There to Here
Today we hosted my family for a mother’s day brunch complete with my sister’s hand made (and hand-hunted) feral hog breakfast sausage, savory and sweet crepes, and assorted adult beverages. Each savory crepe was topped with a bright fried egg, most from my own hens.
Flowers and herbs grown right outside the front door were centerpieces, and a walk to the garden ended the afternoon.
Someone mentioned the luck we have here- a sentiment I will never deny. A lot of what we have and where we are has to do with luck. But there’s a little more to it than that.
The garden alone is the best representation of what this was before we grabbed our pitchforks and dug in, almost four years ago. Somewhere at the bottom of a box filled with notebooks, house plans, and cheese-making books is a folded up paper with our scribbled plans for the placement of gardens, goat pens, and a house. We’ve both got weaker backs (but stronger arms) for all the sweat put into this place. Jeremy spent the better part of Year 1 removing mesquite thorns from tractor tires.
There’s a garden now in the spot where mesquite and cactus seemed impenetrable, where I broke down and cried more than a few times about our stupidity for sinking savings into what seemed like a hopeless pit of dry dirt, old glass, and rattlesnakes.
Now, there’s a house standing on the very hill we were told was ridiculous to build upon.
Luck’s a good theory to hope for and believe in, but it doesn’t clear mesquite, and it doesn’t calm those fears that wake you in the wee hours of a dark morning. For better or worse, stubborn determination got us this far – the beginning of a resurrection of land that lay dormant for the better part of a century. I hold clusters of new tomatoes in my palm and dig my hand deep into the dirt beneath them. It’s dirt Jeremy put there himself, dug out of piles of composted manure and hay. We don’t know what’s next for this sprout of a homestead but, like most things, it’ll take more than luck to get there.
4 Comments
ruralaspirations
May 15, 20123:06 pm
I'm glad to hear you guys giving yourself credit for what you have done. It was hard work, and as someone who has followed your blog for a long time I can vouch for that! Hooray for the homestead!
No Name Farm Ranch
May 15, 20121:49 pm
Well hello there, and welcome! Thanks so much for the lovely note (both you and Aunt Lisa). I am always thrilled to learn that others nearby are doing this, too. It makes me feel less crazy :) More importantly, we want to meet the neighbors! You can send an email to us at no.name.farm.ranch@gmail.com – I'd love to hear more about your land, where you're located, what you've got planned, etc. Keep in touch. And we'll keep writing.
Aunt Lisa
May 15, 201212:45 am
This is it. The culmination. All ya'll have worked for and now the floodgates are open to build on it and enjoy! Wow! Well done!
Our Slice of Heaven
May 14, 20124:47 pm
Ok, I have to come out of the closet here and tell you I have been following your blog for a couple of weeks now, and I am impressed! My husband and I bought land East of Austin in January and are planning on building a Barndominium, ergo I found your blog while looking for ideas. I was astounded at the similarities between our goals, and just love the way your write about your experiences. However, this post brought tears to my eyes. I am hoping to have just such an experience one day at our place, and I can only aspire to write about it as wonderfully as you do! Please keep the blogs coming! I love reading about it!