Our One Year Anniversary

Yesterday, was our one year anniversary of our arrival to the farm.  We drove up on an overcast day and were greeted by Oma and Opa and a pack of dogs.  It was cold, the lack of sun depressed me, and all of a sudden 100 sunny Phoenix days of over 100 degrees seemed like a good idea.  Soon thereafter it snowed six inches and I was cold.  We came with the goal to become farmers, a statement that made me laugh for months when people asked what my husband does for a living.  Now with a year under our belts I'm not laughing anymore, instead I'm loving it.

What is 'it'?  Here is a simple run down of our year.  As mentioned before, we were greeted by a pack of dogs, five large dogs and a small little weiner dog.  They ran the place, this was their farm.  I'd never been to a dog farm before, boy was there a lot of poop, in the garage, the barn, as well as the wood deck.  It was everywhere.  What is the purpose?  Are they profitable?  So after weeks of scooping poop, we moved the focus from dogs to.....gardening?  My first task was pruning 27 mature fruit trees, which I enjoyed, but also had no real idea as to what I was doing.  Then there was terracing and leveling the garden beds, planting seeds, and caring for them like they were little babies.   They need just enough water, not too much, and whatever you do don't let them dry out.  Sun, they need sun, with 14 straight days of no sun this was tricky.  I love watching their little green heads poke up from within the dirt, a sense of joy fills my soul, this little feat feels like such a huge accomplishment.  Can I grow food?

The learning curve was and still is phenomenal.  We got most of our plants in the garden a little late, which affected our harvest.  For example when the frost in the fall was reported to come we pulled up our tomato plants and harvested two five gallon buckets of green tomatoes, sigh.  On the positive side we made jam, salsa, and cake out of them, as well as enjoyed some that ripened on the counter.  As for successes, we did can apple sauce, pears, pear sauce, strawberry jam (on sale at the grocery store), and peach jam.  We also enjoyed our ice cream topped with blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries from the garden.

Pete took courses in permaculture, a farming philosophy that emphasizes lots of observation, working with instead of against natural systems, and plenty of hard, manual labor.  We came with certain goals in mind, which over time were changed due to our observations.  Originally we wanted to get a large commercial greenhouse.  Pete spent time looking on Craigslist for the entire year prior to us moving here.  Through our observations, no flat land was discovered that could be the landing pad for such a large structure.  Instead he decided that given the windy conditions of Kansas, a greenhouse would need to be much lower to the ground.  He is now building a greenhouse half sunken into a hillside made of locally sourced trees from our property and our neighbors property.

Another observation - it rains here, a lot.  Coming from 9 inches annually, 32 in. was astounding to us.  What happens to most of the rain?  It runs off our property down the gulch and into the Missouri River just like every other property around here, taking with it - the topsoil.  Coming from such a water starved climate, Pete started digging swales, three of them, the top one is currently empty, the middle one has some puddles, and the bottom one is full.  Slowly seeping into our land, the rainwater now feeds the soil and plant life and invites lots of critters, like frogs, mosquitos, and dragonflies.  Can't you hear the land sighing?  That was the largest project of last summer.

There were many more projects, harvested veggies and fruits, as well as observations made.  This year has been wonderful.  We haven't stopped, we just slowed down for a moment and are plugging right along.  The greatest celebration of the year was being joined by our new son, having arrived safely to the farm on the fall equinox during a thunder storm.  So if you haven't met him or just want to come around for a visit all are welcome.  Just know that we'll put ya to work, fill ya up with the best food that money can't buy and a place to lay your head.

A Summertime Dance