One young woman’s homesteading and nutrition journey
Whether she is processing turkeys she raised in her backyard, planting herbs or making elderberry gummies, chicken broth and apple butter from scratch, there is one driving force behind everything Clare Moore does.
“My favorite verse that kind of relates to all of this is 1 Corinthians 10:31, ‘So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God’ (NIV). That’s the kind of verse I live by. My goal is to steward the land that God has given me well and to glorify Him with it and with my actions and what I put in my body and how I take care of it. That’s my goal and what I hope I can accomplish,” the young woman shared in a voice that always seems to be interlaced with a warm-hearted smile.
A desire to be an inspiration
The 17-year-old daughter of Doug and Naomi Moore has a passion for agriculture and nutrition and is gearing up for a busy season. Spring weather is not the only new arrival at her house in recent days; she just welcomed more than a dozen chicks and hundreds of honeybees as the latest additions to her fledgling farm business.
Its name, Fiddlehead Farm, is a nod to the many ferns near her home and to the years she’s spent playing the fiddle, but it also brings to mind the “promise of new vibrant life” that “unfurls into a glorious, intricate fern,” she shared.
At this point, Moore’s focus in growing her entrepreneurial project is providing food for her family and selling some of what she produces to friends so she can pay for additional homesteading endeavors.
“Last year, I raised 18 meat turkeys, and I sold them for Thanksgiving. That was a fun project and a big learning curve,” she said.
This year, she hopes to expand her social media platform for her business and add content to her YouTube channel, “Sustaining Food for Thought,” which she started with a friend.
“We are really hoping to inspire some young people as young people because I feel like a lot of times people think they’re too young to start something, but ... that’s never the case. To be an inspiration, that would be cool,” said Moore before describing how many of her peers are distracted by social media and other things the culture throws their way. Her hope is that she can remind others that they “can do big things and follow what God has put on their heart to do.”
For as long as she can remember
The Ellijay resident has been interested in raising animals and growing plants since early childhood.
“I remember working in the garden with mom when I was really young. I would help her get rocks out, and that was always fun … I think at first (the draw) was really getting to play in dirt with mom,” she recalled.
As the years passed, however, it was not just Moore’s desire to be helpful that drew her to the garden plot time and time again. She also developed a genuine personal interest in raising the food that ended up on her family’s table. She started picking out things she wanted to try to grow and realized she wanted to learn “the science behind” gardening. As a result, she began delving into such topics as “the pH level of the dirt and figuring out what plants grow well in certain soils.” This year, she ordered a grow light so she could get a jumpstart on growing seedlings earlier in the season. 
Mainstays of her family’s garden have always been tomatoes (“you can’t ever have too much of that!”) and beans (“they’re super simple and you get so much of them”), as well as squash, cucumbers, a variety of medicinal herbs and flowers. This year, Moore plans to try her hand at potatoes.
A sustainable approach
Harvesting vegetables proved to be just the beginning of her explorations into farming and nutrition.
As a seventh grader, Moore hatched the idea of getting chickens after some family friends started raising them.
“It took me awhile, but I convinced (my parents) to let me get some,” she laughed, recalling how she got five chickens and immediately fell in love with the process of raising animals.
“I would spend hours in the chicken coop,” she said, noting the birds were “a really good entry level” experience for learning about animal care.
While it proved to be love at first sight, Moore was not sure what the next step should be. She kept asking herself, “What am I going to do with this? I love it, but how am I going to take it forward.”
The more she looked at mainstream farming practices, the more she realized that they did not capture what she wanted to do. Then, she came across an article about sustainable agriculture, and everything clicked into place. Suddenly, the path forward was clear.
“Sustainable, or regenerative farming — how I would describe it — is taking care of the land and using the land the way that God intended it to be. I’m a steward of His land. I want to raise animals that are being raised humanely without extra additives like antibiotics and things like that because that’s the way God intended it to be. I want to raise them in the best way possible,” she explained.
She has particularly been impacted by the strategies of Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm in Swoope, Va., whom she calls “the grandfather of the homesteading movement.” Moore has visited his farm on three occasions to learn about such practices as rotational grazing and how it can enrich the soil and protect the grasses on which animals feed.
Moore aims to have one big project a year, and this year, her plan is to raise two or three meat pigs. In keeping with her research into regenerative farming techniques, she plans to allow them to forage as naturally as possible so that they can “live out … the pigness of the pig.”
Overcoming allergies
Her journey has also included a strong focus on nutrition and healthy eating.
Since early childhood, Moore has struggled with allergies, but after meeting with a functional nutrition and placing a greater focus on eating whole foods and meat she has raised, she has seen an improvement in this area of her life.
“I used to be a lot more allergic to certain foods, and those have gone away or it’s a lot less severe,” she shared.
Likewise, she has seen improvement in her allergies to animal fur, which is helpful because she farm-sits and works on a farm where she is regularly around animals.
“It’s cool to see how God works — like Him using the allergies, which have been hard, especially when I was younger — to give me a passion for nutrition,” she said.
Her quest for better health has also helped her to develop a passion for exploring new things in the kitchen. From making her own ricotta cheese and butter to mixing homemade salves and everything in between, she is always on the lookout for new things to try.
“I love fermenting food,” she shared, noting how things like homemade sauerkraut, pickles and kombucha are a boost to her gut microbiome and have helped her allergies. “I had a milk goat last year … and I got into making milk kefir. We drank that every morning for a smoothie. That has thousands of the good bacteria.”
Additionally, she enjoys baking sourdough bread, which her family makes once a week. She uses an ancient grain called einkorn, which is easier on the stomach for people, like herself, who have gluten intolerance. Moore also makes her own soap, deodorant and sunscreen and soon plans to try making toothpaste.
Advice for natural living
The young woman described how her personal journey toward better eating and living has given her a mindset shift when she goes to the store. It has given her eyes to see the benefits of eating whole foods over ones that are processed. She also has developed a greater appreciation for the work that goes into raising food and has a better appreciation for the sweat equity involved in bringing a meal to the table.
“I think the disconnect from our food is very prevalent nowadays … You don’t have to raise it. You don’t have to grow it … but just to be connected with where your food is coming from is important so you can appreciate it,” she urged.
When asked what advice she has for people looking to move in a more natural direction, Moore continued, “I would first start with looking at just becoming aware, paying attention to what are the things you’re buying and what’s in your products … And then I would move to trying to grow something simple like a tomato or a bean. Putting your toes in the water. You don’t have to jump into it … A lot of people jump headfirst, and I think it can be very discouraging.”
She explained that failure is a part of the process of learning. As an example, she pointed to her experiences with trying to master sourdough bread.
“I have tons of failures. It’s about trying over and over again … I have spent forever learning how to make it right. There are plenty of times when it comes out, and we have to throw it away because it’s disgusting. It’s all just about learning,” she said.
Continuing with the idea of starting small and building from there, Moore recommends taking stock of the types of food and beauty care products you use on a regular basis. She pointed to switching to organic foods and trying to avoid endocrine disruptors in the products you put on your skin as good starting points that can help begin your journey toward natural living.
Next steps
Moore is currently earning an associate’s degree in Business. Once that is complete, she plans to pursue a certificate in Functional Nutrition. Her goal is to grow her farm business and counsel others as they move toward better health.
“I want to help people, but I want to do it naturally, because I’ve seen how much it can change,” she said of the holistic approach to healthy living promoted by the curriculum in which she is interested.
When not tending animals and experimenting in the kitchen, Moore enjoys racing mountain bikes, hiking, camping and learning English country dancing. ⊂