Five Marys on Urban Exodus
Brian and Mary Heffernan Owners of Five Marys Farm in Fort Jones, California
To get to Five Mary’s Farm, you have to drive through damp Northern California forests and wind alongside deep river ravines, until you clear the mountain pass and arrive in the expansive prairie river valley of Fort Jones, California. Mary and Brian Heffernan’s Sharps Gulch Ranch spans the country road, river pastureland and barn on one side and the family’s modest home, historic bunkhouse, high pastureland and mountaintop on the other.
This couple and their four daughters named Mary - MaryFrances (Francie), MaryMarjorie (Maisie), Mary Jane (JJ) and MaryTeresa (Tessa or Tiny for short), have never been a family to shy away from surmounting challenges and hard work. Before leaving city life, they lived in the Silicon Valley center of Menlo Park. Brian worked as an attorney for many years but left practicing law to work alongside his wife. Together, Mary and Brian opened eleven family-focused businesses in Menlo Park; a learning center, a maker’s space, a plant/floral shop and a play space for toddlers, just to name a few. Each business they created thrived as they listened closely to what people in their community wanted and needed.
In 2010, they opened a farm-to-table restaurant called Bumble. The seed was planted to start a livestock operation while trying to source ethically raised meat for Bumble. They struggled to find suppliers that delivered on their promise of animals that lived good lives before ending up on someone’s plate. Mary and Brian had always dreamed of eventually leaving city life behind and raising happy, dirty, and independent free-range kids.
They decided to explore a new venture, building a livestock ranch somewhere in California so they could supply their own meat products to their restaurant and many others in the Bay Area that were also looking for ethically raised meat. In 2013, their search came to an end when they toured the Sharps Gulch Ranch. Up in the river prairie land of Siskiyou County, it sat a short drive away from the Oregon border and close to California’s main thoroughfare of I-5. By California standards, a quick 6-hour drive back to Menlo Park, but without the insane sticker price of land closer to the Bay Area.
The property had two houses, one a historic Victorian in desperate need of repair and one a cozy two-bedroom cabin that the previous owners had made their primary residence. Originally, they planned to hire ranchers to run their operation for them, and they would drive up on weekends with their girls so the family could get much desired time running free in the great outdoors. That plan only lasted a few months, as they instantly noticed a positive change in their children and themselves the more time they spent on the farm. They loved repairing fences, learning about animal husbandry, and the daily rhythms of feeding, watering and caring for their animals. They also loved how the ranch brought their family together, working each day alongside their girls and one another.
Brian and Mary were ready to take a huge leap of faith. They sold their businesses and put their house on the market. Originally they planned to renovate the Victorian house to allow everyone their own space when they moved, but the insane start-up costs to get their livestock operation off the ground put that project at the end of their list. They opted to move full-time into the tiny cabin, Mary and Brian in one room and their four girls in the other.
However, after only three years of running Five Marys Farm, it is amazing what this family has accomplished. They raise cattle, sheep, pigs, turkeys and chickens. They run a mail-order meat business, sell their ethically raised products and eggs locally in their new community and also make the 6-hour trek every month and set up farm stands at the homes of friends and family - inviting customers and the public to come learn more about what they do, try their products, buy their meat and eggs and enjoy a ranch style beverage or two. They call it a "farmers market meets a cocktail party."
They have recently received an unprecedented level of recognition for their efforts to produce an ethical and sustainable source of meat. In 2018 they were voted Paleo Magazine’s favorite farm. They have become brand ambassadors for Carhartt and were featured in Oprah Magazine’s October 2018 issue highlighting “women leading interesting lives.”
There are no holidays or weekends, but getting to work together as a family, for Mary and Brian, feels like hard but incredibly rewarding work. At the end of a long day, Mary and Brian love to mix a cocktail, put a Five Marys roast in the oven, and sit on their front porch to watch their daughters run free in the yard. This new life required a lot of sacrifice, hard work and risk, but for them, the payoff is seeing their girls grow into fearless, independent and hardworking free-range women.
Read the full interview on Urban Exodus HERE
