Rising Stars: Meet Kathryn (Kat) & Cliff Meinhardt of Topeka

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathryn (Kat) & Cliff Meinhardt.

Hi Kathryn & Cliff, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I always said I would have a house full of kids if I could. Suffice it to say, this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, but I wouldn’t change any of it for the world!

As a single mom to 7, I purchased our current 9-acre homestead in 2020. We moved in just before COVID shut down everything. I was thankful and felt blessed that our lives would be able to be “normal.” I was already homeschooling my teens as they joined my family via foster care and adoption. They had large learning gaps to overcome and struggles from prenatal exposure to drugs and alcohol. My six kids were at home, and I quickly settled into the farm life with lots of learning. I was born and raised in New Jersey and never farmed a bit. We started raising Nigerian Dwarf goats, chickens, and turkeys. Since then, we have added another major livestock adventure with 9 emus.

Cliff and I met and married in 2021. And our adventure has taken off inside our home and business. I originally bought a freeze drier for personal food preservation and began trying various candies. I was selling these locally and through Facebook on a very limited small scale until this year. We decided to give the Downtown Topeka Farmers Market a try this year. This has been a great opportunity to meet community members and give our older kids a business they can be a part of for years to come.

Our freeze-dried goodies have taken a life of their own. We started with basic Skittles and caramels but now have over 40 items, including 5 flavors of Skittles, gummy candies, ice cream and ice cream sandwiches, several different fruits, and other treats. We hope to add another freeze dryer to keep up with demand and expand our products to include other items like camp foods and survival products.

Cliff brought a passion for raising rabbits and a hearty stock of American Chinchilla rabbits and Californians. One of our shared passions happens to be aquaponics. Cliff is looking forward to expanding as he deeper into that passion and the dream of amazing year-round produce and fish.

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As a single woman, there have always been people who had doubts and thought I was crazy for being a foster and adoptive parent. Then as God led me to provide permanency for 6 of those children, some of those struggles became advocating for each child’s needs. I became a self-made “expert” in fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) as we are parenting 6 children prenatally exposed to various substances. This city girl learned more on the farm than I could’ve imagined! That was certainly not without trials and struggles, from building goat pens to chicken coops to learning how to butcher our food. It has been well worth it because I’ve even had the opportunity to share this knowledge with other families. Every animal has various nutritional needs, and they certainly don’t care if there are 12 inches of snow on the ground. They still want food and water. We pull together as a family to accomplish it all. This past year has also brought the joys and struggles of blending two families and building the business. Thankfully our kids all get along and enjoy each other. They also pitch in around the homestead for us to succeed at farmers’ markets and events.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
At Penny-Farthing Farm, we aim to provide the best foods we can for our family and those we are lucky enough to partner with. We strive to be the best stewards of our things, including livestock, finances, and land. We can often offer farm-fresh eggs and goat milk on a limited basis. Hopefully, we’ll have more in the future. We specialize in freeze-dried goodies, and these are our best-selling items. We strive to have something that everyone can enjoy. Recently, we had a special request from a special customer with some food allergies, so we were able to add some organic candy to the mix for her and other kids like her!

We love surprises, fun facts, and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
Cliff and I have 11 kids! We are the local “YOURS, MINE, & OURS” When we met, I had 8 children, one adult biological son and seven in the home (four adopted and three placed with me as foster children.) Cliff has two adopted children, and then on our two-week anniversary, we took placement of a newborn younger sibling of two of our sons. It’s a busy house and life, but God has called us to this.

Pricing:

• Freeze-Dried candy/goodies (multiple varieties) $4
• Freeze-Dried Fruit. $5
• Freeze-Dried Skittles LARGE BAG $7.50
• Freeze-Dried Organic Giggles $10

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.pennyfarthingfarm.net
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pennyfarthingfarmks/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PennyFarthingFarm

Image Credits
wedding photo – Kathryn White photo of Cliff & Kat – Joanna Aldape