Life lived abunduntly through nature, health and God
Header image

More InFarmation

Posted by Lacey in Animals | The Farm - (0 Comments)

Ya like my title?  I thought it was pun-y.  There’s actually a collective of individuals that meets up in Portland for InFarmation meetings regarding progressive farm practices.  Just in case you thought I came up with it myself.

I’m really tickled by your replies to my last post.  It was encouraging if for no other reason than to know that this wild dream isn’t too wild!  As I’ve eluded to in other posts, I married a logical and cautious man.  SO good for me really, as I would pack my bags and move to Nova Scotia on a whim and then upon arrival realize I had no plan for when I got there!  He helps me make my plans into reality so that I can either make steps to get there or realize that maybe I hadn’t thought it through enough.

SO after coercing him into sitting with me night after night to talk through the specifics (picture me hovering over his shoulder like a cat.  ‘How bout now.  Can we talk about the farm now?’) We settled on the beginning stages of ‘Operation get some mutha cluckin’ property’.

Stage 1:  Live within the budget we imagine we will need to hold to after purchase of property.  This entails leaving room for disaster and unforeseen circumstances that one doesn’t experience when renting.

Example A) oh.  It appears that the floor under the dishwasher is moldy.  Or hey, we didn’t notice the roof leaked until we moved in (you can tell we live in the PNW when these are the examples I dream up).

Also under stage 1: Operation Farm; we have some school loans that will be reaching the end of their deferment in a few months, we need to make sure that our budget will suffice to be able to start making payments on those as well. *crossing our fingers that Seth’s work review coming up in a few months will result in a bit of a raise*

And lastly, we decided that it was a good idea if we come up with some savings ourselves, as we realize hoping and praying we’ll have enough donations and prayers isn’t probably the best plan, not that we’re skeptical that we can count on you all… I seriously think it could work, but the voice of reason *cough Seth* thinks it best we have a back up plan.

SIGH.  Great big SIGH.  I am TERRIBLE at being patient.  So in conclusion, it’ll be a few months while we do responsible adult things before moving on to Stage 2: Start exploring properties.

Swiss Family Robinson style chicken coop. You use the resources available!

IN the mean time.  I am re-organizing our chicken yard situation after reading through this (excellent read for all poultry farmers or aspiring ones) , culling a few of our hens that are not laying regularly, purchasing some new laying hens, as well as a dozen or so Buff Orpingtons to raise as meat birds.  I spent yesterday (pictured above) building a make shift chicken roost while we redesign the old chicken coop (Pictures of old coop turned new to come in future posts), I seeded the chicken yard in buckwheat to get some greenery in there and I’ve moved my cold frame to a more optimal place in the yard where it will hopefully get better sun.  I’m looking forward to getting some fresh greens planted here soon!

This evening I planted some ginger finding THIS link on Pinterest and I’m looking forward to fresh ginger.  Isn’t it funny that we don’t usually think of how things are grown when we buy them from the market?!

And to leave you with, my wonderful man that loves to tease me posted this picture on my Facebook wall yesterday, asking, ‘If we get cows, can we get this kind?’.  What he didn’t realize was that this is the breed I’ve been yammering on and on about getting some day.  Maybe he IS absorbing all this infarmation after all.  (See how I worked that in one last time?)

Scottish Highlanders. So cool even punks dig em.

 

So if you’re all ‘rallied’ up and rearing to donate, hold yer horses a few more months!  I promise I’ll give you an opportunity to get in on this action.  But in the words of that super smart man I live with, ‘Lets wait till we are ready to sign the dotted line’.
Blessings of Peace to all your hearts.

 

A Wild Hair Farm Campaign

Posted by Lacey in The Farm | thoughts - (8 Comments)

 

A humble farm house begging for a fresh start

The thought came to me while I was watching youtube videos today on how permaculture is a brilliant answer to many of the worlds problems.  Problems such as drought, famine, hunger and poverty.  Once rich and fertile lands have been robbed of their nutrients resulting in dried and desert plains.  Erosion has left areas stripped of topsoil which leads to flooding and dust bowls.  People are being forced to leave native lands seeking government assistance and new generations are being raised with this dependent mind set.  Here’s one of the videos that I found particularly thought provoking.

watch?v=YBLZmwlPa8A

My heart swelled with joy as I watched.  People returning to their paradise of native plants and flowing streams.  Kids going to school because they aren’t spending their days begging for food or shepherding goats across a barren landscape in search of a small patch of greenery.  I left my computer and stared at my backyard.  In my minds eye I pictured ponds and trees and berms and hugelkultur beds teaming with food.  Sigh.  If only it were my land to do as I pleased.  I can still do alot here, but not that much.  And to invest so much into this little plot of earth only to leave it behind when we move again.  It is so hard to know how far down to put my roots!

I’ve begun the process of looking around the area for homes in our price range.  Which puts us in the category of ‘fixer-upper’.  A few days ago I came across 2 acres with a once lovely farm home on it well within the price range we had envisioned.  Yesterday I stole away for an hour to go check out the land.  Right on a main road, it was within 1/2 mile of Seth’s work.  He could ride a bike there.  The land was set between acres of farm land, once I’m sure it was the only home for miles.  The poor house had been abused, holes punched into walls, a makeshift porch rotting off the back.  Trash had been littered everywhere.  Several outbuildings hung their roof in shame, filled to the brim with garbage, ruined furniture and the remnants of a thriving farm.  A 30×30 square that was once a garden was overgrown and contained broken glass and old tarps.

My heart sunk.  I wanted to take this land and resuscitate it.  I wanted to pick each and every piece of garbage up and wash the walls and repair the buildings.  I wanted to put in a pond and berms and hugelkultur beds and pastures and grow food.  I want to open a little self service farmstand along the main road with orange yolked eggs and shining heirloom tomatoes.  I envisioned the house getting a fresh coat of antique teal paint with weathered cedar trim.  The fence would be reclaimed barn wood and I would fill the front yard with lupine and butterfly bushes, nasturtium, calendula and lavender.  My boys would grow to be young men learning how to swing an axe, hang a tree swing and raise their own pigs on this land.  I would host the weary and down trodden, offering them nourishing staples and a place to put up their feet and rest.  I stood there for a good long while, dried leaves and crumbled papers and plastic bags swirling around me in the wind.  The land was begging me like an old dog at the pound.  Please care for me.  Give me another chance to thrive.

I allowed the dream to fly out the window as I drove away.  We are sooo far from having enough money for a down payment.  With Seth just having graduated and started his position at the tech company, we are just beginning to pay off school debt.  We are years away from realizing this dream.  As I stomached the reality, a deep and discouraged sigh left my lips.  Sometimes you feel like throwing in the towel before the race has even begin.

After returning home from my farm ‘window shopping’ trip, I sat in contemplation while I knit a sweater for a friend.  In fact it is for the friend with whom I plan to join forces with at the farmers market this summer (refer to the last post for more on that matter).  I begin to think of how many sweaters I would need to knit.  How many jars of face cream and homemade lotion I would have to peddle in order to put away the amount I would need for the down payment.  My shoulders grew stiff and tired just thinking of the hours I would need to put in.    But then I had a new idea.  A Wild, Hair-brained idea.

And this is the part that I need your help with.  I’m shivering a bit as I type as I consider that this *could* work.  It could. Would you.  The vast internet community.  Would you….. help me?  Would you consider sponsoring this crazy dream of mine?

Here’s how it would work.  I would set up a ‘Crowdtilt’ account.  Your donation wouldn’t go through until the goal amount has been reached.  In return you get to be PART of this!  I cross my fingers and hope to faint, that I will blog the whole journey.  Who knows.  Maybe I’ll even write a book about it.  About how a community of people came together virtually to accomplish a noble and humble dream.  Will we fail?  Depends on what you describe as failure.  If we end up not  raising enough by the end of the campaign, then your money never leaves your pocket (read more about how crowdtilt works here).  But we can try.  Why not?  WHY NOT?!  Why couldn’t this work?  I don’t want donations out of guilt.  I don’t want you to feel weird pressure and never return to this site because you didn’t want to participate in this.  If this isn’t your thing, you don’t want to donate, then lets leave it at that, no hard feelings.  Perhaps you’d like to donate, but you, like us are saving every penny you can for a dream.  Then by all means.  Keep your pennies!  Far be it from me to ask you to sacrifice your ‘farm’ for mine. If nothing else, perhaps you can just pass on the link.  You never know who will feel like participating.

The husband and I are going to meet with a loan officer in the coming weeks to find out just how much this ominous amount will need to be.  We promise we’re not shooting for extravagance.  A dilapidated farm house and a few humble acres will suit us just fine.  Perhaps even this sad abused property that I stood on just yesterday.  We’ll put in the elbow grease and make you proud.  I can promise you that.  With Seth’s carpentry skill and my animal/garden know-how, we’ll get the job done well.  So before we get this party started, we’ll get the details squared away and then I’ll announce the beginning of our campaign.

Would you mind so much leaving a comment to let me know if you think this Wild Haired idea is just too wild or just wild enough?  I’d sure appreciate it…. thanks friends.

 

When Dreams become Plans

Posted by Lacey in Animals | The Farm - (0 Comments)

This picture sums it up perfectly. Trying to make my engineer into a farmer is comical.

 

I thought I married a spontaneous musician.  A’ fly by the seat of your pants’- risk taker.  In my naive 20 year old mind I thought I was the wife of a rock-star.  I imagined we’d travel the country in a van, sleep on the side of the road and crash on couches of friends-of-friends.  We would surf and skate and snowboard and backpack across New Zealand and Europe.  I figured we’d eat take out and at food cart stands.  Cause I wasn’t going to be a domestic housewife.  No-siree.  No one was going to make me their house-maid in an apron and red pumps.  While I had grown up in a rural area, with a mother who balanced cooking, gardening, animal care-taker and home-keeping, I thought I wanted no part of it.  I was done with dishes and mud boots.  On to the life of glamor, tattoos and late nights.  (We still drool over tattoos)

Fast foward 10 years.  I dream of woodfire cookstoves.  Goats and gardens and meandering creeks.  I drool over top of the line mudboots and cast iron dutch ovens.  Seth has transformed into a logical, cautious engineer who enjoys routine and predictable outings.  He longs to live closer in to Portland again, have weekends free to go to concerts, build guitar amps and take the boys to sporting events.  He still dreams of a garage band, and I still dream of travel, but other than that, we couldn’t have ended up differently if we tried.

As any of you who have been married for long or been in a long term relationship know, it is hard.  It is hard to temper your dreams to leave room for another’s.  It is hard to be patient, to listen and to understand.  I believe it’s valuable to work through these obstacles.  I believe we will be better for it and have a stronger relationship as we draw out our future together.  Making it up as we go.  How does a whimsical farmer and a logical engineer build a dream together?  We figure out the priorities, we let go of some dreams to make room for our partner.  We cry, and laugh and hold each other and promise one another that we will help the other realize a version of their wishlist.

And so we make plans.  My dream for 40 acres will likely be paired down to just a few.  While I had envisioned living out in the hills, miles from any city, my poor husband would whither away that far from people.  He knows that living a block from his favorite pub and hangout would force me to live in a tiny urban suburb and like an oak meant for the creekside, I would dry up and become brittle and snap.  So now we set our sights on the outskirts of Portland, a few acres, secluded but accessible.  Enough land for a few goats, perhaps a pig, bunnies, gardens and chickens, but not so much that it keeps us tied to our home and unable to travel, go to concerts and enjoy the company of friends.

And now with a clear vision we begin the process of saving.  Cutting out the fluff in our budget so that this becomes less of a dream and more of a goal.  In an effort to contribute, I am knitting like a machine to set up a booth at a local farmers market this summer.  My knit goods, apothecary, skin care and other whimseys will join forces with a talented friend who makes driftwood jewelry, upcycled wood art and furniture.  My hope is to raise enough by the end of the summer for a down-payment on our land.  If nothing else, it will pay off school debt, motivation either way!

I will keep you updated, my friends.  And I look forward to sharing this journey with you.  I can hardly wait to hand over our hard earned shekels for the promised-land.  *goats!!*

It feels good to start cranking away at the dream machine.  A little closer….a little closer….

Thats more like it. I'll take the pitch fork, you make the paycheck.

For Jenny

Posted by Lacey in Fellowship | Spirituality - (3 Comments)

Also, I’ve been meaning to do this for awhile.  My dearest friend of 8..9? years and her husband recently lost their vibrant and gorgeous 4 year old daughter.  My ‘niece’ Vienne Juliet.  She was a tiny, but spunky light, an absolutely angelic little girl.  She touched everyone she meet with a bit of pixie dust that cast an enchantment over them.  She was a princess that slayed dragons.  A dress wearing dinosaur lover.  A color-outside-the-lines dancing, singing, delight.

These last months  have been hard as I, my husband and our children have been processing this.  The reality of death has sunk in.  Vienne was playing happily with our eldest just days before she left this world.  An unknown infection in the heart.  Playing one minute… gone the next.  It is sooo much to grasp.  Too much to bear.  It has left me shaken and unsteady.

Please read more about this grief journey written by my friend here, http://forvienne.blogspot.com/

The blog was originally started as a place to compile fun, sweet and memorable moments.  Since Vienne’s passing it has become a memorial to her and a place for Jenny to process her grief.

Can I ask, rather, can I beg of you one thing?  Do not leave her advice.  Do not tell her she is doing something wrong, or at the wrong time.  Grieving has no steadfast rules.  And to be honest, I admire her courage in this.  She is processing this so gracefully.   A word of encouragement, a prayer, a blessing… or a similar story to share with her is appropriate.  But nothing else really.  I hope you can see I want to protect her.  She is fragile as you can imagine.

Visions of Spring

Posted by Lacey in Animals | gardening/compost - (0 Comments)

Heidi Katt, lapping up ice water

 

This morning I stood in my usual place, in front of the glass door overlooking my mini-menagerie.  Hand on hip, the other cupped around tea.  I sipped slowly, barely touching the hot mug.  The hoary frost covered grass and trees and water and leaves.  I would need to break the ice on the critters waters again.  The sun began to touch the ice and melt the shimmering liquid into drippy gems.  The dogs were already sprawled out soaking up the precious gold and the chickens were finding high perches in order to touch the rays as they made their way into the yard.

Spring.  I began to think of spring and tall lush grass and birds.  The songbirds that wake you at first light.  Spring is along ways off, but it was good to catch the glimpse of a reminder.

I am planning to convert most of my garden space this year to medicinals, herbs and some of the vegetables that did best last year.  Kale, chard and the green mix thrived.  Carrots in certain places did splendidly and strawberries, despite the lack of sun in some spots really took off.  Perhaps more zucchini and summer squash, perhaps peas and a few cherry tomatoes.  The rest of the space will hopefully be filled with calendula, lavender, agrimony, yarrow, comfrey and whatever else I can fit in there.

I went through a few weeks of feeling constrained again by this space.  Wishing for more.  Hoping that more of my dreams will knock on my door.  I began to remove myself from what I have, discontent and even spiteful at times.  I just want a few acres.  A goat!  A southern facing slope that gets full sun!  I just, I just… I want more.  It was soon after, but not soon enough that I remembered what it was like to be in a small apartment.  What it was like to have no yard at all.  I remembered quickly what it was like to be able to grow a few potted herbs on a windowsill and how ecstatic I was to have that.  I remembered how much I have.

Rather than discard the resources and available space I have, I decided to work with it.   Again.  Not force it to be what it is not.  It is not enough space for all the animals I want.  It is not enough space for rows of corn and squash.  It IS enough space for a flock of chickens, a few fiber bunnies, herbs and climbing peas, a sunny place to drink tea and chat with a friend.  It IS enough space to learn new skills.  It IS enough.

I finished my jasmine tea watching the cats and chickens and dogs all take turns at trying to bust through the icey glass that kept them from quenching water.  Slipping on boots and jacket, I took out hot water to melt it away.  They all came to drink again, tails wagging, happily clucking and purring softly.  It was enough to fill my heart and be thankful.

 

What are your plans for spring?  How can you work with what you have?

no