Built one paycheck at a time

Foxgully Farm is my small farm in Mead, in Bryan County, Oklahoma. I’m Ellen Kimble, and I’m building it myself: one project, one paycheck and one new skill at a time. That’s partly a philosophy and partly just how farming works.

Foxgully is funded by my full-time job. Each project waits its turn for payday, which keeps the plans ambitious and the purchases sensible. The planting, the soapmaking and the bookkeeping are all mine. The ducks have not been told about the budget.

Most of Foxgully started as something I had to learn. Some of it worked on the first try, and I’ll be honest about the rest. Soap is the first of those skills to reach the shop, and it’s the main product for now: four cold-process bars, made here on the farm and shipped within the United States.

My lavender is propagated from plants already growing here. Lavender prefers dry feet and southeastern Oklahoma prefers rain, so good drainage is part of the negotiation.

Everything else is seasonal. For spring 2027, I’m planning vegetable starts, with a focus on tomatoes, and fresh cut flowers. The rest of the lineup depends on what my neighbors ask for and how much restraint I can muster when the January seed catalogs arrive.

Plant pre-sales open January 2027.

I choose plants for the conditions they’ll actually face here: the soil, the wind, the late freezes and a climate that keeps revising its own averages.

I know what a paycheck has to cover, so I aim to keep prices fair. Each plant I sell will come with plain-spoken notes on where it grows best and how to care for it. I’ll check local soil temperatures and the forecast before giving planting advice, because an April freeze has never once consulted a calendar.

This first year also gives me room to try small plantings of greens and herbs, a first step toward a market garden for seasonal produce. Further out, I’m exploring a pecan orchard, if I can find the right land, soil and a dependable water supply. Pecan trees are in no hurry, so this is a long-term relationship.

Foxgully is my version of the American dream: more independence, work that means something and things that last. I’m happy to keep working. I’d just like more of the work to be my own.

I’m growing slowly on purpose, so each thing I offer gets the care it needs. Tomatoes, in my experience, do not respond to being rushed.

Have a plant or product you’d like to see here? Send me a suggestion. I’ll read every one, and I’m only mildly susceptible to flattery.