Farmer Ed and Diana Carpenter own Peacock Road Family Farm
When Farmer Ed was in his 40’s, he loved to ride around on his motorcycle on Sunday mornings in the countryside. Farmer Ed was raised on a small Michigan farm, and the ride brought back cherished childhood memories. Ed had a neighbor that was a retired Christmas Tree farmer, and one day he told his neighbor that he was thinking of buying a farm. Farmer Ed’s neighbor took out his pipe and said: “Let me show you the Christmas Tree business.”
Ed bought the farm in 1985. The first year of selling Christmas Trees was in 1994. A customer of the farm was a schoolteacher and asked Ed if he could do a tour for her class. Last year, the farm had over 10,000 students visit the farm to learn about agriculture. Twenty years ago, Jeff, an employee of the farm asked if he could use Ed’s barn for a wedding ceremony. Jeff cleaned the big red barn that is now known as “Farmer Ed’s feed trough” and got married. Since then, Ed and his team have built a 2,500 square foot wedding barn, and two ceremony sites. Last year we hosted 41 weddings here on the farm.
“I believe in the future of agriculture…” 7 words that have great meaning to Christian, our General Manager. He graduated from Baker College of Owosso with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. He helps to oversee the operations of the farm and is in charge of caring for the animals. When not on the farm, Christian enjoys spending time with his flock of sheep, being with his family, and reading books by his role model Temple Grandin. He appreciates that the farm provides a platform to make a difference. Christian said: “My ultimate goal at the farm is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and education of every person who steps foot on the farm.”
Lorry is one of our Event Coordinators and is our Store Manager. She graduated from Central Michigan University with a bachelor’s degree in Motivational and Emotional Psychology. She has 15 years of General Manager experience and appreciates creative endeavors. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family, painting, and being outdoors. Lorry’s favorite parts of the farm are having diverse job duties, helping guests make memories, and spending time with the animals. Lorry’s motto in life is “In a world where you can be anything, be kind.”
Diane has been an employee here on the farm since 2013. Her duties include amongst other things, Human Resources, Bookkeeping, and General Office Management. Her hobbies include singing, traveling, water aerobics, playing cards, and hanging with her friends. She is a lover of cats and has earned the title of “cat whisperer” her at the farm.
Alan is the Production Coordinator, managing the growth and harvest of the pumpkins, the apples and the Christmas trees, as well as maintaining all the flowers around the farm. He is a graduate of Southern Illinois University with BA in Botany (with teaching credentials) and an MS in Plant and Soil Science (Floriculture). Alan really enjoys working in the fields with the staff and is also quite comfortable greeting and informing all the guests to the farm. His interests away from the farm include anything in nature and singing. Over the years he has sung with several barbershop quartets and choruses, including singing at the Barbershop International Championships 5 times. His “tongue-in-cheek” life philosophy is: “If you’re with me and you are not having fun … that’s your fault.” Alan is lovingly referred to as "Uncle Al" at the farm.