Starting the sorting process
When I first learned
that Mayans traditionally burned down all their houses and started
fresh every 52 years, it sounded crazy. But after eleven years on our
farm...I can see the point. Since we're only able to drive across our
floodplain a few times a year, we tend to prioritize mechanized hauling
to bring in heavy items and bring out household garbage. Which means
our barn is full of useful items that are nonetheless no longer useful
to us.
After some thought, Mark
and I have resolved to leave most of it behind...which feels
astonishingly freeing. Still, we'll bring down resale value if we
ignore the clutter entirely. So we'll be spending the next few weeks
sorting. A burn pile outside for flammables that are unlikely to help
anybody, an area of
probably-unuseful-but-we-don't-have-a-way-to-haul-it-out stuff, a more
neatly stacked zone of farm friendly items, a shelf of light but
high-dollar goods that are worth selling before we go, borrowed items
to return, and finally the stuff we actually intend to bring with us.
After two hours of
sorting, we made it through about 10% of the barn. The only thing I'll
be keeping out of that area is business receipts for tax purposes,
while Mark is starting to compile the most useful hardware and tools as
his contribution. It looks like we'll really be able to slim down
enough to make the move! (I wasn't so sure....)
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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Maybe the new farm owner can keep some of the useful farm stuff? I bet you already thought of that though?
I love what you say about the Mayans. Didn't know that one.