Life, Truth, and Cackleberries: And So It Begins...!

As we sit here in our temporary home (aka camper...), the snow and sleet horrendously beating against the door in the 20-something degree weather on March 16th...we reminisce on the past few months. We have now been on the farm for just over a week. Our time traveling around to see family and staying in Florida for two months was absolutely amazing and we are so blessed to have been able to do that. Matt was able to work for his old boss at Heishman Lawn & Gardening doing landscaping pretty much full time for several weeks in Florida, a non-expected though much appreciated source of income. The day we left Florida it was 88 degrees exactly...and we were welcomed to Virginia by a nice warm front that lasted a few days.

Rachel working on the Egg Mobile

We arrived on the farm last Saturday and our first few days here were lovely! It actually got up to 70 degrees one day this week which resulted in a nice long work day accompanied by much welcomed sunburns! Of course, only to be followed by a 30 degree windy day with snow showers. Nonetheless we were grateful for the sunshine and warmth while it lasted. Our first order of business was to start preparing for our first batch of Freedom Ranger chicks which are arriving this Thursday. We were planning on building a brooder from scratch, but when we got to the farm we realized that we could use the current structure that Josh kept his 100 laying hens in for the winter due to the fact that the weather has been so bad (our original idea was to do an outdoor brooder...maybe for the next batch!). It is a simple hoop house structure that he made with pallets, cattle panels, and tarps. It actually kept the hens very warm through the bitter cold winter they had here. But

Josh working on the Egg Mobile

in order for us to be able to use that as a brooder, we had to get the 100 hens out. So first on our priority list was to build an egg mobile for the hens (they should be laying within the next couple of weeks). Just to show you how amazing the folks are out here in Craig County, Josh called a neighbor one evening to see if he had any extra trailers he wanted to get rid of and the next day the man personally delivered the trailer to the farm! It continues to amaze us how friendly and hospitable these folks are out here in the country (Craig County in particular..)! So for the next few days we disassembled the trailer and rebuilt it as an egg mobile using mostly scraps from around the farm (with the exception of the purchased tarp and some hardware). It turns out that building things from scratch using mostly materials around the property and with no building plans, you get a lot of opportunities to use your creativity and be resourceful! We finished the egg mobile yesterday and got the hens out. Yesterday evening, Matt and Ken (Josh's dad) pick-axed the bedding in the soon-to-be

Rachel hanging out in the nest boxes

brooder to loosen it up and we shoveled it all out onto a trailer which we then emptied near the garden area for compost. It was an unexpected delight when we realized that the bedding actually smelled quite lovely (like forest soil and decaying wood!). This wasn't the first time this week we hand shoveled stuff into and then out of a trailer. A few days ago Josh heard from a neighbor that there was a big pile of free wood chips in town. Any farmer knows that wood chips, and any carbonaceous material for that matter, are extremely valuable. So we took the opportunity and drove into town with a trailer and a few shovels, accompanied by Josh's sister Kimberly and their dad Ken. After about an hour we had the bed of the truck and the trailer full! Let me tell you...if you ever want a good workout...try shoveling wet wood chips into a trailer for an hour! It was quite the workout for sure. We needed these wood chips mostly for the brooder we were setting up. If you are going to have any animals in a covered area for an extended period of time, you need to have carbonaceous

It was really difficult to get that excess tarp to look right-ish!

bedding. The carbon basically binds with the nitrogen from the manure, locking in the the odor and the nutrients, providing a wonderful anaerobic pile of bedding which when tilled up by pigs or pick-axes turns into GREAT aerobic compost for the garden or the fields. This afternoon, we shoveled the fresh wood chips into the brooder...in the snow . Matt realized that since we didn't have a tarp readily available, the snow was

Our snow covered pile of wood chips

soaking the pile of wood chips which was outside, and when you are using them for a brooder they need to be dry due to the fact that chickens (especially chicks) don't like to be wet. So into the snow storm we went...shovels in hand, and bedded that brooder. All we need to do now is finish up a few things on the inside of the brooder, build some feeders, and get the heat lamps going to ensure that it is nice and toasty in there for our little chickies! Once our chicks arrive, we will begin work on their roost-mobile which they will be moved into at about 2-3 weeks of age. Check out our Facebook page for upcoming pictures of our finished roost-mobile!

As mentioned above, we are currently living in a camper on the farm. Yes...we are back to the camper life! The building which we will be living in is almost completed, but they have been waiting for the weather to cooperate. Basically all they have left to do is pour the concrete, but the road up to the building has been too wet and muddy to withstand a 60,000lb cement truck. However things have been progressing the past few days. A neighbor has offered Josh use of his tractor/backhoe to dig swales and ponds pretty much whenever he needs it (these country folk I tell ya! Amazing). So he has been working on digging ponds and swales to redirect the water to move away from the road to allow it the opportunity to dry out. And alas! it has worked! The past few days, prior to this snow storm, have also been extremely dry and windy (gusts up to 65mph some days) which has dried up the road pretty well. So we are hoping to get the cement truck out here ASAP to pour the cement so we can move in and begin construction on the inside walls while living in it. We were also able to dig out all of the trenches to lay the pipes for plumbing and should have the
electric wiring done soon. We are planning on having that all done within the next few weeks so we can return the camper to Josh and Lena's friends who have been so gracious to let them borrow it throughout the winter! The camper is nice but it is not ideal for a winter home. It's not fun having to empty the "black tank" when it is below freezing outside. That being said, we try not to use the camper toilet as much as possible. There is a compost toilet about 500 feet or so up the hill which we try to utilize when we can. The other night, around 10:30pm, we both had to go and didn't want to go in the camper. So we bundled up and trekked up the hill to the compost toilet. Thankfully it was a beautiful night and only about 48 degrees. The moon was out and we could see all the mountains surrounding the valley. We even saw several gigantic rabbits up by the spring! We have also been staying with Josh's parents in West Virginia when we can. It is about an hour drive from the farm so it's not ideal but boy is it a nice break! We get a nice hot shower, a big comfy bed, a delicious meal, internet, a washer and dryer, and even TV if we want! His parents have been so incredibly gracious to have us over and they are some of the most hospitable people we have ever met! Speaking of a hot shower though...last night we decided not to go over to their house, but we were pretty dirty from shoveling out the soon-to-be brooder and didn't want to get into bed without bathing. So we turned the shower on, and lo and behold...out came but a single, steady trickle of hot water.......but we were so desperate to be clean we decided to just go for it! Rachel went first and tried desperately to get fully under the hot water but to no avail. It was the fastest shower she has ever taken! Then it was Matt's turn. He's a little bit taller, as most of you know, meaning more surface area on his body. Not only did he barely fit in the shower, but he would rinse one side of his body and then the other, but by the time he was done, the first half was already dry. Hah! We couldn't help but laugh the whole time as we desperately yet pitifully tried to take a shower. We decided to call it a drip instead of a shower. And hopefully we will not have to go through that again (we try to plan out our showers to take place at the Deel's house)! Oh and by the way...it was only about 65ish degrees in the camper so we were freezing when we got out! Like we said though, we are incredibly grateful to have a place to eat and sleep and stay semi-warm. But we are so looking forward to moving into that building! Even if it means throwing our mattress on the concrete floor, staying warm with a woodstove, and cooking with an electric burner and toaster oven for a while! At least it will be our mattress and Matt will be able to fit on it haha.

Matt pick-axing the old bedding from the layers

It may sound crazy to most people, but living like this gives you a genuine perspective on a lot of areas of life. Never again will we take for granted a nice hot shower or a flushable toilet that we don't have to worry about emptying. Never again will we turn on a faucet without thinking about where that water is coming
from and what it took to get it there. We are starting to get to the point where we are ready to settle down somewhere and have a place to ourselves, where we can actually unpack everything and know that we will be there for a while. This journey has put us in a lot of crazy situations and we have moved all around, but nonetheless, God has continually provided for us. Not only has He consistently provided food, warmth, and a place to lie our heads, He has also provided peace and trust to know that everything is going to work out in time, in His time. He has provided us joy in every circumstance (though in some circumstances that joy is harder to find....), knowing that we are not only living our dream, but we get to do it together! And He has provided us with amazing support from our family and friends...if it wasn't for all of your love, support, prayers, and hospitality, we would not be where we are today. We love you all!