Happy birthday, farm!
Mark and I don't
celebrate our anniversaries, but I always try to take an hour to bond
with the farm on our move-in date. This week marks the beginning
of the seventh year we've spent here, and the changes are more visible
than ever before.
Although Bradley's hard
work dragging our infrastructure out of the trailer trash category is
the most obvious change photographically, what I find more significant
is that our tranquility levels are at an all-time high. I'm
tempted to explain that mood away by saying we're mostly caught up with
seasonal farm chores, but the truth is we're at about the same place we
were in previous years. The difference is one of attitude.
Previously, glancing at
a blighted tomato plant would send me into a tailspin, but this year
I'm starting to realize that we can manage the blight and still harvest
fruits well into the fall. True, constant mulching has lowered
the weeding pressure, but I think part of my contentment with the 2012
garden comes from realizing that a certain level of weeds won't take
over and can simply be ignored.
Meanwhile, we're looking
forward to another winter like the last one, when we focus on creative
pursuits instead of struggling to catch up on all the tasks we didn't
complete over the previous year. While there are always projects
on the back burner, the most pressing improvements are already in
place, and Mark and I are both learning to quash our greed for
expansion in favor of time for tranquility.
Which is all a long way
of saying that I'm able to look at last year's
anniversary post and
laugh at who I was then. (The pictures are worth a gander,
though, since they sum up the changes in our farm over the years quite
succinctly.) Thank you, farm, for helping me grow along with my
vegetables!
Or explore more posts by date or by subject.
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.
Want to be notified when new comments are posted on this page? Click on the RSS button after you add a comment to subscribe to the comment feed, or simply check the box beside "email replies to me" while writing your comment.
Anna,
I love this post. You are an inspiration. Your attitude is such an excellent reminder, thank you.
~Emily
The expansions to your trailer reminded me of a house we rented for a holiday in New Zealand once. It had started small (like a log cabin, IIRC), and bit and pieces were added as needed. It was an interesting place, with a lot of character.
So, may your house "grow up" as you do!
Emily --- Thanks so much for saying that! I'm glad that a post I thought was fluffy was appreciated.
Roland --- I love your anecdote! Just what we're going for --- a house that grows as we do.
It's always interesting to look back and see how things have changed. I can definitely relate to the feeling that attitude makes the most difference, and constant striving for expansion and improvement can take away from enjoyment of what's already there.
Best wishes in your 7th year.