Kim shows what the finished compost looks like, which looks like a beautiful, dark soil when it breaks down. Look closely and you’ ll see that even the worms like it.
They had some realtors that they were already speaking to and they would wake up, Archie said, and drive one or two hours to see a listing. They camped in the area of the listing and then woke-up and did it all over again.
“ Sometimes, we’ d see two or three places. Sometimes we’ d only see one. And there were only two properties we liked the entire 30 days,” he said.
The orchard is left wild and natural and the fruit trees are planted in rows in the midst of the native fauna and flora. Each tree is protected by a fence and mulch is used as a weed suppressant around the base.
One of the realtors they’ d been working with called them about the property they now live on.
“ And it was in our last two days or last day,” said Archie and Kim said it was actually their last day.
“ We were supposed to be leaving the day we saw it,” she continued.“ And we picked this house because we found the best soil here.”
“ Also, we really, really love the people here,” added Archie.
They were warned by people they knew in Philadelphia that, because they were“ Yankees,” people down here weren’ t going to be nice to them.
“ It was the complete opposite. Every one was so hospitable,” said Kim.
“ The people were so much nicer here than up there, just in general,” Archie said.“ People respected our goals and wanted to help.”
“ Everyone was so excited about what we were doing,” Kim said.“ Our neighbors are great.”
She also said before they had their own tractor, their neighbor would come over and help them move things with his tractor.
“ It’ s really made us appreciate having community. Because, coming from a city environment, you’ re surrounded by people but no one really feels like your neighbor or feels like you’ re close to them in any way,” said Archie.
The couple showed me around their farm where they are growing about 180 fruit trees and bushes with 170 different varieties of fruit. They have a large portion of their property where they will put in row crops in the future. They started right away, planting the fruit trees, when they first moved here because they knew it would take longer for them to develop and start bearing fruit.
The couple leaves the farm wild and in its natural state, planting the fruit orchard in
14 MoultrieScene JUNE 2025