~*~As a disclaimer, once I sat down to type this NONE of it was as articulate as I wanted it to be. The more passionate I am about something, the more jumbled it sounds. So just muddle through and I think you'll get the idea.~*~
"You sound just like my husband, you're such a farmer! Always looking to what you'll try next year!" My co-worker Debbie chuckled at me. I took that as a compliment. One of the things I have wanted most, ever since I was a little girl, is to live on a farm. I blame watching re-runs of Lassie on that partly. June Lockhart answering that crank phone in her apron and house dress, the barn a stones throw from the house and that delightful farm kitchen are vivid memories and longings that run deep.
I didn't want some big commercial operation, nor for it to be our main source of income, and really I suppose it would technically be a homestead. But to me, homestead sounds hopeful but with some desperation and fear mixed in. Like the Ingall's toughing it out and the desperation and hardships that surrounded them when they staked their claim on a homestead. To me, farm sounds much more established and sure, a family centered life full of crops, animals preserving and heartiness. At least in the 1940's and 50's images that come to my mind.
Or this...
(the house is cut out of this one for a reason: it burned a few weeks ago)
But we just have a few acres with a house plunked in the middle of it and a pond taking up a large portion of the back section. (Have I mentioned my dislike of the pond before? Let me do so now. Don't. Like. The. Pond.) We really have no reason to move. I like our house (most of the time), I like our road, I like the area we live in. But I still want a farm. I want that secure feeling and image of family that a farm gives me.
And then backyard and urban farming became popular and I thought "how corny", that's not farming, how can you "farm" in your backyard?" But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the face of farming- at least my vintage-y vision of it- is changing. There are families who want farms and that same feeling that I do, but land/finances/jobs and myriads of other things make it impossible. So they do what they can with what they have and are happy calling it a farm. That's nice for them, but I was gonna keep praying the Lord will bless us with a REAL farm so I don't have to pretend too. He hasn't seen fit to answer. Farms are finding people everywhere, and a blog I read on occasion made me crazy when after praying for a few years God dumped a farm in their lap. I have been praying since I was a little girl. Why not us? (and why this particular case really grated on me, I don't know, but it's no one here) I started feeling some sympathy for those backyard farmers. And then I read a quote (that I have looked for high and low and CANNOT FIND ANYWHERE) which basically said: "Stop pining for the dream that's not happening and start looking for ways you can bring part of it to reality.
The ton of bricks hit me: I can make part of that farm dream come true. I can suck it up and even though we may not have the big old barn, rambling white farm house, and assorted livestock I would love to have, I *can* still say with pride "Why yes, we have a farm- a backyard farm" And so, with the delivery that came last Tuesday,
Half-pint Farm was finally born.
B. got really excited making a few design changes with the builder.
Happy Baby!
It makes me so happy every time I look out the window
>CLICK ON THE BELOW VIDEO!<
Chicks will be ordered shortly, and I am BEYOND excited : )
8 comments:
You sound SO friendly! :D LOVE your new chicken coop!!!! It's BEAUTIFUL! :) Can't wait to hear more about your little "backyard" farm adventures! I'm sorry that the farm dreams haven't come to fruition yet! :/ I understand that a wee bit in other ways. ((((((((HUGS))))))))))) It's a great idea to use what you have...bless you, Bonnie!!!
I also dream of having lots of land and having a farm. Land around us (Central Indiana) is super expensive. We only 3/4 of an acre and are thinking about getting chickens next spring.
Hubby enjoyed seeing the inside of the coop as he has some ideas/questions rolling around in his head about the how process. He also smiled and snickered when you mentioned the garden being larger. Every year I ask for it to be a little larger. *smile*
Here is to making the dream come true no matter where we are!
Sorry for all the typo/grammar issues in my comment. I guess I should be in bed instead of surfing the net!
SHUT UP! It is TOTALLY happening now!
(I can tell this comment is going to be a long one. Sorry in advance.)
You have been very patient and you are finally getting chickens! I am so very excited for you! (Your Farm Boy is probably OVER THE MOON by now, isn't he?) Question is: how many will you be ordering?
We have to order chicks soon too, since we butchered many of our older chickens and will be needing new to replace the old. I should do that soon. (I had never heard of Buckeye chickens!)
I think you are absolutely on the right track with doing happily with what you have. You know the whole adage Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it Do or Do without? Yup.
And may I just say there is NO good reason you COULDN'T have a farm on that property (which is lovely and spacious may I say!)
Have you ever read The Backyard Homestead or the book Mini Farming? There is SO MUCH you can do with such a small amount of land it is ridiculous. I know you read the blog ON JUST A COUPLE ACRES...they are a perfect example of it being lived out. If you haven't read the books, you must. That is all there is to it. You will be regretting a huge farm when you realize how much WORK a small farm takes! hehehe
Personally, I have always much preferred the idea of a quaint farm that has everything it needs for itself (without the commercial end of it)- you know, like Little House. A single milk cow, a few chickens, a few hogs- enough of everything for their family. Large farms nowadays end up specializing in ONE area (like cows, say) and they miss out on the well-rounded homesteady type of living.
(That was a soapbox.)
I loved hearing your voice. You have a pretty voice. And you are chatty. And you say things JUST like me-like, "but anyway" (I do that all the time) and "that's fun" and how you draw out some words and tilt them up at the end and how you talk to yourself (Don't do that it makes the camera go crazy.) HA! I totally do that too.
Which you will find out one of these days because Matt got me a video camera for my birthday! I just need to figure out how to get them on the computer.
Hold on a sec...
Okay. (I knew I was probably getting close to my limit.)
I *think* but I could totally be wrong- that those panels that lift up under the roosting bars are to take out and scrape. I don't know- I am pretty sure droppings wouldn't fit through the holes too well and then would clump up the squares. But I don't know. I just know that the chicken poo usually gums up on stuff. PLUS- if you can't GET to it if it falls under the house, that would totally stink because chicken poo happens to be awesome-dawesome garden fertilizer!
Your chicken house is like the Taj Mahal of all chicken houses. You should see ours. HA! It is so laughable! I will never feel compelled to show you either- now that I know how lovely yours is. :-)
PS. I love the weathervane! Matt just said he would love to have a weathervane some day (with a cow) so that is probably going to be a future present for him. (Shhh! Don't tell!)
I am so excited for you Bonnie. Totally thrilled!
Hooray for backyard chickens! They are so much fun to watch.
Love it all!!!
now that is a super chicken house! we are thinking of making it mobile for the new hens...so that first picture caught my attention
Post a Comment