Couple works to grow their farming operation
BUFFALO, MO. – Despite coming from two very different backgrounds, Zeb and Joanna Ritzheimer have worked diligently to create a self-sufficient farm for their children just north of Buffalo, Mo. Zeb grew up on a farm in Illinois and then Tunas, Mo., when his family moved there. Zeb said the family always had goats and pigs and chickens and horses. While he grew up around a variety of farm animals, Joanna’s family were more city-originated. She loved animals as a child and said she always wanted to live on a farm.
Now, she lives her dream with her husband and two little girls, Mackenna-Lynn and Brynlee-Anne at HeimerTime Farms. On their farm, they have a calf, a pony, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats and goats. The main population of their farm is made up of goats and pigs, specifically registered Nigerian Dwarf goats and registered Kunekune pigs.
The goat herd began as a Mother’s Day gift from Zeb when Joanna expressed a desire to have farm animals.
“I wanted goats and we lived on his mother’s property previous to here, and I wanted all the farm animals,” Joanna recalled.
While living with her mother-in-law, the couple only had a small place to raise animals, yet it was still enough room to start their goat herd. The family’s plans for the goats include selling the kids, but focuses primarily on showing the goats.
During her time with the goats, Joanna learned a lot about the personalities of her goats that she didn’t expect.
“I learned that each goats is very different,” she said. “Like, Rosie, not personable. She will run from you. Whereas, like Daisy, you can pick her up and hold her like a baby. Iris, you could throw her on a leash and walk her like a puppy.”
While the goats breed weren’t a concern, the pig breed was important to the family because of their small children and how destructive pigs can be.
“Kunekune pigs are easy and very docile animals. The Kunekune don’t root; they pasture graze, so they’re not going to make everything look terrible,” Joanna said. “Their meat is really good, and they’re just like giant puppies. You don’t have to worry about them trying to eat you if you fall down in the pen. The kids can go out and pet on them and the only thing you have to worry about is your toes. It’s definitely a boot pen.”
In the end, their goal is to sell the pigs and goats to other farmers who want to start up their own herds. Since the animals are registered, they hope to have a good market for them.
“I wanna start selling,” Joanna said “I invest in nice bloodlines so I can sell nice bloodlines. I want to be able to sell babies to people who want to grow their own show lines and farm names.”
In addition to showing animals, Zeb and Joanna want to focus on self-sufficiency.
“Our goal is to be as self-reliant as possible,” Zeb said. “Not rely on the grocery stores. We want to produce our own food.”
The largest sow in the herd, Marshmallow, will be their meat-producing sow.
“She’ll have giant piglets that aren’t necessarily show quality, but she’ll give you a lot of meat,” Joanna said. “We got her for more of a meat line.”
After seeing the prices of food at grocery stores, the couple wants to provide alternate and more economic food sources for their family.
“You can pay the same amount for what you are going to get at the store as what you’re going to get farm fresh now,” Joanna said. “Might as well know where your stuff is coming from and what is in it.”
Beyond their own needs, Zeb and Joanna want to show others that it is possible.
“It feels so inaccessible to so many people and I want to be like, no, it’s not as hard as it seems,” Joanna said. “You can just have plywood barns. It doesn’t have to be fancy; it can just be fun.”
The Ritzheimers want their children to learn responsibility and the process of life and death at a young age. By watching the life cycle of animals under their care, Brynlee and Mackenna are learning important life lessons. Such as, having to care for animals before other things. Joanna also told a story about one of her daughters when they found a dead chicken.
“At first it really upset her,” she recalled. “We’ve had a few chickens that we’ve come across that have no longer been with us, and she has now normalized it as something that happens.”
In the future, Zeb and Joanna plan to have their herds of goats and pigs expanding to fill their property.
“It just kept growing. Didn’t mean for it too, but now I think we’re going to end up with a lot of them,” Joanna said. “We’ve got the space.”
They would like to give all credit to God, because without him, they would not be where they are in life.
“God has given us a beautiful piece of land to raise Jesus-loving babies on and produce our own food and hopefully food for others,” Joanna said. “Waking up to the sunrise seeing our farm animals and children makes all the hard work and lessons from him worth it.”
