Local farmer and artist Stephanie DeJoseph with “Snowflake,” a milk goat at Iron Rooster farm. (Enterprise photo — Glynis Hart)

GABRIELS — Like farmwives of old, Stephanie DeJoseph of Iron Rooster Farm works all the time, rising at 5:30 every morning to take care of her family and her farm.

If she’s not on her feet, she’s working with her hands, making art or seated at one of several sewing machines. She takes care of the goats and the chickens, works in the garden or the greenhouse, cooks and cleans the century-old farmhouse she and her husband, Everett Fowler, own on Rainbow Lake Road.

This, however, is 2017, and DeJoseph’s resemblance to the farmwives of yesteryear stops at the degree on the wall of her studio upstairs.

“I went to school for interior design, but I’ve always been really creative,” she said. “I love to sew, and I love fabrics. I started designing stuff out of my dorm room, which grew into a small design business.”

She had put her toddler, 2-year-old Everleigh, down for a nap. Everleigh had really fallen asleep, so DeJoseph led a tour of the farm.

Originally built by Charles Riley between 1903 and 1910, the farm had cows and pasture for many years, so the soil is good. Most of the original outbuildings, as well as the house, have been well maintained and are still solid.

Right now Iron Rooster Farm has goats and chickens. In the past, it has raised both pigs and sheep.

Although her husband comes from a farming family, DeJoseph wasn’t inspired to try the life until eight years ago, when she visited a friend in Vermontville.

“She had some goats, and she was doing her artwork, and she was homesteading,” DeJoseph said. “I was so inspired by her I told my husband I wanted a few chickens. … He brought home two baby goats.”

Now goats, two females and a male, are part of farm production. The females kid in the spring and contribute milk to the farm through the summer, which she shares with family and friends. In the past, the goat milk went to the pigs, which “really made a difference in their meat,” DeJoseph said.

As the season turns cold, DeJoseph works in the new greenhouse with her daughter and on the endless list of projects around a farm.

“In the summer it’s a whole different ballgame,” she said. They put eggs and firewood out for sale by the road, but they can’t keep up with the demand. They also rent out an upstairs bedroom through AirBnB, which has been another source of income: “It hasn’t been empty until last weekend.”

Meanwhile, DeJoseph works on her art. Customers at Nori’s Village Market in Saranac Lake may have seen her farm-themed cloth bags, and patrons of BluSeed Studios may have taken one of her workshops. She creates custom projects, from clothing to gifts.

“I’ve held a lot of workshops for kids and adults,” she said. She’s also passionate about networking and reaching out to people.

“I’d like to make a living off our property, eventually. It just takes time.”

Last year Iron Rooster farm received a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant to build a greenhouse, so next year they hope to sell cut flowers. Fowler, in addition to his daytime job for the NYS Department of Transportation, also has a side business, hauling trash for customers in Gabriels. He does some caretaking and lawn work as well.

“I’m trying to rein him in on that,” she laughs. “We’re both going in 50 million directions.”