A Day at the Farm

My face is wind-burnt and my brain feels exhausted, but we had a very productive visit to the farm today.  Our to-do list wasn't unmanageable, so we left with a sense of accomplishment (and another to-do list).

The highest pond. Needs restoration from cattle damage.
The farm house is straight ahead in the distance.

A large portion of the day was spent walking the property. We've walked through the middle of it many times, but today we explored the fence line - the outer bounds, looking in. I feel as though we were really seeing it in it's entirety for the first time.  This is exciting and overwhelming - making us rethink our plans and explore new possibilities. I am reminded of my days as an art major, staring at a huge blank canvas with no idea where to start or what it may become.

We discovered another pond near the back near a spot that would be perfect for a future house. We found a dried up creek bed and several active streams weaving through the contours of the old hills.  We also came upon heaps and heaps of sandy-clay which will be perfect for building cob structures. We took a hundred pictures in order to capture the land in its state today with hopes that they will be the "before'' shots of our farm story.

Front of the house. Not livable.

Back of house. Lots of clean-up to do.

The makings of a worn tub. We hope they like their new home.

Successes of the day included finding the water meter, stopping by the water department to initiate service, meeting with electricians to discuss installation options, identifying the forages already growing on the property and converting an old bathtub into a worm farm. The woman at the water department connected us to the 911 location service, so we are one step closer to actually knowing the address of the old farmhouse.  We also narrowed down our potential garden sites, greenhouse location and planned activities for a farm workday we are hosting on the 23rd. 

The first brush stroke is always the hardest. It's time to finalize some big purchases, send the workday invites and get moving.  After that we can fill the canvas with ease, adding to and painting over the composition as we go.