Jeffrey and Kaarina Knisely are the full time farmers for Abundance Acres Farm. They live in a house on the farm land. Kaarina has a bachelors degree in production horticulture and environmental landscaping and is originally from Minnesota. She worked at a CSA farm in Pennsylvania and has always enjoyed working the land and making things beautiful. Jeffrey called Vermont home from middle school and onward. He has a bachelors degree in nursing and has always dreamed of living sustainably off the land. Having a farm has been a dream of the Kniselys for a long time.
Jeffrey and Kaarina were both born in Nepal…but that is a story in its self. They had a heart for going back overseas to serve in some capacity. After they were married they studied community development at a hands-on training school (HEART) in Florida. This school combined many of their interests from animal husbandry and agriculture to health and sustainable living. After this training they moved to Lao PDR to work with Mennonite Central Committee. For 3 years they served in a small rural town located in the mountains of north central Laos. This blog follows their adventures in Laos. Jeffrey worked as a community health promoter and Kaarina worked part time as an administrative assistant and writing stories. They returned in 2013 accompanied by their daughter, Moriah, born in Thailand. Their second daughter, Sierra, joined the family in 2015. Their son, Micah, was born in 2018. In 2017 Karen and Steve Knisely (Jeffrey’s parents) moved to the Abundance Acres’ property and built a home along with Jeffrey and Kaarina. Collectively the Kniselys pool their efforts in running the farm.