OUR STORY
A Passion for Sustainable Living
After honorably serving in the US Army for 33 years as an enlisted Soldier and then Colonel, I reflect on vivid memories of experiencing different countries, cultures, and interacting with people. My public health career always involved food. I am interested in agriculture of every country I visit and how it impacts daily life. Where food comes from, and who produces it and how, has never been more important than today.
Food in one form or another is central in meeting people and serves as a subtle part of the most successful outcomes. Offering food, whether a meal or a beverage, is more than social politeness. It’s a gateway to new relationships. My “retirement” has allowed me the opportunity to pursue my passion in agriculture and sustainable living. I live and work with my family and our beloved dogs on our ranch, located near historic Seguin, Texas.
My beginning is a simple story built from what has been done and what will get done. An urban rancher who is town bred and city educated, retired from military service, and making a success of the venture.
This environment requires a great deal of creativity, a willingness to try, and better not quit attitude. The ranch is in a state of perpetual motion: a system within systems carefully choreographed to maximize outputs. Daily activities include rearing and managing registered American Aberdeen cattle and their calves, chicks and adult fowl. We also have an olive orchard and are very excited to offer OLI TEA-olive leaf herbal tea and tea blends. Agriculture is cool and never boring.
As we welcome 2022, I’ll have my hands in the dirt planting a lavender field, lemon grass for days, and attempting to grow butterfly pea flowers. We will also be offering Herbal Tea Tasting with Lisa located in Seguin, Texas through AirBnB experiences.
Hope to see you soon.
Lisa Forsyth, Owner of Oli Tea Company
My goal is to grow things that have multiple uses and are interesting and fun.
“Everywhere is an atmosphere of hard work. Everyone takes work seriously and as a matter of course. There is no false pride about it, and no failure to realize its importance and its necessity.” My grandparents, great-grandparents and on and on were farmers. That way of life skipped a generation with my parents, aunts and uncles earning a living doing other things. Now I’m striving to live a self-sustaining lifestyle on my ranch, Diablo Day Ranch. By no means is this a new concept rather a recycling of how my grandparents lived generations ago.
