Wind Blown, Dust Covered, & Water Drenched Farm Life!
Wind, dust, and water are what met the Sallee family after a 20 hour journey from the sunny state of Florida to Benkendorf Family Farms in Oklahoma. The Benkendorf Family Farm has now grown by four; Brian & Nicole, 5th generation and their children, Riley & Emma, 6th generation. Their friends in Florida ask, “Why on earth would you leave Florida and move to Oklahoma?” For Brian & Nicole, the answer is quite simple – Family!
Nicole expands...
Plungng into farm life has been a crazy experience for us.
Wind.
The wind was nothing new. There is wind in Florida, but nothing like this. I’m talking metaphorically. We have two small children, Riley is four and Emma is one. If you have kids you know…whirlwind…tornado – EVERYWHERE. Now we have come to embrace the wind. I pull back my hair, put on my BF Farms cap, and watch life breathe onto this beautiful farm and through our wonderful family.
Dust.
Dust is everywhere and dusting is futile. Since one of my roles on the farm is to keep the house fairly clean and in functioning condition, I tried so hard, at first, to keep the mud and dust from entering the house. Here’s the metaphor. When you live on a farm, work is right outside. You hear the animals through the walls and you see the work to be done through your windows. Boundaries are impossible. I am learning how to let go – to embrace the downtimes and roll with the work that needs to be done…and go to Starbucks every now and then to gain sanity!
Water.
Crazy thing – we left a pretty wet state with pools and beaches, and rain every afternoon. We were told this was a very dry state. Lies. It rained for two whole weeks when we got here and then a little more a week later. Holy Moly! I don’t know how religious everyone reading this is, but both Brian and I have been baptized. Like the full dunk. It was an incredible experience for us. An outward display of what was already brewing in our hearts. Then we were refreshed and ready to start a new life….do you see where I’m headed? Like the cattle, sheep, and our garden need water to refresh and restart…after the rain, we were ready. Poop, dirt, expos, hard labor and all…we were in it.
So you see, farm life is both… both dirty and fun, both crazy and clear, both complex and simple.
The thing that’s so special about this farm is that everyone has a common goal and lives by that goal. We want every individual and every household to be healthy. To eat the highest quality food to be able to live the highest quality lives. What we offer is grass-fed beef and lamb and we will do that to the best of our ability.
We’re in it!
BF-Farms, LLC
Oklahoma's #1 source for 100% grass-fed beef and lamb.