Hello to all of our followers. This is our first blog entry and we hope that it will just enhance what you can learn about us on our Facebook page, website and Twitter. Please give us any feed back that you think will help us!
Burdoc Farms was purchased in North Christian County just south of Crofton, Kentucky in 1953 at a cost of $2 an acre. When Dr. Norma Shepherd and Burwell Keith Shepherd Sr. were married, they were given a wedding gift to build a home in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. However, they both had a vision and mutual dream of buying a working farm, and someday building a home there. After finding and buying the farm in Crofton they decided to use both their names and the farm became BURDOC Farms.
A native of Omaha, Nebraska, Dr. Norma Shepherd, started her practice in Hopkinsville Kentucky, practicing family medicine, still made house calls and delivered over 6000 children in Christian County and surrounding counties. Originally from Lexington, Kentucky, Burwell Keith Shepherd, Sr. was an attorney practicing law in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Dr. Shepherd made a house call one night to a very sick lawyer and six months later, they were married.
Norma and Keith had a vision of a self-sustaining farm and so they decided to get into the beef cattle business raising American Shorthorns. The family operated a cow/calf operation for over 40 years, raising and showing cattle all over the United States. The farm was taken over by John Shepherd and Burwell Shepherd, sons of Norma and Keith. Eventually John decided to get out of farming, so the farm was left to Burwell and Sara Shepherd to operate. Their three children, Jessica, James and Jackie, also helped out on the farm, with feeding and birthing calves and raising the occasional orphaned calf by bottle. Burwell Keith Shepherd Jr got a degree in forestry from The University of Kentucky. When Norma and Keith Sr. passed away , Burwell decided to get out of the cattle business and concentrate on planting trees, creating a hardwood tree farm, as well as a having a Stewardship Farm.
Sara and Burwell discussed many times that they would eventually build a home on the farm, but there was a lot of discussion of what kind of home. They both were very interested in log homes, visited log home manufacturers, and went to log home seminars. A friend of Sara and Burwell knowing they were interested in log homes gave them a Mother Earth News magazine that was entirely dedicated to log home building and the different methods to building a log home. Burwell decided this was the way to go and purchased a saw mill so that they could cut all their own logs for the exterior and boards for the interior of the home. Every log, wood floor, molding and even stud walls and floors in their home are from trees Burwell cut down on Burdoc Farms.
As the years went by, Sara and Burwell decided to build a smaller log cabin behind the family home for visiting family members and friends to stay when they visited. Many friends have told them over the years that people would enjoy getting away from the city and coming to the farm to stay. After Sara and Burwell’s three children left home, they realized that a bed and breakfast would be a great way to share their love for the farm, with others. Burwell started clearing trails so that visiting families and friends could ride their ATV’s, take nature hikes, mountain bikes or ride horses and enjoy the outdoors. Now there are over 8 miles of trails cleared for visitors to enjoy thru any means they prefer, walking, riding ATV’s, or horses, and mountain biking.
The Shepherd’s oldest daughter, Jessica, has now become interested in being a steward of the land and is helping Keith and Sara to expand the many different opportunites that Burdoc Farms has to offer. The farm just hosted its first wedding on September 8, 2012.
Please keep checking back on our blog to read about the different things we have to offer and the vision that keeps our progress going! You can also check out our website at www.burdocfarms.com
