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Sunday, January 11, 2009

Winter dreaming...

So this is the time of year when I dream about farming. It's the time of year when I can dream of next year's garden and harvest without the reality of work or time. It's the time of year when I pour over seed catalogs and farming books getting all dreamy and warm inside.

Today at church I was talking to a friend who grew up on a farm and I asked him if his grandfather had also been a farmer. He said, "No, he was actually a nuclear engineer. My dad just wanted to be a farmer so he bought some property and started farming." My eyes honestly got misty at this - my fear being that since I grew up in a suburb and didn't study agriculture in college means that I'm disqualified from this profession. I then asked if his dad ever made any money and he said, "Oh yeah! He's doing really well..." and told us about his dad's specialties on his polyculture farm in eastern Idaho. In fact, his parents were vacationing in Mexico this very week. I kept looking over to my husband with wide eyes during this whole conversation. He knew what I was saying with those looks. I was saying, "That's it - we are GOING TO BE farmers."

So this afternoon I visited my local libraries' website and entered in the word "farming" in the online catalog. I got pages of hits - mostly children's books on farms, a couple Hardy Boys adventures set on farms, and then some real gems. The first one I found was this:This is great because I don't want a 5,000 acre farm. And then I found this:


Ok, c'mon, this one is beautiful. I literally clapped my hands and squeeled when I found this. The title is lovely and the idea is right up my dream alley. I can't wait to get over and get them. Both are now on hold just in case someone else in my small town in Utah wanted to check them out and gets there before me tomorrow. I can't wait. Winter dreaming here we come!

3 comments:

courtneyb said...

thanks to facebook, I've finally checked out this glorious blog. Fun stuff, good for you guys for doing stuff like this. Where would be your first choice for a farm? Were you talking to Ferguson? I was thinking of asking him about some gardening tips as well as my wanna-be farmer neighbor.

Anonymous said...

Hi, I'm Carolyn. I just started blogging last week.

I love the photos on your site. My Utah family thinks I'm crazy for wanting to be a farmer.

Currently I have 1 acre, 1 beautiful creek, 14 ducks, and 2 nubian dairy goats. And I love it all!!!

If you haven't heard of it before you have to check out 'The Encyclopedia of Country Living' by Carla Emery. I have probably read 20 books on farming and hers is by far the best and most interesting.

Good luck!

Dale Johnson said...

The pictures for your article are not showing up on my computer so I don't know what books you are referring to. But a must read for all future farmers is "You Can Farm: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Start & Succeed in a Farming Enterprise" by Joel Salatin. It can be found at Amazon.