First, we visited our local USDA Service Center (epicenter of The Farm Bill) and were whisked through the process of registering our property as a farm!!!
Here's an aerial showing our place (yellow rectangle in the center) amidst a rural mix of agricultural and woodlands. There's a lot more forest around here than where we are from and we love that.
Zoom in and you will notice several polygons. The north polygon is what we've designated "pasture" while the south polygon contain our buildings, our yard/wildlife habitat, our garden and our orchard.
Around this same time we found the below note tucked in a Christmas card in our mailbox. Apparently, someone had been driving by who still had some emotional ties/memories of the place and was happy to see it being LOVED again:
When you are coming off a year of cleaning up other people's trash and a series of projects just to get a place back to live-able, it's nice to have a couple of pats on the back like this.
Here's to a quick jumpstart on a great 2012 to ALL OF YOU!!!
Hi J&S....That is so sweet and dear of that person to do that... gave me a shiver of excitement..what a way to start the new year!!
ReplyDeleteIt reminds me of my story!!
We rented this house for about a year and did a ton of clean up around ..mowed lawns and etc..
The man that owned it would not sell to anyone, but when we approached him about buying he sold it to us because of all we did to make the place look presentable after the tenants he had before had so much junk and made a mess of the place!!
We are classified as farm land ..so glad for you that you got that done...you have done a lot of work in 2011 and you should feel very proud of what you have done...I think you are great down to earth couple all the best for you in 2012!!!
Grace
I totally love that letter you received. I bet it really felt nice to get thanks, especially considering all the hard work you have done with contributions from your family and friends. I, too, have visited my folks' old farm when I'm in the area, and it certainly does not look anything like how I remember it, including 3 new houses on the property and orchards where there used to be pastures and fields. Out of curiosity, what will having a registered farm mean for you specifically? Wishing you the best for 2012!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely note and how blessed I am to stumble upon your blog. Best wishes for your future plans from England!
ReplyDeleteThat little note brought tears to my eyes! Good for you! I know it's taken more than a little elbow grease!
ReplyDelete