Today we’d like to introduce you to Jodie Delquadri.
Hi Jodie, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
Todd grew up in central Washington state and spent a lot of time on his grandparents’ farm. One of his first jobs was working at a dairy. He was raised with an appreciation for hard work and a love of farming. He joined the Navy Seabees fresh out of high school and served as a Construction Electrician. We met while he was stationed in Southern California, and we quickly fell in love, got married, and started a family together. Military life took us overseas to Rota, Spain for 3 years, where our 2nd and 3rd children were born. Although Todd would have loved to stay in and retire from the Navy, we ended up getting out, and his heart strings brought us back to his hometown in WA for a short while before we decided to go back to my hometown in CA, where we had our 4th and 5th kids. We had often talked about moving to Texas someday, but we ended up following God’s call to take a job opportunity in western Washington. The job had him traveling too much, but he got to spend a lot of time in Houston and loved it. I have family roots in Texas, and we have always loved the lifestyle and the land. Plus, my best friend and cousin also met a Navy boy, who whisked her off to Dallas when they got married many years ago. When another job opportunity came up in Dallas, we decided to go for it instead of waiting for “someday” since it would mean another big cross-country move for our 5 kids who were already feeling disconnected from their friends due to Covid. We came across this property in our housing search, and Todd was smitten. I, too, loved the idea of raising our kids on a farm in Texas. We took the leap and jumped into farm life with both feet. In a little over a year here, we have already met so many great people, and Forney has truly become our home.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
When we moved to this property, we were so excited at the possibilities it holds, and we were eager to start fulfilling our dreams of a thriving farm. In hindsight, I wish we would have paced ourselves and thought some things through more thoroughly before leaping in various directions at once. In my mind I thought that farming would bring in a good amount of money, then we could just keep putting it back into the farm, and we would be on our way growing and expanding and bringing in even more money. I found out very quickly that farming is expensive! Everything is a big investment, and it takes a long time and strategic planning to start actually earning. And not everything goes as expected. For instance, when deciding to keep different animals in the same pasture. Donkeys and goats typically get along well, and mine had been peacefully living side-by-side for some time, but upon meeting our buck, one of the donkeys made a good effort to kill him. It was terrifying to say the least, especially since I attempted this without my husband home and only a six-year-old to assist me. Weather poses another obvious challenge. This has been an extremely dry and hot summer, and we lost two chickens to dehydration. But in everything, we are learning and adapting and hopeful for great things for the future of our farm.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We have a 4.26-acre family farm in Forney, Texas. We have two donkeys, 13 chickens, four goats, and a young longhorn bull. We currently sell chicken eggs and goat milk products. My husband and I also enjoy all sorts of custom creative projects on occasion. Todd has a construction electrician background and has made all kinds of projects including barn-style doors and gates, a two-tiered flowing water table made from water troughs, and of course the milking stand I use every day. I have always been drawn to creativity and love tackling new projects. I enjoy making hand-painted signs, which is one of the many products we offer in our expanding merchandise shop. Rope halters, feather jewelry, egg aprons, and cattle tag keychains are some more of the custom farm-related items we can make.
Any big plans?
There is much on the horizon for our small but growing farm!
We will be adding more chickens and goats, which means more eggs, baby chicks and goats, and goat milk products. We are always looking for new ways to use goat milk. Our caramel coffee creamer and caramel dipping sauce are my favorites. We will continue cooking up goat cheese and testing new flavors. Soon we will be partnering with my cousin in Rockwall to make goat milk candles made with beeswax and quality essential oils.
Our 10-year-old was born with a gift and dreams of being a high-end fashion designer. Together we will be creating all kinds of farm-related products to sell as well— potholders, egg aprons, bags, feather jewelry, custom keychains, and other accessories.
We hope to start a large garden soon. I’d love to grow our own herbs and lavender to use in homemade butter and soaps.
We plan to someday raise and process our own beef as well and make beef jerky.
I have been planning to start an annual farm festival, so keep an eye out for us! This will serve as a fundraiser for us to help with farming expenses (i.e., fencing repairs, building better shelters, and building a bigger chicken coop). We are still looking for several vendors to join us for the event, and we will have plenty of fun activities for the whole family—hay rides, live music and karaoke, family photos, petting zoo, milking demonstration, and lots more!
Pricing:
- Chicken Eggs $5/dozen
- Goat milk $4/quart frozen, $8/quart fresh in glass jar
- DQ farm brand Richardson snapback hat $25
- DQ farm brand decal/sticker $2
Contact Info:
- Email: DQFamilyFarm@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DQfamilyfarm
