Welcome to the farm!
Six years ago my family of 5 moved out of suburbia and onto an 11-acre farm. The kids were mostly grown, our youngest in her junior year of HS, the oldest off to the Navy, and the middle getting ready to head to college. The search for this farm was predicated on a letter from my HOA suggesting that I was not allowed to grow edible plants in my yard. Can you imagine! I mean first, most plants are edible. It's just a fact. I am sure they just don't know that. I had a small garden in the burbs. I really got the bug and then my neighbor planted some very large cypress that conveniently shaded my garden area in my backyard. He was very nice and probably didn't even know that's what happened. He tolerated us in a passive-aggressive sort of way. He wanted to live there and knew that he could complain or just change his side to compensate as one has to do when in a subdivision. So because of the shade, I moved part of my garden to the other side of the yard. That area, however, was too small for my growing green (ok really brown) thumb. I got the great idea to plant food, not lawns and converted an annual bed into a beautifully arranged bed with bell peppers, hot peppers, marigolds, and peanuts. All very well manicured and mulched, and do you know, some knucklehead ratted me to the HOA? That's when I got the letter and we started our farming journey!
The farm we purchased has a beautiful barn, fencing all around, some cross fences, and a few small outbuildings. Oh and a house! My intention was maybe to get a horse to ride and have room to breathe and grow a garden. We are "big dog" people and have 2 dogs. They really needed a bigger space and room to bark so I didn't get a call from my neighbor. There was room for a few horses and raised garden beds already installed. We moved in April 2017. It was still chilly outside. We hadn't sold our old house yet. We downsized in space significantly. It was a big change! I hope you check in on us from time to time, see all the fun stories, and follow on our journey of growing, riding, goats, canning, bread, and so much more!