This view. It is soul stirringly breath taking. It feeds my heart and stirs me to want to be greater, bigger, better, more who I was created to be...
When I was a little girl I often played the same imaginary game that I was a pioneer woman. Living in my small cabin( our hay loft). Running through the woods, shooting my bb gun or bow and arrow. Making mud pies and creating things out of nature. My soul has always been drawn to the days of old and I have said many times that I was born a few hundred years too late. Music from an old enchanted time, fills me with wonder and awe, it moves my emotions and causes me to dream.
When I grew to be a woman, my imaginations turned into dreams. I married a man, who's college IM screen name was "BigHatNoCattle". Needless to say he has joined into my dream from the beginning and dreamed with me. Our favorite past time is to take the road less traveled and to explore the country that surrounds us! We love to see all the different homesteads, farms, ranches on those roads less traveled. On every drive I long to pull down one of those driveways, knock on the door and ask those that live there, "What's your story?" , "What brought you here? How did you learn what you do? What keeps you doing what you do?". Before we bought our place, right about this time of year I would take a drive through the country and dream, often shed a tear and pray that some day I could join this life of hardworking farmers/ranchers/homesteaders.
Here I sit today, and look out onto our back field and remember those days with you, and I am humbled. Every sacrifice, every tear, every dream, every moment was and is worth it. To now be living this dream I had so long ago, is incredible! I am still touched at the thought of those who have gone before us in this dream. Those people who are currently living this hard and long day life, and those who we have forgotten about, who pioneered(literally) the way for all the rest of us. These people inspire me to be a Farmer. Have you ever heard the poem "God made a farmer"? If you haven't, look it up. I want to be the definition of a farmer, I want to raise our own food, I want to work our land and take care of our animals well. I want to make our little piece of land, a farm. A true, farm. This farm work, it fills me and it spurs me on to better living. I cannot change the date I was born or the era I was born into. But I can chose how I live it. We all have something that we are passionate about, this is mine something!
All this brings me to the question, HillCreek Farm, what's in a farm?? Since moving out here last August we have turned/remodeled a garage into a cottage; fenced an acre of our upper field; put in another driveway; added and worked a large vegetable garden; brought 17 chickens on to the property and then lost said chickens; brought back 18, added 2, and hatched 4; Gained an incredible LGD named Sitka, only to bring her two cousins, Kodiak and Nome, onto the property 9 months later; built two paddocks and added an incredible horse; gained 3 cats, lost 2, added 2 more; and last but not least added 1 bunny to show in 4H over the summer. Our beloved friends the Lange's found their forever home in Estacada and moved there in the end of August, so we said "See ya later" to them, their dog Lola, and their 4H bunny. Thankfully they live just in town, so although life has changed, we still get to be close friends and have some of the high lights of a neighborhood(Paved streets, trick or treating, and lots of neighbor kids to play with when we visit). Ben and I often have a conversation about what's next for our farm. Where do we see the Lord taking us, what does He want with this land that He has given us? I don't think I know all the answers, actually I know I don't. But what I do know is that the Lord has given me this ache in my soul to farm this land, so that is what I plan to do with it... We have tossed around the idea of being a lavender farm. I love lavender and already do so many homemade things with it. But it's a big expense start up expense. So, that idea remains there, but maybe more a future idea instead of a present one. I can handle chickens and we are selling all the eggs we get, so much so that I have had to cut back on selling them, to ensure our own family gets enough eggs. So I could increase our Chickens. We are also talking about that ever amazing meat, you know, the other white meat, PORK. Ben and I are educating ourselves and gleaning as much as we can from our local friends/farmers, about raising pork. We have some good land for raising pigs and they are fairly simple to raise for meat.This school year I have had the privilege to start working for some of our good friends out here in their meat shop. They own a mobile slaughter and butcher company. It is such a gift to have a small job that adds a bit for our family/farm and to be learning first hand "what goes in, most definitely comes out". It's like an anatomy class every time I am up there and I really enjoy it. Plus it gets me thinking more and more about where the products I use on a regular basis come from. What can I source on my own and about better supporting those who work so hard to provide really good local products. For me it isn't a political ideal, or a soapbox that I care to get on. It's just a personal passion that I have discovered and am excited to see where it leads me. It is like a nod to my ancestors and a thank you to the many people who lived long and hard lives doing what they knew how to do best and they loved it too!
So, that is a little update on our little piece of farm life up here and I hope to be able to be better about updating you all about our goings on. Thank you for reading and investing a moment of your life into ours. I am excited about the future and all the possibilities!
I hope to sit with you again,
HillCreek Farms
