Johnson County, Texas · Est. 2020
Pasture-raised meat, raised the way it should be.
We raise sheep, pigs, and chickens on 28 acres in the Texas Cross Timbers — on pasture, in rotation, no routine antibiotics. Animal shares and live animal sales for North Texas families. Get on the list to hear when shares are ready.
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Who we are
A small family farm in the Cross Timbers.
Mike and Amy run Cross Timbers Homestead on 28 acres outside Cleburne, Texas. Our pastures sit in the Eastern Cross Timbers — that strip of post oak savanna between the Blackland Prairie and the Western Cross Timbers — where sheep and native grasses have a long shared history.
We started homesteading back in 2020 and learned most of it the hard way. In 2025 we moved to this place — vacant ground, no fences, no barn, just pasture and trees — so in a lot of ways we're starting over from scratch, building it back up one paddock at a time.
We're not certified organic and we don't pretend our way is the only way. We just believe meat tastes better, and the land works better, when animals spend their lives outside doing what they were built to do.
Photo: Cross Timbers Homestead
How we farm
Soil first. Everything else follows from that.
We farm regeneratively, which mostly just means we pay attention to what each animal does to the ground and we try to put them where their work helps. Healthy soil grows healthy grass; healthy grass feeds healthy animals; healthy animals feed healthy people. The order matters.
Each species on the homestead has a job on the land. Sheep graze and fertilize the pastures in rotation. Chickens follow behind to scratch through the manure, break pest cycles, and even things out. Pigs work the forest floor under our pecans, post oaks, and cedar elms — rooting, clearing brush, eating windfall, turning soil that wouldn't see a tractor in a hundred years. That's silvopasture, and the Eastern Cross Timbers — the band of post oak savanna that gives our homestead its name — is ideally suited to it.
We're not certified anything. We just farm the way that makes sense to us on this piece of land, and we'd rather show you what the pastures look like than wave a label around.
Read more about regenerative agriculture and our favorite resources →
Photo: Cross Timbers Homestead
What we raise
Three animals, all on pasture.
Sheep, pigs, and chickens — each rotated across the same 28 acres so the land gets a turn to rest and the animals get a turn at fresh ground. Nothing here is finished on grain.
Photo: Cross Timbers Homestead
🐑Sheep · hair breed, mild and lean
St. Croix lamb
St. Croix is a hair sheep breed (no wool, no shearing) bred for hot, humid climates like ours. The meat is milder than wool-breed lamb — closer to veal than to gamey mutton — and it's naturally lean.
- · Entirely pasture-raised, no grain finishing
- · No routine antibiotics or hormones
- · Whole and half animal shares
- · Live animal sales: feeder lambs and breeding stock
Animal share model: you buy the lamb, we deliver it to a licensed Texas butcher, you call the butcher to specify your cuts and pay for processing.
Photo: Cross Timbers Homestead
🐖Pigs · rotational grazing, woods and pasture
Pastured pork
Our pigs live outside on rotated paddocks with simple A-frame shelter. They root, wallow, and graze the way pigs are built to — which is hard on the soil if you don't move them, and good for it when you do.
- · Pasture-raised with rotational grazing
- · No confinement, no farrowing crates
- · Whole and half-hog animal shares
- · Live feeder pigs available seasonally
Same share model as the sheep — you buy the animal, we deliver to a licensed Texas butcher, you handle cuts and processing directly with them. Limited and seasonal.
Photo: Cross Timbers Homestead
🐓Chickens · mobile coop, electric netting
Eggs & chicken
Two birds, two jobs. Layers move across the pasture in a mobile coop inside electric netting. Meat birds run seasonal, in small batches.
- · Eggs: brown, cream, blue, and pink — on-farm pickup only
- · Pasture rotation with electric netting
- · Meat birds: seasonal, sold live or via animal share / butcher delivery
- · No packaged chicken sold from the farm
Egg availability varies through the year. Reach out and we'll tell you what's in the carton this week.
What's growing
The orchard — young trees, old pecans.
In 2026 we planted a young orchard chosen for North Texas heat, drought, and clay soil. The trees are young — most won't produce meaningfully for a few years yet, and we're fine with that. The native pecans on the property are a different story: mature, already producing, here long before we were.
Honest about timeline: not at commercial scale, not for sale yet. Just documenting what's in the ground.
Peaches
- · Red Globe
- · Harvester
- · June Gold
- · Ranger
Apples
- · Red Delicious
- · Gala
- · Fuji
Pears
- · Kieffer
- · Moonglow
- · Moonglow Semi-dwarf
Nectarines
- · Surecrop
- · Rose Princess
Plums
- · Santa Rosa
- · Methley
Pecans (native)
- · Mature trees, pre-existing
Berries
- · Elderberries
Around the farm
Cross Timbers, day to day.
Photo: Cross Timbers Homestead
How shares work
You buy the animal. The butcher does the rest.
A share means you're reserving a portion of a single, living animal — not buying packaged meat from a freezer. We raise the animal on pasture and deliver it to a licensed Texas butcher. From there, you work directly with the butcher: you choose the cuts, you pay them for the work, you pick up your meat.
Whole share
The entire animal — yours from delivery on. Best for families that go through meat steadily or split with neighbors. Real freezer space required.
Half share
Half the animal. You and the other half-buyer coordinate the cut sheet at the butcher (we'll introduce you). The sweet spot for most households.
How it works
Four steps, no subscription, no surprises.
- 01
Reach out
Email us with your zip code and the share you're curious about. We'll tell you what's available and the timeline.
- 02
Reserve a share
We collect a deposit to hold your spot. We coordinate the harvest date and which licensed Texas butcher we'll deliver to.
- 03
We deliver the animal
On harvest day, we transport the live animal to the butcher. Our part ends there.
- 04
You finish at the butcher
You call the butcher directly, tell them how you want the meat cut and wrapped, and pay them for processing. Then you pick up your share — vacuum-sealed and frozen.
Built for ourselves
A small app we built to run the place.
We built a little tool to keep track of the homestead. It's still rough around the edges, but it works — and we're sharing it with friends and family.
Get in touch
Questions, shares, or just hello.
We read everything that comes in, even if it takes a day or two to reply.
Johnson County, Texas