencing on the new property. I assumed that would be my "dream farm", but then unexpectedly met my future husband, Frank in July! By November 2022, we'd married and had moved all my animals to his 200+ acre family farm.
Over the 100 years that Gielskie family has owned this "piece of God's green earth", it has sustained horses, dairy & beef cows, chickens, turkeys, goats, sheep and pigs. While there's been an ebb and flow of productivity and probability over generations, Frank and I 

desire to "restore" and "rebuild" this farm heritage to not only supply our own food, but also to be a source of sustenance and services for our local community. This farm is also known as "Locust Grove", but since I have already established a social and online "following". changing the name seemed like it could cause confusion.

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Our Mission at Paradise in Disguise Farm

 

1. Whatever we do, wherever we are, God is the Focus and Reason for living & therefore Deserves All the Glory & Honor.

2. We don't claim to be perfect, as we are a continual work in progress, as we are made into His Image.

3. As our name "Paradise in Disguise" implies, farm life isn't the "glamorous" life that's often portrayed by tv, books, social media. Likewise, our farm has many gorgeous, picturesque aspects, but there's also manure, losses, mud, weeds and other "messy" parts of farm life. It's about how we view things and the perspective we chose to focus on. 

4. As Good Stewards of the Land He's given to us, we aim to raise our animals humanely and naturally, so as to provide them with an environment where they can be happy, healthy and all they were Created to be.

5. Scriptural principles and sustainable practices work together for a beautiful partnership of how we do things on the "farm".

6. By selling products and animals, our aim is to serve God by serving you, and to be a good steward of the land He's entrusted to us. 

7. We believe in being honest and transparent in everything.

 

Our Practices at Paradise in Disguise Farm

 

1. "No Hormones" - Not only is it illegal to give growth hormones or add it to the animal's feed, but we don't believe it's natural.

2. "No Herbicides" - We do not use herbicides at any time. Weeds & unwanted plants are either composted or fed to the animals.

3. "Limited Pesticide/Insecticide Use" - only used when necessary, for example, deworming livestock and poultry.

4. "All Natural" - In the commercial realm, this only means nothing artificial or synthetic was added to the product, such as eggs.         Our Definition of "All Natural" goes beyond that, meaning we aim for a life that provides an environment and food that is as natural as possible, while also providing them with additional benefits that they would not have if living "in the wild". 

5. "Free Range" or "Pastured"  - is a widely used and mis-used term (see "How to Read Egg Carton Labels" article) due to no official regulations; Hence why I will define what we mean when we say our chickens are "free-range" or "pastured". 

   1. Daily Outdoor Access - with a rare exception due to extreme weather, such as below zero temperatures or nasty precipitation.

   2. Free to Scratch & Forage in Fields, Compost Piles and/or Mulched Yard

   3. Can Engage in Natural Behaviors - They can Walk, Run, Fly, Nest, Perch, Dust-Bathe, and even go Broody

   4. Pastured - During Spring to Fall, our poultry is rotated with Elctronet fencing & moveable coops through fields, sometime following larger livestock like cows, horses, sheep & goats. This allows access to fresh grass & other plants, plus insects. They also help spread manure "piles" and reduce flies from reproducing.

   5. During the winter, the poultry "Eggmobile" and coops are stationary, but they still have access to an outside "paddock". 

6. Things we Don't Do:

   1. No beak cutting

   2. No forced molting through starvation

   3. No killing of male chicks at hatch, like many hatcheries do as a "side effect" of selling so many female chicks.

   4. "Invasive" vent sexing for day-old chicks. 

   5. Tail docking on our sheep.