If you were a bird and landed somewhere on Archbury Farms you might think you had landed in heaven. Archbury Farms is just that for Ed and Wanda Currier, a little piece of heaven on earth. The more than 1,600-acre farm is located in the beautiful Ozark Mountains in Van Buren County, with Alread, Ark., being the closest small community.
In 1967 Ed was looking for land in both Arkansas and Tennessee, a large piece of land he could make into a farm. A real estate company in Marshall, Ark., showed him 750 acres of property and he knew this was the place for him. He purchased the land but at that time Ed lived and worked in Florida, so he hired workers and went to his farm every chance he had. Like most of the Ozarks, the land was abundant with rocks. It took a lot of hard work removing the rocks to make way for pastureland, ponds and roads. The farm was home to registered Angus and Charolais cattle for many years. Ed sold the cattle a few years ago.
About 10 years ago Ed retired, sold his business, and moved to the farm full time. About five years ago he met Wanda when she was buying hay for her horses. Ed got sick with a lung disease and then cancer; Wanda offered to drive him the long distances to the doctor and chemo appointments. They were great friends and that friendship grew into love. Two years ago they were married and Ed said, “Wanda is a remarkable woman.” His admiration for her is obvious, as he is now recovering from cancer of the eye and she has stepped in and taken over the farm duties. He would like to be right out there with her but is forced to take it easy during his recovery process.
Wanda really is a remarkable woman. With the help of a neighbor, Cody, she gets the hay in during the season and handles other necessities of farm life. She also takes care of the animals on the farm, most of which have been rescued for one reason or another. She grew up a city girl going to ballet classes and working in an office for a large company. Her mother said, “I didn’t raise a farmer,” but that’s exactly what Wanda loves to do. She loves being on the farm as much as Ed does.
Currently there are 13 horses on the farm, with several of them being rescued. Ed and Wanda had a friend who died of cancer and they took her three horses in. They also have Desnitar, a purebred Peruvian stallion, whose former owner just wanted him to go to a good home. Caesar is a Tennessee Walker and was underweight after his trainer died. Caesar is now healthy and sleek, and was sold to some close personal friends for $1, with the agreement that he would be sold back to Ed and Wanda in the event the buyer no longer wanted him. He continues to live on the farm.
There’s also an abundance of wildlife that Ed and Wanda are dedicated to protecting. Even with the pastures and ponds, there are plenty of wooded areas and habitat for wildlife. Archbury Farms is a private place but the mission is to “Share it with likeminded people,” said Wanda. She and Ed weren’t from the Ozarks but feel like they were meant to be where they are. “I wasn’t from the Ozarks but I got here as fast as I could,” she said.
