| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| kirsten |
Posted - Jun 23 2005 : 4:48:07 PM
Hi - I am currently living with my little family in Hillsborough, NC, on the Eno River. We used to rent a cottage on a lovely 150 acre farm but found a house we could afford and moved to town. Now we are about to move out to the country again, and I am trying to figure out how to make my farm dreams come true as we move for my husband to start a university teaching job (he has been an outdoorsman and wilderness guide and carpenter til now). I was raised doing tons of camping and gardening, and always wanted a "village life," small scale. During and after high school I worked trail crews in Vermont, Washington, and Germany, and then went to college in Maine. Since then I have worked as a wilderness guide for court-ordered teens, as an art instructor for adults with developmental disabilities, as a farm hand on CSA farms, as a Waldorf art and nursery teaching assistant, and I have a TINY craft business making felted wool mary jane baby slippers. Most importantly, I am mom to seven-year-old Sophie. I have been planning my farm for over a decade, but never really going for it. Now I have the opportunity maybe coming up, and I am not sure I know enough to jump in! But we'll see. I knit, hike, love to make all kinds of strange fermented food, and love anything community-oriented (except computers). I look forward to learning about all you interesting folks. |
| 5 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| jpbluesky |
Posted - Jun 29 2005 : 09:53:47 AM
WElcome, Kathy. AS I read so many of the introductory posts, like yours, I am blown away by the energy that radiates from them.
So many interests and projects and artistic talent abound here! Glad to have you with us, Kathy.
jpbluesky
Heartland girl |
| kirsten |
Posted - Jun 29 2005 : 08:13:56 AM
Hi again - Still struggling with the computer thing - can't even figure out when to "respond to message" and when to create a new one - bear with me. Fermented foods - love them. My FAVORITE way to preserve food, like MaryJane's sauerkraut and kimchee. But you can ferment most anything. I make kefir out of my milk, which keeps for months in the fridge, and ferment tons of veggies as well as making cultured butter, sprouted grain products, etc. I am usually using some whey from goat milk for the fermentation process. Check out the cookbook Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon - a fabulous read. She runs the Weston Price Foundation, which promotes small farming through emphasis on traditional foods - really great group!
Someone asked about my felted baby slippers - I knit them (they look big and saggy) then felt them in my washing machine and sew on little buttons and elastic. Sometimes I needle-felt on little flowers. If/when we move, I may try to sell them on a website - I sell them in a few galleries and give them to all my friends having little babies- but they are very labor intensive and at $25-30 a pair I wasn't making more than minimum wage. Who knows, I may go for it. Turns out a woman who lives four miles from the land we're buying raises sheep and sells her yarn internationally - I haven't met her yet.
You all are so spunky and knowledgable! I wish you could all come over for dinner and just tell me your stories! |
| quiltedess |
Posted - Jun 24 2005 : 08:27:23 AM
Kirsten:
I've been reading your posts with interest. I think your "farmhouse with room for a garden" is a good place to start. I know people in my area that grow flowers and vegetables to sell to people on fairly small pieces of property. One man I know is a teacher, who keeps himself very busy during summer with his garden. There is a lot you could do there to start your dream. Since you have such a short time to get ready to move your time will be limited, but I think it would be a good idea to check out other farms in the area for ideas on what you'd enjoy doing. It sounds like you have TONS of experience to draw from. I'd like to know more about your felted wool mary jane baby slippers. They sound really cute.
Good luck and let us know how things go.
Nancy |
| Aunt Jenny |
Posted - Jun 23 2005 : 10:51:05 PM
Welcome Kirsten..would love to hear about the fermented foods!!
Jenny in Utah
The best things in life arn't things! |
| mollymae |
Posted - Jun 23 2005 : 5:36:26 PM
Hi Kirsten, welcome to the group! Where in VA might you go? We used to live in Leesburg and Winchester :)
Cead Mile Failte,
Molly
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." --Henry David Thoreau
**When life throws scraps your way ~ Make a Quilt!**
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