Intro

I've sat here staring at the screen for the past hour trying to figure out how to start this blog. What witty or insightful thing could I say? What inspiring words or anecdote has lead us to this decision? In the end, when you get down to brass tacks, it's not something intellectual driving us to this, it's something instinctual, and therefore very hard to put into words.

The city has had much to offer, and our house in the city has been good to us. It has been our home and sanctuary but things change. Our family has grown, it really was the birth of our daughter Lily that has been the catalyst for this change. We want to get back to basics and raise her with a real understanding of how things work and maybe learn a few things about how they ought to be ourselves.

We want her to know down to her core where food comes from. We want her to know what it's like to get dirty and to breathe fresh air. We want to be somewhere she's free to toot around on a dirt bike, shoot a bb gun, or to catch tadpoles in a ditch. We want her to discover things in her own back yard that city kids only get to read about or see in video.

We want to provide her with fresh natural foods. Big industry food is a major bone of contention with us, and I'm sure will be the subject of it's own future post. For now let's just say that we're no longer interested in being part of that industry, even as a consumer. We want her to see what it takes to grow those veggies that are, right now, being carelessly tossed on the floor with every meal. We want her to know where meat comes from so she can make informed choices about it when she's older. Mostly we want her to learn to live as independently as possible so that she isn't reliant on any government, society, community, family, or individual for support. We want her to be able to take care of herself so that when she is part of something bigger than she is it's because she wants to be, not because she has to be.

So after that diatribe it should come as no surprise that we've sold our house in the city and have purchased a small hobby farm out in the country. This blog is to help us document our move, our changing lifestyle, and the lessons we learn along the way. We still have a month to go before we move, but I do have some pictures to share.