Jiminez Farms: a family’s quest for healthy living gives back to the community

A local family of five has turned their passion for healthy living into a way to give back to their community.

Jiminez Farms is a small, local, family farm that has recently begun to flourish. Built and operated by Luis Gutierrez and Ashley Swinford, Jiminez Farms is on a quest to bring healthy, fresh produce to the citizens of Vicksburg.

“Basically we started as a hobby that we for some reason couldn’t keep,” said Gutierrez. “I was working on the boat for the last three years.” Swinford added, “It just started where we wanted to have chickens so we could have our own eggs.” Gutierrez took a big chance at the beginning of the year. “I finally was brave enough to take the jump and get off the boat in January.”

Gutierrez and Swinford say what began for them as a home-based quest to feed their family really took off and developed into a business. The couple has worked hard ever since to invest themselves in their animals and garden. They currently have goats, rabbits, quail and, of course, chickens.

Swinford spoke about how it all came to be. “We found a seller on a Facebook page that had the chicken breeds I’d been wanting. Then tractor supply had chickens there and I got suckered into getting more.” She laughed as she recalled the memory. “People were coming over and they were seeing how many eggs we were getting. We had 17 chickens at the time.”

(Courtesy of Elizabeth Dizzo, Ashley Swinford and Luis Gutierrez)

Gutierrez realized early on that having fresh eggs from healthy, happy chickens made a huge difference. “Free Range at the supermarket is a lie. Those chickens get maybe a square foot of space.” A little bit of research on the brands of eggs labeled “organic,” or “free-range” at the grocery store will prove that eggs often come from chickens who are living in unsavory conditions regardless of advertising. At Jiminez Farms, the animals are loved and treated as family pets. They also have plenty of space to graze and roam.

Eventually, Gutierrez hopes to make this his main focus. “I want it to be my only focus but I’m not big enough for that yet. It’s really just starting to take off for us now. We hope that by next year we’ll be a lot further along.”

(Courtesy of Elizabeth Dizzo
Ashley Swinford and Luis Gutierrez)

Gutierrez and Swinford take great care of their animals. There are three big areas for them to explore and exercise. “A lot of them have names,” noted Swinford. “We know exactly who lays what eggs and what they all like or don’t like.” She went on to reminisce about the “alpha hen” of the group. “The head chicken is named Karen.”

Gutierrez let out a laugh as he chimed in, “Karen runs the show! She leads the pack.” Karen is always the first to the food and she’s the first to lay her eggs. She provides more than just produce for this family. She seems to live up to her name and is the comic relief as well.

The farm recently acquired quails, their newest venture. “We will have pickled quail eggs here in the near future,” said Gutierrez. “We’re experimenting with it. We just got the quails.”

Swinford then elaborated on how rabbits came to find residence on the farm. “We got a rabbit from my friend and I was completely against it,” she mentioned. Gutierrez laughed again as he remembered, “The best thing about that friend was that they told us it was a male.” The rabbit was, in fact, a female. Soon enough they found themselves with a small warren of their own. Swinford continued, “Then we bought another rabbit and went to the local tractor supply for a small animal sale.” Despite reservations at the beginning, they love their rabbits. They both bantered back and forth lightheartedly about how they accumulated animals.

(Courtesy of Elizabeth Dizzo
Ashley Swinford and Luis Gutierrez)

“We kind of just take in animals that people aren’t wanting anymore,” Gutierrez said. They have acquired a few animals that needed new homes from friends and acquaintances. “In a way, we’re kind of a rescue.”

Aside from raising animals and selling products such as eggs and goat’s milk, they also work hard growing fresh fruits and vegetables in their garden. “We’re also gonna have some pumpkins at the beginning of October that we can sell,” Swinford said. Gutierrez added, “We’re slowly but surely always looking for a way to expand.”

Swinford went on, “We started a little garden this year just to test out the waters. We have jalapeños, green bell peppers and some watermelon, we have probably like 20 right now that are coming in. We have a couple of tomato plants but not enough to produce a lot. When I planted the tomatoes, I just wanted to make sure we could juggle it all. All the plants are pretty much flourishing. Hopefully next year we can expand and have a much bigger garden in the spring.”

The goats on the farm are a big hit. Gutierrez spoke passionately about the many benefits of consuming goat milk in lieu of dairy. A fun fact is that goat milk is very similar to human breast milk component-wise. It’s easier to digest than cow milk and is rich in vitamins and nutrients.

(Courtesy of Elizabeth Dizzo
Ashley Swinford and Luis Gutierrez)

If you’re wondering, the answer is yes, the Jiminez Farms family milks their goats strictly by hand. Gutierrez and Swinford shared more laughter when they were asked about the goat milking. In addition to the pride they have in their hard work, it’s obvious that they’re having fun too.

“The goats are super friendly, they love treats and being loved on,” said Swinford. The goats have big personalities and love the attention they get from human interaction.

(Courtesy of Elizabeth Dizzo
Ashley Swinford and Luis Gutierrez)

To Gutierrez, the most rewarding part of running a farm is that “people can know where their produce is coming from. They can know that what they’re getting is fresh and comes from well cared for animals.” The couple expressed that they open their farm to visitors and friends often. They consider themselves somewhat of a family-friendly petting zoo but don’t charge for admission yet. It makes them happy just to see children joyfully interacting with their animals.

“I never once thought it would get bigger than living for my family,” Gutierrez stated “But once you start seeing the changes, you just feel different. You feel better in every way and we knew we had to share that.”

Gutierrez and Swinford have three beautiful children together. Swinford discussed how good it’s been for her kids to be involved in this mission. “It’s turned into a family thing. The kids love it! They get so excited to go collect the eggs. Our youngest gets out there and wrangles the chickens. Our middle son loves to go to the garden and see how big the watermelons are.” She went on to speak about how modern life is generally out of touch with this way of living. “You forget that when you were growing up you played with chalk or jump roped or went out into nature. You forget because in today’s society we have technology and convenience and so many distractions. You have to get back in touch with simplicity.” Her focus is on keeping the kids involved in the farm which has given them all a sense of reward and responsibility.

She clarified, “It was just started to support our family and hopefully instill in them that taking care of these animals takes care of you. Then we realized we could have something here on our hands where we can help other families.” That desire to share with others is what drives the farm towards expansion.

“In January our wheels were turning. New chicks arrived in February, by March we were really moving forward.” Swinford shared. For now, they are focused on fresh eggs, goat milk, homemade goat cheese, and pumpkins. Lots of big additions are coming next spring.

Everything on the farm was built by the blood, sweat, and tears of Gutierrez and Swinford. “We do a lot of things by hand,” Gutierrez started. “We don’t use a tiller or anything. We built everything by hand. Fences to keep out wildlife and shelter for the animals, we didn’t take any shortcuts. We got little donations here and there but other than that, everything is something we built on our own.”

(Courtesy of Elizabeth Dizzo
Ashley Swinford and Luis Gutierrez)

“I did get to live like our ancestors and live off of the barter system for a while,” Gutierrez joked. He mentioned that in the beginning, they got to experience a taste of human history. They’ve acquired several things by trading with other locals and friends.

Swinford perked up as she recalled, “We actually just got two incubators so we’re hoping we can hatch and grow our own chicks. We’ll have fertilized eggs and baby chicks for sale so if people want to raise their own chicks or purchase fertilized eggs that come from our chickens, they can!”

For this hard-working family, the most rewarding experience is one they are sharing with their children. They have built from the ground up a way of life that can provide for years and years to come. The children don’t mind doing the work on the farm, they really enjoy it. Swinford said, “I know it’s going to instill hard work in them and a love of taking care of something that takes care of you.”

Jiminez Farms is so passionate about teaching others in the community about healthy eating and living. They are genuinely excited to share this journey with their community. They’re currently working daily to grow their farm and bring something to Vicksburg that improves life for everyone. They are looking forward to bringing more goods to the table in the coming months.