Awe-Struck!
As I poured my heart and soul into my work, I traveled extensively across our southern border state. I hiked into remote canyons in the Huachuca Mountains, throughout the San Rafael Valley along the border with Mexico, traversed the Sonora Desert, camped under the stars, and monitored snakes along the Verde River. In my position, I met with ranchers to discuss conservation options for frogs and snakes. I worked with professors at universities to establish refuges for endangered frogs.
When our (then) small family of 3 made a difficult decision to depart careers and the desert southwest to move north toward 4 seasons, returning to our native roots along with woodticks and mosquitoes, I had not imagined that we would pursue a farming life. We landed on our northeastern Wisconsin peninsula during a record breaking warm spring.
Without a plan, we submitted offers on two separate houses. Each outbid, we felt defeated. Then one day, during late summer, we walked across an old overgrown orchard where an old farmhouse, accompanied by its own retired outhouse, was encrusted with dirt and second-hand smoke and in dire need of a complete paint-job and flooring replacement, when my hardcore other half said, “You know, I could be REALLY happy here!”
As we waited anxiously for news about our offer, I ran a 5K race in my hometown in central WI. We received a phone call of acceptance to our offer as I neared the finish line. I tossed my water bottle in excitement, and managed to club an old high school friend right in the head with my upward swing. Huge Ooops!! My sincerest apologies were immediately followed with much celebration and excitement.
For those of you who have followed us since the beginning know that we started relatively small. We established a flock of laying hens. We put in a garden too large to manage initially. I became pregnant with our second child and the weeds won the battle. Our first goats arrived at the farm and by the second year, the herd grew and they grasped my heart in ways I never imagined. I will never NOT have goats again!!
Today, as I look out at our greenhouse, which fried a few of our first seedlings as we figured out how best to manage its warmth and filtered sunshine, I see the potential of feeding our friends, of providing exercise to those who wish to help us with this endeavor, and, most importantly, of growing a dream.
I will never stop marveling at the first snake emerging from hibernation each spring, nor will I stop enjoying the call of the chorus frogs and spring peepers, marking warmer spring days. As my family has grown, and after moving from the desert southwest to the lush, green upper Midwest, I embrace the changing tides in my life.
As our farm grows and matures to feed our family and yours, I welcome you to join us. Join us through membership in our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) options, or visit us at the Sturgeon Bay Farmer’s Market this summer, or come by to see baby goats.