Well folks, we made it. We made it to the new year (half of January to be exact) and to the new farm. For those of you who have moved before, you understand what I mean about it feeling like a never-ending test. We are incredibly thankful to have sold and closed on our home just before the end of 2022. We celebrated Christmas with our families and our 6th wedding anniversary on New Year's Eve. Now we are in the new year on this new property, and I thought it best to sit down and attempt to figure out what the heck we are doing here! This property is much larger, 5 acres, with a stillness that brings an abundance of peace to my soul. There's much to be done here, but it's oh so good.
Our first projects included getting the one-bedroom guesthouse on our property ready for rent so that we could move on to getting the stables ready for horses. All the while, unpacking and settling into our home.
Aside from those, we've been slow to make any huge changes to the property. We agreed that although we are very eager to make this property "ours", there must be a period of time when we wait to see what is already here. That means waiting on establishing the new garden, and instead using the four raised beds that are already here for veggies. The dreamy cottage gardens will come, but I'd like to first see what is hiding under the surface. I'm thankful to have a beautiful greenhouse that I will use to grow tomatoes, peppers and hopefully some basil and zucchini!
The animals are quite enjoying their time here on the new farm. We brought our small herd of Katahdin sheep, and they are happily enjoying more space. We have three ewes that will be lambing here in the coming weeks. I'm constantly checking on their backsides, looking for signs of early labor. Look at those baby bellies. My goodness, they are beautiful.
One of my goals as a farmer is to improve our sheep management. This includes making sure I am prepared for lambing season (which I happily am), keeping track of important birth and vaccination dates, and making sure all animals stay healthy. We have a fantastic livestock vet as well as some incredible farmers I lean on for wisdom. Farming teaches you A LOT of lessons. For us, most have been lessons learned the hard way. But I'm determined to be a better farmer on this land.
Who thinks I can do it? Anyone?
The chickens are settling in, happily free-ranging and exploring their new digs. A chicken coop is the one thing this property didn't have that we needed right away, but so far, the chickens have hopped between the chicken tractor and the sheep barn. I'll be honest, they are kind of wild at this point. No one is laying eggs (that I've found, anyway), but they are happy and healthy. It's winter... you can't expect much from them. A chicken coop is on the forefront of our list (which seems to be a mile long).
I'm excited to continue showing you our new home. It's going to be a slow process over the next several years as we peel back the layers and add our own stamp to everything. It's good. Very good.
More to come. Soon.
Cheers!