9 more acres

The story to our land actually goes back a long ways, and eventually I'll lay out the whole story, but for now, I'll add just a chapter. When we bought our 9 acres a few years ago, it wasn't technically listed on the market. There were actually two other parcels (one was 9 acres and the other was about 5 acres) for sale and we were looking at both. We considered buying more than one parcel, but really wanted the two parcels to border each other so you didn't have to drive on the road to get back and forth. The 9 and 5 acres pieces do not touch each other. It was during that process that we heard this other 9 acre piece might be available, since the owners were moving out of state and probably wouldn't be building. Ultimately, we were left to choose between the 9 acre pieces, which share a common border, and we didn't think we could afford both. We ended up buying the 9 acres that wasn't listed, and someone else bought the other 9 acres.

This past spring, a friend was looking to buy land in the area and I suggested we contact the landowners for the 3 other parcels (including the 9 we did not buy) to see if they'd want to sell, since no houses had been built. In doing so, the person that had purchased the other 9 acre piece emailed me and said they had been praying about what to do with the land and would sell. they took my letter as a sign that God wanted them to sell. Ultimately, we worked out a deal to purchase the 9 acres on a land contract, so we now have two 9 acre pieces, joined in the middle. It may be that in the future we'll find another suitable family that wants to buy or rent the one piece from us and build a house, and where we can help each other out and share community.

For now, it's pretty overgrown, so I'm trying to clean things up and make some trails around the perimeter so we can at least walk around them. Attached are some pics and a video I made of the other property in my efforts to clear it.

Symbolic Harvest

Last night we dug the balance of the potatoes from our first garden on the land. This spring we planted some fruit trees, grape vines, strawberries, and blackberries. They've done pretty well, given the rather sporadic care we've been able to give them over the summer.

We did have a neighbor and friend plow up a couple long, narrow strips to start our garden, as well. The strips are about 15-20 feet wide and about 250 feet long, I'd guess. The ground has been in alfalfa for quite a few years, and before that it had been tobacco for quite a few years. The grounds is a loamy clay, but does have some rocks, which is a new experience for me, personally. We've learned to just toss the rocks off to the side as we work and then we pick them up and dump them on a pile in the woods. So far so good.

This year we put the potatoes in a little later than usual--mostly purposeful. We've found that most years, the potato bugs gobble up the potatoes if you get them in first thing in the spring, and if you wait to plant them until later (mid-June for us), you can miss much of the bugs by the time the plants start getting large. We also use quite a few "King Harry" potatos from a place in Maine and they live up to their hype of being resistant to the potato bugs. They're also really nice keepers and uniform in size and shape, so you don't have all those little protrusions that tend to break off. We also planted some russets, which did well too, but they tend to have more strange shapes.

One thing we've noticed is the King Harrys tend to spread out quite a bit, rather than growing in one big mound like the Russets. This has its advantages and disadvantages. The advantage to the King Harrys is that in tighter soil, they can spread out on top, and don't seem to have a problem being constricted like the Russets. The disadvantage is it takes quite a bit more work digging the King Harrys because you have to dig up most of the patch, rather than right around the dead stem, like the Russets.

One thing we did this year is our first hay crop--which was some alfalfa, but mostly grass and immature weed--I clipped with my BCS tractor and sickle attachment and then we raked it up and spread it out over the potato patch--rather thickly in places. The potatos came up through the hay and the hay helped keep the weeds down. Many of the potatoes just grew near the top of the soil and under the hay, which helped. I think we'll do this again next year.

I'm going to attach a couple photos I took of the crew (my dad, my brother, my wife, and kids) as we dug potatos. Symbolically, this was an important first harvest for us.

We're finally here

After a rather long and winding road, it seems the Lord has led us home. This weekend we begin our new life very near, if not on, our homestead. I finished my job yesterday in Iowa, and we now begin the process of moving. We're staying in a quaint little house my parents have, which should hold us over until the spring, at least.

It's a little surreal now, to be here, and trying to grasp the reality of it all. The life we've longed for in our hearts for so long, is finally in front of us. It wasn't quite the way we expected to get here, but we've put out our trust in God. It seems that things have happened in their proper time and way.

I can honestly say that, having gone through the desert, so to speak, has also changed me as a person, and us as a family. I think we honestly appreciate our life more now than we did even 6 months ago.

I'm so humbled and quietly overjoyed to be on the cusp of a life that I believe our family was truly meant to live. I know it won't be easy, and will have its challenges, but it will be our life. May all glory and honor be given to God, and may we be allowed to serve him with humble and devoted love.

Craig

Overdue update

It's hard to believe over another year has passed since I posted anything. Of course, since there are no viewers at this point, and this is more for my own cathartic record, I suppose it doesn't matter. However, for future reference and the benefit of future friends of this homestead, here's an update.

We are now in the process of actively trying to move to our homestead. We're debating whether to sell or rent our house in Iowa. We have considered three main options for living purposes on our land. The first is to build a nice garage/shop/barn with an apartment above it. The second is a yurt, and the third is a locally made log cabin. Much thought and research has gone into each of the options, but for now we're leaning strongly toward the last option. They're stout, fairly energy efficient, earth friendly, and cosmetically appealing. A cabin should also go up rather quickly and should add some good value to the land. We hope to set it up to be, as much as possible, off the grid, for the sake of principal and also as a reflection of our desire to live more simply and more self sufficiently.

Last year not much happened on the land. With our new situation in Iowa, and 4 young kids, there just wasn't time to do much other than try to keep the grass and weeds cut down. This spring has been different. We've added a small orchard--some apple, pear, and peach. We've also added a big patch of strawberries and blackberries, although there are some wild blackberries and black raspberries scattered around the 9 acres.

This past week we had a neighbor with a tractor and plow come and turn over a couple strips of the hayfield to be used as a garden. The hay ground has been in hay for a long time, and has more than its fair share of weeds and grass. The soil looks pretty good, but does have some rock, which is a new phenomenon for me. I got the soil tilled up with my BCS tractor and we planted a large portion into potatoes, with some tomatoes as well. For now, we're not going to put in a ton of other vegetable, since we can't be at the land often enough to keep up with them.

We also ran the old well for awhile this weekend to pump some water for watering the plants and trees. It still runs, but needs to be pumped out since it hasn't really been used in at least 10 years or so, I would guess. I hope to get the old cistern cleaned out and tuck pointed for storage use.

Here is a short video I put together--it is not great quality and, unfortunately, I videotaped it sideways with my phone, so it's not great to look at, but it does give a couple views of our property and has a short clip of me cutting hay with the sickle mower on the BCS tractor. Also are some pics we took this weekend. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaXaSbAJYUw

The land is drawing me closer

This may seem like a peculiar title for what I'm about to say. I recently took a new job in Iowa and have moved the family. We're in the process of finishing up our house to sell. We're living in an apartment across the street from my office. It's wonderful, as it allows me to spend more time at home and pop back home as my schedule allows.

HOWEVER, it put us 1 hour further from our land. Now it's about 2 hours away. But, having lived downtown, close to work, we've come to love the time it frees up for our family and the savings it reaps. We sold the extra car and we hardly ever drive the van.

But, what with the land? Our hope/plan is to soon buy a nice camper suitable for our family and move it to our land. We then hope to spend much of the spring/summer/fall there, where I can work remotely quite a bit and travel back to IA as needed. As a family we will blend our work with play and enjoy the "lazy days of summer" people talk of in days gone by.

We continue to put our trust in the Lord that we will be led to Emmaus.

What does the future hold?

We bought this land in 2009 after many signs from God indicating God wanted us to have this land. In faith we bought the land, now continue to discern what happens next. Are we to live there? If so, when? Is there a bigger plan for the land? We continue to pray and offer everything up to God's Will.