You may have noticed that my posting has been a bit sporadic the last few months. And now I’ll tell you why…
We bought a farm!!
Yup, you read that right. A farm. Land. Rural acreage away from the fray.
My friend said to me the other day “I seriously never pictured YOU on a farm!”. She’s right. I have a tenuous relationship with the outdoors because of an irrational fear of bugs of all sorts. I’m not afraid of it, but it’s pretty far down the list of my favorite things. Hiking is one thing. Farming is quite another.
I DO love an adventure, though, and this is certainly shaping up to be exactly that!
We’ve been looking at potential lots for many years now. We’ve put in offers, had some fall through, struggled to get conventional banking to understand our vision…until it all came together perfectly.
I should have done this a long time ago but I figured I would ask some of the more comment questions we’ve received when we tell people “We Bought A Farm!”
Where?
Both George and I live in the mid-Atlantic but have personal history in upstate New York. That’s broadly defined as anywhere that’s not Manhattan or Long Island. Lol. It’s a BIG state. In New York there are some lovely Finger Lakes which run roughly north to south in the middle of the state. Our farm is south of the tip of one of them by about 30 minutes. Our shorthand for people mildly familiar with the region is that’s it is about 25 minutes south of Ithaca (the home of Cornell University).
It’s a lovely area with great waterfalls, hills/valleys, hiking, lake sports, and sundry other outdoor activities.
Why?
We’ve been wanting to invest in land for quite a while and though I may not choose to hang out in the wild as a first option…I respect nature, love trees, and believe that we have to protect our precious resources. I do NOT have a green thumb.
Fortunately George is extraordinarily gifted with keeping things alive. I’m gifted mostly at leaving things alone. It’s going to be the perfect blend!
About the Property
The property is spectacular with meadows, streams, a gorge with waterfalls, a pond, forest, hills, lowlands…it pretty much has everything. Except a house. That’s another story for another time.
The farm is an abandoned dairy farm that has the remnants of an old milking palace, livestock barn, and creamery. It has been overgrown with invasives like multiflora rosa, honeysuckle, and japanese knotweed. We want to restore the health and balance of the land by removing the invasives, reintroducing native species, and practicing some forestry to give the trees the opportunity to thrive again. We see ourselves as stewards of this land and wish to nurse it back to its best health for generations to come.
As for adventure, there is a 100 year old barn to restore and preserve, a potting shed to repurpose, and a myriad of creative projects we are excited to DIY in the coming years!
What Does This Mean?
- What are you calling it? We are calling it Big Spruce Farm. One of the curmudgeonly neighbors told us that a stand of three spruce trees were the tallest and oldest in the area. I think he wanted to make sure we cared for them. We decided they would be a great focal point. We’ve learned a little of the history of the farm, as well as its original name. More stories for another time!
- Are we moving to the farm? Definitely the number one question we get from friends and family. For now the answer is NO. We are staying put in the mid-Atlantic region. We both work here and enjoy the friends, activities, and lifestyle the location affords. The farm is a labor of love, an adventure, a project, a retreat (one day). We MAY retire there but only time will tell. That day is still a long way off.
- What does this mean for the blog? Okay, in fairness no one has asked but I will tell you anyway. I will re-dedicate myself to this blog but you may see a little cross over of farm-related things from time to time. I’ll try to balance it out so the past content is a reflection of things to come. But I firmly believe that tackling new and exciting challenges keep us young so I’ll spatter in content periodically.
- Where can I follow the farm adventure? I’m so glad you asked! We have been filming our progress to keep far flung family in the loop and soon we will be publishing content (as we have it) to a YouTube Channel. Content will show up under Big Spruce Farm on YouTube. You can also follow @bigsprucefarm on Instagram. We are already posting some photos there so you can get a general idea of what we’ve been tackling so far.
- Are we getting animals? No. Nope. We are planning on planting a permaculture orchard at the top of the property. Since we aren’t planning on living there, animals don’t make sense.
- Have we thought about getting goats? Seriously we are asked this at least three times a week. Nope. Since we aren’t planning on living there, it doesn’t make sense.
- What about chickens? Again, nope. Not living there. Doesn’t make sense.
- Cows? Oh for pete’s sake – no.
- Sheep? Just stop. Seriously. Stop.
- You know farming is hard work, right? I suppose that we think of Green Acres and think that city slickers have no idea what it means to own a farm. Fortunately both George and I understand full well what we’ve gotten ourselves into. We still laugh about it from time to time – but that’s the adventure. And we both enjoy hard work. I think it makes more sense if you think about it as owning forest – which most of the property actually is. Or think of it as a hunting camp. We don’t hunt but that’s probably going to get your head more aligned with the reality of our situation right now.
The Project List
What ISN’T on the project list? If endless lists stress you out, you may want to stop reading. But if you are trying to wrap your head around how two people are going to make owning a farm in a different state fun – well, follow along on the ride.
Beyond battling invasive plant species that have had pretty much free reign for forty years, we want to lovingly restore the handful of buildings so they last for another 100 years. They are in incredibly good shape, but with a little TLC they will be in even better shape. We bought a vintage 1959 tractor that we are slowly restoring to use as the primary farm tractor for now. It’s not a full restoration. The tractor is in great shape for its age, but she needed a couple of new tires and rims to keep her running even longer. We are restoring body work as we are able to hold rust at bay.
Our initial push is reclamation and restoration of forest. This means cutting down dead trees, removing some fallen trees, forest mulching the meadows (the honeysuckle turns into small trees after forty years) back to meadow land, shoring up building foundations and widening the existing farm road so it doesn’t grow over annually (to allow us to reach the other meadows). We will sort out water and electricity in some fashion so we can easily enjoy the property while still staying tethered to the bill-paying jobs back home.
I’m sorry I’ve been more absent from this blog than I intended but I’ve been trying to figure out what the balance is in content so Never Idle Life doesn’t turn into a farm blog. Here’s notice – I’m baaack!!