The harsh reality
(If you haven't already,
you'll want to start with part
1, part
2, part
3, and part 4
from the very beginning of Growing
Into a Farm.)
In early 2004, I
attended a grafting class and came home with a dozen baby apple
trees to begin my long-dreamed-of orchard. With the help of
my family, I ripped back honeysuckle and brambles and put the
trees in the ground...where they were soon eaten by deer and
overcome by weeds.
Meanwhile, the farm
slowly began to feel less like a retreat. During a weekend
over-night in April, I left my car parked along the secluded
country road and woke to found it had rolled down the hill into my
neighbor's field, just a few feet shy of being dunked in the
creek. Later, I learned that high-school kids enjoy spending
Friday nights partying down the road from my farm, and I can just
imagine their drunken enthusiasm at giving my little clown-car a
heave and watching it drift away. But at the time I felt
like the car episode was a malicious attempt by the local
community to push me out, and I began jumping at every sound when
camping at the farm. I had no phone and knew no one in the
area well—what would I do if my car ended up in the creek and I
was stranded there with no way out?
By the end of April, my
journals had gone strangely silent. I was still living an
hour-and-a-half's drive away from my property, and the chances of
moving in anytime soon seemed increasingly slim. My own
idealism, reinforced by that of my father and by my slim wallet,
made it unthinkable to consider buying materials or labor to build
my house, and I knew deep down that I couldn't finish it by
myself.
Over the next year,
I dropped by the farm from time to time to take pictures of the
wildlife, but my first relationship seemed to be at a
standstill. All that dreaming, planning, and saving, and one
winter had worn me down to a nubbin.
Want to know what
happens next? Growing
into a Farm is free on Amazon today! Even though
the ebook can
be read on any device, I'll also email you a free pdf copy today if
you'd rather --- just email
anna@kitenet.net with your request.
| This post is part of our Growing into a Farm lunchtime series.
Read all of the entries: |
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.
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this book of yours... it is an excellent narrative. I do not want to spoil it to bystanders, but part 2 made me cry ("mopey", like you say) a tiny bit. It had me rooting for the heroine all the way, and made me remember my own trepidations with romance all those years ago. You described all those feelings with uncanny accuracy. I guess we shy people all behave the same!
You made me remember how it all felt like back then. Thank you for opening up and sharing a piece of you all with us. Reading where you were with Mark back then I realize that in reality there are two heros in this story, you and Mark. Had Mark not had the patience he learned from past experiences, you both would have missed the wonderful family you have created.
I guess the only needy one left now is the farm itself. Had you used a pseudonym, and expanded a bit on that wonderful love story, you would have created an awesome long-form book, perfect for the long winter ahead.
And not trying to offend but, somehow, you and Mark look happier, more filled with life on recent pictures when compared to those from the past. You think its because those Apples you at long last harvested? It is a life-dream come true indeed!