Big Dreams.....and Baby Steps

Our little farm project is now 2 years old. In many ways it feels like we haven't accomplished anything, but yet in other ways we have gotten quite a lot done. We certainly don't want to lose the place but the reality is some things have got to change. And speaking of change....this blog is undergoing a few changes in the new year. I will no longer focus only on our farm adventures but will be adding over time our "city" adventures as well. I know that I have already started to add posts that are not related to the farm and it will be a continuation of that along with daily living thoughts and actions; sort of a Town Mouse/Country Mouse approach to life. I hope you will stick with me and that what I say is of interest and I hope that you will become a "follower" if you are not already. But in the end I write mostly for me....a journal of life, a recording of events and thoughts of everyday living that makes me the girl I am, whether it be a farm girl or a city girl. And if it seems that my ramblings are just a carbon copy of what others are doing, oh well, at least we are all having our say. So.......
REFLECTIONS on what the farm has taught us over the last two years
1. It is good to have dreams. When we were married 27 years ago we lived in a little cottage on the top of Lookout Mountain, GA. It had 2 bedrooms and one main living area heated by a wood stove. My new husband was kind enough to get an electric heater for the bathroom, but other than that it was a pretty rustic beginning. We had a beautiful view of a pond and horses and a little mountain farm and we would sit on our front porch and say "Someday, we'll have this..."
2. God speaks through nature. The 20 acres of woods on our property are full of stories. Whether it be civil war soldiers or sharecroppers or raising a family in the old farmhouse, many tales are told by a long walk about the property. We've done it many times in every season and it never fails to remind us of our creator. Listening to the winds whisper in the oaks, or the acorns dropping loudly to the ground, the gurgling stream that at time rushes by swollen and full, all these point us to the One who created this field of wonders for us.
3. Peace and Solitude is a Good thing. Every time we turn into the driveway of our property you can feel the peace of country calling our name. It never fails to amaze me that one can sit on the porch or on a grassy knoll and feel the peace surround. Solitude in the woods is welcome. If you walk quietly and slowly you will notice so many things - perhaps it is the many shapes of an acorn and the way they look like little men of different races, perhaps it is the deer that suddenly leaps in front of your path, or maybe it is the tiny shoots of leaves that have been left alone long enough to form new growth or the sounds of crunching leaves or whispering winds or warning calls from unidentified birds. Peace and Solitude are good things!
4. To work the Earth is just that - Work, hard sweaty labor. We laugh at our audacity to think we could grow anything, much less an entire garden of flowers and vegetables. How the neighboring farmers must chuckle as they drive passed the "city folks" place. You can't garden long distance! but it doesn't stop us from trying and every little success is enough to get us excited for future endeavors. The apple orchard waits - full of promise that it will provide more apples than we know what to do with them. But first we learn how to care for the trees, how to prune and how pick, and just how many ways an apple can be used is worth exploring.
5. There is an enterprise around every corner. It all started with an idea. Lynnette wanted candle holders for her wedding made from the oak trees - just something she had seen in a DIY magazine. So we set about to recreate it and it was a hit. We sold all remaining sets and have people asking for more. It is the start of a small cottage industry that we are slowly starting. We added coasters to the offering and again - all are gone and more are ordered. After researching the web we begin to list the many items that we could easily supply by using ingredients found on the farm. A business plan begins to form....stay tuned
6. Photography is Big business. Everybody wants to be a photographer these days and cameras are designed to point and shoot your way to fame (well maybe fame is pushing it....haha) But when you have something as beautiful as nature in all its seasons to photograph you are a lucky soul indeed. For even in its own quietness the beauty of the season can't be captured or expressed by even the best of the best, but we can view it with our eyes whenever we please.
7. Seasons have unique distinctions. Even as the beauty of nature unfolds from spring to summer to fall to winter so the life of the farm has seasons of history and a legacy for many periods of history. What was once a battlefield, became a 200 acre farm with a sharecroppers cabin still in place, the tobbacy barn belonged to the big house on the hill that is still filled with pieces of history left behind; old books and shoes and jars of something grandma canned many many years ago. The pens that held in cattle and goats now hold in quietness, waiting for the characters of what will come next. The sheds and barns once filled with grain and sustenance and equipment now hold the trash of another generation. And stories abound..who lived here, who worked here, who raised a family here? all stories waiting to be told.
Yes we have learned a lot from the little farm in two short years. And we have many lessons yet to learn, an education at our fingertips waiting for just the right time to take the next step towards the next chapter in the legacy of the little farm.