About Us

Jeneen Wiche For now, I raise a small herd of Kentucky grazed Katahdin sheep for meat and breeding stock.  I work for the Anthropology Department part-time at the University of Louisville where I have been teaching North American Indigenous Studies since 1998. I write a syndicated farm and garden column that is published in about 15 community newspapers across Kentucky and Southern Indiana  For 10 years I produced a weekly garden segment for WDRB-41 television (which ended in 2009).  In the fall of 2001 I joined Courier-Journal columnist, Bob Hill in producing a radio show for Louisville’s public radio station, WFPL 89.3 FM.  HomeGrown (you can listen to past shows by clicking HomeGrown) featured stories on horticulture, agriculture and nature, it ended in the fall of 2010.  I have won Kentucky Farm Bureau’s Communication Award and several Society of Professional Journalism Awards in Service Reporting and the 2013-2014 University of Louisville College of arts and Sciences Distinguished Teaching Award. I frequently lecture, lead gardening workshops and welcome tours of the farm and gardens. I earned a Bachelor’s degree from Kalamazoo College and a Masters in American Indian Studies from the University of Arizona.  My late father, Fred Wiche laid the groundwork for all of this to be possible.  The farm, his guiding hand and gentle nature always gave me the confidence to give anything a shot.  I have mostly succeeded, by his example.

Andy Smart Andy and I moved back to the farm in 2003 and married in 2004.  Andy is a graduate of Bellarmine University and worked for over 20 years as the Landscape Manager for The Plant Kingdom in St. Matthews. In 2022 he retired to work solo as a landscape gardener.

He is expert in planting, is a Certified Arborist and a willing participant in 2-people chores when he gets home from his day job.

His work ethic and horticultural knowledge keep us growing; Andy is in charge of the orchard and shares in animal husbandry duties involving food, water and protection; and gratefully he has mastered the art of trimming hooves.

Buck, Finca and Baxter 

I would be remiss if I left out our companion and guardian animals.  Buck was a shelter rescue red heeler mutt who would alert me to any visitor and paid tribute to his breed by mostly being at my heels everywhere, he was good company.   He passed away peacefully at nearly 17 years old in the spring of 2020. Baxter, our Maremma livestock guardian dog that was raised in a home for the first 5 months and is now fulfilled his breed’s intention when he came to our farm as a re-home.  He, too has passed away after being so loyal to his hens and keeping them safe while they roamed freely.  He had a gentle nature and a bold bark when he perceived a threat to his chickens, ewes and lambs. Now our Maremma pup, Elle, is fully grown and has taken the helm of guardian.

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Velma is our snake handler and she proves to be very trusting of her people! She is a good snuggler, too.

Our Ambition

My family moved to western Shelby County in 1979 when I was ten years old.  My father’s desire was to develop a horticultural experience that emphasized ornamental and edible plantings; today my husband Andy and I continue to care for his legacy while we reshape the focus of Swallow Rail Farm.  Daddy named the farm after the barn swallows and the two railroads that flank each end of Conner Station and the two remain true.  Today, we want a small working farm that can enrich our lives, the animals we raise and the customers we serve.