Alaina & Chris
Alaina and Chris are transplants to Pennsylvania. Originally from Missouri and Illinois, respectively, they were drawn to the Midwestern feel of Pennsylvania. With the May 2020 purchase of their home in Center Valley, they are ready to get knee deep into hobby homesteading.
Chris and Alaina both enjoy riding their motorcycles, craft beer, and NHL hockey. Chris is very handy and enjoys teaching Alaina some of his craftsman skills. Alaina is very much the planner, and Chris is the doer. Together, they’re making their home a homestead.
The Hobby Farm
Hops ‘n’ Hounds Farm LLC is located on a little over an acre in Center Valley, PA. It features over 1,000 square feet in vegetable garden space and a 30 square foot herb planter box. We have a 10 foot high hop wall, with four sections of hops currently composed of cascade, cashmere, comet, and tahoma. So far the garden has had fruitful yields of zucchini, cucumbers, green and wax beans, peas, tomatoes, eggplants, bell peppers, green chilis and tabasco peppers.
HnH is home to a flock of chickens that’s being added to every year. We boast an array of egg colors, always choosing interesting plumage and egg colors over production volume hens.
The other residents of HnH are two cats, Louis and Minnie, and their coonhound companions, Juniper and Harley.
Juniper is half the inspiration behind Hops ‘n’ Hounds Farm. We rescued her through American Black and Tan Coonhound Rescue (ABTCR) in 2016 right after our wedding. Her Embark DNA test revealed she is over 50% Black and Tan coonhound, 30% Bluetick coonhound, with a little lab and husky in there too (her tail curls like a husky). She is the perfect dog for us: obedient, friendly (people and animal), patient, smart, and the sweetest pea, as Alaina likes to remind her. We love her song, and she loves to sing and talk. We now foster through coonhound rescues to help other dogs like her find their perfect home, like she has.
Drawing (right) by Brielle Wilson