About

My childhood home was nestled safe and sound in the suburbs.  On the weekends we would visit this magical, wild place...our family farm.  As a young child I got in all sorts of mischief dreaming there.  I would sneak out to walk down to the creek, marveling over quick tiny fish, and the deep bellowing bull frogs.  I walked barefoot everywhere, along the gravel drive, and in the garden.

I stained my hands red plucking mulberries from trees, and delighted in the sun ripened grapes that sprawled along their trellis.  I lured cows to the fence line, feeding them handfuls of corn and fresh plucked grass.  I relished the time spent in the large cornfield, picking sackful after sackful of delicious sweet corn.  The adults would spend all day putting it all up, and I couldn't wait to go out to the pasture to feed stalks and extras to the cows. (They were pretty excited by that as well!)  I always looked forwards to the apple harvest in the fall, turning those buckets of apples to cider, apple pie filling, and sauce.

I rented library books about farms, and planned what animals I'd own.  I loved the farm so much, and it loved me back.  I just knew, at that young, tender age it would be my future.

Then I turned into a teenager.  The farm seemed impossible, I fell in love, and the farm didn't seem as important.  I still savored the long walks I would take there, and a part of me kept hoping.  I got married, got lost in life, and emerged on the other side realizing I wanted something vastly different than I had.  I started out wanting a nice house, a new car, plenty of money, and every new gadget possible.  All that got us was debt, heartache and depression.  I lost my job, we got poor, and started dreaming.  I dreamt of my impossible dream, living on a farm with chickens in the yard, a prolific garden, cows meandering in a field.

Then it started to happen.  Slow, shakey, baby steps have led me to where I am now.  All our animal husbandry and gardening happens on that magical farm of my parents.  We hope to move close so I can easily be there a few times a day.  We have a few chickens, a couple goats, and a garden waiting for spring.  Our 2014 goals include growing a nice garden, preserving more food, more layers, meat chickens, perhaps turkeys, and more goats.

I created this blog to share what I've learned, to show the defeat, the heartache, and the glorious success in our adventures.  I want to show how that tiny, nearly microscopic seed, turns into a veggie, and then how that veggie gets to the table.  It's a blog about boundless adventure, great food, and a different way of life.