Backbone Farm is a 67-acre family farm operated by Katherine Carestio. We neighbor the Finger Lakes National Forest on the eastern slope of the ridge between Seneca and Cayuga lakes called the Hector backbone. 

Our Story

For better or worse, my husband and I are pioneers. Shortly after we wed, we bought a brush farm in July 2015. I will never forget the first night that we camped here. Fireflies and brilliant stars escorted us through a meadow of chin-high goldenrod. This marginal, raw land overgrown with invasive species felt sacred to us. We loved the diversity, exposure, challenges and potential. In the mixed hardwoods, sugarbush, conifer plantation, wild apple orchard and old hay fields we saw a neglected haven ripe for restorative agriculture. For the first two years, we mowed weedy meadows, installed infrastructure and observed. We studied the ecosystem, degraded soil and interaction of water with the uncultivated landscape. By the winter of 2017, it was clear that management-intensive rotational grazing was the tool to regenerate the landscape. With good timing, we were able to start with an excellent “grass-bred” herd from our friends at the Good Life Farm. The original herd matriarchs and genetics are from our mentors and friends at Angus Glen Farms. 

Our motivation has always been: “How do we nurture this place?”. Naturally in return, this place tends to our growth.

I was born and raised in Nebraska, but did not understand the agricultural significance of the heartland until my first farm job after college in Kansas. The environmental impacts of conventional farming eventually led me to study agricultural policy in graduate school. I craved a deeper understanding of the country’s food system and an ecologically sound alternative. After more than 10 years of working on farms and for agricultural organizations, I started Backbone Farm in 2018. My husband, Jamie, was born and raised in the Western Finger Lakes. He is a true craftsman with his own design-build carpentry business: Live Edge Building and Design. He specializes in timber framing, strawbale construction, clay plaster, natural materials and traditional building methods. Our daughter, Maizey Wilder, was born at home on the farm in 2018. Our son, Mason Blaze, was born at home on the farm in 2022.