Our Story - (part one)

I suppose now would be a good time to add this post, since my sister made such a nice introduction a few posts ago. I'm not really sure where to begin, but I suppose I'll just start somewhere.

Growing up in Illinois, though we lived differently than most families around us, we still were part of the city life. To an extent, I suppose we didn't really have a choice, since we lived in town. My sister and I went to public school, kindergarten through 4th grade for me and my sister went until 2nd. Then my parents decided to homeschool us. I am ever grateful that they did. I doubt we would be the people we are today, or had the experiences we have, if we had not. We did have a fairly good experience in public school, and for that I am thankful. But it was only grade school, and I think if we had gone any longer, it would not have been so good. I am certain that because we were spared from that, our innocence remained intact. Our characters were given the chance to strengthen. Our interests and dreams were allowed to flourish.
Now I don't know what all public schools are like, but, mainly I am speaking of the schools in the town we were from, and schools of which I have heard many first-hand accounts. I am aware of what I was saved from.

We had a little three acre plot then. Well, technically one, but my dad's side of the family, his grandma and all of her siblings, each owned a one acre strip, except Uncle Jim who had two, and they all lined up side by side so that it was really five acres altogether. It was Uncle Jim's, then my Great-Grandma Joanna, then Uncle John, then Uncle Joel. All the families lived there and a couple generations later, so did we, in Uncle John's house, after he passed away. My dad had grown up in his grandmother's house (the white house across the yard), she living in the lower level and my dad and his family living upstairs. Uncle John lived with her (he never married and due to some experiences in his life, had become a little bit eccentric) and for twenty years he worked on building a house on his parcel. But he never fully finished it. After he died, my family and I finished it/fixed it up and lived there. Our ancestral roots were there on that little bit of land.

My grandparents later owned my great grandma's acre right next to us (since we were on Uncle John's), our yards making one big yard. And to me, young as I was, those two acres felt huge! We had an old apple orchard out back and beautiful oaks and Arbor Vitae trees all around our house, the latter in which we made many tree forts. A long gravel driveway wrapped around like a large horseshoe, from the road, around both houses and back to the road again. On that we rode our bikes for hours on end, usually with our cousins. My dad's cousin owned a boat repair business right next to us, actually on Uncle Joel's land (and it previously had been Uncle Joel's sewer and water construction company, but that was moved to a larger place, and then the boat business rented out the smaller shop).

And it really was a great place for little girls to run and play. And did we run! We ran everywhere. We ran back and forth from our house to Nanie and Papa's house (our grandparents), we ran out in the back "field", we ran when we played baseball or had block wars with Brian (blocks made of plastic canvas and yarn), we ran in the house. Pitter-pattering feet could be heard all throughout the day. Especially my youngest sister. She had the most adorable flat-footed little run. And she was a little night-owl. After my middle sister and I would be asleep since we had school in the morning, my youngest sister would slip out of bed and run light-footed laps up and down our long hallway and then worn out, she would eventually flop down and fall asleep on the living room couch!

My parents dreamed of homesteading long before we moved. In fact, all of his life, my dad had dreamed of finding a large portion of land somewhere and living off that land. We experimented with it a very little there in Illinois. We grew a garden. We raised rabbits (and dogs). An opportunity arose to purchase two greenhouses (a 32 ft. and 100 ft.) for a very good deal, the smaller of which we put up and grew a garden in the year before we moved.
Nearly every weekend we would go out of town, in search of some land somewhere. Galena, Illinois was a favorite place that we frequented often. We actually bought a weekend place there, but it was not the Lord's plan for us to move there, so we sold it in 1988. In 1990 we were vacationing in Wisconsin and that was when He led us to the land that He did have in mind for us. A beautiful hundred and twenty acres of wooded land, with forty acres of rolling meadows in the forefront. But it wasn't until 1998 that we were able to move. The older generation had passed on, which in a way made us free to move, because we had been helping take care of them all in those later years.

So, my parents, feeling strongly that God was telling them it was time, followed His leading. We had a very large rummage sale, and then packed up everything and finally moved. People often ask me if I'm glad that we moved here. My answer is always a resounding yes! Especially in these past few years, I have realized to greater depths just how blessed I am to live here.

Our first year was an exciting adventure for us. We moved in June and that first summer we didn't have plumbing and we only had electricity in half of the house (actually it still is only half of the house, we just run extension cords everywhere!), and it was great! We washed all of our clothes by hand in bins outside and hung them to dry. We set up a solar shower in the greenhouse and frequented the lake up the road quite often.

That first summer we also got our first chickens, and in the fall we got sheep. Our time was spent outside everyday, busy with different projects as we slowly established our "homestead". In all the years that we would come camping before we moved, we did a lot to make it a little more habitable. There already was a homestead on the front of the first forty acres, with three old barns and an old house, fences and an orchard, and lots and lots of burdock really covering everything with burr bushes all over. As we started clearing it all out, we discovered piles upon piles of junk buried under the weeds, everything from nails and broken pottery to an old rusty truck hidden by the fence, half buried in the ground. My sisters and I were quite young then, so we did a lot of playing, helping occasionally when we were able, but my parents and my uncle and our old neighbor Lyle did most of the work, and my grandparents too when they would come up. The one barn was mostly caved in, and filled with junk and debris, so the fire department came and burned it down. The little house was just as bad, so that got torn down. Other things got cleared out as well, like an old pigpen that was almost completely collapsed.
(Above: This is what was aptly named Death Row. )

So when we moved, a lot of the work was already done so we were able to start building things. The first project was the greenhouse. We all worked on digging holes for the poles, and peeling posts for the fence that would enclose the greenhouse. Around the same time we ordered the chicks, ducklings and goslings, and got a grand kick out of picking up the box of chirping little fuzz-balls from the post office! We kept them in our house for a week or two in boxes that my dad made out of using half of a dog crate with a mesh lid. When they were big enough we moved them out to the greenhouse as we finished putting the plastic on. We had decided to use the smaller greenhouse for animals (since there was no reliable barn) and eventually use the larger for growing plants in.

We also worked on peeling poles for the teepee that we have. That was an endeavor that required many hands and the brute strength of many men! Lots of our friends and family came up camping that first summer to give us a hand, so one of those weekends we pitched the teepee. It is 24 feet across at the base and with the weight of the newly peeled poles and the 110 lb. canvas, the weight of the 32 ft. lodge pole with the canvas on it totaled probably over 150 lbs. But lifting that weight distributed over such height from the ground to stand it up was much heavier than simply lifting 150 lbs. evenly.

When it was up, it was very funny because many cars pulled over on the side of the road and people would get out and take pictures of it! A few years later we had to stop into the Office Max in town and by the register there was a display of calendars with regional photographs on them. We were shocked to see there on one of them a picture of our farm with the teepee standing tall in the distance! We bought it just to be able to pull it out to accompany the story when we'd share it with people.

Over the years we have raised a myriad of animals, adding to our establishment of poultry and rabbits, sheep, goats, cats (to take care of the mice), a cow, pigs, and horses. The horses we had on and off, usually as a favor for some friends who owned a riding stable. They would use their horses for the summer and then "loan" them to us for the other three seasons. It was a trade (or "barter" as it was more commonly known, of which we did a lot our first few years), we fed them and took care of them in exchange for out being able to ride them. Though, they were so old and rickety and all they wanted to do was eat, so to an extent it wasn't as enjoyable as it could have been, but we still had fun. For years, we had a pair of old Belgian draft horses named King and Queen, who were very beautiful, but most of the time, were just that. We had acquired a sleigh in the deal when we bought them, but sadly, not once did we put it to use. So they ate a lot and allowed us the immense enjoyment of looking out over the field and seeing these majestic, powerful horses frolicking around the pasture, flicking their manes about. King was usually the one to prance the most. I think he somehow knew he was beautiful. He was nicknamed "Fabio" by some friends who came to visit. His personality seemed to fit it.

But that was the extent of their usefulness. It's too bad, but we have learned from it. It became a usual occurrence for us for many years ending up with "freeloaders" as my dad calls them. "Hand-me-down" animals always ended up at our place, whether they be runts or less-than agreeable, stubborn creatures. We would travel up to a small animal swap in Michigan every year, and because it was all still fairly new to us, there was a lot we just didn't know, from having no experience in it. We would wind up coming home with all sorts of characters. My dad said it well on his blog, "In the past we often got peoples cast offs. Animals that didn't fit in with their programs. Having some kind of undesirable trait, that's why they were "getting rid" of them. Watch out for animals that people are getting rid of. You can wind up with quite the motley crew to be sure." Our last addition from the swap was Zinny, a Navajo Churro ewe. (In the above -right picture, she is the large, dark one) She was a trade, also. The people were going to give her to us (at first we thought it was just out of kindness after we expressed our interest, but later we figured it was probably because she was a cast off and it was at the end of the day anyway, so they were probably more than willing to "purify" their stock :), but my dad gave them some muskovy ducks we had with us in exchange so it would be more of a fair trade. She has a very timid personality. Not very pleasant, in comparison with some sheep we had in the past. I was afraid that she would affect our other sheep, Shetlands (the other pictures) that we got later, with that timidity, but the rest of them have such exceptional, friendly personalities, thankfully they haven't changed, despite Zinny's skiddish reactions every time we approach them. I like sheep very much, and have so greatly enjoyed these Shetlands. They are very affectionate and sociable, and in addition, have such nice wool to work with. They are a blessing. And hopefully we will have lambs come spring!

A big highlight of our years here so far, was the building of the cabin. My dad has always built and made things by hand, every project exceptional, but he, as he's said, "had never built anything larger than a dog house" before the cabin. So he and my mom set to work, with the occasional help of friends, family and neighbors. When we had vacationed in Galena years before, my parents were always drawn to the early American style of many cabins and cottages there, a few of which we stayed in frequently, and dreamed of building one similar. So that is what they set out to do with this cabin. We rent it out to people who come up on vacation, but not as often as we open it up to friends and family. We had advertised through the Chamber of Commerce years ago, but soon decided that we would rather appeal to people who are looking to get away to a quiet place, and people who are interested in homesteading or country life in general, who can come and truly enjoy it, than to the typical tourists who nearly demand services we don't provide, who wouldn't really appreciate it quite as much. A ministry is more what we feel God is calling us to use it for. Even in the lives of friends and family, it has been a blessing to them. And we'd like to share that blessing with others.

Two years ago my dad and grandpa started another project (about which I am very excited and eagerly anticipating the finished product). We have a spring-fed pond at the back of the first forty acres, and the man, Gus, who had previously owned the land, had started to enlarge it. He had blown a dam and dug away the earth surrounding it, but he died before he could finish it. His niece, therefore, is the one who sold us the land. Anyway, my dad and grandpa built a dam, which also is a stone bridge that we can drive across. This is the first stone-working project either of them has ever really worked on, and they have done an amazing job. They have used a "slip-form" method, building wood forms, pouring the "course" (layer) of concrete while setting the stones in place, letting that dry, removing the forms, and then starting the process over again on the top of that. That's just a brief overview, but roughly, that's how they have built it. But that's just the stonework part of it. There's a lot more they've done to actually build the dam and the middle between the walls which was filled with dirt and reinforced with rebar. It's nearly finished. They haven't been able to work on it since the fall before last, but once they get started on it again, there won't be very much left before it's completed. I know that it will be one of my favorite spots on our land (though there are many favorites. It's all just so beautiful!).

(left: the progress thus far)

This past summer God led us to do something we've dreamed of doing for years, well, at least the beginning of it. We've wanted to share what we grow and produce here with our small community. We've had different ideas about how to go about it, but we started with the first step. We put up a self-serve farm stand out by the road. We had grown a larger garden than previous years so we had quite a bit of surplus produce to sell fresh every day. We had carrots, green beans, squashes, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, carrots, pumpkins, herbs and apples, and friends of ours also put out some things, including sweet corn, garlic, beets, potatoes, maple syrup (and maple syrup products), handmade bags, decorative corn stalks and more pumpkins. I also put out a few handmade gift items, though it seems the produce was the major interest, and understandably since there is nothing like it in the area. There are farmer's markets in the nearby towns, but the closest one is ten miles away, so for the people in our little town, I suppose it's a service to have fresh produce just down the road. It wasn't overly busy in the few days we had it up, though we did have more customers than we had initially anticipated. Even one customer a day was delightful, because it was just a little bit of a dream coming true.

..."he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need." Ephesians 4:28

Another highlight of 2007 was the new way we raised our chickens. My dad has read Joel Salatin's books (specifically here the one on Pastured Poultry) and was very inspired to give those ideas a try with our chickens. So he and my mom built these great "chicken tractors" which were moved every day to greener pastures, and those chickens were the best chickens we have ever tasted! The meat was incredibly tender, and also they were the healthiest chickens we have had yet. We also got an automatic chicken plucker (we are all so grateful! no more plucking!) and that made the process of moving them to the freezer so much easier. My dad had planned on making one himself, modeling it after the plans for the Whiz Bang Chicken Plucker by Herrick Kimball, but time became of the essence, and he hadn't gotten around to making one, so we bought a Featherman plucker instead. It is absolutely amazing. Instead of standing out in the autumn chill plucking by hand every little feather from all those chickens, as we have done in years past (and wet feathers smell terrible, so we've also eliminated the yearly assault to our olfactory senses!), two chickens can go in the plucker at once and be almost completely plucked clean in thirty seconds or less! It makes processing them so much easier and even more enjoyable. Many families bought chickens from us (as they do every year) and enjoyed the meat last year just as much as we have. We plan on raising even more chickens this year, so soon more chicken tractors will need to be made.

For years we have sold eggs also, and have found that there is a very large demand for farm fresh eggs in the area. (And I understand why. Store-bought eggs cannot compare, in flavor and color and substance. It is such a blessing to have fresh eggs every day.) At present, our hens are not laying as much as we would like. Partly because of this time of year. They usually slack off in the winter quite a bit. But we think that mostly it's due to where we have them. They've been in the same place all these years that we've had them. We plan to get them out of the greenhouse as soon as possible this year and construct a movable coop for them, with the same pastured poultry concept. We have found that it truly makes for very healthy poultry, and animals in general. We hope to raise all of our animals that way very soon.

We also raised our pigs this past year with the same concept, moving them daily or just frequently. These two pigs that we got were fiesty, though. They got out once and were running down the highway! My parents were out of town and my sisters and I had just gotten home from running errands and we stopped at the farm stand to check on things. A customer pulled in and asked us if we had pigs. At our affirmative, he informed us that they were running down the highway. He then asked if he could buy more bushels of apples than we had out at the stand. My sisters set out on the hunt for the pigs while I picked more apples for the man, joining them after he left. Over an hour later, after asking the neighbors but they hadn't seen them, with no sign of them ourselves, we were trecking through the woods looking for any sign of those spunky things. Thankfully, our grandparents were helping us look too, and my grandpa called us then and said that he found them back by their pen. I guess all they wanted was food! So it was a wild pig chase for a while that we were glad to have over, and with the pigs safe and sound, and contentedly eating the apples we threw in their pen. We've had horses running loose before, but never pigs. We didn't have any idea where they would go. It was an interesting ordeal!

Most years we tap our maple trees and it always yields the most wonderful maple syrup I have ever had. It is always such a great consistency and so sweet. This year we hope to tap more trees so that we can put up more jars. Every year we try a different system to see what works best, and last year worked really well. My dad had a steel sap pan made that we use to boil the sap over a fire. That is one of my favorite things, sitting by the fire while the sweet-smelling saps boils steadily, someone periodically pouring in more sap from a barrel or straight from the buckets off the trees. It's a time for great conversations with family and sometimes just sitting quietly listening to the boiling of the sap, the cracking of the fire, the wind blowing through the trees and other sounds in the woods.

We own a garbage business (through which God has been amazing us at how He works and provides and uses us for His glory!) and just last month my dad wrote a newsletter to go out with their quarterly billing about the farmstand idea and we sent it to all of our customers who live in our community. It was basically explaining a little bit of what we hope to do here, but mostly about what we did with the farmstand last year and asking if anyone would be interested in us supplying their produce for this coming summer. The responses we have received even in these few weeks have been incredible! I am so proud of my parents. They are so kind and helpful to our customers. It has made such an indelible impression on them (the customers) and almost all of them have become loyal to us. That establishment of relationships has taken about eight years (since we bought the business), and many times my parents have wondered why we're in this, if we should consider selling it (and actually have many times considered it), or if it's a waste of time. But they've been faithful in trusting the Lord to show the way, and in treating our customers with personable kindness and consideration, and this year especially, we have been seeing with more clarity than ever, that God has a plan even with this. A plan bigger than we have imagined.

Our work here at our farm had been seemingly stagnant over a period of a few years (at least to our eyes) and progressing at the speed of a snail, but I'm realizing why now. It seems like God has some big plans in store for this new year, that He has been preparing long before we ever realized it (which is how He always works, isn't it?) and everything will come at just the right time, no sooner, no later. I am so very excited. I can't express the joy that is found at being in the center of His will. Oh, many times I find myself slipping off of it (my own fault), even jumping off at times, and wondering desperately how I can get back on. But then He gently reminds me. All I need to do is trust Him and seek Him and let go of the hold I tend to have on my life. That's a common pattern I see in me. I'll surrender my life to Him, but then somehow I grasp my life in my hands again, whether it be just a portion or all of it, and try to manipulate it and live it my way, but whenever I try to do that, I always fall flat on my face and realize yet again my need for God to lead me. I am incapable of doing it on my own. (Oh how similar I am to the Israelites, who, despite God's ever-present faithfulness, were so very unfaithful and turned to the side, getting distracted by anything and everything, and lived their lives contrary to what they knew was on God's heart, and then God, in his mighty love, would rescue them, in their waywardness and mess that they'd made, back to Himself and make their lives beautiful again. When I read those accounts, I can't help but wonder "Why didn't they learn?! If only they would have just looked and saw how much God loved them and stop wandering away! But...I have no right to think that. To my shame, I do the very same thing!) But when I yet again release my grip and run to Him, before I know it, He has returned to His place at the helm and shows me that He can and will do beautiful things with a life yielded to Him. Oh how I long to be more faithful! And even in His faithfulness, He is teaching me. Though I make the learning process slower than it could be, I am still learning. And actually, this is one of those days where I look ahead to how far I have yet to go (and it is far!) and in fact feel courage to keep running and abounding joy because of Who I am running to!

I think I should probably end this post, since it has become surprisingly long. :) Though it's a lot, it's still essentially a summary. From here on out, we'll just continue to fill in all those gaps and share any new accounts of our journey.

"May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ." 2 Thessalonions 3:5

~Shalea