When I was a little girl, my daddy would sing Charley Pride’s “Down on the Farm” to get me to sleep at night.
I don’t know if that’s when it started, but I’ve always loved farming and the idea of it. I’d lay awake at night planning what my life would be like as an adult, and although those plans changed over the years, they always involved growing my own foods, writing, and being a mama.
I don’t remember a time when we didn’t have some kind of garden growing up. My sister and I would help our parents and grandparents with planting and harvesting. We learned a lot.
I remember shelling peas and shuckin’, silkin’, and canning corn til we were plum slap tired of it. We grew tomatoes, beans, okra, greens, onions, and peppers, among other things. We also had all kinds of animals (chickens, goats, cows, horses, dogs, etc.) that my sister and I helped care for. And looking back, I’m so grateful for those moments working together as a family.
When I finally did grow up, I married my high school sweetheart. He joined the military right out of high school.
Being a military spouse often means moving a lot and renting houses. We couldn’t always have a big garden, but we did a container garden in most places and we’d still help out back home if we had the chance.
Flash forward to now. My husband has 20 years of service behind him. We have had a garden for a few years now in the backyard of the house we own. Our kids help out with it and we let them pick and plan a lot of the things we plant. We’ve been trying different things to see what works and what we like or don’t like. We’re preparing to move soon and start our own little farm. A real one. 😃
I don’t know when, but sometime over the past few years my husband and I have both felt drawn to organic farming. He’s read tons of books and watched countless hours of YouTube farming videos. I’m not as tolerant of YouTube, though I do watch some of the videos with him. I’ve been reading farming books as well.
I remember when I was in high school hearing about “organic” vegetables. I noted that they cost more and I thought that was ridiculous. I thought all vegetables were organic, meaning to me that they were natural and biodegradable. I didn’t even consider all of the chemicals and pesticides used by most farms.
And my mindset at that time wasn’t uncommon for folks in rural farming communities. A lot of them scoff even now when someone mentions organic farming. Add no-till into that and they look at you like you’ve got three heads.
Sadly, I was probably in my twenties before it clicked and I realized the impact of these things and what true organic farming meant; farming without pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and the like.
We’re about to embark on a new journey together. We have our work cut out for us, but I’m looking forward to it. I like knowing where our food comes from. I like knowing what’s in it and what’s not.
Growing our own food and providing healthy alternatives for our community will be a rewarding endeavor. We have a lot of plans. I can’t pretend to know what the future holds, but good Lord willin’ we will do our best to see those plans to fruition.
It will be interesting while we adjust to balancing our new lifestyle with homeschooling and my writing and everyday meal planning and tasks.
I hope y’all will follow along on our journey. We’re setting up social media accounts and a YouTube channel of our own. I’ll keep you updated!
I hope y’all have a wonderfully blessed day.
God bless,
T
Books by Trista 