Hi! We are Martin and Anne Chavez, the owners of Chavez Farms and this is our story.

Martin grew up in Southeast New Mexico and was “the skater boy gone country”. I (Anne) grew up in Northwest Pennsylvania and was “the horse girl”. Often times I will ask Martin “babe, do you think we would have been friends in High School?” Martin always answers with a sideways smile and twinkle in his eye “not a chance”. God knew what he was doing because there were so many variables that lined up perfectly for the two of us to meet.

Fast forward to the Summer of 2016. Martin was working as a Wilderness Trails Crew member on the Gallatin National Forest based out of Gardiner Montana, the Gateway to Yellowstone National Park. The wilderness trails crew is in charge of hand clearing all the wilderness trails on the forest. When I say hand clearing, I mean it. They are out there with hand saws cutting trees that fell on the trails. They also assisted with multiple other projects that included constructing a bridge and working with explosives. Great job opportunity and even greater people working there!

I just graduated college and was ready to go see the world. My first stop was Colorado to volunteer with my Aunt and Uncles program Will’s Hope (click to be taken to their website). Will’s Hope is an outdoor educational, growth and self-development opportunity for young adults with mental disabilities, veterans and others. My degree was in Adventure Education so Will’s Hope was a great fit for me. From Colorado, we (Will’s Hope) took a group of mentally disabled young women to Gardiner Montana, the gateway to Yellowstone National Park.

The 3rd day into the Will’s Hope program my Aunt came up to me and said “The Forest Service is going to be coming up with horses this afternoon!” Horses… my weakness. I’ve loved them since I was a little girl. The afternoon rolls around and I hear “they are riding up the driveway!” I go outside with all the young women to await the Forest Service Trails Crew. There was a handsome man riding up on a black horse and I thought to myself “wow, that guy is very good looking!” The second thing I thought to myself was “wow, his stirrups are extremely long. I bet his butt hurts after riding like that for a while”. That handsome man with long stirrups was Martin. Martin dismounts from his horse and starts teaching the young women how to feed a treat and pet the horse. I am in the background trying not to seem desperate to meet him when he finally brings his horse over to me. When he reaches me he asks “would you like to learn how to pet a horse?” I quickly let him know that I’ve owned horses since I was a little girl to which he responded “oh, you are a volunteer and not a participant, aren’t you?” At that point I wasn’t sure how to react except to laugh!

Martin left an hour later and I was smitten. After he left I realized I didn’t know his last name or have a way to ever contact him again… I thought that was the first and last time I would see Martin. God had other plans! Friday rolls around and Will’s Hope always has a big dinner and invites everyone who helped out that week. Dinner was about to start and who shows up at the door? None other than Martin. We chat all through dinner and say goodbye that night. Once again Martin leaves and I do not know his last name or a way to contact him… I sat in my cabin for a few minutes and decide to go ask my Aunt if she knows. So I walk outside and there is Martin! He claims his truck battery died but I like saying he didn’t want to leave without getting my number. He walks up to me and asks if I would like to go dancing the next evening. Luckily my Aunt and Uncle agreed that I could take off that evening to go with him. The rest is history!

I was suppose to stay out West for three months but it ended up being longer. Martin and I both lived and worked in Gardiner from 2016-2017. In 2017 Martin took a job in Gunnison CO and I followed him down a few months after he left. August 2017 Martin and I were married in CO where we settled down, bought a house and had two beautiful daughters.

Martin and I have always loved adventure - rock climbing, white water rafting, fishing, skiing, snowboarding, horse riding/packing, shed hunting, etc. Our love of animals and wanting to become self-sufficient is also our own adventure. We wanted to raise our daughters on a farm to learn the importance of being a steward to this earth and the animals we care for.

In 2021 we packed our small farm in CO and moved across the country to NW Pennsylvania. Fun fact, when moving from CO to PA we brought a pig, two horses, a mini donkey, a rabbit and a dog!

Since moving to PA we expanded our farm to include Nigerian Dwarf goats. I have always wanted goats and the Nigerian Dwarfs were a great choice because our daughters can handle them easily. Currently, we offer custom and USDA pork, Nigerian Dwarf goats and started pullets! Our hope is to offer custom and USDA lamb in the near future.

If we are not on the farm we are most likely out rock climbing, riding the horses, fishing, kayaking or traveling.

Thank you for visiting our website and reading our story!