Meet the Barnards
Enchanting Acres is a second-generation family-run farm located in Mid Missouri. Although Enchanting Acres just arose in August of 2021, the land has served as a home for Jim and Deborah Barnard for 20 years where they have raised Cormo sheep and always maintained a large garden.
Jim and Deb’s grandchild, Kyra Barnard, who grew up in a close relationship with this land, envisioned cultivating this acreage for food production. When Kyra shared this vision with Jim and Deb, they were in support as they themselves had dreamt of a farm for as many years as they had owned the property.
Kyra came on board to manage and sprout this land into what is now Enchanting Acres, a vegetable, mushroom, and flower farm.
meet jim barnard
Jim, Co-farm owner, has lived in Columbia for over 37 years and grew up just hours away on a Missouri Farm. His family had always kept a large garden and raised vegetables and livestock. He has memories of sowing seeds and fetching eggs as a young boy while his mother was canning homegrown food in the kitchen. Jim was immersed in the world of agriculture throughout his childhood and early adolescence. He spent his youth deeply involved with FFA and 4H. Farming has always been like second nature to Jim.
He went on to attend the University of Missouri for political science and met his wife Deb while in school. Following college, he served in the military during the Vietnam War Era. After his service, he made a career in insurance claims adjusting for 43 years. While in insurance, Jim not only worked for other companies but also ran a business of his own for a decade. He has since retired from insurance and returned to his roots as a farmer. Outside of agriculture, faith has played a major role in Jim’s life. He is active in the church and in outreach to the community. Anyone that knows Jim knows he has a heart of gold and a giving spirit by nature.
meet kyra barnard
Kyra, Co-Farm owner and manager, grew up in Columbia, MO. They have always felt a great tie to the Missouri soil, the great oaks that ground us to place, and the creeks that flow through this land. As a child, Kyra was always environmentally conscious, protesting on the playground for climate action in first grade, teaching nature skills to peers, and favoring walks in the woods over any other activity.
They moved to Boulder Colorado, to attend Naropa University, where they graduated in 2021 with an Environmental Studies degree with an emphasis on food justice and permaculture.
Alongside their academic pursuits, they interned and worked on various farms in the Boulder/Denver area to gain a real-world understanding of growing food.
Preceding and simultaneous to their involvement with agriculture, they worked in the field of eldercare for the last 5 years, primarily caretaking for those with dementia. Kyra desires to create a synthesis between earth and people care as a way of greater healing for ourselves and our relationship with the Earth.
They decided in the summer of 2021 to return to Missouri and the land they always knew to be home. In collaboration with grandparents, Jim and Deb Barnard, Enchanting Acres was born. While growing food is a primary passion, underlying is a desire to bring community, and social justice alongside environmental practices through agriculture. For Kyra food is not only a form of sustenance but an act of revolution.
In conjuction with cultivating the land, Kyra was pursuing continued education. They found an online program that allowed them to do both. In 2025 Kyra Graduated with a Masters of Arts in Community Organizing and Social justice under an umbrella of Sustainability Education from Prescott College.
meet deborah barnard
Deb, Jim’s spouse and land owner, spent the majority of her life serving in the field of nursing as a cardiac RN while raising three beautiful children. She was a woman of many passions and had several businesses over the years. Most recently she ran a sewing business, centering around quilting and embroidery. She was active in the sewing community and spent several years as an educator for fiber arts.
Deb always had dreams of turning their acreage into an abundant farm, full of sheep, vegetable gardens, and flowers. She centered on the role of flowers, as a source of biodiversity and increased pollination as well as the gift of floral arts as a way to bring joy and beauty to people.
Deb passed away on May 10th of 2022 from ACL Leukemia. She held a gracefulness and fearlessness up to her last moments, a direct reflection of the way she lived throughout her 72 years of life. Those that knew Deb knew her to be fiery, a dreamer, and a bright light, spreading joy through storytelling and uninhabited laughter.
