Dream Farm is a Reality!

So much has happened in the past two months! Our little family has started a BIG adventure! A while back I mentioned that our dream was to have a farm in the "Evolution of our Lifestyle" post. When I went back to work in December we really started looking at land. We soon found that there were only a few small acreages availablein our area since everyone wants a small plot of land to call their own and as a result, they were all very very very expensive. So, we started expanding our search further out and looked at larger plots of land in order to find something and still be remotely affordable.  Finally, last April we found our dream. Open fields, pasture, forest and a stream on a quiet gravel road in a rural area. Paradise. 100 acres. Can you believe it? That's HUGE! It's totally ridiculous we know, but it was so perfect we couldn't pass it up and more land is better than not enough?  Whatever, who cares, ITS OURS! Yaaaaaay! Finally. Over a decade of dreaming of having our own farm and we finally did it. It feels like we are starting a great journey.

Little catch. There is no house on it. Which is fine, that's what we wanted, to build our own farmhouse. But we had to sell our house when we bought the land and it takes a year to develop plans and build a house, so because we didn't want to live in a tent all winter, our little family has moved into a 2 bedroom apartment. In two months we went from living in our house to buying the land, selling our house and moving to an apartment. Big upheaval for sure! I'm sure Liam doesn't know what to expect next! Adeleine would be happy living in a box so she's fine.

So what are the next steps? Finishing the house sketches Andrew has literally been working on for half of his life. Getting a small builder to work with us to finish the design and build the new place. We will need to start with the basics of running power half a kilometer to the site, digging a well and putting in septic. Skipping ahead to once the house is built and we are all moved in (maybe the end of next summer???) our plans are
1. Open the back door and let the kids run wild.
2. Get a dog
3. Plant a giant vegetable garden in the spring
4. Get a few ridiculous looking chickens like these or OMG this one or THIS one! (Seriously, we'll be getting some regular egg laying hens but at least one of our chickens will be ridiculous looking purely for entertainment purposes. I just want to wake up every morning to Tina Turner and David Bowie Chicken and laugh my ass off.)
5. Find some animals to love the pasture again (either ours or a neighbours)
6. Run some natural walking trails through the land (probably just follow the existing animal trails)
7. Follow pretty much all the principles of permaculture including forest gardens.

SOLD!

Happy face on the new land!

We are so very very excited for this new family adventure! We'll keep you posted each step of the way to our dream farm!