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Since 2018, Mike and Joanne Chissler have called their hilltop Valley View Farm and Garden home. However, they do not have the place all to themselves. The farm is also home to the couple’s 14 alpacas.

Coming in a variety of colors, the alpacas moved in soon after the Chisslers relocated to the farm from Murfreesboro after Mike’s retirement.

“When we were getting ready to retire we started looking at places,” Mike Chissler said. “We wanted to get a farm and this thing just popped up and we said we have got to come out and see it and within a month we owned a farm.”

After settling in, the pair decided they wanted to add some animals to the property and decided on something a little different for the area.

“The first thing we got was the alpacas, we bought nine and then about two years later we bought another six,” Chissler said.

The animals are known for the warmth of their fibers, which Chissler said can be three to five times warmer than traditional wool as well as three to five times stronger than wool.

“It is hypoallergenic, so it is really good for scarves and hats and things because it is not going to itch on you,” he said.

Of course before the fibers can be turned into a variety of items ranging from hats and scarves to dryer balls for laundry and nesting balls for wild birds, the alpacas must first receive their annual shearing.

“We just sheared them last Thursday, so they are all skinny now, they like it but they don’t because it has been kind of cold,” Chissler said. “It is like wearing a big fur coat and they are nice and toasty warm and all the sudden they are in t shirts and shorts.”

In addition to the alpacas, the couple has also worked to foster extensive gardens featuring a variety of produce and ornamental flowers. Each year, a limited number of shares in the garden are sold in what is known as Community Supported Agriculture.

“That was the first addition and then we started with a little garden back behind the house and then things grow so well here in Tennessee that it turned into a little bigger garden and then a much bigger garden,” Chissler said.

Shares in the garden are limited to 10 each year and are currently booked up for the season.

Mike and Joanne can also be found at community markets in Manchester and Tullahoma at times selling a variety of fresh vegetables, fruits, alpaca products and dried flowers.

A part of the Coffee County Master Gardener program, Chissler has also developed a natural habitat for butterflies.

“We are a certified Monarch butterfly garden, certified butterfly garden and certified Monarch way station,” he said. “All these plants in here are either host plants or nectar plants for the various butterflies in Tennessee.”

The pair were able to enjoy the thousands of butterflies that made a stop at Valley View Farm and Garden last summer.

Chissler said his goal for this year is to do more in the way of education on the farm. So far, they have welcomed home school students and a Girl Scout Troop to the farm, and Chissler will also be working with the Coffee County Manchester Public Library with its Summer Reading Program.

For more information about Valley View Farm, visit https://www.valleyviewfarmandgarden.com.