Hidden Gems: Meet Kristina Turner of Homegrown Ministries

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristina Turner

Hi Kristina, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Growing up in San Diego, my health journey started back in high school when I was a competitive athlete suffering from chronic injuries, nagging colds and fatigue.

Through my own personal journey with food and lifestyle habits, I am finally free from chronic pain, skin problems and a never ending cycle of prescriptions and over the counter medications.

I went from teaching elementary school, to holistic health coaching to regenerative farming and now I do a little bit of all these jobs together as a mom to three young boys on our micro-farm here in Encinitas.

Our nonprofit, Homegrown Ministries was born out of a desire to share the lessons that I have learned over the last two decades about holistic health and reconnecting with the rhythms of nature.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The journey to creating our little homestead has been anything but smooth and we have learned so much from having to just figure it out as we go.

One of the biggest struggles we’ve had to overcome is how to live in harmony with the many wild animals and critters we have as neighbors, this has been especially challenging since we live behind a large open space preserve.

For our first two and half years here on the farm, most of our fruit trees and garden beds were eaten and destroyed by ground squirrels and rodents and larger predators like owls, coyotes, bob cats and raccoons killed nearly 40 of our chickens and 5 cats.

We have had to learn a lot the hard way and know that regenerating a farm and coming back into harmony with nature takes time. We now know how to optimally fortify our enclosures and the value of an amazing livestock guardian dog.

I have also learned how to use optimal crop placement and natural pest control for larger harvests and less time fighting with nature. The more we can work WITH nature, the better.

I love sharing what we have learned along the way to support other local families who may want to grow some of their own food and live more closely with nature too.

As you know, we’re big fans of Homegrown Ministries . For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Homegrown Ministries is all about honoring our connecting with nature and getting back to the basics with our health. I teach hands on sourdough and gardening workshops at our regenerative micro-farm here in Encinitas, offer online and in person garden consulting and have a virtual sourdough course on my website.

My background in teaching and holistic health along with my own experiences of healing and regenerating a micro-farm, give me a truly unique perspective on health and living closely with nature.

Our farm is home to many chickens, goats, a mini horse, kittens, the best livestock guardian pup, garden beds, fruit trees, and bee hives. We have dreams and plans for continued planting, bees and soil regeneration.

Along with our farm, I love sharing the gift of homemade sourdough and am proud to say that I have taught nearly 100 local women how to make their own organic, 3 ingredient sourdough bread. Knowing that a little bit of my starter is all over San Diego is pretty amazing.

I also support families with online and in person garden consulting where we work with your unique growing conditions and families goals and desires.

My monthly garden membership makes keeping up with your garden simple and easy. I provide the resources and support so that you know exactly what to plant when and what and how to harvest and prune. This 1:1 support keeps all the guess work out of it and provides support every step of the way.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
If you would have told me 10 years ago that I would be a mom to three young boys, regenerating a micro-farm with 50 animals, I would have never believed you!

I grew up in Scripps Ranch without any animals or plants, studied political science and international relations in college and taught elementary school in the Bay Area for almost a decade before my husband and I had the crazy idea to buy a farm.

Everything that I’ve learned about gardening and farming has been either self taught or learned from volunteering with my good friend and garden visionary, Bob Lutticken out at Abraxas High School in Poway. I knew next to nothing about growing food and even less about taking care of animals before we bought our farm three and half years ago.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://homegrown-ministries.com
• Instagram: @homegrown_ministries
• Other: kristina@homegrown-ministries.com

Image Credits
Alexa Lick