The Real Us

In Mark 16, the apostle relates his account of the disciples’ reactions to Jesus’ resurrection. It’s an unusual account according to modern standards, not glamorizing the event or retelling so as to place them in good light. Instead, Mark – similar to the other accounts – doesn’t hesitate to “keep it real” by exposing the women’s fear and the 11’s unbelief, and that of the other disciples. It’s easy to criticize them from afar, despite having been told by Jesus himself that these events were coming to pass. But not understanding what was going on in their heads, and likely not knowing the exact circumstances they were going through, we should not be so quick to judge.

Lesson over, but one other takeaway is that on Maple Dell Farm, you’re not going to get a glamorized picture of our farm journey. Instead, we aim to let you know how things are really going, what we’re thinking, the mistakes we make and goals we accomplish. It may not always be pretty or idyllic, but it’ll always be real. This is our actual life, and are happy to be sharing it with you.

This makes one week that we’ve been living fulltime on the farm. Last weekend We moved (thanks in no small part to the labor of Mike and Annie) the small amount that was left in storage and our apartment into our house and ended our time in Hartville. So although we’re now functional, we’ve still got piles of boxes in various places – that need going through. I’ve been working on infrastructure – electrics, this week – and Jan and Nancy have been dealing with boxes and clothes and grandkids, while ensuring we all have food to eat and clothes to wear. Oh, we’re still thinking and talking about farming, but the urgency of home tasks has been a priority.

Yesterday we finally felt like we could take a breather – things like church in the morning, a nice afternoon drive through the country, eating out for lunch, and a bonfire in the evening. It was helpful to regain some margin.

We’re all starting a permaculture design course the next few weeks, with the hope of coalescing the many ideas we’ve had, and producing a framework for the farm that will help guide us over the next few years. Sometimes you just need a little guided help. It’s often difficult for us 5 adults to come to consensus, and our discussions are often sidetracked – we like to talk. 🙂 This course should help us stay on course.

Growing things hasn’t stopped in the meantime, though. We’ve got 3 beds done, and are anxious to get moving on many more. Some elderberries arrived last weekend, and still need a home. Laying out some bed locations and renting a rototiller is a likely plan this week. It seems the quickest way to create beds out of lawn, and will be the only time we see a rototiller on the farm. Our soil is a beautiful sandy loam, so apart from the sod, it’ll be an easy and enjoyable job. Chicks, now a couple weeks old, are in the greenhouses, and growing like mad. We have money allocated for chicken infrastructure, and we’ll be having discussions this wee about where and how to house them. Mike heard some coyotes last week, so electric fencing will be a necessity. Joe at Wright Family Farms down the road says he has coyotes too, so it’s something we’ll need to watch for.

I’ve still got some plumbing issues to work out. We have very good and tasty well water, but Jan really wanted an RO filter on the kitchen sink. Mike installed the 3-filter system for us a few weeks ago. However, the first-stage filter is getting clogged with sediment way too fast, so we’ll be purchasing and installing a spin-down sediment filter. I also bought a frost-free faucet for our outside sink (attached to the outside basement wall, clever) that needs installed. Just a couple more things on the list of long-neglected maintenance issues in this old house.

Boy, it seems the interior jobs never end, and I know they’ll take a long time. We are just going to have to live with some of these faults for a while, since the farm can’t wait until the house is “perfect”, and money is in short supply. Kudos to the ladies for their flexibility, though I know it’s hard.

Well, I’m off to work (I work from home, but am writing this from R44 Coffee this morning). Hope you had a blessed Easter weekend. Keep it real!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *