Welcome to Queer Quail Ranch, home of Joe Tryon and John Sullivan, along with a couple dozen chickens, two goats (Simone and Zazz) and their kids (depending on the season), a yellow Lab named Gertie and Ella the black cat. This is our story.
The ranch has become the canvas on which we'll paint the next years of our lives. It started out as a weekend home, an escape from the fast pace of San Francisco 100 miles away. Situated in the Collayomi Valley, on the north side of Mount Saint Helena, the ranch sits on a rise along the banks of St. Helena Creek, opposite the small crossroads of Middletown, about 16 miles north of Calistoga in the world-famous Napa Valley. In 1998 John took out a mortgage for 15 flat acres, a house that began as a hunting cabin, and a tumbledown barn. As you know, life always seems to lead you in unexpected directions, so we each found ourselves in situations bringing us to live on the ranch full time.
For John and Joe, it was a leap of faith that found them knee-deep in hard work, some frustration, but mostly surrounded by the love and support of a wonderful chosen family. Although we frequently return to the love of old acquaintances, since moving to Middletown, we've found and made new friends and mentors who have encouraged, enriched and challenged us to learn, grow and be changed in ways we hadn't expected. Our experience has been both a return to things in our past and an exploration of things completely new.
Through this site, we'd like to share the ups and downs of our life, our accumulated knowledge, and perhaps support you in taking that leap of faith of your own, be it a new home or career or life altogether, which will find you soaking wet with joy, love, exhaustion and a sincere feeling that you've done that one and only thing necessary to enrich you and those you hold close. Thank you for visiting; we will be delighted to hear from you. QueerQuailRanch@gmail.com
For John and Joe, it was a leap of faith that found them knee-deep in hard work, some frustration, but mostly surrounded by the love and support of a wonderful chosen family. Although we frequently return to the love of old acquaintances, since moving to Middletown, we've found and made new friends and mentors who have encouraged, enriched and challenged us to learn, grow and be changed in ways we hadn't expected. Our experience has been both a return to things in our past and an exploration of things completely new.
Through this site, we'd like to share the ups and downs of our life, our accumulated knowledge, and perhaps support you in taking that leap of faith of your own, be it a new home or career or life altogether, which will find you soaking wet with joy, love, exhaustion and a sincere feeling that you've done that one and only thing necessary to enrich you and those you hold close. Thank you for visiting; we will be delighted to hear from you. QueerQuailRanch@gmail.com
Who we are
John Sullivan (left) and Joe Tryon. (Photo by Bill Corona)
John and Joe are partners in Queer Quail Ranch. Both bring various skills to make life here enjoyable, and each has his own dreams of what he'd like to do with the place. (Fortunately, those dreams are complementary, meshing nicely for the most part.) John has spent most of his life in cities but is a farmer at heart, happiest when tending the fruits and vegetables in the raised beds and greenhouse Joe built. Joe is a dairyman by nature and background (he grew up on a goat farm in Michigan), and is content to spend hours making dwellings for sheep or goats or chickens. He has a natural talent for carpentry, and the ranch is home to a growing collection of his handiwork.
Joe tells visitors that without John's vision in finding and securing the ranch, none of this would have happened. But in truth, Joe is the driving force behind many projects, including the barn and its neat and tidy livestock stalls. With the arrival of Simone along with the older Zazz (and their kids) that barn fairly hums with their activities. These two "Goat Daddies" are committed to showing that the ranch, at one time a walnut orchard and who-knows-what-else, can be returned to its utility as a place where animals thrive. Although Joe has a years-long experience caring for dairy animals, John has also shown that he can get a baby goat to take a bottle as easily as Joe. But if you think that's all there is to raising goats, read on...
Joe tells visitors that without John's vision in finding and securing the ranch, none of this would have happened. But in truth, Joe is the driving force behind many projects, including the barn and its neat and tidy livestock stalls. With the arrival of Simone along with the older Zazz (and their kids) that barn fairly hums with their activities. These two "Goat Daddies" are committed to showing that the ranch, at one time a walnut orchard and who-knows-what-else, can be returned to its utility as a place where animals thrive. Although Joe has a years-long experience caring for dairy animals, John has also shown that he can get a baby goat to take a bottle as easily as Joe. But if you think that's all there is to raising goats, read on...