About

This is our story:

I was raised in a family that grew production poultry (factory farmed chickens).  In my younger years I saw nothing wrong with this type of farming because it was a way of life.  As I grew older, I began to see the ecological atrocities as well as the inhumane treatment of animals that this industry perpetuates.  Today I despise this industry and speak out about the need for its abolition to everyone who will listen.

My wife is from a family of loggers.  Their goal every day is to cut down as many trees as possible using as many fossil fuels as needed to accomplish these goals.  To drain our planet of one of our most precious natural resources with no regard for the surrounding ecosystem.  When we met, her family was discussing moving to Central America to expand their operation in the rainforest there.  Even then I felt that somehow that was wrong, but I couldn’t verbalize my concerns because my family was just as guilty.

As our young family grew and we went about our lives, moving away from the family businesses, there was a constant reminder from the media about our past.  There were always commercials for Tyson chicken, and news stories of the devastation in the Central America rainforest.  It has always been there, reminding us. 

Another reminder is our middle child Taylor.  He was diagnosed with Lupus at a very young age and I have always blamed our countries food supply for his illness.  The chemicals and pesticides that factory farms introduce to our children daily, in my opinion, are causing massive amounts of sickness and death.  Every time I look at my son there is a feeling of regret, a feeling that I could have done more. 

These reasons, these regrets, have driven us to be better stewards of our planet and its resources.  And for many years we were only in a position to help in little ways.  Recycling, growing hemp (a miracle plant by the way), growing free range chicken, and eating local were our contributions to a better planet.  But as things in Washington have taken a turn for the unimaginable lately, we realized we need to take a leap of faith and not look back.  To do something for the planet that was bigger than ourselves, something that could help others as well as ourselves to overcome the burden we are placing on the planet daily and to somehow finally achieve…redemption.

We grow hemp on our property.  It has thousands of uses, one being a viable alternative to paper.  The industry is growing, but still has a way to go before the planet leaves wood products and accepts hemp as the standard.  So, we turned to planting trees as a way to offset the carbon footprint we Americans all carry.

We started small, only a few trees here and there.  We quickly realized that our family and friends were looking for the same opportunities, only they lived in apartments, or didn’t have access to property that would allow them to grow their own food, or plant a tree.

This is how The Grove began, as a service assisting people like ourselves who feel a desire, a pull, to do something more. Our circumstances in life sometimes don’t allow for taking that big leap, or to find that avenue to make a difference for the planet.