The next six months were an epic journey, with laughter, tears, beauty, and anxiety. We brought cows, pigs, turkeys, chickens, and sheep to our farm. We hand dug an enormous garden space, and grew tomatoes, potatoes, greens, onions, corn, beans, and much more. We cleaned up piles of trash, restored rooms in our 1900-era farmhouse, battled a jaw-dropping wasp infestation, cleared brush along fence lines, and replaced roofs on outbuildings. We had visitors from near and far, including neighbors, family, and friends (featuring eager, young assistants).
Being on a farm was my dream, after growing up on and near farms as a child and for a short time in my mid-20's. Living in the country was a big step for Aaron, who had always lived in small towns or cities. We decided to use flexibility and patience to see how things went. About a month ago, Aaron said to me, unsolicited, "Shaun, I love the farm." That's pretty much all it takes to make it official. Now we love the farm. This includes our adopted city dog, Dexter, who is out chasing hawks (in strong defense of our chickens) as I write this post.
Loving a farm is a process, and in order to deepen our understanding of what makes a farm work, we have decided to create a farm plan. In November, we will begin a Journey Person course with the Land Stewardship Project, which gives farmers the tools they need to gain skills in communication, farm production, marketing, and finance. I will also be applying for a grant from the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, in order to help with some improvements I anticipate we will need to make in the coming years.
As we prepare to write a farm plan, I've been thinking about what the guiding principles of our farm may be. Principles that speak to us are ...
- A high degree of environmental stewardship of the land, air, and water.
- A supportive community of diverse customers and farmers who make decisions collectively.
- Fulfilling lives for the animals and humans who live on and visit our farm.
- Healthy food that nourishes our bodies.
- A sustainable way of operating that honors those who came before us, and improves our home for future generations of animals and people.
Finally, you may be wondering ... what will our farm produce? I have a great passion for animals. Pigs have a slight edge on others for my adoration, but I care deeply about all farm animals. Some potential products might be eggs, chicken, turkey, pork, lamb, wool, and beef. Currently we have 3 female pigs who are being bred with 1 male pig named Willy, so we are hoping to offer pork next year. We're thinking about calling this product Big Willy's Pork (yes, he and Dexter, the dog, get along quite well) ...
In reality, the grand experiment I referred to in the beginning of this post is just underway. We have so much yet to experience, and to learn. And the great news is this - we want the experiment to continue! If you would like to be part of this journey, please enter your email address and contact me on the upper right hand corner of this website. Google blogger will keep you posted on new blog entries, and we will let you know about opportunities to get involved in our developing farm.
Until next time, cheers to the farm!
