About Deer Creek Homestead
The Story and History Behind Deer Creek Homestead
We are Al & Sarah Sutton. Parents, grandparents, hobby farmers. We grew up in the Black Hills. We were high school sweethearts and married after graduation, then moved to Rapid City for work. After 25 years and 6 children we had saved enough to buy this property with Deer Creek running through the pasture and move our family out of town. Best decision we ever made.
We started our homesteading journey out of concern for our youngest child’s many health issues and severe food allergies. We believed natural, home grown and home processed foods would benefit his health. We wanted more control over the ingredients in the foods we ate, and we wanted to learn how to produce it.
Each year we select a few new skills or ways to improve the old ones. And boy, is there ever a learning curve! From hail destroying the garden, deer eating the alfalfa, neighbors’ cows breaking in to eat our cherry trees, the great canning lid shortage of 2020, our cows knocking over the bee hives, rabbits burrowing into the high tunnel, and the goats punching holes in EVERY single stretch of fence…we are always improvising and improving
Our first year we began by taking down all the pine beetle damaged trees, purchasing 20 chicks, 2 beef calves, and planting a garden. The following year we added dairy goats, ducks, fruit trees and raspberry bushes. Our third year we added more chickens, 4 calves, and built a 17’x75’ high tunnel to extend our growing season. When covid hit in 2020, we found ourselves able to really work on the homestead part of our lives. We were grateful to have met most of our food needs here and blessed to share beef, eggs, and produce with family and friends during such a tough time. Since then, we have added bees, turkeys, and meat rabbits to our small operation. We have learned so much about the importance of soil health, sustainability, preserving food, and electric fencing!
Everything here has a job: We raise cows and rabbits for meat and tallow. We raise chickens, ducks, and turkeys for meat, bone broth, and eggs. Our bees provide honey & wax while pollinating the garden, flowers, groundcovers, and trees. The goats provide milk and excellent weed control. All our animals provide compost and fertilizer. The high tunnel allows us to protect our produce and grow vegetables 6 months out of the year. We harvest trees year-round to heat the cabins and our home during the winter months, as well as providing wood for summer and fall campfires.
We are not a certified organic farm, but we farm as organically as possible. No vaccines, antibiotics, or growth hormones. No synthetic fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides. We compost and cover crop. All our animals’ free range, they are fed and cared for daily. We aim to promote and maintain the health of the soil, plants, trees and animals on our property. This option works well for us small scale, but we do lose produce and animals because of our choice to be as natural as possible.
Our struggle with predators is real: coyotes, bobcats, hawks, and owls are prolific in this area. Some years are harder than others. There are always unfinished projects, constant repairs, buckets and baling twine to trip over, stalls to clean out…it’s a never-ending messy process. But man, when you work so hard to care for and grow your food it provides a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction that’s hard to describe.
Once we began building cabins and hosting families, we were genuinely surprised how many of our guests wanted to check out the animals in the barn, coop, and pasture. Kiddos were asking to help bottle feed calves, collect eggs, brush the goats, hold the rabbits, pick some cucumbers or a tomato for their mom, etc. Pretty soon we were giving daily tours of the barn and high tunnel, and coordinating “helpers” each night before the campfires started. Here we are 8 years into running Campfire Cabins, and Deer Creek Homestead has been as much of a joy to share with families as our cabins!
If your family is staying here with us at Campfire Cabins, just reach out if you would like to experience any of the chaos that is our homestead! We will do our best to schedule a time to show you around!
Get to Know Life at the Deer Creek Homestead
Walk the grounds, meet the animals, and see how the homestead comes to life. A visit is the best way to understand the heart of Deer Creek and the way we live here. If you have a reservation with Campfire Cabins and would like to arrange a tour, please reach out! Check out campfire-cabins.com for information and reservations.
