Three ways to participate in the first regenerative escargot farm in Texas.
Mama Kuku's Homestead operates in partnership with Helical Healing Habitat (HHH), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit nominated for the 2026 EarthShot Prize.
Join the farm
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The three tiers
Volunteer
For the curious. For people who want to learn farming by doing it. No experience required.
Day-based. 1 week minimum. Five hours per day. Meals at the farm.
Apprenticeship
For the skilled. For tradespeople and artisans whose craft can serve a working farm in exchange for rare agricultural knowledge.
Project is scoped together before you arrive. Meals at the farm.
Zone Partner: $650/mo (tax deductible)
For the entrepreneurial. For people ready to launch a business on working farmland.
Benefits
Program fees are tax-deductible
You keep every dollar your zone earns
Included: Compost, Mulch, water, electricity, wifi
Online store placement
Blog features
Co-apply for funding opportunities
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Who we are
🐌 Who we are
Mama Kuku's Homestead is a 20-acre regenerative farm in Farmersville, Collin County, Texas (45 miles northeast of Dallas, 25 minutes east of McKinney). The farm is operated by Brian and Ozi Manning, a product designer and a scientist. Both are founders of the EscarGrow heliciculture system (nominated for the 2026 EarthShot Prize).
Zone Partners. . .
The snailery does not run alone. Our circular economy needs partners who turn one part of the system's output into another part's input — and who keep what they earn doing it.
We are inviting Zone Partners across these complementary roles. Find yourself here, or apply anyway if you don't see your craft.
The Yoga or Wellness Retreat Leader
Use the farm as venue for half-day, weekend, or week-long retreats. We host the land; you bring the practice and the practitioners. Revenue is yours.
The Aquaculture Steward
Three ponds on-site. A partner who can run a small aquaculture operation — catfish, tilapia, water chestnut, watercress, or aquatic herbs — completes the closed-loop nutrient cycle.
The Cut Flower Grower
The frass our snails produce is a microbially active fertilizer that makes specialty flowers grow extraordinarily well. Lisianthus, dahlia, peony, ranunculus — for event florists, wedding designers, and premium farmers market customers.
The Medicinal Herbalist
Calendula, echinacea, tulsi, chamomile, lemon balm, motherwort. The frass builds the beds; you build the apothecary. Tinctures, salves, dried herbs, blended teas — direct to wellness-conscious customers across DFW.
The Mucin Skincare Formulator
Snail mucin is the heart of Korean skincare, and the supply chain is almost entirely overseas. A formulator who can take our harvested mucin and turn it into serums, creams, and eye gels has an open market and a story most brands cannot tell.
The Chef or Specialty Food Producer
Live purged escargot, snail caviar, snail-cured charcuterie — premium positioning, direct relationships with DFW restaurants and farmers markets, and a product line no one else in North Texas can offer.
The Microgreens & Specialty Vegetable Grower
Frass-amended beds. Fast cycles. Chef-direct accounts already in our network. You bring the technique, the seeds, and the work.
The Mushroom Cultivator
Spent substrates from the farm (straw, coffee grounds, sawdust) become the medium for shiitake, lion's mane, oyster, and chestnut mushrooms. High-margin, fast-cycle, with restaurant accounts already in our network.
The Beekeeper
Pollinators for a working farm and medicinal herb landscape; honey, beeswax, and propolis for direct sale. The bees thrive in a regenerative system free of agricultural chemicals.
What is required before you arrive
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A brief portfolio or documentation of your trade before the vetting process begins.
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Completion of an online Nonviolent Communication (NVC) prerequisite course.
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Clearance of an extensive background check administered by HHH
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The vetting process is thorough and unhurried. It is not the right process for someone in a hurry.
What the program is not:
Employment. No wages are paid and no employment relationship is created.
A rental or tenancy. No property rights of any kind.
A campground.
The right fit for everyone (and we mean that generously, not harshly). The vetting process exists to protect the land, the work, and the people.
Community programming at MKH is operated by Helical Healing Habitat (HHH), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit nominated for the 2026 EarthShot Prize.