Eight years ago, Millennials Britt and Brooke Dowd bought a farm, and people are always asking for their back 40 story.
“You seem too young…how did you get here?” they ask.
But the Dowds take it as a compliment. They’re just old souls with a fresh flair. They sit down to dinner together as a family no matter how hectic the day gets, and the day can get pretty hectic. But they embrace it all.
“We’re working hard because we’re blessed and blessed because we’re working hard,” they say, “and God is good.”
As founders and owners of Green Again Lawn Care in Spring Hill since 2012, the Dowds purchased the 40-acre farm in Paola from Britt’s parents after they got married. It provided more room to store equipment and products for their business plus breathing room to expand their family and their farm-loving lifestyle.
“We have always had a love for the outdoors and children and animals,” they say.
Britt and Brooke both attended Olathe high schools and went on to graduate together from MidAmerica Nazarene University. A few months into dating, Britt bought Brooke her first horse, and from then on, they started planning to live their lives forever on a farm.
Today, with their two toddler daughters, Remi, 3, and Sage, 2, the Dowd family takes care of their chickens, ducks, cattle, three horses (RayRay, Navy and Sheba), one dog (Bear), two cats (Chewy and Emme Elle), and their two kittens (Peaches & Cream).
“We have a routine of checking on our little farm animals and letting our toddlers play with them. Feeding the chickens, ducks, cats, dog and checking on the horses. Then the girls usually want to go ride around the pasture on our four-wheeler, and we’re also teaching them how to ride horses. Every day is a little different. Sometimes we’re maintaining our field, mending our fence, building a new chicken coop or giving medicine to sick cows or horses. Sometimes we get a call in the middle of the night that one of our cows has escaped, so it’s not all cute and idyllic. But we love being able to experience God’s creation of wide open space and beautiful land with no one around. We have a couple of ponds that we fish in the summer, and in the winter, Britt loves to deer hunt.”
Hard work, responsibility, passion for the outdoors, and faith in God are the four tenets they hope to instill into their daughters. And stay tuned for more children and animals to come. The Dowds are currently rebuilding the original 1965 brick house on their property so they can continue to grow their family.
“We started the house completely from scratch,” Brooke says. “I’m obsessed with antique finds like old church pews and blue mason jars and pretty much anything made out of old wood, and I think it all looks amazing with our Chip and Jo style farmhouse which includes shiplap in the dining room.”
Because their farm was previously owned by Britt’s family prior to purchase, it has always been known to them as the Dowd Farm – a namesake they will continue.
“With that historic feel and family dynamic,” Brooke says, “I could never leave.”
“Always have a supper table big enough to share your life with friends and family.”