Green Acres is the Place to Be...

If you would have told me a few years ago that my family would have a farm...and that on that farm, we would have actual living animals and grow a vegetable garden, I would have thought you were crazy.  My husband works so hard running a company, and we have five children...which I homeschool.  How in the world could we possibly handle a farm??  And a garden??  We hired lawn people because we killed every flower we ever tried to grow!  Hmmmm....

But alas...just like homeschooling was laid on my heart, farming was something my husband felt lead to do for our family.  We found the perfect one...and a new journey began.

Faithfully, my husband, Seth, ran his company by day, stopping by at dinnertime to eat with his family.  He then headed to the farm and worked into the evening.  The sun would rise, and Seth would head to the farm again, bright and early...heading home before a shower to see us, eat breakfast, and then head off to work.  Saturdays offered no rest, and I missed my husband!  What were we doing?!

Seth, the guy who doesn't own his own lawn mower, bought a tractor...  I worried as he cut huge fields on a giant piece of machinery...

...But my husband is very perseverant, and he was determined...and I continued to be amazed.  He read magazines, blogs, and websites and knew just how he wanted to grow the garden.  He wanted to try raised beds and to only grow heirloom varieties of seeds organically.  We were so excited to see those first sprouts!

As you can see from the last picture, we also have hens...which means we have enjoyed lots of fresh eggs!  Seth is good to those chickens!  They eat strawberry greens, watermelon rinds, etc.  They get cider vinegar splashed into their water...keeping them very healthy.

We added a miniature horse, "Clover", to our farmyard...

No turning back now!  Creatures and crops were depending on constant care, and Seth was there to do it!  I continued to homeschool and taxi children here and there, unaware of the amount of "bounty" that was about to come through the kitchen door!  It seems my husband has quite a green thumb afterall, and tomatoes and okra do not hold off until you use them up...so it was my turn to do my part and do something with these veggies!

Baby approves the watermelon!

Salsa!

We are Southern!

I learned about blanching...

Those purple hull peas were so good!

LOTS of spaghetti sauce!

a gift basket...

I have to say, I am so proud of my husband!  He has amazed me with all he has learned this past year! We look forward to building our "forever" home on this farm within the next year.  I know that will make it much easier for us to all to be able to help with farm chores, and we look forward to spending time as a family on our farm.