We had a group of toddlers and their parents come out to our
farm for a field trip the other day. Oh,
the sweetness and wonder of precious little’s running all over the farm. Made me want another child badly. :)
Every time people come out to the farm there are a few
people who are trying to get into growing their own food in gardens, raising
chickens for eggs/meat or getting into raising goats for milk. They look around the farm and are overwhelmed
seeing what they see up and functioning and them just starting out. Or sometime God leads people to me who are
about to give up because of some start up failures or who have questions because
they like the way we are doing something.
We have been there our selves at times so I often can share and
encourage them.
I will share with you that we had very humble beginnings as
well. We didn’t just start out where we
are now. When we started out I didn’t know
how to milk a goat, raise chicks, tack a horse, or butcher a chicken
properly. When my dad bought the
property it was and still is, a beautiful piece of land. So peaceful and lovely that my dad named the
property Sanctuary. A sanctuary it has
been for my family as we lost our home years ago after my husband’s extended
illness. It has been a sanctuary and
safe place for so many foster children that we lost count. Home to too many stray cats and animals to
count that needed a place to live, grow old and die. There is just something about this farm. I am so grateful to God and my dad for us
being allowed to live here and enjoy God’s creation.
When we moved here there was no barn. This property used to have a huge long
chicken house on it. At some point when
the people that lived here before us decided not to raise commercial chickens
for eggs anymore they bulldozed down the whole
middle section of the long production house. They left about 60 feet of the building up at
my dads end of the property and about 60 down by our home. So when we moved here the part by us of the
old chicken building was just poles and a roof with some falling down siding. It had rotting wood half way up the sides,
decaying chicken wire on the top half also old tarps that used to pull up and
down on it. It was also used to store
junk. We all worked hard and took many
loads of stuff to the dump. We pulled off
old boards, brittle rusted chicken wire and stripped it down to the poles and
roof. Over time as we had time and
could afford it, it slowly was built into a really great barn. Pen by pen.
Stall by stall. For a long while
there was no electricity in it or running water. It took years, money, patience and hard work
to make it into the barn that is there today.
The barn as it is today complete with barn cats sunning themselves on the roof!
When we moved here there was no fencing for livestock. No chicken house for our chickens. No raised beds for gardening. These things have come about bit by bit over
the years.
Let’s just take chickens for example. We wanted eggs and did a lot of
research. Got some chickens and oh my,
the learning curve started. We had
predator troubles right from the start and over the years found out we are not the only ones that
like to eat chicken! We had a time of
overcrowding as we were such new exuberant chicken owners and there were so
many kinds to choose from that we bought all kinds. I have tried chicken tractors, Movable pens,
free ranging…we have had our chickens, in 14 years, in no less than 5
arrangements and places all over the farm.
Where we have had them the last several years works the best for our
farm. I have done experiments, lost
birds, tried different ways to feed them, learned and come up with what works
best for our farm.
Luke 9:62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his
hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
Because He is saying this knowing that farming is hard work! You can’t go into farming of any kind without
a dream and passion for what your goal is.
If you aren’t full of determination you are going to look back at how
easy it used to be, before trying to farm and give up. You won’t put your all into it with gusto
when you are always looking back, always wondering if you made the right
choice. By the way, if you are plowing
and looking back your rows aren’t going to be very straight either. You won’t have your mind fully on the task
ahead. God wants us on fire for Him and
once we get saved and start to serve Him and work for Him, we can’t look back.
Backyard farming has been a journey and a learning
curve. Something we have learned and
grown in over the years and are still learning and growing in. Our farm has become what it is by the grace
of God, thru sweat, hard work, successes, defeat and might I add…money invested
buy us all. Just as a side note. Backyard farming is not a way to feed your
family cheaply. But IS a way to give
your family quality food that you have control over how it is grown and
handled, that if done right, can cost much, much less than buying all organic
at the store. But might I add, at the high
cost of time and hard work.
I am not writing this post today to discourage anyone from
backyard farming. But to encourage and
show that we started small and it is an always growing always evolving
journey. I love to talk about our farm
and what God has shown us and we have learned over time. I just wanted to share that we are not
wealthy people. We haven’t always had
this farm the way it is all around us.
God gave it to us and we developed it thru His guidance and thru the sacrifice
of not spending our money on other worldly things that we might have wanted. Also thru working hard outside on the farm
morning and night instead of having
other hobbies and interests. This IS our
hobby and interest. This is our life. Serving God, Tim and I striving to have a
good marriage, raising kids, home schooling, milking and caring for our
animals. Morning and night, hot or cold,
spring, summer, fall and winter. And we
are loving it!
Praise be to God from Whom all blessings flow. Thank you God for allowing us to have this
wonderful season in our lives. I am
grateful.
blessings,
susan
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