Ever Growing Farm

Country Home

3 Of The Best Things About Country Life

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He lives in a house in the country…

What do you think of when you think about “Living in the country”?

Some people might say “oh it’s a great life”. Some people will still swear by the city life but these people have probably never been in the countryside much or can’t see the positives of a country life.

There are just some things in the country life that the city life can’t provide. I’ve listed just three of these things below, maybe it will entice you over to the country-side!

  1. There’s more peace and quiet

If you’re someone who has made the switch from the city life over tot he country life, one of the first things that you will notice is the beautiful quietness the country offers. You won’t hear but the odd car passing by, or the refuse collection truck coming to wake you at 5 am either.

You won’t need to worry about noisy neighbors loudly blaring their music too loud or city traffic outside your bedroom window. The serenity of the country life is often about what can be heard in place of the city noise.

Think of the rain beating off your roof during the night, or the little birds singing early in the morning. Or imagine the cows mooing away on the green pastures. These are the priceless sounds of nature, so peaceful to the countryside.

  1. Friendly neighbors

You mightn’t know your neighbors, simply by living in the countryside. Although, country communities do tend to be closely knit. There is a sense that people are more reliant on each other more so than people of the city stock.

Part of this is because shops and amenities might be many miles away so it’s better if people help each other out where possible as the might need the favour returned someday.

You might need a carton of milk or a couple of tea bags for the night. Lending a hand will give you that good karma and builds trust among the country folk.

  1. A slower pace of life

Although it may appear at times that farmers and country folk are always working, out on the pastures, cleaning out animal sheds, or driving machinery around the place, country life is often at a slower pace than you would imagine.

But don’t get me wrong, this is by no means saying that the countryside people are lazy or do less work. It simply means that they don’t allow the fast paced, distracting life of the rat race bog them down.

So ask yourself this

Are you tired of the rat race and all of it’s materialistic trappings?

Do you want to feel part of a great community?

Do you want to enjoy life more and be at one with nature?

If you answered yes to any of these questions then a life in the countryside is for you. Make the move!

watering man

4 Great Reasons For Being A Farmer

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City versus countryside

Amidst the hustle and bustle of the city slicker’s life and the constant advancements in technology and the digital world, living on a farm is a very special way to live.

You are one with nature, plants, vegetables, animals, fresh air and less distractions than the city life. Choosing the farming life is not for everybody and there are some cons but the pros far outweigh them.

So I have put together four great reason why I love being a farmer, you can read them below:

  1. There’s no commute!

You don’t have a journey to get to your work place! None. You can simply stroll out the front or indeed back door and you are in work, as simple as that!

Although the farming life is focused outdoors, some of your paperwork and management can be done from the house so you don’t actually really leave the house for some of your farm work.

This has its disadvantages. But on the contrary, you’ll never have grapple with traffic during peak times, sit in your vehicle endlessly in motorway traffic or stand, wedged onto a tube, pressing up against someone.

  1. Bartering

There is a lot more bartering and trading this and that in the farming life than in in your typical town or city. Maybe you want or have a few bales of straw and need to swap something with someone to put food on your table.

Or maybe you agree to offer your tractor or labour in exchange for that new suckler calf that your neighbor has just gotten. Daily deals are done in the farming community more than deals done on Dragons Den!

  1. A great lack of the office politics

Most of your meetings will happen at a local pub, small shop or post office. There is no time nor place for business managerial talk. Clock-in machines don’t exist in the farming life, well not really.

You are the boss and need to be disciplined with your own time, unless you work for your father or work for another farmer but you probably still have more freedom and independence.

The beauty of this is that you can take some time off whenever you need to or want to, such as for family events or to watch sporting events. Work to get the job done. Be productive and effective!

  1. There’s no dress code

One other great thing about the country farming life is the freedom to wear whatever the hell you like! No pin stripe suits or blue colour shirts. No sweaty jumpers and tight trousers.

All you have to think about is if the weather is fine then dress for it, whereas if it’s going to rain then dress for rain! Farming people don’t care if you’re wearing a Tommy Hilfiger jumper to the fields or a pair of Nike trainers.

So in a nutshell

The farming life gives you more freedom, less time wasting exercises that you would find in an office, a commonly understood method of trading things and no rustling and bustling that will stress you out on your way to work!

HOMESTEAD STORIES 3

5 Urban Homesteaders Share Homestead Stories – Part 1

If I had a nickel for every time someone told me “I wish I could homestead, but I’m still stuck in the city” or “I don’t have enough space to homestead, but I love reading about it”, I’d be a rich blogger indeed. Is that you? Not the rich part (although we can all dare to dream, right?)…the “wish you could homestead” part. Well, you’re not wrong. It’s NICE to have a lot of space and a rural lifestyle to go along with your homestead, but it’s 100% not necessary. Here are five homesteaders doing what they can with what they have! Queue inspiration (I hope). 🙂

Melissa from Ever Growing Farm, 1/8th acre

Upon introduction, most people don’t know what to think about the fact that we have created a 1/8 acre urban farm right in the middle of the city. They ask about zoning codes and express concerns about angry neighbors. More often than not, once we chat them up a bit, their response is either,

“I want to do that!” or, “That’s cool, but I could never…”

The truth is, urban farming is hard. It starts off with lots of planning, both for your urban garden and for the care and keeping of your backyard chickens, and quickly evolves to include the transport of heavy, nutrient rich soil to fill your newly built beds, the purchase of seeds and chicks, plus more aches, pains, frustrations and hours spent in the hot sun than you might have ever imagined. This is all before you even get to the mice in the compost, broody chickens, and horn worms.

farm

However, with all of these challenges comes strength (of body and character), inspiration and the most delicious eggs you will ever taste. Urban farmers get to transform their own tiny spot on the planet in real, tangible ways that leave their neighbors asking for more eggs and placing empty egg cartons on your doorstep while you’re out running errands. Then, there’s the fresh off the vine tomatoes, learning how to preserve the food you worked so hard to grow and the extracts and tinctures you begin experimenting with. No matter the size of your tiny urban farm, you will be tired at the end of the day, without a doubt, but it is the best kind of tired you will probably ever feel. It’s pretty fantastic.

Don’t get me wrong, we often dream of what we call Our Eventual Farm. You know, rolling hills, a pond, chickens, goats and bees, more land than we need to grow all of our fruits and veggies, no lights or sirens to ruin the quiet.

For now though, we’re grateful for all we’ve been able to build right here, right now and are greatly enjoying the space we’re in!

 

Kris from Attainable Sustainable, 1/3rd acre

My family is lucky enough to live on a third of an acre that has some established fruit trees. We enjoy an overabundance of avocados a couple of times a year, plus bananas, oranges, liliko‘i and papaya in irregular bursts.

We also have a neighbor who insists that we help ourselves to his prolific, terrific tangerines when they’re in season. Our dreams of a thriving vegetable garden, on the other hand, are less fruitful. Our lot is steep and faces east, so while we have gorgeous sunrises, actual sunshine is at a premium. One of our first steps when we moved in was to cut and fill in the front yard to create a small level area for growing vegetables. Then I had the bright idea to make the driveway part of my garden since it was hogging all of the sunshine. In those two spaces, I manage to keep enough produce growing for fresh salads and such, but not nearly enough to do the canning and preserving that I did before we moved here.

farm green

We do have half a dozen laying hens who keep us in eggs most of the time. I certainly can’t complain, but I’m definitely not able to grow enough food to sustain my family of four here without doing some major earth moving. We’re keeping our eyes open for a perfect piece of land to implement our permaculture plans, but meanwhile I have to trust the farmers market for tomatoes to make salsa and chutney for the pantry, and I’m learning to grow things that are better suited to this awkward space. I’ve got sweet potatoes growing on a slope, I’ve tucked lemongrass in areas prone to erosion, and I’m learning to consider nasturtiums a food source rather than an ornamental.

Read about part 2 here.