Preserving the Food Homestead Business

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Weeping Duck Farm sits on fields and woods that offer blueberries, blackberries and apples, as well as space for the Antaki’s ducks, chickens and peacocks to roam.
Weeping Duck Farm sits on fields and woods that offer blueberries, blackberries and apples, as well as space for the Antaki’s ducks, chickens and peacocks to roam.
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This majestic peacock is one of the many birds among Weeping Duck Farm’s permanent flock.
This majestic peacock is one of the many birds among Weeping Duck Farm’s permanent flock.
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Ana and Roy Antaki selling their homemade products at the farmers market.
Ana and Roy Antaki selling their homemade products at the farmers market.
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You can prepare a variety of foods with lacto-fermentation, including (left to right) celeraic, green tomatoes, kimchi, cucumbers and red cabbage.
You can prepare a variety of foods with lacto-fermentation, including (left to right) celeraic, green tomatoes, kimchi, cucumbers and red cabbage.
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The farm’s diverse bird family is epitomized by these baby peacock chicks. Their mother abandoned the nest, so Rosette, a Muscovy duck, hatched them. A bantam hen, Little Opal (shown in background), and a bantam rooster, Roostie, taught the chicks to feed.
The farm’s diverse bird family is epitomized by these baby peacock chicks. Their mother abandoned the nest, so Rosette, a Muscovy duck, hatched them. A bantam hen, Little Opal (shown in background), and a bantam rooster, Roostie, taught the chicks to feed.
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The Belfast, Maine Farmers Market.
The Belfast, Maine Farmers Market.
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This 10 liter bottle of lacto-fermented green tomatoes requires maintenance to be sure the brine level remains constant, and any surface mold is removed.
This 10 liter bottle of lacto-fermented green tomatoes requires maintenance to be sure the brine level remains constant, and any surface mold is removed.
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Zippy the duck.
Zippy the duck.
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The barn at Weeping Duck Farm in winter.
The barn at Weeping Duck Farm in winter.

In 1997, Ana and Roy Antaki moved from corporate jobs in Kansas City, Kan., to a 150-acre former dairy farm, which they call Weeping Duck Farm, in Montville, Maine. The Antakis’ journey back to the land led them to discover a more satisfying, traditional way of life. Now they earn money selling handcrafted products at the local farmers market, including woodcrafts, personal care products, and homemade food items, such as veggie burgers and healthy fermented foods.

How It All Began

Ana was working for Hertz in New York City when she met Roy, who was employed by a trading company that transferred him there. Two months later, says Roy, he and Ana “met, got married, then started dating,” and they’re still dating after 30 years.

From New York, Roy was transferred to Kansas City, where he and Ana quickly saw what they’d heard environmentalists talking about: suburban sprawl and the destruction of wildlife habitat. “We decided that maybe we should live in a way that is less noxious to the planet; a much simpler way,” says Ana.

Their four years in suburban Kansas City, where neighborhood rules prohibited hanging out laundry and even growing tomatoes in the back yard, “were a blessing in a sense,” Roy says. “It made us realize that we wanted to get out of the rat race.” They sold everything (except their 15 exotic birds) and moved to Maine. “We were innocent enough that we moved in mid-January — we were lucky,” Roy says. They arrived at their farm just ahead of a snowstorm.

  • Published on Apr 1, 2007
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