How It All Began
How it all began…
In the beginning, we were more like the Green Acres sitcom and affectionately referred to our farm as such (after all, our last name is Green). My husband and I both grew up in Chicago, me in my adolescent years and him, all his life. We were high-school sweet-hearts full of dreams and thirst to sprout into adult life to realize those dreams together. My husband’s job, and my need to be closer to my dad, brought us to Texas where we married and started a family. We were living a typical urban life-style in a Dallas suburb (which was a big culture shock for two people used to el trains, taxi's, rude people and lots of noise) but, we never really settled in. I often wanted to go back to the city but unless one is very wealthy, the city is no place to raise a child and since we now had two toddlers, we could not go back. Almost a decade later, we came upon the opportunity (which is an amazing story in itself but too long to include here) to live in a smaller town: Lucas, TX. At the time, Lucas was not on the map and wasn't even recognized by the USPS which drove us further from our comfort zone as we were still struggling to adapt to suburban life, as it was. Lucas was rural living which was something I only saw from a distance on rare drives to the country with my dad as a child. My husband was more comfortable with it since he spent his childhood summers in Chicago at a private campground where his parents owned a cottage. But, neither I nor my husband knew anything about maintaining a life-style in a rural area. We saw our 3 acre patch as a monstrosity compared to what we knew from our childhood - it was a trek to get to the mailbox or to take out the trash and part of our land was in a forest - a forest! ...how were we going to maintain that? We knew this new life-style would change how we lived but, I never could of imagined how it would change us and our being(s). My husband was open to the change immediately; I, on the other hand, needed some coaxing; therefore, my husband presented me with the consolation that I could have my own pond with ducks once we settled in. I had fond memories of visiting ducks in the Chicago parks growing up so, this idea was dreamy as it meant I could have my own Chicago park right in my back yard! So, we moved in with ducks in hand (so much for "settling in", I wanted ducks as soon as we closed on the house) and converted an old row boat (left on the property from previous owners) into a duck pond. Then, one day, something amazing happened: those ducks started laying eggs! Wow, this was extraordinary to someone raised in a concrete jungle such as Chicago. Then I wondered if we could eat the eggs and we figured "why not". My husband and young children were open to the idea but I was a bit leery (just as I was about the whole idea of rural living from the get go) so, my husband simply started disguising them in our morning pancakes. I noticed how nice and fluffy those pancakes were. It actually started becoming a fun gag my husband played on me with the girls: on some morning they used regular eggs from the store and other morning they used duck eggs. And, on the duck egg mornings I noticed the difference and expressed my delight in the taste but didn't put much focus on the reasoning. The girls knew exactly what the difference was and, unbeknownst to me, I became the blind taste tester. Every time I expressed delight in the pancakes, fits of giggles encompassed the dining room - I quickly learned that on the "gigglier" mornings, duck eggs had been used in the pancake batter. After I caught on, I started to imagine how it would be to have our own chicken eggs too. Then, I searched the internet and found not only can we get chicks but, you can order them through the mail! So, our venture continued with the addition of chicks. The eggs soon followed and this change to rural living really was turning out to be very exciting. Especially when I discovered not only did the eggs come in brown (I knew this from my days in Chicago but, those were "different" so we never bought them or ate them) but, they also came in yellow, blue and green! But, all this excitement started wearing off because I was in a losing battle with the poison ivy that was growing on the entirety of our East fence line. When I spoke to my neighbor about it, I learned they actually had an agriculture exemption to grow poison ivy!?!?! First off, Ag Exemption? What was that? (I later learned people used agriculture to save money on their property taxes by cultivating for food and fiber (you mean the duck and chicken eggs could save me money? It didn't in the end but, that is another story)). It turned out that poison ivy attracts a pollinating wasp which was beneficial to crops in general so, the poison ivy could not be eradicated. I ended up contracting 13 cases of poison ivy in one year (it kept getting on the dog's fur then they would rub on me) which put a damper on the excitement of our new rural existence. If you do the math, a case of poison ivy usually lasts around two weeks so that means I had poison ivy itch 26 weeks of that year which equates to 1/2 the year! I wanted to hang it up - ducks, colored chicken eggs and all! Then, I saw a sign on the way home "Sheep for Sale - $50" so, I went back to the "trusty" internet and googled if sheep ate poison ivy and sure enough they would - not only would they eat it but it was one of the forages with the highest protein content so, it would be very good for sheep. The next time we came to that sign, we turned in then came home with a sheep in a dog cage we loaded into the back of our SUV. I told my husband, if she eats the ivy, she has a home for life. I did not realize sheep needed companions so the first few days she spent trying to devise a way out of our property to get back to her herd. After realizing she was stuck with us, she settled for the dogs being her replacement herd and started foraging/grazing and, sure enough, she ATE the poison ivy. This made her part of the family which merited naming her so we called her Dolly. Soon enough, Dolly ate all the poison ivy from 3' down so the dogs were no longer in contact with it when they were on the fence line yet, the vines stayed in tact so my neighbor was able to keep their preserved habitat and I no longer had to live with itchy rashes. Problem solved and everyone was smiling once again.
So, now we had 3 acres, ducks, chickens and a sheep. We also planted gardens, we were grinding our own wheat and I was learning to make bread and soap and crocheting wash cloths and making anything I could at home. My husband had always urged me to quit my corporate life and now, for the first time, I had a reason and inspiration to stay at home. So, I said good-bye to my dream of becoming a CPA and devoted myself to learning all about natural living while being a stay at home mom. I found pleasure in hanging my clothes on a line in the sun instead of using the dryer and sought all kinds of ways to live a much simpler existence. My extended family started raising a brow at the changes in me then I learned that once they call you "crazy", you are on to something good. So, I went with it. I also started reading food labels and thinking more about what was in the food we ate. What was happening to this girl who used to think that cheese that squirted out of a can and Dinty Moore stew was the best thing ever?! I didn't know how to describe who I was becoming and I started having a bit of an identity crises. I was also hesitant to talk about my life with others as I didn't really even understand it myself - was I a farmer? Never, once, growing up, did I say or think: when I grow up, I want to be a farmer. Before
I married, and into my early married life, I was fully engulfed in the
corporate world as an Accountant. Yes, dry cleaning, packed lunches or
lunch with co-workers, out of the house by 7AM and not back at home
until 7PM with only enough time to have a convenience dinner, catch up a
few short hours with the family then to bed to do it all over again.
Weekends were devoted to laundry, grocery shopping and chores and
errands that couldn't be done during the week. I was living the typical
rat race and a product of the corporate world. I had no other vision
for my life - that was what it was going to be it. This life was so much more different than that and I started becoming obsessively thirsty to learn more about this kind of existence so I could reclaim my identity. So, I researched and learned about other people living similar lifestyles with the same interests and passions I was developing, and, with that information, I accepted that I was actually becoming a farmer and settled for that simple title which held little to no clout or dignity compared to the previous title I was aspiring for: CPA. That title would of kept me away from nature and would of merely gave me an impressive occupation but this was so much more - this was something I was becoming inside and out - it was not just my title but, my being.
My new life, and new title: "farmer" was much more rewarding. I started being in tune with nature - sensing when a rain storm was brewing and knowing what time of day it was just by looking at the sun. I started noticing the stars at night and learned about wonders like moths whose eyes glow in the moon-light. I got to see things born and how things die which gave me a deep understanding and respect for the circle of life. And, the satisfaction of eating the fruits of one's own labor was priceless (and delicious!). For example, the first time I made my own feta cheese out of my own sheep's milk was like tasting feta cheese for the first time - I already liked feta cheese but I never knew it could taste like that - such rich flavors. The more we grew and harvested food from our little 3 acre farm, the more our palates came alive! Food was much more exciting than anything I marveled over before being a "farmer". Our main meal that was completely sourced from everything we grew was breakfast which became our family's favorite meal - so much that when my kids had a sleep over with their Uncle and he offered to "treat" them to breakfast at America's most popular fast food chain before going home, they cried.
We all grew to love our new life and the change really was worth it - I never imagined such a satisfying and peaceful existence was possible. Lucas made me a Farmer and turned all of us into a farming family - we no longer identified with the surrealness of Green Acres so, we became the Green Family Farm.
Continue reading: "The Journey Continues" to find out why we now also refer to ourselves as The Forever Farm.
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