Category Archives: Farm Life

Farm Life, Personal Goals

2023 On the Farm – Reflecting on Progress

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My husband, brother-in-law, and I frequently get asked about the latest projects we’re doing on our farm. We love that question. It’s indicative of the work we’ve done over the past three years (from Dec. 2020 to Dec. 2023).

We’re busy remodeling, restoring and refreshing my husband’s family’s (nearly) bi-centennial farm in Michigan.

Photo Credit Michigan Photography and Austin Thomason

As I look back at what we’ve accomplished to date, it’s amazing. And that’s not bragging because it’s not what we’ve done in our strength, but what has been accomplished as we sought the help of countless others.

Farmers, firefighters, conservationists, demolition and excavating companies, and more, are part of our 2023 story.

If you look back to 2020 and even before, so many others contributed to our progress. But for now, I’d like to focus on 2023 as the end of the year allows for reflection. I always enjoy reflecting before intentionally planning and strategizing the year ahead. 

Looking back

House demolition

In March, after several years of careful planning and prep work, several local fire departments helped to burn down the 1854 farmhouse on our property.

We donated the home, which was beyond repair, to  the firefighters for several training exercises. It was the home where Tom’s and Jim’s great-grandfather and family lived, and then where Tom, Jim and their family lived. Read the full story here.

What an incredible experience to be part of! And we are forever grateful for the partnership with the fire departments to complete that daunting task. 

After the fire, two chimneys remained that needed to be pushed into the old basement. Excavators came to complete that job and to grade smooth the previous site of the house.

What you don’t see here, is the work our family did to pick up rocks and tree limbs and put down grass seed. Hours of work, but we didn’t mind it one bit. And now, we have a beautiful side yard. 

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Christian Faith, Farm Life, Personal Goals

A Day to Remember on the Farm

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It’s amazing when a plan comes together and goes better than you imagined. That’s what happened this past Sunday, March 19, 2023, when firefighters from three nearby areas came to our farm and executed a controlled burn on one of the two houses. In less than two hours, it completely burned to the ground, yet the planning and preparation had been in the works for 4 ½ years, since the Fall of 2017.

You may wonder why we would demolish a home, especially one that:

  • Was a landmark on our historic farm and rich in history 
  • Was my husband’s childhood home 
  • Served as a temporary home to our family from June – October 2021, while we waited for the remodel next door to be complete 

Let me explain

My husband’s family farm is nearly 200 years old. It has been passed down from father to son for six generations. During those generations, several homes were constructed on the property.

The original home was a log cabin. Then in 1854, the home we’re talking about was built (pictured below in 1910). It was the home of my husband Tom’s great-great-great-grandfather.

Later, in 1911, Tom’s great-grandfather built another house on the property right next door — the home we remodeled and restored in 2021 and live in now. 

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Farm Life, Life Events, Parenting and Motherhood

Priority #1: Making Friends

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With any household move or relocation, there’s an element of ‘scary’. It’s so much change all at once and oftentimes involves finding and forming brand new relationships. In our family’s case — moving several states away to live on a rural farm — we definitely have to be intentional about making friends. 

Before we moved, the girls and I prayed many nights that God would bring good people into our lives. We prayed He would handpick really special individuals for us. 

But we knew making friends would require effort on our part also. We need to be a friend to have a friend. We need to display courage and vulnerability in order to show others who we are. In addition, we need to put ourselves in places, or create opportunities, to find the people God wants us to meet. 

 

Our approach to finding and making friends has been multi-pronged, including joining activities, tapping into already-formed relationships, and seeking out events where people are social.

We became joiners

Prior to moving, I researched and scoped out activities my girls could participate in. Does the area have a local dance studio or gymnastics place? Is there a volleyball team for my girls’ ages? Where can they take music lessons? What types of summer camps are available? 

I didn’t want to overload our schedules, I simply wanted to be sure my girls wouldn’t get to the farm, find no one around, and be bored out of their minds. In my mind, I envisioned the scenario going like this: “We went on several Gator rides, we explored the farm fields, now what? There’s no one to play with. I’m SO BORED!” All parents have had those conversations even if not living rurally, right?

I found a few possible options, and we talked about whether or not they wanted to pursue them. Once we moved to the farm, it was sign-up time. No more exploring or researching, it was time to commit and get involved. 

I signed our oldest up for two weeks of Volleyball camp — one in July and one in August. We joined the Summer Reading Program at the beautiful and quaint local library, which we visited often. We found a free event provided by the local YMCA every Tuesday to attend. We joined a local church and started attending the service that includes a kids’ program. I signed both girls up for Vacation Bible School. Through many of those connections, we found moms with kids my girls’ ages to have playdates with, and we have met some really wonderful families. 

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Christian Faith, Farm Life

Living on the farm: 5 weeks in!

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Why would we do such a thing?

Just over a month ago, my daughters and I moved out of state, out of our comfortable in-town living, and began a new life in the country on a farm. Homesteading, I think, is the official term for what we’re doing. Wow, what a change!

Thankfully, the farm wasn’t foreign to us. It’s been in my husband’s family for multiple generations, and we visited often since the girls were born to see their grandpa. Once my father-in-law passed and my husband inherited the farm, along with his identical twin brother, our visits became more frequent and longer. 

L to R: my brother-in-law, the girls and I, and my husband. Plus our Black Labs.

Still, visiting a farm and living on a farm are quite different. Especially a farm that needs a ton of work and rejuvenation.

We’re demolishing out-buildings, tearing out rotted fences, taking down dead trees, saving for and scheduling a barn-roof repair, restoring and fixing up tractors, and remodeling one of the two farmhouses. (And when I say “we,” I mostly mean: my husband, his brother, and a whole slew of people we’ve hired to do this, that, and the other thing.) The girls and I help when we can, but much of the work is either on a grand scale or requires specialized skills. 

In the meantime, we’re living in the older of the two houses, which is where my husband grew up while his grandparents lived next door. The oldest farmhouse, built in 1854 by a local builder, while neat in its own right, is a place to stay but one that offers very few amenities. We’re living without central air — in June, July & August. We’re without a dishwasher and have no oven or stove — which I can tell you makes meal planning way more difficult. We also have 5 people in the house and only 1 teeny-tiny bathroom.  Also, I’ll spare you the dramatic story,  but we had a bat flying around our living space recently at bedtime, which was a definite first for me. 

Our temporary housing
Our temporary housing

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Farm Life

Old-Fashioned Cattle Drive

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Intentionally Making Money for Farm Improvements

The first weekend in November and again over Thanksgiving weekend, my husband (Tom) and his twin brother (Jim) were hard at work on our farm doing an old-fashioned cattle drive.

Well, maybe that’s a stretch. I wouldn’t categorize my husband or brother-in-law as cowboys in the traditional sense – cowboy hats, spurs and horses. However, they’ve been driving cattle since they were little boys. Their family has moved cattle from pasture to barn and barn to pasture for over 150 years.  

Tom and Jim operate a cow-calf operation, a method of raising beef cattle in which a permanent herd of cows is kept to produce calves for later sale. Each year, Tom and Jim add about 10 calves to the herd.  The calves are raised on pasture all Spring and Summer and then some are sold as feeder cattle (300 – 600 lbs) in the Fall to be purchased by other farmers. The remaining calves are kept, fed and raised on our farm to be sold to market once they are older and full grown.

Calf born Spring 2018
New calf born Spring 2018

Last Spring, the bred cattle gave birth to their calves (a brand new experience for my two daughters who loved hearing stories about them, naming them, and seeing them when we visited). As a result, Tom and Jim spent two weekends this Fall moving cattle to auction in an effort to make money for various farm-improvement projects they have planned.

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Farm Life, Life Events

An Inheritance, Of Sorts

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You may have noticed all the farm-themed pictures on my blog. There’s a reason for that.

My husband, Tom, and his twin brother, Jim, recently inherited a farm on approximately 175 acres in southeast Michigan that’s been in their family since 1836 – before Michigan was a state! It’s been passed down father to son (or sons) for the past six generations! 

Before Tom’s dad passed away in 2017, we knew the farm was destined to be passed on in this same way and left jointly to Tom and Jim, but we feared what that would mean for us.

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