Your North Texas source for Pastured Proteins
that are sustainably raised, from boots to roots!
Hey yall! Welcome to 7 Arrow Ranch, where we dance in our design as stewards, caretakers, creators, and healers of our little piece of paradise located here in Bowie, TX. I’m your farmer, Heather Russell. Together with my husband Darrin and our 5 children, we work to raise animals in a manner that is ethically, ecologically, and emotionally beneficial to us, the animals, our ranch’s ecosystem, and the planet—from boots to roots!
How It Works
Who We Are
7 Arrow Ranch is a small regenerative family farm in the heart of North Central Texas. We produce high-quality pasture-raised proteins that are raised in an ethically, ecologically, and emotionally sustainable way for the benefit of our family, our farm, and our whole community.
What We Do
First and foremost, we are grass farmers. Everything else stems from there.
Healthy, living soil produces healthy animals, which in turn nourish the land they work, while nourishing our bodies as well. Joel Salatin says that if you have to put on a hazmat suit to visit a farm, you may not want to eat what comes from it! We couldn't agree more!!
To that end, we practice regenerative ag. This is a broad term that encompasses principles from soil building via rotational grazing and multi-species "stacking", to decentralizing our food supply chain, to improving our land, water supply, and even the climate, via carbon capture. This ensures healthy, nutrient-dense, grass-based foods that heal our bodies while simultaneously healing the land.
Why We Do It
When we bought our farm in 2018, all we knew was that we didn't want to use any chemicals here. But we had no idea what that meant, or what it looked to have a farm that didn't require some kind of input for making the grass grow. When we began researching raising animals, feeding them, maintaining pastures, and all the things we had zero background in, we got a crash course on synthetic fertilizer and pesticide ingredients. We learned how the food we were used to eating was, quite frankly, gross and toxic. This whole journey has been a lot like drinking water from a water hose!
We started paying attention to labels, looking up ingredients, watching our kids' behavior, and when milk prices jumped to $5+/gallon anyway, we started buying raw milk and beef from a local dairy. The first thing I noticed was the improvement of my allergies. Since then, we've worked hard to eat food that either we have raised, or that has been raised locally, in a manner that coincides with our values.
We were already healthy to begin with. But we have definitely noticed a difference in our overall well-being. Our improved health, strengthened immune systems, and my complete healing from severe post-partum anxiety and depression are a testament to the powerful and healing nature of foods raised in a clean, toxin-free manner.
On the Farm
Egg-laying Flock Cornish X Broilers Turkeys Longhorn Cattle Spanish Goats
100% Syfan bloodline
Consultation and Other Services
We love working with, and serving in our local community! We work hard to develop long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships with neighbors, customers, and other farmers. We enjoy providing for our local community, including consultation services, mentorship opportunities, hands-on classes and demonstrations, giving a portion of everything we raise to our neighbors in need, and of course, great-tasting and nutritious protein sources!
For customers who sign up for one of our flock shares or bundles, we have an annual "Members Only" potluck in October, right here on the farm! Any regular farm visit would naturally include a tour of the grounds, and a "meet and greet" of the animals. You might even get to pet a goat or collect eggs, depending on my schedule, and your preferences. But this is a unique opportunity for us to gather together as a community, and celebrate another successful farm year!!
I have had the amazing opportunity to assist several friends and other farmers in the following areas:
Home butchering
Rotational grazing strategy
Paddock/fencing planning and design
Getting started with chickens for eggs and meat
Getting started with baby chicks
Troubleshooting and "vet" assistance
Basic First Aid
"McGyver-ing" the farm
I have been backpacking and camping for almost all of my adult life. As an outdoorswoman and leader for American Heritage Girls, I have also been blessed to be able to teach girls and adults alike all kinds of outdoor skills, including camping, cooking, and basic and intermediate survival skills.
Skills include:
camping 101
emergency shelter building
how to dig a cathole
knife safety and whittling
starting a fire without a match
different ways of cooking in the outdoors
knots and lashings
how to pack and menu-plan for a backpacking trip
and soooo many other things!
If there is something you or a group of your friends want to learn, don't hesitate to reach out and let's see what we can do!
Can I Visit the Farm?
Um, yes! Of course!! You are welcome to drive by any time! That sounds weird, I know. Our property is shaped kind of like an "L", so you can see a good bit of it as you drive by. Don't mind the backyard mess--we live here, and my kids are making messes memories me a little crazy. For example, after a very long, very hot, and very dry summer, we finally started getting some rain. My littles grabbed a tarp, some fiberglass poles that aren't currently (as in, at this exact moment) in use, and built a shelter in the front yard. They used a ladder to get the ridgeline high enough. It looked like a homeless camp. That's how we roll. But the REST of the farm is beautiful!
If you want to see everything more "up close and personal", absolutely give us a call! Or text--that's better. While I'd love to have an "open door policy" where anyone is welcome anytime, like Joel Salatin does, the reality is I am mostly a 1-woman farmer who homeschools her 5 kiddos. Odds are, if you just drop in, I'll likely either be in the middle of a lesson, in the middle of cooking, or in the middle of a field. If you have an appointment with me, I can show you how we manage our land for the health and safety of everything and everyone here. And I would LOVE the opportunity to do so!!
