Cattle and cotton : This is what Arizona is all about , according to Michael McKenzie , co - proprietor of theMcKenzie Inn Bed - and - Breakfast , a farmstay just outside Eloy , Ariz. Cotton and alfalfa playing field and mountain vistas border the property . There are a few neighboring ranch nigher to the primary road . hoot peep or break up at insects on the background . you’re able to hear a train in the space . Farm fathom and reek penetrate the air .
The inn is a one - story , blood-red - roofed home base surrounded by peaceful farmland . McKenzie made an architectural design of his and his wife ’s dream theater , confabulate an designer , rented a tractor and the McKenzie Inn Bed - and - Breakfast was presently built .
The McKenzie Inn features three rooms , each with their own particular appealingness and amenities to enjoy reflecting the fiber of the soul that inspired its décor . A wood - burning stone , Zea mays everta popper , Singer sewing machine , and an antique bed and toilet table make my way feel both quondam - fashioned and new . An excellent breakfast carte du jour includes choice such as Mediterranean quiche , casserole , yoghurt pancakes and crude honey .
The inn is part cattle farm , part farm and part wildlife seaport . McKenzie was an Intel technician turned full - meter organic farmer when he bought the belongings in 1997 and started to build Lucky Nickel Ranch from the ground up . Before he was able to farm successfully , he experience his fair portion of learning curves .
“ It took me so long to learn how to irrigate , and that was a disaster my first year , ” he say . “ I was shoveling dirt to keep the water supply on my crop . ”Lili DeBarbeiri
McKenzie shares the following tips for would - be farstay operators :
Lili DeBarbeiri
1. Don’t Be Afraid To Be The First
The McKenzies were the first to purchase land on the then - sprawl 42 - Akka farm . Other kinsperson soon followed and build their own homesteads on dissimilar parcels of the original farm . The family commence the inn parcel of their farm - stay on try in 2008 .
2. Appreciate The Simple Pleasures
After being set off from an aircraft manufacture task in California , McKenzie vow “ to exist more simply and to never put work before sept . ” He begin to project himself as a Fannie Merritt Farmer and rancher and immediately initiate praying and appear at unlike property in Arizona to open up his own farm .
3. Get Creative
“ Small farms must diversify to stay afloat , ” McKenzie . He quick learned that few savings bank make agricultural loans to new , little - scale farmers . He financed his humble - farm dream from his own funds and cunning bargain shopping ( a 1980 tractor for $ 7,500 is apparently a deal ) , trial and fault , and making the right connections over time .
4. Take Advantage Of Growth Opportunities
The McKenzie ’s now supply Whole Foods in Scottsdale , Rio Salado College ’s Café Rio , and Bon Appetite Cafés in Chandler . Local chef buy directly from the farm . “ With every chance that diversifying offers a farm — having U - pick veg , a seam - and - breakfast , sell to local restaurants — another challenge is presented , ” McKenzie say . “ you could have a few good age , then a bad year , then another good year . ”Lili DeBarbeiri
The farm has been a get wind lab for the local community on organic Department of Agriculture . Since they started over a decade ago , organic farming and gardening has since disperse like wildfire around the country . Although Marshall Trimble writes that historically , the “ life of a farmer has never been the subject of amorous traditional knowledge , ” the McKenzie ’s farm seems to be turning that perception on its head .
When You Visit
The property that the McKenzie Inn Bed - and - Breakfast sit on has more than produce and horses : It has wildlife . The farm ’s tunnel hooter cuddle a little beyond the Bermuda grass flying field . A brush wolf basks in the sunlight with a new friend , a Buteo buteo . Bats roost in the toolhouse . With a grant from the National Resources Conservation Service , part of the land is devoted to a wildlife habitat , which is worth check up on out .
The McKenzies run a Saturday farmers market in nearby Eloy . effect , such as preparation demonstrations by chef using the farm ’s specialty produce , a aware - eat workshop and hideaway , a clavus maze , and a pumpkin patch are some of the result go on throughout the year at the farm .
Lili DeBarbeiri
