DEBRA BYBEE of San Tan Valley on Life, Lessons & Legacy

DEBRA BYBEE shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

DEBRA, a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: What is a normal day like for you right now?
A normal day on our hobby farm means waking up early to care for our animals. They have to be fed each and every day, rain or shine in the mornings and evenings and sometimes given a snack in between. My husband or I carry hay to feed our horse and sheep in their stalls and pastures. Our chickens need their morning feed. Water buckets need to be filled with clean fresh water and scrubbed. Our barn cat and Australian shepherd dog are in need of their breakfast too. After the feeding and watering is complete I check the garden to make sure that everything is getting watered and that the ripe vegetables are being harvested. If the vegetables are plentiful they will be eaten, dried, cooked, canned or frozen. I work on our social media accounts posting how to gardening, harvesting and cooking food videos. I am starting a business selling homemade products made on the farm so I will spend time each day creating products for our new online store. After this it is evening feeding time for the animals and time to make dinner. After dinner it is goal setting time for the next day and weeks ahead.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Debra Bybee and I am a hobby farmer. My husband and I have a hobby farm in Arizona that we started 8 years ago. After surviving breast cancer in my late forties, we decided it was time to live our dreams so we bought some land and started our own hobby farm. We enjoy teaching classes in our community on how to garden in the low desert, how to be more self-sufficient by making sourdough bread, canning and raising chickens. We also like to have small groups of children come to visit four arm to learn where their food comes from and to interact with farm animals. We have social media accounts for Instagram and YouTube where we share videos about farm life, gardening and self-sufficiency skills called @hobbyfarmdream. We are starting a small business this fall making homemade products to sell on our social media accounts. We are in the process of writing a book about how to get started on a hobby farm.

Okay, so here’s a deep one: What relationship most shaped how you see yourself?
The two relationships that most shaped my life were that of my mom and grandmother. They both had difficult lives but were strong women that never gave up. My grandmother lived through the depression and had to learn many self-sufficiency skills to survive. She knew how to milk a cow, make cheese and bread, how to sew, crotchet and embroider. She raised a family and served in her church and community. My mom was widowed at a young age and was left to raise five children. She learned to take practically nothing and make a meal to feed her children. She learned how to stretch food and dollars to make ends meet. She kept getting up and showing up even when life was hard. Their examples and unconditional love for me gave me the courage and confidence to go on to college and to believe in myself. I see myself as a strong, determined woman that can accomplish great things in my life and a fighter because my mom and grandmother showed that to me every single day by the kind of lives they lived and by their love and faith in me.

What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering as a child, growing up without a father, as well as suffering with breast cancer taught me that life can be cut short and we need to live our dreams because we don’t know how long we will be on this earth. When you suffer by losing a loved one or experiencing your own possible loss of life it changes you as success never could. You suddenly realize that your life is up to you and your life needs to be lived now! You learn to spend time with those you love, friends and family who matter to you. I leaned from life to set goals, to make dream boards to accomplish what I wanted in life. I learned that there is no time like the present to love, dream and live the life you’ve always wanted!

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
My closest friends would say that God, family and faith are the most important things to me. I was raised to go to church, to believe in God and to pray and have faith. I have always had a close relationship with my family, growing up as a child and now with my children and grandchildren. I have spent my life close to God and to my family. This life of living close to family and God has helped me to have the faith I’ve needed to carry on when times were hard.

Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: When do you feel most at peace?
I feel most at peace when I am with family and friends that I love. I also feel peace when I am in nature or in my garden. I feel peace with our animals because they live in the moment and love unconditionally. I feel peace when I am worshipping God in churches and temples.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hobbyfarmdream/?hl=en
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@hobbyfarmdream