Blog

We are Amy and Brandon Tavalin and live in College Grove, TN on Amy’s family
farm, certified organic Delvin Farms. We met in 2009 at an agriculture conference, got
married in 2011 and started Tavalin Tails farm that same year. Originally, we began a
meat production and offered a meat CSA to coincide with Delvin Farms vegetable CSA.
We raised pigs, cows, chicken and lamb. After a few years, we realized that our hearts
were in the sheep and focused on raising quality breed stock and lamb meat and
quickly became known for raising the best sheep in our area.
We started with very little when it came to the sheep- we had two Pyrenees
puppies to serve as livestock guardian dogs, a large dog kennel, 10 acres of apple trees
and some electric netting. The idea was to help Delvin Farms prune the apple orchard,
and after much research we discovered that the Katahdin breed was ideal for the job.
We bought 12 bred ewes from a local farmer and every day that they survived was a
miracle in our eyes! That first year was a huge learning experience, but the puppies
grew up to be amazing guard dogs, and the ewes gave us a beautiful crop of lambs that
became our foundation. Since that first year we have expanded to over 700 sheep and
have exported breed stock all over the United States, Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, and
Puerto Rico.
Not only has our sheep production grown since that first year, but so has our
family. Our son Adam, age 10, and daughter, Grace, age 4, help us care for the
livestock. Adam is involved in 4-H and participates in projects such as the Chick Chain,
Public Speaking, Demonstration and Archery. His goal is to have a large chicken
production and sell eggs at the farmers market. Grace loves ballet and caring for all the
animals on the farm and looks forward to following in big brother’s footsteps in 4H!
I work as the Director of the Franklin Farmers Market, Director of the Pick TN
Conference and as a member of the USDA State Committee. I also homeschool Adam
and Grace which takes up most of my time, but it is a joy to watch them blossom on the
farm. We love our days together, starting our mornings out with feeding Adam’s
chickens, checking on his “babies” (lambs being born) and playing outside before doing
our schoolwork. A lot of home school families like to start their mornings off with work
and then have the afternoons free, but we have gotten in a wonderful rhythm of slow
mornings on the farm and schoolwork in the afternoons.
Brandon is the full-time farmer and the “brains” behind Tavalin Tails Farm. He
also serves as the Small Ruminant Specialist for the UT Extension in Williamson
County. We both keep busy with our multiple jobs and raising our children! We love
anything outdoors including hiking, camping and rock climbing, so raising our children
on a farm comes naturally.