It started with an idea and grew into a reality.

One of our oldest neighbors, Jasper, turned 90 last October. I use the word “neighbor” loosely, as my husband and I moved out of the suburbs of Nashville, Tennessee, into Kingston Springs several years ago. Jasper lives a couple of miles down the road, on a 138-acre farm nestled on the edge of Nashville and raises a herd of 25 cattle, 10 goats and 70 chickens.

Collecting the eggs involved climbing into some of the coops on hands and knees, holding up heavy doors with one hand, while collecting eggs with the other. The coops were built many years ago and were being held together by whatever ingenious method that Jasper was able to devise on an almost-daily basis. With the deteriorating condition of his coops, this labor of love was getting more and more difficult.

One just has to hear Jasper’s story, step foot on his beautiful farm and feel his connection to the land he was born and raised on and wonder how any one person could manage all this on their own, much less a 90-year-old. He also grows a football-field-sized garden every year and donates the entire harvest to local community food banks and friends.