Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Lewis

Hi Jessica, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?

I was a born and raised city girl who ran to the farm as fast as possible. The hustle and noises of the city always weighed heavy on my heart. My soul could find no rest in it. There was no air for my lungs to take in among the constant pollution that could only be found there. To stumble about with a yearning in my core for something different than how I was raised set me up to be an outcast for most of my young life. After all this beast we call progress is all that anyone could want, right?
Fernweh. A German word that describes the feeling of longing for a place you have never been. A word from a language that I have never spoken but speaks to the very essence of me during those years. I had a longing for something I had never known, for a life that was unattainable in the place which I was raised. I longed for open spaces, fresh air that could fill my lungs, a quiet home that was filled with the noises of children laughing, dinner cooking and maybe the occasional animal that had found its way in. I wanted a slower pace, slower nourishing food, a life that was free from the hustle and chaos that I had been raised in.
I yearned for the farm. From a young age life on a farm was something God placed on my heart. I have always been a “Christian”. I put that in quotations because it wasn’t till a few years ago that I was truly saved and recommitted my life to the Lord. Before that I was a Christian in name only because it was just how it was here in the south. Everything good that happened was by your own hand but everything bad that happened was God’s fault because you just can’t blame yourself.
When I met my now husband fresh out of high school, I didn’t recognize it as the first step into the plan God has stitched together for me form birth. We met in an unconventional way at the time through a dating app. His small-town southern charm won me over almost immediately and I soon found myself relocated to his hometown. Since he’s not one to read the articles I write I am sure I can trust this little secret with my new friends: The only thing more charming than my husband was the small sleepy little town that I now called home.
Nauseating, right? It almost screams Hallmark movie if you’d let it. The big city girl falling for the small-town boy and settling into his sleepy little town to farm and raise five children. Well, I should say the farm was my idea, we only have two children (for right now), and I am absolutely obsessed with those cheesy Hallmark movies. You might be asking yourself how could a city girl even find where to get started with a farm? Well, I will tell you it started with two baby goats and a caring all-mighty God.
Within a year or two after moving to this sleepy town a coworker of my husband approached him with an offering that would kick start me on my farming journey. This coworker had two baby goats that were rejected by their mother, and he just didn’t have the time to devote to them. He knew from my husband that I worked mostly nights and had always romanticized the farm lifestyle, so he offered them to us to bottle raise and start our own little farm. Now did I, a city girl, small town transplant with no background in anything remotely agriculture related have any business taking these goats? Absolutely not, they aren’t even the normal gateway into this way of life. Did that stop me from brining them home? Also no.
Was this another random moment of the universe? Not a chance. Looking back now I can see Yahweh’s (God’s) hands so intentionally involved in everything that brought me to this moment. I can picture the joy He felt as each little piece of this puzzle perfectly placed itself to reveal the picture that is my life I had always yearned for.
The moment I welcomed them home I feel head over heels in love with them. A fire was ignited inside me that I never knew was there. The late-night feedings every few hours didn’t feel like a chore as most would describe them. Every moment in the start of my farm felt blissful and it opened the door to other parts of farming, faith, and community for me.
I stand in my kitchen sipping a glass of wine while the sounds of life dance around me. The children are playing and filling my home with laughter. Dinner is sizzling on the stove, nourishing to our bodies and the smell intoxicating to the nose. I gaze out into the back yard that once housed the goats that started all of this. They are long gone but the memories and lessons they brought will always be carried with me. They are now replaced with a whimsical garden, organic raised chicken, and forest raised hogs. All I am sure will bring their own challenges and blessings.
Fernweh. A German word that describes the feeling of longing for a place you have never been. Yahweh has blessed me with finding my Fernweh. He placed the tiny seed in my heart as a longing to live this life as a farmer and cultivated it into this life that I live now. I will never long for a place I have never been on this side of heaven again. He has blessed me in the moments of joy and in hardship that has taught me the resilience I need to live this life. “For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness. “ Psalm 107:9.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

There has been a ton of obstacles that come with living this life. From losing animals to illness or accidents, conflicts with people close to me that can’t understand my desires to live this life, and even this year was one of the worst years for my garden.

God does not promise us an easy life, but He will use the difficult times we face in order to build us into the person who can cherish the good and fulfilled promises that he has to offer us.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Back to Roots Farm ?

Back To Roots Farm is a small hobby farm with a focus on raising and creating products that would make Grandma proud, focusing primarily on soap. We take pride in the fact that a majority of the ingredients used in our soap are locally sourced from right here in South Georgia and North Florida. We have also started to shift towards offering other items for our customers. Here are a few: forest raised pork, organic farm fresh eggs, and local grown produce.

I also create content to share our life online on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook in hopes of encouraging other to take the leap into this lifestyle and rediscovering a more simple way of life. And have been working on a faith based book on discovering Jesus through homesteading that I hope others can relate to as they navigate their own journeys in homesteading.

I have started offering local classes to help others gain the skills that they may feel overwhelmed to try on their own . We have stepped away from a society where people could easily locate a mentor in the homesteading world.

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?

Find your why and cling to it. God planted the desire for this life in my heart and if I did not cling to that during the tough times, I would have never made it to the other side. Farming isn’t the most convenient life, but it is filled with so many rewarding moments. People and situations will try to attack you why any chance they can get so it is important to be rooted in it.

Going along with standing firmly in your why I would also say to find a good support system if you plan to start farming but to also prepare yourself on how to do it alone. Humans thrive in community but sometimes the devil will send people into your life to get you to abandon the things that God has called you for. In the moments when something you feel called to do only makes sense to you then you must be okay with making that journey alone.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.backtorootsfarmga.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/back_to_roots_farm_?igsh=MWN5aHVwdnN0cG84eg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BacktoRootsFarm?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@backtorootsfarm535?si=34Zasg0SekPOh-4s
• Other: Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@backtorootsfarm?_t=8mR0FvhN3ZG&_r=1