Pam Green
For the News-Leader
It will be one year in October for fourth generation Nassau County natives Jay Jenkins and his wife, Tina Shulman, opened Jaybird Hammock Farm to the public as, according to its website, “a tranquil sanctuary where wellness, nature and animal encounters come together.” The eight-and-a-half-acre farm, named as an homage to Jenkins’ grandmother, Connell Jenkins, who nicknamed him “Jaybird” when he was a little boy, offers nature walks with goats, paddleboard yoga, goat yoga, and sound bath meditations on paddleboards or in hammocks surrounded by soaring pines. Yoga and meditation are led by team members Ronnetta Williams and Kayla Jones.
Located off Old Nassauville on Frank Ward Road, named for Jenkins’ great-grandfather, Frank Ward, Jenkins grew up on the property riding horses and exploring the 1,000 acres of forest. A fisheries biologist, Ward moved to the area in the mid-1920s, and his descendants still own a large portion of the original homestead.
Shulman’s family also moved here in the late 1920s for the turpentine and then pulpwood industries, living in a little family compound two miles from the farm on Nelson Road next door to her grandmother's and great grandmother's houses.
“My great-grandmother, Nola Nelson, taught my mother, who taught me, to appreciate the native species of plants, trees and wildlife,” said Shulman.
Jenkins and Shulman shared the same homeroom at Fernandina Beach High School.
“He was a senior and I was a freshman. I had a crush on him,” said Shulman.
But it would be years later, when both were single with children, that they began dating after Shulman posted a Facebook birthday message to Jay in 2018. The two have been inseparable since.
During the pandemic in 2020, Shulman and her kids moved to the farm.
“The kids were being homeschooled and I had chickens on my little quarter acre. We moved because he had more property and a swimming hole,” said Shulman.
What was originally thought to be a temporary move became permanent and Shulman and Jenkins began clearing the land.
“The property was briars everywhere. We cleared it all out. The shutdown made us spend a lot of time here. After a while, we had a few animals and we were looking around like, ‘wow, this is really nice’ and thought it would be great if others could enjoy it,” explained the couple.
Jenkins works full-time as an auto glass technician, spending his mornings, evenings and weekends completing farm chores. Shulman earned a master’s in biology from Georgia Southern University and is the only full-time biology professor at FSCJ Betty P. Cook Nassau Center in Yulee. Together, maintaining the grounds and completing countless essential projects, Tina says, “we share an unwavering commitment to the farm’s success.”
The business plan includes agricultural tourism, goat yoga, and nature walks with their 18 Nigerian goats to help financially sustain the farm.
“Being surrounded by nature, interacting with farm animals, yoga and meditation have healing and restorative benefits, both physically and emotionally,” notes Shulman. “In that spirit…I reserve a few spots at each event, providing gift certificates to people who may be going through a divorce or a loss, when they just need a moment to reconnect with nature and themselves.”
For its anniversary, there will be special fall-themed events for the family, including outdoor movies with the goats, pumpkin painting, spooky stories and s’mores by the campfire.
Reflecting on farm life, Shulman says, “We are surrounded by amazing neighbors who appreciate the rural farm life we are all trying to hold on to and I am grateful to wake up and be able to share it.”
For more information about the farm and its many events, visit www.jaybirdhammockfarm.com