Our Farming Goals

Between my husband and I, we have done a ton to self educate. We have read a lot of books, articles, blogs, and watched educational shows, etc. My husband grew up in this part of the country and has been exposed to farmers and farms his entire life. Needless to say, we followed the advice given by most to not bite off more than we could chew. Our farm is ~24 acres, but even after living on site for over a year, we have thus far only established our raised bed garden and a fishing pond. The advice was spot on! I thought (naively) that we could take on more, earlier. My husband pumped the brakes more than once and I’m grateful for that. We have a neighboring farmer who cuts and rolls the hay and for that service, we let him keep it for his herd. This has helped us to establish a relationship with a mentor as our farm maturity progresses.

We have effectively established the garden and though it is by no means perfect, the garden journal (and now blog) will persist with lessons learned and we have been able to grow everything we attempted. Thus far, the list includes yellow squash, acorn squash, brussel sprouts, carrots, beets, watermelon radishes, 5 types of peppers, English cucumbers, pickling cucumbers, bok choi, pok choi, spinach, mixed lettuces, tomatoes, Rosa Bianca eggplant (not yet ready to harvest), white onions, red onions, shallots, and various herbs. Nearby the garden, we have established a very informal compost pile since we haven’t built the bin itself. 

Our new tractor is ready for pickup and we have recently gotten estimates for replacement boards on the existing fences as well as new fencing in order to creat the appropriate pastures and infrastructure for livestock. Our goal is to have some cattle, chickens and a couple of llamas (llamas being my goal, not his).  We are also looking at either purple martin houses, bees or both. A social media bee group I joined is currently saying both are possible on the same farm. We are doing all of this without chemicals to  nurture both the health of the soil and the ecosystem with alternate, natural techniques. Stay tuned for more!