My First time.....

That title can be misleading but seemed fitting for my first blog post. Since I am new to this I hope you will be forgiving while I learn the ways of bloggers. We all have to start somewhere and I have so much I want to share with you about my adventures in farming. I have learned so much in such a short time. Being a farm virgin can be overwhelming with the amount of knowledge you need to succeed.

The motto of our farm is 'Grow with us". A fitting motto as we adapt to our new lifestyle and hope to help other beginners in their journey.

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Back Story..

It's hard to believe that only a couple of years ago we were living in a beautiful subdivision with an H.O.A. that was 5 minutes from the Gulf of Mexico. My husband had a good job that allowed me to stay home. My title was Wife, Mother and Domestic Engineer (housewife). My day to day was filled with suburban housewife duties such as, driving the kids to school, cleaning house, grocery shopping, brunch with friends and planning our weekends. I had a newer home with 2 new vehicles in the driveway. I paid a landscape company to tend and care for my lawn, got my vehicles detailed monthly and hired people to replace light fixtures in the house. While some of you may think we had it made as a working middle class family, I always knew I was destined for more.

slowly my very plain backyard started to turn into an urban farm. over the course of a year I had built a producing  garden, added 6 chickens and a chicken coop. The thought of producing our own food and getting eggs from loved and cared for healthy chickens just seemed like a no brainer. Gradually over the next couple of years my garden expanded and my chickens quadrupled. I spent every waking moment learning as much as I could about chickens and gardening. I started making my own laundry soap and removing chemicals from our home and diet. My H.O.A home on a 1/2 an acre was slowly converted into an urban homestead.

In 2014 we decided to put our house up for sale and search for a farm. We had outgrown our little 1/2 acre and needed more land. We found the perfect property in Alabama. We were so excited and immediately put in an offer contingent on the sale of our home in Florida. Unfortunately due to difficult sellers and the lack of offers on our home, what I considered my dream farm just didn't happen. I didn't let this detour me, I continued to build and expand. I became known as the crazy chicken lady in my neighborhood. For the next two years we focused on learning as much as we could so when we did buy a farm we would at least be somewhat prepared. Summer of 2016 my husband was offered a job in Georgia. The position was a career advancement he just couldn't pass up. We put our home on the market again with little hope of a quick sale and within 8 days we had an offer. I had 1 week to find a farm in Georgia to ensure a back to back closing and that my family and chickens wouldn't be homeless.

It happened so fast..

I was looking at farms on craigslist a couple of months before my husband received the job offer. Once you have viewed everything in your area, craigslist will show you search results on nearby pages. I remember seeing an ad for this beautiful property located just outside of Macon. It had everything I wanted and honestly its was absolutely stunning. I doubted that the home would still be available, but in my curiosity I decided to look for it. "Hallelujah"! The farm was still for sale. My husband was already working in Georgia so I quickly called him and said "Babe! You have to go see this house now!" My husband had already viewed several farms and none seemed to fit. We had a list of requirements for our new farm and to be considered it had to meet the following-

• 10 Acres or more
• 4 bedrooms 2 baths Minimum
• outbuildings such as barn, pole barn, workshop
• natural water source on the property
• partially or fully fenced
• Not to far out in the boonies
• meet VA home loan requirements such as not an income producing property

Then we had our wants

• Pool (I mean we live in the south and are giving up the beach)
• 2 Story
• White House
• screened porch
• fireplace
• tree lined drive
• private

My Husband made the appointment and went to the showing. I was pacing, going out of my mind waiting for his call. Fear in my mind that if this is not the one then I'm out of time and we will be homeless since our home was closing in 29 days. That moment when the phone rings and you can't decide if you should answer because its either going to be good or bad news. "This is Home!" were the words that came over the speaker. 

BuckleBerry Farm

So now you know my story of how I went from suburban wife to a farm life. We have spent the last two years building our Farm. We still have a lot to learn and will be sharing our experiences with you. BuckleBerry farm has so many open opportunities that we are not limiting ourselves to one thing. You can expect future blog topics on Animal husbandry (chickens, goats, pigs, cattle), Gardening, raising your own food, breeding, Income opportunities and general small farming.

Our Goal is to help others who are considering or have given up their suburban comforts and are joining the growing community of first time farmers.