Today we’d like to introduce you to Karen & Graham Knight ~ Pierce.
Hi Karen & Graham, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Our story began as a love for the natural world and a longing to create a place where life could breathe again. Graham was born and raised in the garden county of Wicklow, Ireland, where care for land and community is a way of life. His work in global medical relief and emergency air rescue carried him across continents, always rooted in the belief that we must put back more than we take. I grew up in Midland, Michigan, with a biologist mother and chemist father, learning early that we are part of a much larger living system. After raising my three daughters in Austin and diving into the worlds of biomimicry, biophilic design, and expressive arts facilitation, I became committed to helping people remember their relationship to nature — and to their own inner wisdom.
In 2015, we found this patch of land just outside Austin. It wasn’t simply a property — it felt like a calling. Together, we have spent the years since restoring native habitat, planting cover crops, welcoming back pollinators and songbirds, raising a joyful herd of Nigerian Dwarf dairy goats, and building a place where people can truly exhale.
Ardor Wood Farm has now grown into a sanctuary where the land itself teaches. We host nature-resourced retreats, connecting dinners, forest-bathing walks, and community experiences that help people slow down, reconnect, and remember that they belong to the living world. Our newest addition — a Living Building Challenge Net Zero Energy Studio — allows us to gather in a space that is bright, healthy, and in harmony with the ecosystem that sustains it.
At the heart of our work is a simple guiding belief:
We are here to nurture.
The land. The creatures. The people who come through our gate.
We are learning how to be Replenishers — to live in a way that gives back more than it takes.
Ardor Wood Farm is the place where we practice that daily — and where we invite others to remember the beauty, belonging, and aliveness that has always been theirs.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
One of the biggest challenges has been learning to let go of the illusion of control. Stewardship is not about “fixing” or “managing” a landscape — it’s about being in relationship with it. The land has its own rhythms, its own wisdom. We had to learn how to listen.
There were also internal challenges — learning to slow down ourselves. Like many people, we came from fast-paced professional backgrounds. At first, we tried to bring that efficiency mindset to the farm. But nature was clear: this is a place to soften, not to prove.
And then there are the human challenges — guiding others into stillness and belonging when so many feel disconnected, rushed, exhausted, or unsure of their place in the world. But this has also been the deepest gift. We have seen people arrive overwhelmed and leave with their shoulders lowered, their breath fuller, their hearts reoriented toward wonder.
One of our most personal lessons came when our own children were young and afraid to be outdoors alone. We realized how easily modern life separates us from the living world. So we began wandering the land together — slow, aimless “wonder wanders.” That simple practice changed all of us. It taught us presence. It taught us trust. It taught us that healing doesn’t always come from doing more — sometimes it comes from remembering how to just be.
So yes, the road has had challenges — but every struggle has also been a teacher. The land continues to show us how to return to reciprocity, patience, belonging, and care. And that is the journey we now share with others.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
At Ardor Wood Farm, our work is about nurturing — the land, the community, and the people who come here to reconnect. We host nature-resourced gatherings, restorative women’s days, farm-to-family dinners, labyrinth walks, and programs that honor our guests’ values that allow slowing down and remembering belonging to the natural world.
Our new Net Zero Energy Studio, built to Living Building Challenge standards, offers a bright and restorative space for movement, meditation, and creative exploration. It embodies our belief that built environments can be healthy, joyful, and ecologically regenerative.
A defining part of Ardor Wood Farm is Graham’s craftsmanship and quiet, steady stewardship. When we arrived, the land was untouched. Every structure, pasture, fence line, and wildlife habitat has been built by his hands. He raises prize-winning, registered Nigerian Dwarf dairy goats, tends the apiary and harvests honey, crafts furniture and functional spaces, and maintains the endless systems — from the solar-powered gate to herd shelters to bird nesting boxes — that allow the land to thrive. His care is constant and deeply felt.
My work complements his — creating spaces for reflection, resilience, and renewal. Drawing from biomimicry, biophilia, labyrinth facilitation, and HeartMath coherence practices, I help guests reconnect with their own inner wisdom and vitality.
What we’re known for is simple: People leave here more at ease, more open, more themselves.
What sets us apart isn’t a method — it’s a way of being.
We move at the pace of nature.
We let the land be the teacher.
And we believe in putting back more than we have taken.
What makes you happy?
What makes us happiest is the loving kindness that flows through our relationships — with each other, with our children, and with the people who come here and become part of our extended Farm Family.
We are a blended family with seven adult children and one precious grandchild, and our greatest joy comes from being together — sharing meals around the big table, walking the land, laughing in the kitchen, and making memories in a place that feels truly like home. We both come from families and cultures where community meant something — where people showed up for one another, cooked for one another, listened to one another, and celebrated the ordinary moments that make a life.
That sense of family belonging is the heartbeat of Ardor Wood Farm.
We are happiest when:
Our kids are home and the house feels full of life.
We’re cooking together, gathering around a fire, or watching the goats make everyone laugh.
Someone new arrives and instantly feels welcomed, relaxed, and included — as though they’ve been here before.
People leave feeling seen, valued, and held.
The joy we share as partners is also part of the story. Our relationship is rooted in respect, warmth, humor, and the quiet ritual of showing up for each other every day. We care for this land as a reflection of how we care for one another — steadily, gently, with devotion.
What makes us happy is connection — real, warm, life-giving connection.
Family gathered.
People belonging.
Nature reminding us that we are not separate from one another.
This is why we welcome others here — not as guests, but as family.
We believe that when people feel loved, when they feel that they truly belong, they soften, they heal, they come alive. And when we live from that place, the world itself grows gentler, kinder, more hopeful — one meal, one conversation, one sunset at a time.
This is happiness to us.
And it’s what we love to share.
Pricing:
- Contact us for Farm Stays & Overnight Experiences Slow, simple, nature-immersed time — with the option of guided activities, movement, fire circles, or just pure stillness.https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/28613809?source_impression_id=p3_1762370894_P3LQUP4SmfLXTNZx
- Private, Value-Aligned Retreat Days Nature-resourced restoration for individuals, small groups, women’s circles, leadership teams, and community gatherings.
- Film & Photography Shoots The meadows, woodlands, Studio, goats, and natural light offer a living backdrop for storytelling, commercial, editorial, fashion, and documentary projects.
- Labyrinth Walks Guided or self-led contemplative journeys for clarity, grounding, grief tending, or transitions.
- Outdoor & Small Event Gatherings Farm-to-family dinners, milestone celebrations, ceremonies, and gatherings rooted in care and meaning.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ardorwoodfarm.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ardor.wood/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ardorwoodfarm/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Celticcowboy/channels
Image Credits
Graham Walter Pierce
