We Bought The Farm! Really!

newfarm
One of the things itching my thoughts about "the farm" all these months of incubation has been the transition from a life urban to a life rural. Some of my past negative perceptions of "rural": conservative socially and politically, closed off from city life, goofy home schoolers, lack of progressive culture. I was surprised and frankly in awe of the community we stumbled upon most recently.

This past weekend we had the incredible opportunity to camp on 250 beautiful acres of organic, communal farm property in Dunn County, Wisconsin. We meandered the trails, tubed the river, admired the garden, and soaked in the incredible landscape. We met members of the community who are progressive, open-minded, culturally aware, with a shared appreciation for the land, people, education and the need to live more sustainably.

We went for a second look at the 38 acre farm with the little yellow farmhouse and red barn just a few miles from our camp spot, and learned about the good neighbors, the landscape throughout the seasons, and the beautiful law within this tiny township that no farm property be less than 35 acres. Oh, the progressive thinking of keeping out the "progress" of housing developments! We could not have been more charmed by the feeling that we'd found OUR community and a bevy of resources from kindred spirits in the area who are happy to help us learn more about some of the things that are most important to us in this farm venture: growing and distributing organic produce and goods, sustainable building connections, natural horsemanship interest, excellence in education, a vibrant arts community, and on.

While the flurry of offers, counter offers, mortgages, inspections, moving, financing, etc. is overwhelming, I have to keep pinching myself when I realize how natural it all feels. It's almost a year to the day that Charis, Jay, Chris and I sat in their hot tub in Portland, giddy with the birth of our shared vision of living in community in the country. What an anniversary.