Ever since I was
a little girl, I have always dreamed of having a farm. I grew up on the outskirts of the city which
was country back then and have always had a love for animals and being
outdoors. The reality of owning a farm was
diminished by the fact that #1, I didn’t think farms really existed in this
area anymore as more and more farms were being sold and developed. Reason #2, I did not have any farm experience. I grew up with a dog, cat and a small fish
tank in my room. We never had chickens
or even a garden. And Reason #3, would I find
someone who would share my dream of moving way out to the country (possibly to
a farm), raising animals, growing a garden and canning/storing food for our
family? These three things held me
back, but certainly did not keep the farm dreams from running through my head
all of these years.
My husband was
born and raised in the country and comes from a farming background. His love for farms came at a very early age
when he would spend time at his Uncle’s farm riding the tractor or rounding up
the herd. He was fascinated and so
inquisitive with all the aspects of farm life.
At his own home,
he recalls helping his parents in the garden with weeding and picking the fresh
veggies. He was also responsible for
caring and cleaning the chicken coops which housed both egg-laying and meat
chickens. The taste of fresh meat, eggs
and produce is something that has always resonated with him, even to this
day.
In 2005, I
married my husband and we started out living in the outskirts of the city but soon
decided we wanted to live out in the country.
So a year later, we began the process of building our home on a 3 acre
lot. We loved everything about our
little piece of heaven, with the exception that we wanted more land. Now fast forward 7 years, we are still living
in our home, but have traveled to the south a few times (Tennessee, North &
South Carolina, Virginia) and rediscovered our love for farms and our new
interest in growing/raising our own food.
Each time we returned back home we kept tossing around the idea of
owning a farm; but where? And could we
afford it? In 2012, we received
surprising news that we were going to be parents to a little baby boy! We were so thrilled and now the thought of
owning a farm becomes even greater because we want our little buckaroo to have
the same country upbringing that we had and more! In 2014, the opportunity to own a farm became
a reality for us and we were thrilled beyond belief. The farm did not come to us without years of
preparation which included, saving, sacrificing and living simple not only in
our married years but also in the years prior to us dating.
Those same
preparations are taking place today as we are not living at our farm yet. We are busy making plans to move from the
home that we built to the farm. Our farm
needs so much work, but like the home we built together, our farm will be a
labor of love that we can enjoy and make memories that will last a lifetime for
our son. Won’t you join us on our
awesome journey as we restore this old farm and learn to raise our own
food. We don’t know what the future
holds, but we invite you to follow us on “the Lewis Family Farm”!
The Lewis’
 |
| September 2014 |
Sharing at The Homestead Barn Hop & Simple Saturdays Blog Hop
