The Adventure Begins

The property officially became ours on April 11th. I'm not really sure what to call it yet... mini-farm, farmette, homestead-ish... Six acres is a lot to us, but by no means a full size farm to most. We are ecstatic nonetheless! There are a lot of changes coming along with this new property. We are moving 90 miles from the area in Virginia we've come to know over the last two years. The boys will be homeschooled and I will be out of the classroom and working from home. It's terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. 

As a child, we visited my aunt and uncle on their farm every summer. I have fond memories of waking up before dawn to work the farmer's market selling their produce... of walking through pear orchards and corn fields... of fishing with my cousins. It was such a different lifestyle than the one I grew up in. Time seemed to move slower, life was quieter, and days were filled with spending time with loved ones. As an adult now looking back on these fond childhood memories, I know I am seeing these through the carefree lens of a child with very little worries in life. But there is so much about that lifestyle that appeals to all of my senses. 

As a young adult, I visited a family friend in Jacksonville, Florida. They lived on this beautiful little ranch surrounded by white horse fence. This began my horse fence obsession and started the vision of what I hoped my future home would look like. They had a couple of horses, lots of dogs, and we got to ride an ATV to explore the property. I had that same feeling that I experienced at my aunt and uncle's farm. I felt like I could breathe... like I could relax... and I was surrounded by family and friends. 

Life happened... jobs, marriage, kids... and that dream of having a farm just seemed like... well... a dream. Something that would be really amazing... but wasn't really possible. I tried my hand at growing some of my own food in pots in my backyard. My first few attempts were pretty sad, but I fully admit that I didn't do much research into my endeavors. While we were still living in Arizona, we started looking at some homes with land. I wanted animals, and while my husband wasn't sold on the idea of animals, he really liked the idea of having more space. Every property we looked at just didn't feel right. Arizona is beautiful in many ways, but the farm of my dreams had a lot of green, and everything we were seeing just wasn't it. And then Doug got the job offer that moved us to Virginia.

We quickly became enamored with all of the green here! We first landed in Vienna, which is just outside of DC, and definitely not what one would consider "rural". However we found a rental property with quite a bit of space and the home felt very "farm-ish"... especially compared to the stucco cookie cutter homes of Arizona. During the two and half years we spent in Vienna, I worked hard on my gardening, Doug worked on his woodworking, and we became set on the idea of homesteading. We put up a dream board, picked a name for our future farm, and continued to learn.

And now... Four Sprouts Farm is a reality.