Inspiring Conversations with Alea McClintock-Donahue of Yorkie Acres Farm / Herbal Earth Apothecary

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alea McClintock-Donahue. 

Hi Alea, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
It has been a long journey get to where we are today, but feel like we’re finally living our dream and our purpose. Since 2014, my partner and I have been running a small farm outside the mountain Maryland town of Friendsville.

Growing up, my family spent a lot of time outdoors, in the garden, foraging, white water raft, and camping. I know now that this way of life shaped me into the person that I am today and set a vision of what I wanted my adult life to be like. When I was fifteen, I went on an eye-opening mission trip to Peru and I decided that I wanted to find a way to devote my life to helping other people. I became a registered nurse when I was 19 and worked in various areas of healthcare within a hospital setting while also completing several subsequent degrees, including my master’s and family nurse practitioner certification. I started working as a family nurse practitioner in rural Garrett County Maryland in 2013. I grew up about 20 minutes away, outside the small town of Ohioyple, Pennsylvania which is most known for white water rafting and biking. All throughout my education I had a passion for herbalism, growing medicinal plants and herbs, and holistic wellness practices. I would take herbalism courses and workshops with a focus on herbal and natural health and wellness, and I really enjoyed discussing natural and holistic health with my primary care patients in the office setting. While working as a family nurse practitioner, I completed my doctor of nursing (DNP) practice degree and my research and project focus was on developing community-based programs for non-pharmacological weight loss options as well as natural health and wellness focusing on nutrition, exercise, and natural healthy habits. I have always loved teaching about natural and healthy lifestyles and really enjoyed organizing and teaching classes to the community. Being involved in the community has always been something that I enjoy. After completing my doctorate and getting married in 2017, I continued working in Friendsville as the local family nurse practitioner.

Flashback to 2014, I bought a farmette located just outside of Friendsville. At the time, I had two pygmy goats (including now celebrity goat, Akoko) that I wanted space for homesteading dreams. My husband Jason grew up about 40-minutes away in Uniontown, PA. As an Eagle Scout and longtime snowboard instructor, he grew up with the same appreciation of the outdoors and has always had an entrepreneurial streak. When we met, he was working in Baltimore and uprooted his life in the city and dove head-first into farm life, rowhouse to farmhouse.

When we started, we had ideals of hobby farm life, while both working full time. Our first spring, we added two Scottish Highland cows and have added plenty of pets since then.

Our daughter came along in 2018 and I soon found that life and workplace changes, including negative effects of healthcare provider burnout was impacting my quality of care.

I started to have a hard time balancing work and life and got to the point where I started having difficulty separating the two. I really just wanted to be at the farm with my daughter, focusing on growing plants and gardening, caring for our livestock, and just enjoying a simpler and happier way of life with less stress. I would come home completely consumed by what happened at work each day, my brain could never slow down and I completely stopped enjoying life. During this time, I suffered from some serious anxiety and even depression. In June of 2020, towards the beginning of the pandemic, our second child was born. After being at home at the farm with the two children, reevaluating everything, and realizing how happy I could feel, I felt that the best decision for myself and my family was to not return to my primary care position. This was an extremely difficult decision and I even felt like I was letting my community down, but I knew it was the right move to make for myself and my family.

That spring my husband Jason and I decided we wanted to make the farm into a business, and we were able to really get a vision for what we wanted to accomplish. I also decided that I wanted to jump more into my passion of community-based herbalism, so we went for it. We decided to slowly start growing more medicinal herbs at our farm and we’ve also been in the process of developing the retail side of the business, Herbal Earth Apothecary. The business is a way for me to focus on my passion, which is helping people, animals, and the planet with a focus on holistic wellness. The goal of both the farm and the apothecary is to connect people to nature and the Earth, as well as help them achieve physical and mental wellness and balance. We hope to support people and their bodies with a natural and holistic approach. I’m still a supporter of allopathic, or modern medicine, but I think we need to find a balance between the allopathic and the homeopathic, or natural, world of medicine. My goal is to help people find that balance and help them find what the best and safest option is for them and their bodies. We need to support our bodies, and I feel that we can do that with a more holistic and natural approach to wellness.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s not been easy and especially with two small children, we still face a lot of struggles in trying to accomplish our goals. For me, the biggest thing was to really do some deep soul searching and decide if uprooting my comfortable life with a stable career for a happier and healthier one was the best decision for our family. There were a lot of sleepless and tear-filled nights along the way to get here. I’m still moved to tears pretty frequently, but now they are tears of joy. I’m truly amazed on a daily basis that this is my life, I’m living my dreams and I’m helping people in a way that I am truly passionate about. I’m still helping others, but now I’m also able to focus on myself, my wellbeing, and the well-being of my family.

The biggest barrier that we face as a business is time. With two toddlers, we are trying to balance time that we are working with spending time being present with the children, caring for animals, growing plants, running a business, and working other jobs. It can be a lot to try to juggle and it gets to be overwhelming at times. Luckily, we are able to include the kids more and more with what we are doing and are fortunate to have involved, loving grandparents. Our family and community support have allowed us to continue building the farm and share our vision. The kids have developed such a love of being outdoors, the animals, planting, and even help educate/entertain farm visitors. It’s pretty amazing to watch their passions and love for the same things that we love develop and grow. Their appreciation for the Earth and what we are doing is sometimes overwhelming and nothing brings us more happiness.

I’ve also realized that a lot of the pressure that I feel like I face now, is what I put on myself. I give myself deadlines, which is what I’ve been used to my entire adult life. I’m still adjusting to my slower-paced and more mindful lifestyle, and I have realized that sometimes I need to give myself a little bit of grace. I’m learning that where I am at with my life an my business at this time, I do not need to put so much pressure on myself and I can enjoy the slower pace with my children and family.

As you know, we’re big fans of Yorkie Acres Farm / Herbal Earth Apothecary. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Our farm is called Yorkie Acres Farm. We are a woman-owned, family-run, diversified, small farm dedicated to sustainably raising medicinal and pollinator-friendly plants, pasture-raised lamb, and a farm store. We are dedicated to permaculture and regenerative practices. Our focus is natural, holistic, and herbal health and wellness. We also offer yurt accommodations on the farm, where people can stay and get a little glimpse into our daily life and the magic that we experience here. By appointment, you can come shop our products and meet some of our livestock. We also offer small-scale rustic event rental space.

We have so many big dreams and big plans for our farm and our business. We’d like to expand our growing capabilities within the next year or two, focusing primarily on medicinal and culinary herbs, flowers, and plants. We are also working on a retail space here for the farm store, otherwise, we sell at markets and online.

Another area that we want to expand on is hosting educational programs at the farm. We hope to host some seminars, retreats, and other small educational programs in the upcoming years. We love inviting the community and also those that are visiting the area to the farm to see what we are doing and educating them about small farms, the importance of supporting local farms, and ways that they can incorporate natural and holistic wellness practices into their lifestyle.

We often get asked how we got our name, Yorkie Acres Farm. The name came from our sweet little Yorkie Izzy. Izzy was six years old when we moved to the farm, and then for six years, she was completely in charge of this special place. She wasn’t afraid to chase a goat, sheep, chicken, or even a cow. Seriously, this feisty two-pound Yorkie would attempt to chase down a cow. The funny thing is that everyone and every animal seemed to listen to her. It was her farm. We joked for years that the farm belonged to her, and out of that we became Yorkie Acres Farm. Unfortunately, we lost Izzy in 2020 at almost 12 years old, but we love that she will always be such an important part of our farm.

A name can say a lot about a farm. So, what does our name say about us? It is a testimony to our love of animals and the very special bonds we create with our animals here at the farm. It is a name that comes from a place of pure love. It is a name that reminds us that even if we feel small, we are strong and we are mighty. It symbolizes that even the smallest of Earth’s creatures can have big impacts. It reminds us that even if our dreams seem big, there is no stopping us.

Herbal Earth Apothecary, LLC is a woman-owned retail business located at Yorkie Acres Farm. Our focus is natural, holistic, and herbal health and wellness and our goal is to connect clients and visitors to nature and the Earth, as well as help them achieve physical and mental wellness and balance. We provide community-based herbalism services and herbal products including teas, herbal blends, salves, tinctures, and more. Our herbal and wellness expert is Alea McClintock-Donahue, DNP. Alea is a wife, mother, doctor of nursing practice with 16 years of experience in the medical field as both a registered nurse and family nurse practitioner, farmer, and lover of herbal and natural health and wellness. She has taken courses in herbalism to expand her knowledge in herbal health and wellness. She has a passion for helping people, animals, and the planet with a focus on holistic wellness.

Our mission is to make our farm a space to share the medicinal and healing power of plants and the Earth with our guests, and we love taking people on this adventure with us. We think what makes us special is that we are creating a memorable and meaningful experience for people with also supporting their mental and physical wellbeing. We let them get a glimpse of our lifestyle and the magic that we feel here at our farm and our home. We provide them an opportunity to connect with the animals, plants, and the Earth. We often hear our guest use the word “magical” when they visit, and we love that we can give people that experience. A magical escape, even if only for an hour or two, is good for the body, mind, and soul.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I think the pandemic was a big shift for a lot of people. We saw that more people were trying to find ways to connect with nature, to be more present in their lives, to find happiness, to seek out natural and holistic wellness practices, to grow their own food, to get some backyard chickens, and to seek out local farms and local food sources.

Our Western Maryland, Appalachian region benefits from tourist traffic within a 3hr drive and beyond; Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Washington D.C. visitors have increased since the pandemic and we hope that market trend continues.

To our family, this lifestyle is so empowering and special; I think others can relate or appreciate what we’re doing. Focusing on natural and holistic wellness and mindful living helps us learn a lot about ourselves, connect to our roots, and experience who we really are on a deeper level. I see people continuing to seek out small farms and also trying to incorporate natural and herbal wellness and health into their lives.

Another goal we have is to work with other farms and organizations to create a hub for woodland and medicinal herb farmers and producers. This would include growing, harvesting, processing, distribution, marketing, and both farmer and community education. We want to find ways to help other farmers with shared visions and goals to thrive while producing a variety of plants and foods that can be sustainably and profitably grown. If we could help facilitate a more streamlined, sustainable, and cost-effective process for herb farmers in the area, I really think the industry could take off in our region.

Contact Info:

• Email: yorkieacresfarm@gmail.com
• Website: www.yorkieacresfarm.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/yorkieacresfarm
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/yorkieacresfarm
• Other: www.herbalearthapothecary.com