LISTEN TO THE Keynote Speakers
Mathew Winters
Founder, Cards
Mathew Winters
Founder, Cards
Cottage Pastures is operated by Mathew and Carissa Winters. In July of 2022, Mathew and Carissa, along with their children, moved from Cincinnati, Ohio to Southeastern Indiana – somewhere between Lawrenceburg and Madison. It had become a passion and desire to locate a place where a Farm and Homestead could be developed in order to develop skills honed by generations past and to provide a steadfast place of love and support for their children’s growth. We have a fully-functioning farm, selling pasture-raised meat and produce (primarily garlic and other specialty crops for retail and wholesale purchase). We are also an agritourism site – offering immersion experiences for farming and homesteading, hosting classes, workshops and conferences to help teach people the traditional skills of homesteading, farming and generally agriculture and trades.
LISTEN TO THE Event Speakers
Mathew Winters
Founder, Cards
Mathew Winters
Founder, Cards
Cottage Pastures is operated by Mathew and Carissa Winters. In July of 2022, Mathew and Carissa, along with their children, moved from Cincinnati, Ohio to Southeastern Indiana – somewhere between Lawrenceburg and Madison. It had become a passion and desire to locate a place where a Farm and Homestead could be developed in order to develop skills honed by generations past and to provide a steadfast place of love and support for their children’s growth. We have a fully-functioning farm, selling pasture-raised meat and produce (primarily garlic and other specialty crops for retail and wholesale purchase). We are also an agritourism site – offering immersion experiences for farming and homesteading, hosting classes, workshops and conferences to help teach people the traditional skills of homesteading, farming and generally agriculture and trades.
Shawn and Beth Dougherty
Founder, Cards
Shawn and Beth Dougherty
Founder, Cards
About Shawn & Beth
Shawn and Beth Dougherty bring decades of hands-on experience to the homesteading table. Farming together since the 1980s, they've spent the last 26 years mastering sustainable agriculture in challenging conditions. Their primary farm, a 27-acre plot in eastern Ohio designated by the state as "not suitable for agriculture," and their management of a 100-acre monastery farm, serve as living laboratories for their innovative techniques.
Their approach centers on intensive grazing, harnessing the power of grass conversion to nourish a diverse ecosystem. They raise dairy and beef cows, sheep, farm-fed hogs, and a variety of poultry, striving to produce the majority of their food and feed on-site.
Deeply concerned about the reliance of modern agriculture on external inputs—feed, fuel, fertilizer, water, and electricity—Shawn and Beth are dedicated to rediscovering and refining traditional, low-input farming methods. Their research highlights the critical role of grass conversion, particularly the daily transformation of grass into milk by dairy ruminants, in achieving whole-farm sustainability. This process fuels their entire farm community, from humans and ruminants to pigs, poultry, and the soil itself.
Through their writing and travels, Shawn and Beth share their expertise on sustainable farming, dairying, farm-raised animal foods, and off-grid captured water systems. They are the esteemed authors of The Independent Farmstead, published by Chelsea Green Publishing, and The Independent Farmstead’s Field Guides to Inputs-Free Farming and Homesteading (Lulu.com).
Mathew Winters
Founder, Cards
Mathew Winters
Founder, Cards
Cottage Pastures is operated by Mathew and Carissa Winters. In July of 2022, Mathew and Carissa, along with their children, moved from Cincinnati, Ohio to Southeastern Indiana – somewhere between Lawrenceburg and Madison. It had become a passion and desire to locate a place where a Farm and Homestead could be developed in order to develop skills honed by generations past and to provide a steadfast place of love and support for their children’s growth. We have a fully-functioning farm, selling pasture-raised meat and produce (primarily garlic and other specialty crops for retail and wholesale purchase). We are also an agritourism site – offering immersion experiences for farming and homesteading, hosting classes, workshops and conferences to help teach people the traditional skills of homesteading, farming and generally agriculture and trades.