I'm a thirty-something living in Upstate New York with my husband and step-son. My husband and I bought an old farmhouse on 14 acres of land in 2005 and we have been slowly growing the farm. Currently we have a horse (a wedding gift from my husband), a small flock of sheep, summer turkeys, summer pigs, chickens, two barn cats and a dog. Ideally, we would like to be as sustainable as possible, but we have been known to (regularly) order out pizza and (occasionally) use the dryer on warm, sunny days.
In order to support the farm, I was a teacher for several years in the local school district while my husband teaches at one of the state colleges and is a pastor of two local churches. While the teaching schedule was convenient for farming, I became so severely disenchanted with the system. Two years ago, I took a leap of faith, resigned from my position, and am now following a call I first heard a dozen years ago to pursue a career in midwifery.
Growing up, I never imagined I would be a farmer, although I don't remember if I ever had any expectations about where I would be as an adult. My mother teases me that it must have been her one foray into making strawberry jam that led me down this path. I tend to think that my current beliefs and practices evolved over the past 12 years from a general discomfort with the superficiality of our modern world. I yearned for something more meaningful, and returning back to the very basics of nourishing our bodies, relationships, imaginations, and souls is where I found meaning.
