We are the current caretakers and owners of Dixon Family Farm. Jeff’s mother’s maiden name was Dixon, and the house and farm have been in his family since the late 1600’s.

We were living and working in Europe when Jeff’s mother passed away in April 2017 — just three years and one day after his father’s sudden death. During that time, we traveled back and forth from Germany to the farmhouse in Southern Maryland, doing our best to care for the property from afar. The house had a hole in the roof, rain collected in pots we placed beneath it, and without anyone there to tend the house, the land, and the outbuildings, everything slowly began to fall into disrepair as nature was encroaching to reclaim it.

At the time, we had planned to continue our life abroad, moving from Germany to Italy and enjoying the work, travel, and adventures Europe offered. But plans changed.

The decision to return came during a memorable night with friends on our rooftop in Germany — drinking gin and serenading our neighbors with Kenny Chesney songs. That night marked a turning point.

In October 2019, we moved back to the States and dove headfirst into a completely new chapter: farming. Claudinne was literally Googling “how to be a farmer” on the flight back to Maryland. Jeff holds a Ph.D., served 23 years in the U.S. Marine Corps as a Combat Engineer, and later worked as a civilian with USAID responding to disasters around the world. Claudinne spent many years working for government agencies with three-letter acronyms and now works for the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Global Center for Health Security. Our formal farming qualifications at the time consisted of Google searches, YouTube videos, and binge-watching Clarkson’s Farm — which, as it turns out, mirrors our experience pretty closely, just without Jeremy Clarkson’s access to fat stacks of cash.

We purchased the farm from Jeff’s Aunt Joan (Dixon Baily) in December 2019. While neither of us came from a traditional farming or agricultural background, we embraced the steep learning curve and quickly fell in love with caring for the land. Each season continues to teach us something new, and the work has become both deeply rewarding and joyful.