Ashley Passino, 10-25 Acres, Livestock + Vegetables+

I grew up on a farm and was raised with hands-on experience in animal husbandry, food preservation, and general self-sufficiency practices passed down directly from my family. Over the past 33 years, I've built substantial experience in animal welfare and pet care, including ongoing TNR (trap-neuter-return) colony management — work that requires daily animal handling, health monitoring, and long-term care planning. More recently, I've been running an urban homesteading practice from a small apartment, focused on container gardening and food preservation — growing food in limited space and learning to can and preserve what I grow. I document this work as a content creator under the brand @hustle_n_jars, with a focus on "porch to pantry" self-sufficiency. While I haven't yet operated a full farm, I bring a strong practical foundation — a farmer's upbringing, decades of animal care experience, and current hands-on growing/preserving practice — along with a genuine long-term goal of relocating to Maine to build a working homestead.

My long-term goal is to relocate from Washington State to rural Aroostook County, Maine, to build a small diversified homestead rooted in the same values I've spent years developing: hands-on animal care, food preservation, and practical self-sufficiency. I grew up on a farm and have 33 years of animal welfare experience, including ongoing TNR colony management, and I currently run an urban homesteading practice — container gardening, food preservation, and canning — from a small apartment, which I document as a content creator under the brand @hustle_n_jars with a "porch to pantry" philosophy. I'm looking to transition from urban homesteading to a working farm, ideally through a work-to-own or apprenticeship-style arrangement where I can build hands-on farm-operation experience while contributing meaningful labor. My goal is a small, diversified operation — poultry, goats, horses, herbs, vegetables, and fruit — sold through direct-market channels like a CSA or farm stand. I bring genuine commitment, a strong practical foundation, and a documented public platform that could also help support and promote the farm's story and products

I have a strong foundation in animal husbandry, food preservation, and small-scale growing from my farm upbringing and current homesteading practice, but I'm seeking guidance on scaling that experience to a full working farm — particularly business planning and financial management for a farm operation, pasture/land management, and hands-on mentorship in daily farm operations during a transition period (such as a work-to-own or apprenticeship arrangement).