Vera Farmiga
When she was finishing college, actress Vera Farmiga couldn’t decide between becoming an actress or raising goats in New Zealand. Farmiga choose acting of course, but her farming roots never left her. She likes living off the grid at her goat farm with her husband and two children in upstate New York City.
Russell Crowe
For many years Russell Crowe has owned a 1400-acre black angus cattle ranch in Australia surrounded by wallabies, cockatoos, king parrots, and an endless variety of other animals. “It’s a total oasis. I call it the panacea. You go to the farm and if you let the rhythm of the farm be your rhythm and dominate—whatever’s going on in your mind, you can settle it down and sort it out,” Crowe told Jimmy Fallon.
Hayden Christensen
Actor Hayden Christensen adores his 200-acre farm north of Toronto, which he acquired several years ago. He keeps two pot-bellied pigs named Buddy and Petunia there as house pets. “It’s very much a departure for me,” Christensen told the Toronto Star. “I was looking at places in New York City and I could either get a couple of thousand square feet or a couple of hundred acres. And having a bit more land appealed to me. It’s my sanctuary. I’ve been trying to do most of the work myself, including a lot of the carpentry and tiling… I’ve got a tractor and an excavator and I’m learning to use all the construction equipment. Right now there’s an apple orchard that I want to extend and I’ve started a small vegetable garden and I want to turn a hayfield into lavender.”
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban
Nicole Kidman and husband Keith Urban have a 36-acre farm outside Nashville, where they keep deer, wild turkeys, and their beloved alpacas, which they walk on leashes. Kidman also delights in planting her own vegetables. “I love eating corn out of the garden,” she has said. They also have a 100-acre cattle ranch in Australia.
Reese Witherspoon
The Oscar winning actress had a farm outside LA in Ojai, California with a menagerie of animals with creative names. There were the goats, George and Martha Washington; her miniature donkeys, Honky and Tonky; and the pigs, Booker T. Washington and Lavender Valentine. “It’s so good for the kids to learn about animals and kindness and compassion. I make them clean the stalls,” she told Ellen DeGeneres.
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March 25 was National Agriculture Day. For generations, farmers have been getting up before the sun rises to work the land and help feed the world. It is said that in just one year, our farmers help produce food for 7 billion people. And National Agriculture Day is a special way to celebrate the abundance of agriculture and the farmers.
“Acquiring a farm is like anchoring your soul,” says Orly Munzig, the founder and executive director of Strolling of the Heifers, which connects people with the food they eat and celebrates local farmers. “There is no greater satisfaction than when you’re close to and giving back to the land.”
And curiously, a number of celebrities are farm owners. For example, several years ago, Elizabeth Hurley left London to live with her son on a 400-acre organic farm in Gloucestershire. “I’m now raising sheep and cows and alpacas and pigs on my farm,” says the actress/model. “I’ve always wanted to do that. Always. I mean there’s a secret part of me that would like to spend an awful lot more time there.”
Many celebrities own or have owned farms. Check out our gallery.