Our first year in training
Well this is the first time I have written a blog. How exciting to finally have a platform on which to hash out some of the inner jugglings of my mind and heart on the never-ending road of this farm project. It has been over a full year since I fully committed carrying this idea through, since we were given the green light by some truly warm and generous friends who allowed us to sprawl out large pieces of plastic on their blank canvas of a hay field, directly in front of their home.
That first tarp was so optimistic, it was still an ideal at that point, it was the version of this dream that knew no obstacles. From where I stand now I just can’t help but think how I had absolutely no idea what we were getting ourselves into. If I would have known the depth of this rabbit hole I might have found enough excuses to not even try. I think the thing that I may have underestimated the most was my own ability to live with myself through the stress of taking on the weight of being a business owner and a farmer as well as a full time mother and partner. The pressure of my own expectations on myself to produce results, to be organized, to ‘make it’ and the fumbling feeling of not knowing what the f*** I’m doing has been real. There have been meltdowns, and we have been stretched as a family. We have taken a chance on this dream. We’re putting our bets all in that this is a good time to start a farm and if it’s all going to go down in flames, well at least we know we went for it. It was to be August 1st we decided that my partner, Josh, would leave his full time job that had been paying all our bills so we could work together on the farm as well as share the load of parenting and domestic life. That was the biggest leap of faith, one that we are still being stretched by as we both work part time jobs and pull some stunts to make it work, but we are slowly starting to see some things come together.
All in all, the growth is starting to become palpable. We are absolutely blessed by the support of our family, friends and neighbors which has given us the opportunity to pursue this lifestyle. The heart of what we are doing seeks to embody the spirit of reciprocity. The land is taking care of us and in return, we intend to become better and better at our jobs of enriching the land we’re tending. Our family has also supported and taken care of us and in return, one day we will be the ones supporting and caring for them. We have been given such amazing opportunities here in our beginning that we intend to pay those forward to others on the path as we find our own way. In the meantime, we’ve got work to do!
