Mika & Rain Parker
Co-Owners, Eight Owl Farmstead
When a 300-pound Rain Parker rented a farm to grow organic food with her wife half a decade ago, she saw it as a way to shed some pounds. Today, a combined 225 pounds thinner, Rain and her wife, Mika, now run a business that teaches others about their way of life. As Rain recently explained to From Scratch magazine, Eight Owls Farmstead provides “donation-based education,“ which includes inviting camp groups to the farm and offering “farm-based immersions“ for adults. The business has changed their lives in so many ways. “We grew the confidence and capability to become better, stronger, happier women,“ says Rain. “We grew a really amazing marriage over these last five years of living this way. We grew accustomed to dim lighting. (OK, so that last part is just an off-gridder′s poor attempt at a joke.) We grew bigger muscles and mindsets. We simply just grew… beyond organically. Now, our donation-based business focuses on sharing information, education and techniques for women who want to change their mindsets, eating habits and Carhartt overall size. Small changes—they truly do change our world. We, as a business, just strive to inspire the type of change we′d like to see in this beautiful world we live in.“
