Farm Alchemy
Beginning a business is something of magic. It’s alchemy in a sense. You have to create equity and value from nothing. Our family has plenty of business experience but limited farming experience outside of hobby gardening and a few side jobs that gave us enough confidence to start things ourselves. When we moved to this 6.7 acre property in 2020, it was a house and a garage and a large green lawn. Today there are 10 components to the landscape that didn’t exist 12 short months ago. Granted we had assistance through Appleseed Permaculture Design and the expertise of 1000 google articles. It has been an uphill battle to say the least. There isn’t one single resource to answer all of the questions you’re going to have. There will be a lot of information to absorb and plenty to let go of because it’s over your head and sometimes experience and time are better teachers.
Today we were talking about how easy it is to lose sight of progress in work. Because the task lists are often so long and demanding that we feel overwhelmed. But they’re always there. They’re not going away. Accept the things you cannot change, right? So how do you live when beauty feels so far away? You have to find it, I think. In every little thing. Today I found beauty in imagination.
Our morning property walk was spent designing the walking pathways of the property and how the foliage will accentuate the experience of walking along these paths. To think of the trees growing alongside my children and the care we put into our family and flora. And then to imagine the other families that will get to share their experiences of watching their families grow alongside the farm that feeds them. That’s a really beautiful feeling. I feel a sense of privilege stewarding this landscape into a diversified eden of sorts, but it is a heavy responsibility to say the least.
The Strawberry Field houses over 1200 strawberry plants, herbs, and flowers. Our plan is to fill the field with medicinal herbs and berries including elderberry and high bush blueberries.
The Coops house our chickens and ducks. They are free range birds that roam our landscape helping with pest management and provide eggs.
The Greenhouses are where we grow are seedlings. We have cultivated 10 varieties of zinnia, dahlias, celosia, pincushion, cress, cosmos, lemon balm, tomatoes, peppers, and more.
The Gardens this season we’re growing tulips of many varieties. Next season we will be growing brassicas like brussels sprouts, cabbage, and broccoli.
The Orchard is where we have 25 fruit trees; a mix of European dwarf pear trees and apple trees of a few varieties.
The Mushroom Forest is a short walk to the back woods where shade and moisture are abundant to help our fungal friends grow.
The Pasture feeds our always snacking alpaca herd. Annie, Syrah, Marty, & Chewy make up this gang of 4 camelids.
The Flower Field is the newest addition to the property and will be in development through spring 2022. Here we will be growing a field of picturesque dahlias.
The Truck is our farmstand and Travelin’ Tavern for events. It is a 1948 pickup with a modular bed designed for our uses. You can find things like fresh flowers, tea, syrups and mixers from Drink More Good
The Garage is a mess. Kidding. Kind of. But it’s going to be a sweet new Pilates Gym, Retail Shop, and Commercial Kitchen.