Green Acres

I asked Joe the other day when I thought about a blog written by a friend if he thought that somewhere, deep inside, we all had this drive to be farmers and to be self sufficiant. Something that makes us want to grow our own food and know its origin. Something that makes us want to be better people by doing our own little part for ourselves, for our families, for the world. Joe said no.

I know that Joe and I never will be self sufficiant or even as close to it as some people are or claim to be. I'll never be weaving our own clothes out of cotton that I harvested by hand. I'll never be grinding my own flour by wheat planted in the spring by mules pulling the seeder. I even doubt that I'll be willing to drink milk from our goats or a family cow. Brucella and all that. Make cheese and butter from that milk and maybe artisian soaps, sure.

I do want to raise a couple of calves (preferably Jersey steers) into adults to slaughter for a freezer full of delicious grass fed fatty beef. I do want to have a garden with a variety of vegetables fertilized with the compost pile from our household and barn waste. I do want to have a flock of chickens for eggs and meat.

And of course, there's the goats. Joe can not wait to raise his goats. Right now, I think his focus is on meat goats but I feel like he is leaning towards having a handful of milk goats too. And I can not wait to give Joe the chance to raise these goats.

The key point? To have a farm. And on this farm, acres of pastures where goats and ponies can roam. Where our chickens can peck in the barnyard. Where there are bottle calves to feed. Where there is a big garden full of vegetables.

A farm where Joe and I can raise our family with good values of being hard working and honest. Where our kids are eager to help. Where our kids are better people because they know where their food comes from. Better people because they were raised outside and not in front of a computer or TV. (Despite my love for TV.)

Self-sufficiency or at least partially is what I want.