ONL057 OMG, We Bought the Farm!

Once in a blue moon, something amazing happens that changes everything. Jon and I have been going through a lot of changes since our last recorded Podcast in November. As I write this on the eve of the last day of the first decade of the 21st Century, we are only hours away from a blue moon and lunar eclipse.

While New Year’s Eve is always a time for celebration, this one is especially dear for Jon and me, even in addition to celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary on January 1. Here is the teaser (with apologies for the cliches): our goose is cooked, we bought the farm, and I’m going out to pasture in June! Keep reading to find out more! You can listen to our Podcast by downloading ONL057 from iTunes, Zune, Tivo, or Stitcher or by clicking on the embedded link below.

On October 9, 2009, Jon and I took a weekend to spend some quality time together. We stayed at Fair Havens Plantation, an historic Bed and Breakfast in rural Arnoldsville. This was in order to be close to Elberton on October 10 to attend Tim and Liz Young’s Local Food Camp Out at Natures Harmony Farm. Relaxing in the country settings away from our everyday responsibilities prompted one of us to comment, “Wouldn’t it be great to live out here and raise some of our own food?”

Wind forward 11 1/2 weeks to December 30, 2009. Just a few days after enjoying our Christmas Eve goose we are proud owners of an 11 acre farm and historic farmhouse near the Broad River just a few miles down the road from Natures Harmony Farm. I’ve decided to retire from teaching at the end of my 33 year career this May, and will spend my time with pastured livestock on our new homestead! Of course, it all happened with lightning speed, changing from a fleeting comment to reality once we applied our skills of expressing gratitude, setting intention, scripting to manifest abundance, and accessing our inner guidance systems. Looking back one year (or even 3 months) we can see how powerful these tools were when we applied them to our lives. These are all topics which we have covered in past podcasts.

Even though we never really discussed farming as a career alternative, it seemed like a natural progression due to where we’ve focused our energies the last two years. Jon is fortunate to work from home most of the time, so we’ll both be working on the homestead.

Yesterday after our closing we took our first truckload of items to the new house (Jon traded in his hybrid SUV for a Ford F150). The first item off the truck and put into our new home was my copy of Julia Child’s The Way to Cook. After unloading the truck, I looked out the living room window to the south pasture and was amazed to find a covey of Bobwhite Quail grazing on our lawn! I’ve heard the call of the male Bobwhites before, but have never seen one because they are so reclusive. Here were at least 30! We also have deer, turtles, owls, and wild turkeys on the property.

We’ll be sprucing up our lovely home in Johns Creek soon to sell to a new family in a few months. I will start my retirement June 1 in our Elberton home. Once we hit the ground running this summer, we’ll be blogging about our progress, what we learn, and sharing videos with you. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter and Podcast so you don’t miss a thing! If we’re successful with growing our own pastured rabbits, chickens, eggs, goats, and sheep, we’ll open a farm store to supply friends and community.

If you want to see more photos of Broad River Pastures, go to our facebook page at Our Natural Life Podcast and look at our album, “Introducing Broad River Pastures.”

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