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GIBSONVILLE — When the Aday family moved from the Florida suburbs to rural Guilford County two years ago, they planned just to raise alpacas on the land.

Following conventional agricultural wisdom, they clear-cut 3.5 acres of trees to create grazing pasture.

But as Eddie and Allison Aday researched, they realized they could’ve done things in a more sustainable way — their goal for Asgard Farm.

“We’ve made a lot of mistakes,” Eddie Aday said.

Allison Aday said they’re going to replant some of the trees. They’ll create wooded pasture by growing rows of trees among which lambs and hogs will graze on native grasses. The animals will have shade and add nutrients to the pasture, which will provide harvestable wood through the years.

“We’re just beginning to learn how much we don’t know,” Eddie Aday said.

The Adays have learned a lot as their plan for a farm has evolved. Asgard Farm sells eggs, chickens, goats’ milk soap and alpaca fleece, although the Adays may eventually phase out the herd of a dozen alpacas.

The chicken and eggs are the farm’s primary revenue, but “all the little drops in the bucket help,” Allison Aday said.

In the fall, they’ll plant fruit trees, and soon they’ll begin selling lamb and rabbit meat. The farm probably won’t sell vegetables, although the Adays grow their own vegetables and give away extras to neighbors. They have a flock of guineas whose sole purpose is to eat the squash bugs off squash and other plants in the cucumber family.

Allison Aday works full time on the farm. Eddie Aday, a former Marine and Iraqi war veteran, works for the federal government. He frequently travels for work but plans eventually to work as an EMT so that his schedule allows him to focus more on the farm.

“We want to take these 13 acres and make it as efficient and as wholesome and healthy as possible,” Eddie Aday said.

The farm focuses on treating its livestock humanely, as 7-year-old Branwyn Aday explained.

“Animals are supposed to be able to enjoy their entire life,” she said.

The chickens raised for slaughter eat bugs and grass underneath moveable enclosures made of fencing, called “chicken tractors.” The Adays move the structures around the pasture each day. Meanwhile, the chickens’ droppings fertilize the grass.

The birds will reach only about half the weight of conventionally raised chickens, but they taste better, Allison Aday said.

“What they lack in size they certainly make up for in flavor,” she said.

The laying hens mingle with the alpacas and two goats, and a rescued guard llama named Mei Xiang protects the animals from predators. Roaming dogs have killed the Adays’ chickens and goats and are the reason the meat birds must stay in the “chicken tractors.”

The family wants to help to rebuild local food systems and make a living doing it.

“The government has done this country such a disservice as far as the food system goes,” Eddie Aday said. Animals are often treated as commodities rather than living creatures and aren’t fed or treated well, Allison Aday said.

The country can feed itself on local foods if large farms are weaned off subsidies and more people commit to the local food system, Eddie Aday said.

“We can feed ourselves,” he said. “Right now we export so much of our locally grown food,” he said.

The Adays said they welcome visitors to the farm and want people to ask questions about how they raise their livestock. Contact the farm at 266-8113 or through the Facebook network.

Contact Jamie Kennedy Jones at jamie.kennedy@news-record.com or 449-4610.