So much to say, so little time

I have put off posting about our would-be- farm up until this point. When we found this place, our original agreement with the land owner was until May 15th. Since then we have talked with her many times about the possibility of staying and this week we got the word...We are good until next spring, at least. I am relieved, and thrilled. We really love it here. We are working very hard to become debt free, at which point we may be able to buy into this land and stay permanently. But for now, all that matters is that I don't have to pack and move AGAIN!
So, now I am ready to share our plans. Homesteading and self-sufficiency are our main goals. We are planting a huge garden with tons of different veggies as well as melons and strawberries. We also have rasberries and apples on the property. We are also building 3 top bar bee hives for honey. Also, part of our arrangement to stay involves us caring for some dairy goats. I wasn't sure how I felt about it at first but I know we will care for and love these animals as we have always done with any animal and I think that is really important. We have always said that vegan ideals clash in some areas with our desire to be self-sufficient and eat a completly homegrown or at least local diet. This is central Maine after all. To be honest, the vegan verses homestead debate is something I will save for another time. So, We are mending and preparing one of our barns for the animals. There may also be a donkey and a pony coming as well. I am considering fiber sheep from an animal shelter that need a good home for life as well as a dog or two, also from a shelter or rescue. We are huge animal lovers here and really enjoy their company.

Our idea is to provide our own family with as much food as we can. This will not only be the healthiest (and yummiest) way for us to eat but will save us a ton of money. If we have a surplus, we will sell it at the local farmers market. Next year, we intend to progress to actually farming for a small income. This year will be our learning year.
We have some amazing farmer friends who I have mentioned before. Sarah and Andy, we love you! They have been sooo helpful. It makes a huge difference to have someone to ask questions to or bounce ideas off of who are already farming, the way we want to.
Here is our garden spot.

Here is view from my garden spot


Those are our raspberry bushes under the trees. So what we are doing over these next few weeks is; Mending our barn and modifying it to make some goats comfy. Building a fence for the goats, tilling our very large garden, trimming raspberry bushes, building a utility shed( our garden is across the street) building bee hives, starting seedlings indoors and..........NOT MOVING!!!!It is going to crazy and exhausting, but fun fun fun! I feel like we are really on our way here!

On a side note, I took these pics today and needed to share. What an awesome school my son attends where he can sit on the porch at 8:00 am doing school work and enjoying the sun and birds and fresh air. Oh and the 1/2 cup of coffee he conned his mom into letting him have.

This is the "art" Gaynor and Harland made. It was originally on top of snow.


Indigo out enjoying the sun (finally) at 8:30 AM

he's putting rocks in what was my coffee!