Gates, Alicia, Finn, and Jackson having fun on the farm
Ryan and Alicia Butler moved from Baltimore, Maryland to a rural farm in Durham back in 2007. Alicia’s father and TLC board member Norris Cotton owned the land at the time. Aside from a farmer who owned a few head of cattle, the farm was sitting mostly unused.
“This was a landing spot for us. We thought we were going to live here for six to ten months. We just never left,” said Alicia. Living on the farm, which they cleverly named Green Button Farm, with their three boys, Jackson, Gates, and Finn, the couple started growing a small family garden as a relaxing activity. Deciding they wanted to have their own eggs, Ryan and Alicia then raised six chickens. They began sharing their food with the community by bringing eggs and vegetables to cocktail parties with friends. “People really liked it. People would say you should take up golf or offshore fishing because it would be cheaper than your farming habit and less time consuming. We decided we either needed to scale back or start generating some revenue,” said Ryan.
The farm maintains a flock of heirloom, threatened breeds of chickens including Black Austrolorps, Dominiques, Welsummers Ameraucana, White Leghorns, Rhode Island Reds, and Silver Spangled Hamburgs.
Green Button Farm's heirloom breed pigs graze on pasture with access to grasses, legumes, forested areas, and, occasionally, pumpkins.
