The smell of spring is in the air, green grass is peeking up out of the ground, and the fruit trees appear to be ready to burst open with blooms. It’s time to start preparing for the growing season, hoping that all those plans that were made in the winter will turn out as well as we anticipate. We have several new ideas to try out this year, and hope to be offering even more products this summer. New goals have been established, and as we continue to do the work, we are mindful of an excellent quote from Thomas Edison, “Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing.”

Our farm tends to produce metal, glass, wire, and nails like weeds flourish in an overgrazed pasture. As I walk around the farm, I’m always looking out for these objects to throw away. We desire to make this farm a safe, clean, and beautiful place for our family, friends, and customers to enjoy. We have been utilizing the nice weather to clean, organize, and recycle or burn the old buildings and fence that served its purpose many years ago, but are no longer salvageable. We are setting aside everything that is worth saving and will use them up before purchasing new items.

Our house is really coming together with the staining of the cupboards for our pantry, laundry room, and trim, along with the work on a second bathroom. With nine of us living in the house, we all look forward to having a second bathroom for the first time in 4 years! As the weather improves, we plan to work on the outside of our house, starting with a stone foundation and then replacing the rotting siding.

An unexpected flood in our area has left us wondering if we have done enough to prepare ourselves for a natural disaster, job loss, or unexpected event. Our state experienced record flooding a few weeks ago and the devastation and lives affected are heartbreaking, but it has been encouraging and inspiring to hear the stories of people giving and helping others. This incidence caused an increased determination to grow a variety of food for ourselves and others, along with encouraging and supporting other small farmers. The centralization of food, mass produced in order to roll out cheap food, is not only risky, but it is harming our country’s health, environment, and crushing small family farms. Our tyrannical government loves this arrangement, because of the ability to control everything. For years we supported this system so we are no less guilty than anyone else. It is only because the Lord changed our hearts that we are living lives opposite of the status quo. We have no desire to go back, since we have experienced more energy than we had in our teens and have corrected many health issues simply by changing the way we grow and eat our food. As we observe the improvement in our health and land, I’m reminded of 2 Chronicles 7:14, “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

As one looks to the past, it appears that a system where numerous small family farms are thriving versus a small percentage of huge factory farms barely making enough to pay the bills are far less vulnerable to massive causalities of animals and plants from natural disasters, disease, energy loss, and transportation failures. If we cherish freedom and food security, then it is in our best interest to grow food and search out small organic and beyond organic farmers to encourage and support. I believe this quote, taken from Health Impact News in 2011, speaks volumes: “When Thomas Jefferson was president of the United States, almost 90% of the population was involved in agriculture. Everyone drank raw milk and the issues regarding health freedom and food sovereignty we face today were practically unheard of back in the days before the industrial revolution. As we look at the issues of food security in the 21st century, where less than 1% of our population controls what the rest of us eat, it is good to reflect back on our founding fathers’ desire to produce their own food.”

Since we started raising chickens and turkeys several years ago, our family has noticed the price of birds has increased significantly, and some prices have more than doubled. This year I have been thinking more and more about breeding some of our own heirloom birds to alleviate some of this cost and to keep heritage birds from going extinct. In the past we have purchased hybrid, broad breasted turkeys and hybrid chickens to raise on our farm for meat. They both have large breasts and have been very good to raise and eat. I learned recently that these birds are so large, they are unable to breed naturally. In other words, I couldn’t buy a female and a male and expect to get babies. Because of this epiphany, I am planning to try several heirloom breeds of turkeys and chickens along with our usual order of hybrid birds. My main focus is on the turkeys since the price of babies has more than doubled since we started our farming adventure many years ago and there’s not much to stop a further increase. I’m not as focused on the chickens since our layers are an older breed that can still reproduce naturally. These birds make an excellent stewing hen.

We ordered chicks from a local hatchery in Columbus a few months ago. They are not hatched there, but they were scheduled to be delivered the week of the major flood when we were unable to get to Columbus. I realized during this time that there is no local source for birds. They are being shipped all over the country. Thankfully the road to Columbus was opened sooner than expected and my husband was able to return to work and pick up the chicks. This incident gave me a little more of a push to start thinking about the possibility of keeping some birds simply for breeding. By supporting these heirloom varieties, I believe we are promoting food freedom and protecting our food supply. Unless something changes, we all risk rising prices of food and food scarcity. I’m so thankful to those people that are protecting our independence by growing heirloom plants, trees, and animals, and sharing or selling with ignorant people like me. When we can take a seed or animal, breed it on our farm, grow it out, and savor this nutrient dense flavorful food, then that is true freedom and food security.

The bees that we were gifted last summer were doing well until the recent storm. I was excited to see them flying in the middle of February on a nice day, but my husband found them dead shortly after the storm due to condensation in the hive. We are working with a local bee farmer to help solve this problem. What a blessing to have others to work with! We are hoping to increase our hives this spring to three and continue to plant more bee friendly plants and trees. The bees love zinnias and so does my five-year-old daughter. She cut zinnias last summer almost daily for the table. She is so excited about these flowers that together we started a lot more seeds in our house than last year. She talks about them often and is so excited to help me with them.

An important consideration in this time of busyness is keeping the end result in mind. We are asking ourselves more and more, “Why are we doing this, what are the benefits, how much time is this consuming, what is the savings, and how does this benefit others.” I have to continually remind myself to guard my time and often have to say no to good things so I can say yes to the best things. We will continue to strive for better quality products, greater efficiency, and keep pushing forward even when things are hard or discouraging in an effort to offer the best prices to our like-minded customers that we appreciate so much!

The Lord has really put it on my heart to empower others about how our food has changed over a short period of time. We are reaching more and more people with our website and newsletter and LOVE to hear your stories about how natural, clean foods have changed your lives. Please help spread the word and keep those stories coming! As we get closer to spring, we look forward to the work that lies ahead and to blessing others with our products. Homesteading and farming are not simple tasks, but when you enjoy the work you are doing and get to feel a great sense of accomplishment at the end of the day, it is completely worth it. This spring we pray that you are encouraged to grow great food, find and meet a great farmer to buy from, slow down and enjoy each day, and be blessed with abundant health!