Intro

If you have been around this website for very long, then you know that a majority of the content that has been posted has been a combination of book reviews and various writing related content. We as a family have a dream of one day having a farm with a menagerie of plants and animals. We even have farm in the name of the website, but there has been very little farm related content, so we want to change that.

Just to let you know, we probably won’t be posting much about how specifically to do various tasks around the farm as there are many more qualified than us who have developed great resources to allow you to learn. This will be more about our experiences, and our dreams of how we want to have a farm in the future.

Where We Are Now

Right now, it is hard to say that what we have classifies as a farm. We have a small house with about 1/3 of an acre of land. Part of that land is a shared front yard with our neighbors, so we are limited to a small backyard. This hasn’t stopped us from doing what we can to make our backyard as close to a farm as possible. Even though we have only been in the house for around a year, we have planted things all around, and we even got some chickens.

Currently, we have a variety of trees that we have planted. Some in the ground, and some in pots. These include a fig tree, a Moringa tree, Crepe Myrtles, White Flowering Dogwood, and Eastern Redbuds. In addition to the trees we have planted we have a variety of other bushes as well including blackberry, blueberry, and rose bushes. Furthermore, we have built two small raised beds where we have beans, tomatoes, carrots, and onions. This doesn’t include the various containers we have that are growing sweet potatoes, potatoes, and some flowers .

We have even tried our hand at raising some poultry. We started with just five chickens, and then we made an impulse buy to get two ducks. This was a lot of fun seeing them grow from little chicks into adults. The ducks were a bit too much for us, and we had to give them away to someone who could better take care of them, and sadly, one of our chickens died unexpectedly. The remaining four chickens are doing fantastic, and we expect to start getting eggs soon.

In terms of having a full farm, I know that we are still a long way off, but even with the limited space that we do have, we can learn many things about what to do and what not to do when we eventually do get a bigger plot of land. I have heard many times that the best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is today. Even though we might not be around to enjoy all of the benefits of the trees and various plants that we are planting, we know that there will be someone who will get to enjoy them in the future.

Where We Want to Go

Every time we talk about where we want to go with our farm, our answer gets bigger and wilder. We would like to get to the point where we can grow much of our own food so we don’t have to continue to pay the high prices for foods in the grocery stores, and we want to know where our foods came from and know that they were raised in a way that didn’t pump them full of flavor or genetically modify them for transportability at the expense of flavor and nutrition.

In the short term, with the small amount of space that we have, we would love to get to the point where we don’t have to mow the backyard ever again. Between having the backyard covered with plants and having the chickens which seem to eat everything around them, it doesn’t seem too difficult to be able to get to where I never have to mow the backyard again.

In the long term, we would like to be able to have an orchard with a large variety of fruits, and we want to be able to have several cash crops that could be used for income. Additionally, we would love to be able to have a wide variety of animals both as pets and as food sources.

The most exotic thing that Rachel wants is an elephant, while I would be plenty happy with monkeys. Neither of these make the best of pets, especially not in the city with a tiny backyard, but they are still things that we can dream about having one day. Additionally, it is perfectly legal in the United States to own an elephant as long as your municipality allows it. When we get to owning a farm, we would likely be in a place where it would be allowed by the municipality.

Both Rachel and I love animals and spending time outside in nature, so why not have the best of both worlds in having a little piece of heaven full of all the plants and animals that bring us joy. Thinking this was is part of what makes us so excited to have a farm in the future.

Why This Excites Us

This excites us because it is something that we both want to do, and knowing that we are about to have a baby, we feel like this would be one of the best ways to bring up a child. What kid doesn’t like being able to see all of the different animals and seeing the different fruits and vegetables that come fresh from the garden.

Additionally, we have both felt the pressures of work, and would love to be able to do things as we want, and go on vacation when we want. We think that having a farm is a great way to have lots of freedom. I know that it is lots of work to get everything done, and that it is a huge responsibility especially when there are animals involved, but this is something that we are willing to take on.

Additionally, we want to have the ability to go out and pick fresh fruits and vegetables whenever we want to and have the ability to grow anything that we want and not have to worry about the amount of space that we have. There have been so many times that we have wanted to buy another plant, but we knew that we shouldn’t because we didn’t have the space to do so. When we get a farm and have some land, then we can satisfy our desires for plants and animals and we can get the things that we want at the store.

How We Feel This Could Bring Glory to Christ

Many times there are things at work that we don’t agree with, and there are many who make it feel like it is difficult to live a Christian life. When surrounded by bad examples all the time, it can be difficult to remember how we are supposed to live, and how we are to live for Christ.

We want to be able to raise our son in a way where he gets the opportunity to be taught Jesus in the real world and not have to be brainwashed on many of the common teachings of the day. There is so much that can be taught from observing nature, and by observing nature, it is one of the best ways to see God’s presence.

Additionally, we would love to one day have the ability to host other people on our land where we can teach them of the love of Christ while giving them the ability to have food and shelter. There have been so many things that we have seen where people have been able to really help the community. Having a farm would give us the opportunity to help the community and teach of Jesus in a workplace that isn’t regulated to where we can’t speak openly about Jesus.

Conclusion

We don’t have much of a farm right now, but this is still something that we dream about. We have started small and are learning everything that we can given the space that we have available. The farm is where we expect to raise our own food and show others the love of Jesus. Someday we might even be able to host people and provide people with food and shelter and teach them of the love of Christ. Everyday we move closer to achieving this dream through what we learn and through what we read. We know that one day this is something that we can have and that we continue to chase our dream.