A Little About Us
The name Usaquen
Pronounced /oo'sa'ken/
Usaquen is the first established village in Bogota, Colombia. Located in the eastern hills from the capital. Our family grew up visiting this hill often, my mother had many fond memories of the area and even to this day is a favorite place to spend leisure time when we visit the city.
Few years ago my husband's work had us relocate to the eastern TN mountains after living many years in New England. It was a difficult cultural adjustment but living in the smoky mountains makes it impossible to ignore the beauty of all the farms surrounding the area and we decided to jump in the adventure of homesteading, joining the community and helping the young generations appreciate the value for the land, farming traditions and learning where food comes from.
We wanted to register a farm name related with Home. Greeneville and Usaquen, had many things in common: both places with incredible history, placed strategically in the mountains connected well in our hearts, therefore we chose Usaquen as a good representation of our culture in the beautiful smoky mountains.
This is our initial story, then when you think you that have things figure out something radical happens...
Little did we know God had different set of plans for us and we are now relocated again and settling in Michigan since September 2018, we are confident that the adventures here will lead us to meet wonderful people and will allow us to share the love for homegrown and self sustainability in our new community.
A family with farming dreams
What do you do when your heart hungers for more than what is happening now?
Well, you dig deeper, find where your passion leads you and go after your dreams.
Jim comes from an engineering background were things are carefully planned. So, being an sponsor of this impromptu venture has been great, he has come out of his comfort zone to spend time learning many new animal skills, building houses, pens and spending quality time with his goat farmer.
Nick, left UT Animal Science school in pursuance of other goals but the background of his education has served tremendously when it comes to be my right hand at administering medications and shots without any help or supervision. I can bounce theories with him and he offers reliable hands whenever I need to travel, not to mention he truly enjoys hanging out around animals.
Super Mayah, she is a trooper and my partner in most animal adventures. At 16 she has a fervorous passion for horses, gentle love for goats and even when things can get uncomfortable she embraces farming. She started our first home garden few years ago and has been the inspiration to grow our own produce, she is a very resourceful young farmer.
I am Pilar, half city girl-half country girl. I am an unconditional fan of beauty and authenticity.
I love to be organized, travel, places with history, handmade crafts and FOOD, I grew up in a home where mom introduced lots of flavors and exquisite textures to the palate so in other words I consider myself a food fanatic with curiosity for gourmet flavors.
My hope is to infect you with joy, love for God and his magnificent creation of which we take advantage every day, spend a pleasant time blogging, fill you with ideas inspiring you to take the risk of trying food creations too. I wish to motivate you to turn your "cosina" and home into a special place, with charm, a unique space for you and for those who love you.
Designer by profession, coffeeholic, born in the world of cows, with immense passion for goats, lover of our canine friends, horses, cats and enjoying farming to make my passion a way of life.
I hope to see you here again!
Jim and I were born and raised in Bogota, our little family was established in 1996, we became ex- pats in '99 and since then we have moved many times and embarked many adventures; along all the life transitions comes a time when you plateau, the activities you used to do and enjoy no longer play a role, kids grow and chase their own adventures...
Living in TN for the last 4 years brought many changes to our lives including a renaissance for simplicity and rooting. In search of my roots I decided to farm. Raising goats, cattle, milking etc. My amazing family fully supported the dream. Today we are blessed and happy to say this adventure has united us in different ways and every member of the family has pitched in, rolled their sleeves and learned a lot!
