Emily Stevenson

About Your Homestead:

Our 50-acre farm was a land grant for military service in the Revolutionary War, and has been cared for by only three families and has been a farm continuously since then. We are lucky enough to know both previous families and know lots of the history of our farm. The centerpiece of our homestead is the barn built in 1894. It's home to the horses, cows, peafowl and equipment as well as hay. We have other outbuildings for the poultry, hogs, and sheep. Our animals have over 20 acres of pasture, and we also make hay from our fields with our team of draft horses. We raise organically grown produce in a market garden and a hoophouse, and other outbuildings include a seed starting greenhouse, a blacksmith shop, other workshop areas, and a roadside farm stand. Our farm stand is located right in front of the beautiful farmhouse that is our home, and is open to the public from Memorial Day weekend through the end of November. We are busy year-round gardening and tending to livestock as well as creating a variety of handcrafted items including hand-forged metal work, natural body care items, jewelry and more.

About Emily:

I'm Emily Stevenson, and I live and work full-time at Pleasant Valley Farm, a 50-acre farm in Tionesta, Pennsylvania. My husband Dan and I run a diversified family farm, raising organically grown produce & herbs as well as a variety of livestock & poultry, and offer the fruits of our labor for sale to the public from our roadside farm stand. We also have an online Etsy store where we showcase our artisan talents- Dan is a blacksmith and I create herbal salves, sewing projects, handmade jewelry, and more. We have no employees and no tractor, as we farm with draft horses. As someone who did not grow up farming or gardening, I completed a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Pittsburgh and worked in the field of family literacy and adult education before transitioning to full-time farmer, working the very land where Dan grew up. At times, it felt like a steep learning curve but I feel fortunate to have found a way to earn a living that is not only a job but also a calling. I'm passionate about connecting folks to where and how their food was raised, and to helping preserve part of America's agricultural heritage by stewarding a historic farm with buildings dating to the 1800's, raising endangered breeds of livestock & rare varieties of produce, herbs and flowers, and maintaining the knowledge of how to use draft horse power and antique equipment. I've gone from novice to part-time to full-time farmer over the past decade and have learned a lot along the way, and am excited to share it with you here!